Meant To Be #Wattys2015

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“You okay?” was the first thing Hayden asked when I returned back to the hall, my face red with anger. I took in a deep breath and tried to control it for his sake. It was a special day for him I didn’t want it ruined because someone couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“Peachy” I said with a forced smile. He opened his mouth to argue but I cut him off. “It’s nothing Hayden, I’m fine. Please drop it” For the full effect I smiled again, this time more genuinely. Though he seemed troubled he dropped the subject.

“You’re right on time. They’re just about to start.” He said, changing the subject. I shot him a grateful smile. He gave me a look that told me that I haven’t heard the last of it. I decided to ignore it.

“Great!” I replied, he shook his head at my antics but didn’t say anything. We had inched away from each other so that people would not suspect something. Even with the masks, you can’t be too sure.

“May I have your attention please?” as if on cue, a voice boomed through the speakers as a hush fell around us. The speaker continued on, telling us about the charity, its mission, accomplishments and future projects and they went on telling about the various programs organized in order to raise the money.  Then came the moment my brother had been waiting for all evening. “May I now call upon stage our guest of honor, Mr. Hayden Callahan!” followed by a huge round of applause. I clapped loudly with misty eyes. Hayden gave me a huge smile before he removed his mask and made his way towards the stage.

“Hello everyone, thank you for such an honor.” He said, the claps grew even louder. “I would just like to say that there are children out there, less privileged than us, who need our help. It is our duty, if not anything else, to help them. Thank you.” And if possible, the applause grew even louder. He looked over to me and smiled, I smiled wider.

'*'

“Mr. Smith is waiting for you outside.” Hayden said in a hushed voice as he was surrounded by people.

“Okay. I’ll see you later. Oh, and I’m proud of you, Hay” I teased him.

“I’ll see you later twerp.” I caught his smile as I cut the call. Then I went towards the exit door where Mr. Smith was waiting for me. It opened into an abandoned alley of sorts. But as luck would have it, I found the alleyway completely empty save for a guy leaning against the wall, smoking. I looked around for Mr. Smith while folding my arms against my torso to fight off the sudden chill.

“Ah, the bathroom girl.” He drawled. My eyes snapped to his ocean-blue and widened. He looked even more perfect in the direct light that came from the lamp that hung right above him. It gave him a more mysterious aura and outlined his features, making them sharper. I sucked in a surprised breath.

“You” I whispered.

“Yes, me?” he taunted.

“How-how did you recognize me?” I managed in a somewhat shaky voice.

“I can recognize you from a thousand miles away in that dress, mi dulce (my sweet).” He said as he smiled wolfishly at me. My face turned red with anger and I turned away from him to gain some composure. I was never the one to get angry, but something about this guy rubbed me the wrong way. “Take off your mask.” He said suddenly.

“Excuse me?” I said, shocked at his abrupt command.

“Your mask, take it off.” He said slowly, as if explaining to a child. I gave him a dirty look and decided to ignore him. All of a sudden I felt something warm behind me.

“Take off your mask.” He said in my ear. It took me by surprise and my instinct kicked in as I pulled my elbow and tried to ram it into his stomach. Unfortunately he was faster as in the next moment; he grabbed my elbow, spun me around and pressed me against the wall. I struggled against his hold but his hands were like bands of steel around my arms. He pressed closer to me, his muscles flexing. I felt a rush of heat in my body as he leaned in and spoke “I told you to take off the mask.” softly in my ear. I shivered and started to lean towards him. Since his mouth was on my ear my cheeks rubbed against him, his subtle scratching me lightly as an ache slowly started to build in my belly. “You like it, don’t you?” he whispered, the somewhat mocking tone made me open my eyes. And slowly the reality of my situation set in. Horrified of my actions, I pulled back and resumed my struggles.

“Ah, and she struggles again.” He drawled and my defenses started to crumble but I stubbornly held on, refusing to be controlled in such a rough manner. He pulled back slightly to look me in the eye.

“Let me go, Mark.” I gritted in anger. His eyes widened slightly at my bold use of his name before they settled in a smug expression. Quickly he shifted both my hands into of his, I struggled harder.

“Not gonna happen, my little hell cat.” He said, his tone akin to a growl before he slowly removed my mask and threw it on the ground. The thought of raising alarm occurred to me but I quickly squashed it with the fear of exposure. “Exquisito” he murmured something in Spanish. I almost melted in a puddle of goo as my knees went week.

“Yes, thank you, now let me go.” I finally said, letting my anger take control for my brain was clearly not working. It was becoming hard for me to concentrate on being angry when his face was mere inches from mine so I kept my eyes from his face as much as possible and looked at the wall behind him.

“What is your name?” he asked softly, completely ignoring my previous comment.

“None of your damn business.” I gritted and caught a fleeting look of surprise on his face.

“But you know my name. It is only fair that I know yours.” He said softly, I scoffed.

“Half the world knows your name. If it’s only fair, do you know their?” I shot back, throwing his words back in his face. He pursed his lips in annoyance. My gaze automatically went to them and the thought of kissing them suddenly crossed my mind. I started to lean in… A few more inches, I thought greedily but that thought left me as abruptly as it came. I shook my head as if to clear it. Then an idea came into my mind. Changing tactics, I leaned in until my mouth was on his ear. “Do you want to know my name?” I purred. He tensed slightly before relaxing his hold on me. Bingo, I thought as I smiled coyly at him.  

“And what is it?” he asked in the same tone though if I didn’t know any better I would’ve mistaken the expression on his face for disappointment. I pushed back that thought. What does he have to be disappointed about?

“My name is..” I purred again as his hands relaxed further. I moved my hands slightly to ensure I had mobility. Then I reacted. “SCREW YOU!” I shouted in his ear as I quickly leaned away from him. Taking advantage of his surprise, I took my hands out of his hand and held onto his shoulders as I rammed my heel into his shoe. The trick worked as he shouted a curse and almost fell to his knees in pain. Even though I felt bad for him I couldn’t keep the smug smile off my face as I gave him one last look and ran away. Few seconds later a familiar car rolled onto the curb and I practically wrenched the door open and jumped inside.

“Drive! Drive! Drive!” I almost shouted at him. He shot me a panicked look as he stepped on the accelerator.

“What happened?” he asked as he switched lanes.

“Where were you?” I asked, thinking of excuses.

“I was waiting for you at the exit.” He replied, a little hassled.

“I was at the exit!” I almost shouted at him. He took a deep breath.

“The other exit, Miss Carmichael.” He replied calmly.

“Oh” I said, anger draining out of me. Then I looked up and saw the weary looks he was shooting me. “I, uh, there were some reporters around.” He shot me a wry look. “Don’t look at me like that, there were some celebs hanging out there, s-smoking.” Without seeing his expression I continued, shamelessly using my fear of being in the media glare as an excuse. “And I d-dropped my m-mask somewhere and just panicked.” I finished, holding my breath, knowing if he found something wrong he will not hesitate telling Hayden about it. And then all hell will break loose.

“Oh, alright.” He relaxed. I sighed.

“Next time, be specific.” I grumbled.

“Yes, Miss Carmichael.” And then he went silent, leaving me with my thoughts of that arrogant, blue eyed actor.