Zara's Safari

Chapter 5

I slid my heel across his threshold and took a step closer to him.

“Can I come in?” I didn’t wait for a response, instead I walked past him, making sure to press my body up against his as I squeezed past.

“I didn’t say yes,” He said, stumbling over his words slightly.

It was working.

“You didn’t have to say it out loud Riaan. In fact, you don’t have to say another word.” I turned around dramatically and faced him, momentarily stumbling on my heel. I flashed him one of my best bedroom smiles but instead of having that drooling puppy dog look that he should have had, his face looked stern and his features harsh and angry.

“You’re drunk.” He said dryly.

 “Drunk is such an ugly word.” I flipped my hair to expose more of my neck.

“I think you should leave,” He held the door open with his outstretched arm. I couldn’t help notice that he had a very impressive set of biceps on him.

“You don’t really want me to leave.” I said upping the ante and sitting down on his bed, moving the mosquito net to one side. But the darn thing fell back into my face and I was forced to push it away again. It was definitely ruining the cool, sexy vibe I was going for, but I remained composed.

Riaan remained unmoved.

Maybe he was the kind of guy that needed a bit of small talk first. I looked around his room. It was bigger than mine and about a hundred times nicer. This was the five star deluxe suit in comparison to my economy class slum. There were a few personal touches here and there.

“How did you get the nice room?” I ran my hand over the duvet. It was softer than mine and not as garish. “So what do I have to do to get upgraded, Mmmmm?” I let the implication of that sentence linger in the air a bit as I smiled at him.

Still, he remained unmoved.

I started to wonder if he wasn’t some cold-blooded reptilian, because nothing was having the slightest effect on him.

“Now. Please go!” His words were so cold and emotionless-I really didn’t like the way they were making me feel.

“You…” Now it was my turn to stutter a little, “You… really want me to leave?”

Riaan remained still and stared out the door with such intensity, it was almost as if he was trying to move me there with the power of his mind.

I crossed my arms involuntarily. I suddenly felt very exposed. Vulnerable. I didn’t like it.

“Now!” The word came out so loud and firmly that it forced me to stand up, I immediately felt the tip of my heel piece the net that was hanging on the floor. I tried to walk forward, but the net bucked against me and I tripped. I fell to my hands and knees and instantly tried to dislodge myself by crawling forward. But the more I tried to break free, the more tangled I got.

This was not going like I’d planned. I grabbed my ankle and tried to pull my heel loose, but it was not budging- so I did the only logical thing, I left it. I pulled my shoe off and stood up as gracefully as I could, trying to salvage any sliver of dignity I might still have left intact. But the whole falling, crawling performance I fear had not rendered me as desirable as I would have hoped. I walked over to the door, hobbling on one heel but pretending to completely ignore it.

“You know, the last guy that acted like this was gay. Are you gay? It’s nothing to be ashamed of if you are.”

Riaan glared at me, “I’m not gay.”