I pulled the zipper of my skirt up speedily, feeling the nervous excitement already bubbling up inside of me at the prospect of finally getting out of this hotel room and actually interacting with other human beings.According to an overly formal email from Nicholas, the corporate event we were attending tonight was not ridiculously black-tie, but I only dressed to impress around that man, so my lot cut, bold red crop top and figure hugging black skirt seemed like the perfect choice. It would come off like sort of a subtle 'this is what you missed out on' statement.A knock on the door told me that I had taken as long as I could, getting ready, so I grabbed my purse and phone speedily before going out of the door. The person I saw standing at the bottom of the staircase nearly sent me toppling backward again. I seemed to forget how strikingly handsome Nicholas was too often for my own good, and I also knew that my stunned reaction didn't go unnoticed by Shane, or any of the others for
I checked my phone, sighing in annoyance when I saw that it was hardly 8 PM yet and I was already getting rather desperate to leave. It was not that the event in itself wasn't entertaining or anything, because it most definitely was. There was an array of amazing fireworks going off at every strike of the hour and the various singers and bands arriving to perform on the enormous stage set up at the front of the field, but because I had already had to converse with three guys in a rather rude manner because they were either drunk and confused, or clearly had intentions that didn't involve a light-hearted conversation.Just as I was thinking about all that, I felt a warm hand land on my shoulder and I wheeled around to see a tall man peering down at me. Even in the dim lighting of the evening, I could see his spiky dark hair and glazed over eyes that screamed that he was drunk.Yes, definitely drunk, I thought."Hello, beautiful," he slurred, but just as I opened my mouth to reply, a ro
"Mr. Kendrick, sir."Nicholas's eyes were stone hard and I realized that what I was witnessing right now was CEO Nicholas, not the slightly softer version that I knew, but the version that got him where he was today."Are they both family?""Yes, obviously," he replied sternly and after a final suspicious glance down at me, the men walked away without another word of objection."What is this place? And why do I have to be 'family'?" I asked, placing air quotes around the word, family, before I pulled Nicholas's hand roughly from around my waist. His eyebrows furrowed and l assumed he also realized what he just did, but he replied coolly nonetheless. Olivia raced off after her parents, beckoning enthusiastically for us to follow."Only certain people can can get in here, Ophelia," he said simply as we followed his sister as she bounded cheerily across the room.Certain people, huh?I realized that we were being led into what looked like a mini first-aid section, and I wondered briefly
The red lipped woman who checked my boarding pass had a small fit when she read the name printed across it. "Kendrick?" she asked skeptically, scanning me up and down rather unprofessionally as she scanned my ticket too which made me to snatch it from her grasp instantly. "Yes!" I snapped back, trying not to feel offended by how disbelieving she was that I could be associated with the name, Kendrick. Already feeling a monstrously bad mood setting in, I slumped down in my seat with the sole intention to sulk for an hour. The first class area was obviously incredibleThe leg room was equivalent to that of two economy seats put together, and I was pretty sure that the seat reclined into a completely horizontal position. The only negative was the number of dirty looks I received from the economy passengers filing onto the plane after me. "Would you like to order a beverage, Miss?" a flight attendant asked."Yes. Some water, please," I replied.She placed the glass on my tray table with
"So where did you work before Colins'?" I asked.William seemed overjoyed at my casual question, and a beaming grin spread across his face as he answered. Our conversation stemmed from there, and we covered practically every cliché date topic I could think of even before our food arrived. Thankfully, William was more than happy to ramble on about his two adorable younger sisters the entire time we were eating, gushing about the fact that his mother signed both of them up for toddler ballet classes and how it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. I could't deny that William was undoubtedly one of the most easy going people I had ever met, and a small part of me was forced to admit that that was one of the few qualities Nicholas didn't possess. Oh, wow! I finally found a flaw in Nicholas Kendrick? Well, I meant other than the obvious ones like his fear of commitment, his temper, his traumatizing past, his downright bossiness, his general tendency to just get jealous all the time, a
"Blasi's Club? Why there?" Rianne asked"I don't know. William said it is really cool and tons of celebrities have been spotted there, so obviously he wants our second date to be there." Rianne rolled her eyes as our taxi driver eventually got over her stunning good looks and started the car. "That boy just wants to get in your pants, Lia, and he probably thinks getting you drunk is the easiest way to do that,” she said.Then she chuckled to herself as I sighed in annoyance, knowing very well that she had likely hit the nail right on the head there. "Well, I feel so guilty about still being caught up on another guy that honestly, I will go wherever he wants to." Rianne rolled her eyes pointedly as she pulled out her phone, undoubtedly to check that her deep pink lipstick and sharp winged eyeliner hadn't been smudged in the reflection it provided. "Still thinking about Mr. Billionaire, huh?" she quizzed.I couldn't help but feel slightly offended by the disappointed tone in her wo
My heart skipped a beat. No, my heart skipped two beats. One because he was here, and the other was because he referred to himself by his first name. "What..." My words were drowned out by the club's music which suddenly increased drastically in volume. I scowled and clasped my hands over my ears in an attempt to tame the pounding in my head. After what I made out to be a few seconds, I felt my body vibrate with a loud sigh despite the all consuming music. Then my head began to hum with the sound of someone speaking, but the raging sounds of the club paired with my hands clasped over my ears meant I couldn't quite make out the words. "What?" I shrieked before one of my hands were roughly tugged from my ear as Nicholas repeated himself. "I said don't resist,” he said.And then before I knew what was happening, my feet were lifted from the ground. An overwhelming feeling of dizziness set in as I was hauled over his shoulder, and my head fell limply against the back of his neck as
Nicholas stared back at me, a look of anxious expectancy etched across his features as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. I quickly realized that I despised this particular look on him. “Don't look at me like that,” I said and he turned away, not saying anything. "We are here," he said softly. "Where is here?" I asked carefully. "My apartment complex," he replied nonchalantly and my heart stopped. "Wait, what? Why are we here?" I asked, almost panicking."This really isn't the time to answer all of your questions…" he started but I cut him off.“But…" I began and this time it was his turn to cut me off."Please, Ophelia. I have work to do and you are in no state to go home by yourself. Let's go." And then he was out the door, and for some deranged reason, I followed after him. No, it was not because of a deranged reason; It was just as if it was common sense to follow Nicholas Kendrick into his apartment building. l ignored the uneasiness welling up inside of me as I walked