Since the day had now turned into night and Lauren could not take the risk of letting Elysia go home alone. Before Elysia's working hours ended, she went to her clinic and waited until she wrapped up the day.
They walked home together. "Lauren, something happened at the clinic today.'' Elysia suddenly broke the silence.
Lauren's heart thumped badly against her chest. ''What?'' She hid the nervousness as she asked.
''There is a man. I saved his life almost 2 months back.'' She started. Actually, she did not tell her friends about Sebastian before because she did not get the chance.
"He came to the clinic today and he asked me out for dinner. He wants to treat me as compensation." This is all she made out of his offer.
''Really?" Lauren raised an eyebrow. She was sure that Elysia had refused her offer. She is currently going through trauma. She can't even make eye contact with anyone. Let alone going on a date. "What did you tell him?"
She exhaled loudly in the air, "I said, yes.''
"WHAT!" Lauren's shocked voice rang in the air.
''I know." She trembled from inside, "I messed up and I am regretting it badly. What should I do? How should I say no to him?" She literally pleaded.
"Do you trust him?" Her question made Elysia's eyes wide open.
'Do I trust him?' She thought and touched her earlobe. It is her habit. Whenever she is agitated, she touches her ears.
"I have no idea.... not the slightest bit.'' She was confused, "But now when I think about him, I was alone with him in the clinic and not once... not even once I had any bad thoughts.'' She was surprised by her own thoughts.
"Then he must make you feel secure. Grab him Elysia. You need to move on in your life and if someone's here to make you feel this way, don't let this chance go away." They were at the door of the apartment. Lauren tapped in the password.
"I am not sure. What if he gets to know what happened to me? He will loath me and I can't bear a heart break at the moment." She plopped on the couch and massaged her temples, "these men and their problems, I can't handle them."
"Oh gosh, why are you thinking so much? It's just a date and nothing serious happens at the first time. He is not going to make commitments with you. Go out and try to spend some time with him and if this will work out well and if he will have sincere feelings for you.... he will embrace all of your scars, all of your traumas. Go with the flow." Lauren gave her a genuine advice.
And like always, Elysia was getting light-hearted after having a conversation with her. In a month, she finally smiled, "Thank you." Her voice was more like a whisper.
"Shut up. There are no thank you in friends." She paused, "Why don't you help me cook meatball pasta instead?" She wriggled her eyebrows.
Elysia's smile turned deeper. "Sure. Just give me 10 minutes."
She hurriedly went to her room and stepped under the shower. The dark eyes of Sebastian, his calming Italian accent, those plump lips and the tattooed hands.... they all flushed in her head.
"What the hell!!" She murmured as her own thoughts scared the hell out of her.
She rinsed the soap and changed into comfortable clothing. Lauren was also done refreshing so they cooked together.
Tylor Swift's 'Blank space' was beaming through the speakers.
~Nice to meet you, where you been?
I could show you incredible things
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there and I thought
Oh, my God, look at that face!
You look like my next mistake
Love's a game, wanna play?~
Elysia felt like the song was just portraying her feelings. 'Is it too early to move on? Is it okay for me to think about some man?' She was scared of her own heart.
The thunderous night, she didn't forget. She has thought about him and his wounds every night. She was also curious to see him again, but the tragedy made her put a barrier around herself and now, she did not know if she should take this chance or not?
'Maybe I should just go with the flow. Just like Lauren said.''
They were soon done cooking and had the meatball pasta for dinner.
All the exhaustion from the day wasn't enough to make her sleep. She is scared of even sleeping now.
She has been getting help from the sleeping pills but they still fail to make her completely at rest. She cannot let her guard down.
At that moment, the message notification on her mobile grabbed her attention.
Unknown: Sebastian here. Can you tell me your address? I will come to pick you up at 7 in the evening.
Her heart did the somersault.
He knew her address but he did not want to scare her. This little pretense was necessary.
Elysia: *Typed her address*
His reply came almost instantly.
Sebastian: Great. See you tomorrow.
Elysia: Good night.
Being an introvert, it hasn't been easier for her to communicate with others. But she can be herself through the phone.
At the other end, Sebastian sat on the rocking chair. A cigarette in between his fingers while, in the other hand, he was holding the mobile. The little conversation which he had with her was shining on the screen. He can't even count how many times he read it.
There was nothing special about it. But his heart was making it special for him.
He took a deep drag of the cigarette and made the rings with the smoke. They soon dissolved in the air.
Sebastian finally put the phone away and grabbed the glass containing whisky from the table and started sipping on the cold liquid.
'If it was some other night, I would be banging on some girl. But you Elysia, you make me desperate for you. I am dying to see you again, I am dying to talk to you and touch your scar on the face.' His grip on the glass tightened. He was holding it so hard that the fragile glass broke in his hand. Some pieces of glass were dug into his skin but he did not care.
Daisy started to bark. His dark eyes snapped at the little dog. "Come here." He commanded and, just like an obedient dog, she came and sat right in between his legs and started to wriggle her tail.
It was fortunate that no pieces of glass fell on that spot.
"I never had the spot for pets-" he started and ran his fingers with his good hand in the thick fur of Daisy, "But you connect me to her. You are special," he announced.
Maybe Daisy understood his words, that is why she started to rub her face on his thigh.
"Even you understand me." A dangerous smile crept onto his lips. "Will she forgive me? Will she understand that I never wanted such a thing to happen to her?"
"No, she shouldn't forgive me." He sighed as he had given up.
Daisy barked. She did not agree with him. She wanted Elysia to forgive him and submit herself to him.
"Forget it. You aren't going to make it any better." He let out a shaky breath and got up. Daisy followed him around.
A servant came to clean the study while he laid on his back on the bed and Daisy stood by his side for a while.
He looked defeated, but the thought of seeing her at night was making him excited all over again.
With a nervously beating heart, Elysia started to get dressed up for dinner. She could not name it as a date because he was just returning aa favour which she had given him. So, she dropped the idea of wearing a dress and instead settled on slipping inside the formal black pants with a grey button-up shirt and a long checkered matching coat and a scarf around her neck. It covered the wound on her cheek also. A little makeup and that's it. Exactly at 7 pm, a car horn grabbed her attention. She knew it's him and when the time was there, she started to get sweaty hands and the little droplets of water were also shining on her forehead. Soon, Lauren peeped inside her room, ''Your date is here.'' She wriggled her brow. "He is not a date." Elysia refused and wore a mask of confidence as she walked out of the room. 'Hope this night will go well.' She wished, but she had no idea what her time with him was holding for her. "I am dying to see him." Lauren followed her. The knock on
They ate dinner in complete silence. Other than the sound of their cutlery, there was nothing that collided with their senses of hearing. Elysia could not get the fact out of her head that she was being affected by his astonishing presence. But she treated this dinner as a friendly meal. 'You are not allowed to have feelings for anyone.' She scolded herself and did not dare to look at him. In a split second, the huge glass window shattered. Like this, it is a wall of sand and it floats away as the wave hits it. "F**k." Sebastian cursed under his breath and he immediately pulled Elysia towards himself. Without wasting a second, he hid her under the table. Elysia does not know what happened or what is happening.... all she knows is.... this doesn't feel real. She doesn't feel like a part of it. It was surreal. When Sebastian pulled a gun and started shooting, Elysia did not have the slightest idea. Her head was spinning, the vision was getting blurry and she swang in his arms and h
In the middle of the night, Elysia felt her skin crawling. Her body shaking intensely. ''Leave me.'' She murmured.''Let go of me." Her voice got louder.Sebastian was sleeping on the chair. His eyes snapped open when he heard her wails. He immediately walked to her. She looked like a frightened puppy. His cold heart started to thaw.''Elysia." He called her name ever so softly that he could not even recognize his own voice.Elysia started shaking her head from left to right and right to left. She was in a state of denial.''You are fine.'' He held her hand and at the touch, her eyes opened. In the dim lights, her pupil contracted to find him and when she saw a man sitting beside her... she screamed, "DON'T DO THIS TO ME. I BEG YOU.''His heart clenched. He imagined she would have begged that bloody bastard the same way.''It's me. You are safe.'' His voice was loud. He did that to pull her back to reality. But she wasn't listening to her. Elysia sat up in the middle of the bed and pu
Sebastian let Elysia talk to her friend. Because he does not want her to think that he is taking advantage of her. When Elysia confirmed everything with her own mouth and told her that she was fine, Lauren was finally relieved.Meanwhile, Ricci investigated the whole incident and, with their perfect skills, they got their hands on the sniper."Boss, he is in the basement." Ricci informed him.Sebastian folded the sleeves of his shirt till his elbows, his jaws ticking and the knitted brows... this was going to be the death of someone. Well, he knows who.He followed his right-hand man to the basement, where they usually keep their prey. The heavy metallic door opened and he found a man, dressed in all black, being tied up on the chair in the middle of the room.His ruthless eyes trailed Sebastian while his face was covered with a number of bruises and cuts. Even the blood was trickling down from the corner of his lip but he snarled."You bloody little thing." Sebastian punched right ac
Ricci had successfully incorporated spies into the Russians and they were given the task of finding the way to their secret hideout. Meanwhile, Sebastian was like a hungry beast who was waiting for the chance to rip those bloody Russians apart.A week went by and within that week, Elysia sensed noticeable changes in herself. The fear that kept her on her toes was nowhere to be seen. She felt safe and sound in his company. The shallowness was fading away and now she was getting better. However, she was concerned about one thing.''Sebastian, I cannot stay here like a prisoner. I have a life out there and I need to work at the clinic." She was frustrated. Her hands were running in the thick fur of Daisy.''I know. Just give me sometime." He had a sharp intake of air.He took a seat beside her and held her hand. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from getting affected by the terrible past. Then, his hand moved towards the 'M' on her face and he touched it. Although the 'M' was now d
Elysia stood in front of the window and watched the setting sun. The darkening of the sky with each passing second, was making her scared. The clouds were surrounding it too and soon, the thunder caused her to take a step back.These thunders have brought storms in her life and she cannot get rid of them. This time, the lightning lit up the dark sky with a loud roar and Elysia fell on the ground while she covered her ears with her hands to stop these voices from colliding with her senses.But they were too loud to be ignored by her. Absently, her hand touched the wound on her face and she started to scratch it. ''Please.'' She begged the demons that haunted her.''Don't ruin me." She whispered, her hand scratching the wound on her neck even harder. The stinging pain was reminding her of the smouldering. The tobacco scent engulfed her fragile body. The disgusting touch made her skin crawl.She loathed herself.She imagined herself getting out of his ruthless grasp but he threw her on
Sebastian turned the lights of the room dim. While Elysia laid on the bed. She was a trembling mess. He sat beside her and held her hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and kissed the knuckles of her hand. They were sweaty."Focus on me." He instructed. "Look into my eyes.''Elysia felt herself being hypnotized by his words. She looked at his handsome face and absently, she started touching his prominent jaw bone. Little stubble was grown and his thick facial hair was pricking her skin, but they were reminding her of who he was.Her hand moved down to his neck and she felt his Adams apple. The bone in his neck was beautiful. It bobbed up and down as she touched it. He let her touch him patiently. She needed to get familiar with him before he could take it to the next level.''You are not him." She whispered and for a second he thought he did not hear it."I am not." He leaned closer to her and placed her hand on his rapidly beating heart, "There is only one in the world for whom my h
In the morning,The sun's rays made her eyes open but the brightness was too much for her to get comfortable suddenly. She closed them again and rubbed her eyes before sitting up. Elysia glanced beside her to find the space empty.The events of last night started to play like a film in her head and it made her face covered with blush.Elysia looked under the sheets to find herself naked. On her breasts, she could see the signs of pleasurable assault.But the disappointment of not waking up by his side was weighing her heart down. At that moment, he appeared like a devil and stood in the doorframe. "Good morning."His deep voice forced her to look at him."Good morning.'' She whispered. From screaming and moaning too much last night, her throat was also sore.He flashed a heart-throbbing smile. "I will give you some privacy. Freshen up and we will have breakfast together." His was soothing all the tiredness in her body."Okay." She nodded along and waited for him to leave.Soon, she to