When LOVE is not Enough

Chapter 8 - Angel

The bodyguard squad finally left when we were done with the last session. We were sitting at the cafe now eating as usual. "Am sorry about Iris, she's just very... protective", he smiled making me release a breath, the act made him laugh. "I guess I could say the same about Blake. We've been friends since high school, he is the one that picked up the pieces when my ex was moving on as if eight years of our lives didn't exist", the pain that I saw behind his eyes was very hard to forget. I found myself squeezing his hand tight as if bringing him back from where he was because I knew from that pain, he was reliving the moment she hurt him the most. "Hey, it's ok, you never know what god was saving you from, look on the bright side, she gave you Alice, right? Speaking of Alice any tips on what I should get her?", I changed the topic knowing that bringing Alice up would make things less tense. "Oh well, she likes swimming and old music and photography I guess", he said trying his best to bounce back. "I bet you're responsible for the old music?", I asked and by the looks of it, I was right. "Guilty as charged, but she also thinks it was way more fun and unpredictable", he explained with a proud aura. "Clever girl", I agreed, it was the same reason I loved old music. "That she is", we went back to our plates. We ate in silence and when we were done he escorted me to the parking lot. We said our goodbyes when we reached my car. "Tell Blake, I want him to have dinner with us tomorrow ok?", that caught him by surprise but he accepted pretty fast making me smile.

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"No, you didn't!", Blake was like a deer caught in the headlights. I was telling him a story about how I pranked our Father when I was young and framed Iris because she was his favourite. "He let you go?", "Of course he did", "That's awesome I need tips on that...You know what? You're alright Angel", he said looking at his friend who was staring at me the whole time. When we were done they walked me to my car with Axel holding my hand. "I'll send you the address as soon as I get home ok?", "Ok, I just... thank you for doing this Angel", "My pleasure", he stared at me like he wanted to make a move but decided against it.

I woke up super early to do all my Saturday chores because I wasn't going to have time later. This was the first time I was going to spend quality time with Axel and also meet his daughter. He was going to come to pick me up around noon because it was a four-hour drive to the venue. I was not surprised since his ex loved to live fabulously so yeah. I cleaned the place and finally made a bubble bath. I had fallen asleep only to be woken up by a knock on the door. I turned to the clock only to see it was eleven thirty. There was a second knock so I went to open the door and there he was looking amazing in a denim set with a white shirt. "Hey, come in", I said hoping that he would ignore the fact that I only had a towel on. It was a failed mission, he took me in from my bare feet to my hair, I watched as he swallowed hard then walked in. "How are you?", he said while sitting on one of the sofas. "Am good, just give me a few minutes and we will be out of here, feel free ok?", I said nervously trying to forget how difficult it was walking in front of him while he was looking at me like he wanted to eat me. 

I ended up wearing high-waisted jeans that hugged my bum in place with a white tight shirt kinda matching him except for my sneakers, they were hot red matching my lipstick. As for my afro hair, I just put it in a bun. Looking at myself in the mirror I liked how I looked, picked up Alice's gift and stuck to my promise we were leaving at noon. "You look amazing my Angel", he said as he reached for my hand while we drove away. "Thank you, you dress up nicely too", that made him chuckle. "You don't believe me?", "Oh I do, I really do, I just don't understand why you're blushing", he said kissing my knuckles. I felt like a shock wave travelling all over my body and it was just amazing. I watched as we kept driving out of the city and my oh my! The houses that I started seeing were massive. Like a palace size and they were beautiful. "This place is amazing", "Would you live in a place like this?", he asked while keeping his eyes forward. "It depends", "On what?", he asked with curiosity and it was like he expected me to just say yes. "Well, it will depend on the person that I end up with. I care more about someone giving me time in their life than giving me things, hoping that they will make up for lost time. All these fancy things won't mean a thing if I will be enjoying the view on my own or having an amazing kitchen but no one to cook with, you know?", he remained silent so I turned to him and found him smiling while still looking ahead. "What about you?", "I want what you want Angel...someone who will understand me and believe me when I say that am trying my best. Someone I can rely on. I'm willing to give her the world if she gives me those three things", he said and kissed my knuckles again, this time holding them to his lips a little longer. I knew he was hurting. I just wished I could do something to make him feel better. I will get to that right after I win Alice over. I just hoped that she would like me. I know that she means everything to Axel so if I wanted to be part of this or whatever this was to work then Alice was my ticket to victory. When I thought about the ex, I felt intimidated but I remembered Iris's words. I was going to own this joint.