"Stazi, he's not here," Stella assured me for the tenth as we walked towards the grand front doors. My eyes had unconsciously been darting around the driveway, searching the area for any sign of him, and of course, she noticed.
"I'm not looking for him," I mumbled in embarrassment.
"Sure," she nodded her head. "And my name's Stella."
I frowned. "Your name is Stella."
"Or is it?" She winked.
To this day, I'm still trying to figure out how the man I work for and my best friend are related.
"Wow, you actually came," Carter voiced in surprise as soon as we walked through the doors.
"Not willingly," I rolled my eyes as I slipped out of my shoes and placed them on the black marble floor near the coat rack.
"You must be Anastazi," an unfamiliar voice spoke up from behind Carter.
I looked up to see a tall guy standing around 6'0, looking down at me through thick black frames and bright emerald green eyes with a small smile stretched across his face. His hair was dark with streaks of light brown running through it, complimenting his smooth tan skin. The stranger wore a white t-shirt that clung loosely to his lanky body with a pair of black basketball shorts.
"Please, call me Stazi; and you must be Theo," I guessed from his nerdy look.
"Correct," he flashed me a thumbs-up before stretching his hand out to shake mine.
I liked him already.
"Stazi, I would like you to meet Gabrielle," Carter announced, bringing my attention towards the beautiful woman standing behind him. She was as short as Stella, with luscious dark blonde hair cascading down her slender shoulders. Her eyes that were trained on the ground were the same color as mine, dark brown, and she had freckles littered across her pale face. She also wore a beautiful yellow summer dress that complimented her petite figure.
"Hello, nice to meet you." she squeaked, finally looking up at me as blush crept to her cheeks.
Fuck.
I was secretly hoping his girlfriend would be some bitchy asshole, giving me a valid reason to hate her other than the fact that she's with the guy I secretly like. But the woman standing in front of me was the complete opposite. She was sweet and shy and looked as if she would cry if she hurt a fly.
"I've heard some amazing things about you," I assured her with a friendly smile on my face.
"Really?" She beamed, looking up at Carter for confirmation.
He smiled down at her through loving eyes and placed a small kiss on her cheek before nodding his head slowly. And at that moment, all the feelings I had for Carter vanished. Seeing him with Gabrielle in person made me realize how much I needed to move on. He was with her now, someone who seems to be deeply in love with him as much as he's in love with her, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I took that away from them.
"Great," Stella clapped. "Now that we all know each other, can we get on with movie night?"
Carter and I simultaneously rolled our eyes but allowed our small friend to lead the way towards the movie room. The mansion was just how I remembered it, dark walls, high ceilings with white chandeliers hanging from it.
I made a detour and took a quick shower in one of the guest room before changing into the clothes Stella left me. I slipped on the fresh set of lace panties and bralette she bought from the store before picking me up from work and put on the navy blue t-shirt that smelled oddly familiar and black sweatpants over it.
The smell of salty popcorn wafted into my nostrils as soon as I entered the massive theater. LED lights were wrapped around the entire darkroom, creating the perfect atmosphere for watching movies. Ten black leather recliners were lined up along the entire opening, wide enough for two grown adults to sit comfortably in.
And at the very front of the room was a wide projector screen that took up the entire length of the wall with built-in speakers hidden along the other walls and floors to give the surround sound effect.
"The pizza will be here in about 15 minutes," Stella announced after we chose what movie to watch, which ended up being John Wick: Chapter 2.
Gabrielle and Carter took one of the recliners in the first row directly in front of the giant screen, while Stella and Theo took one of the recliners in the second row. Being the only single person there and wanting to be far away from the couples as possible, I took one of the recliners in the last row directly beside the door.
As the movie started, I couldn't help but feel like the pathetic fifth wheel watching the couples in front of me snuggled up and happy, making me regret my decision to come here in the first place. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang, alerting us that the pizza Stella ordered had finally arrived.
"I'll get it," I announced quickly as I hopped out of my seat, happy that I finally had a reason to escape the romantic atmosphere. Luckily, the couples were too engrossed in their own silent whispers to hear that I had left, which meant I didn't have to worry about coming back right away.
"I have an order for five large pizzas?" The delivery guy mumbled in a hurry as I swung open the front door. I couldn't help but notice how he kept stealing quick glances to the side as if someone were after him.
"Yep, that's us," I answered, brushing his strange behavior aside.
He nodded and forcefully shoved the boxes into my hands before muttering a quick apology and disappearing down the driveway.
That was fucking weird, I thought to myself as I closed the door with my foot and shuffled over to the kitchen to place the boxes on the counters. As soon as I sat down at the dining room table to devour the greasy pizza alone, the doorbell rang again.
"Did you forget someth--" I started to ask but stopped as soon as I saw that I wasn't speaking to the man who had just delivered the pizzas.
There standing in front of me instead was Nathaniel Creed himself. Now I see why the pizza man was acting so fidgety.
My heart began to race as I took in his bulky figure standing inches away from me, but the person standing beside him is the one that caught my attention. There clinging tightly to his arm was the same red-head from this morning wearing a smug look on her caked-up pale face as she watched me in the doorway.
Stella is a dead woman walking.
My heart dropped to my stomach for the second time that day as my eyes locked onto Nathaniel's for the first time since I caught him. A look of shock and regret flashed across his weary face but was quickly replaced with his usual frown leaving me to wonder whether I imagined it in my head.
"I thought you said she's nothing but your secretary; what's she doing here?" The red-head asked in an annoying high-pitch voice, eyeing me with disgust before looking up at Nathaniel for an answer.
"She is nothing but my secretary," he confirmed coldly without taking his eyes off my face.
He was looking to get a reaction out of me, to see if his cruel words had any effect on me, which it did. Hearing those words casually come out of his mouth stung harder than I anticipated, but I refused to show it. The moment I caught him in between her legs this morning was the moment I detached myself from him.
He no longer meant anything to me other than being my boss, just as I didn't mean anything to him, other than being his secretary and one out of the many women he's successfully charmed out of their panties.
My blood began to boil as I thought about how I gave into him so quickly, and standing right here in front of him after witnessing what happened with the whore next to him made me feel even more disgusted with myself.
"Excuse me, you're in the way." The red-head waved her hand, signaling for me to move from the doorway so they could enter.
My grip on the door tightened, and just as I was about to knock all thirty-two teeth out of her fucking mouth, Stella's voice echoed throughout the mansion.
"Stazi, why didn't you tell us that the pizza was-- "
I used that opportunity to be the bigger person and walk away before the situation escalated but not before shooting razor-sharp daggers into Stella's soul as I passed by her and Theo on my way to the room where I left my work clothes.
I wouldn't have even been here if it wasn't for Stella, promising that he would be out for the night, but clearly, she was wrong, and I wasn't going to stay here any longer than I had to.
"Stazi, you have to believe when I say I had no idea he was coming home," Stella rushed out as soon as she barged into the room.
"Save it," I mumbled as I began folding up the extra clothes and stuffing them into my oversized purse. I wasn't in the mood to talk; all I could think about was getting as far away from here as possible.
"I'm sorry," Stella whispered, touching my arm to stop me from packing.
I sighed and looked up at her, seeing the hurt in her eyes, and I knew right away that she didn't mean for any of this to happen.
If anyone's to blame, it's me for opening my body up to a man I knew was bad news.
"I know Stella, but I can't stay here, not when they're here."
"What if I told you they're already gone?" She asked, crossing her manicured fingers.
"Are they?" I narrowed my eyes.
She nodded eagerly.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, fighting the urge to say no and leave.
"If I see him here again, I will not hesitate to kill you."
She nodded again with a small smile on her face. "As long as you let me say goodbye to Theo one last time, I'm down."
I rolled my eyes and laughed before pushing her out of the door, so we could go and continue the movie that was interrupted by the unwanted guests.
I didn't realize how drained my body was until I was back on the recliner, struggling to keep my eyes open to finish the film.
Eventually, I gave up and snuggled deep into the warm blanket Stella had given me, allowing myself to drift off into a peaceful slumber.
~
By the time I woke up, the theater was pitch black; not even the LED lights were on.
"Uh, guys?" I called out into the darkness in hopes someone would answer as I lifted myself off of the recliner.
Where the fuck did everyone go?
I pulled my phone out to check the time and was surprised to see that it was already 1 AM considering that when I put my head down to rest, it was just 7 PM. I shuffled out of the room and into the hallway, scanning the dark area for any signs of my missing friends, but I was just met with blackness once again.
"Stella? Carter?" I whispered harshly as I made my way up the stairs to the second floor.
Still nothing.
I started checking the rooms one by one until I cleared the floor completely. But before giving up, I figured I'd try my luck on the very last floor before calling Stella to freak out.
As I made my way down the stretched halls, I silently prayed I wouldn't run into Nathaniel during my search because I couldn't trust myself to walk away if he cornered me in this dark hallway. All of my common sense seemed to fly out the window whenever I was around him, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why.
As soon as I rounded the corner to check the rest of the rooms on the floor, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps heading directly towards me.
My first instinct was to call out Stella or Carter's name, but as I continued listening to the steps advance, my heart stopped beating in my chest. I suddenly remembered the last night in Italy when I was lying in bed and heard the sound of heavy footsteps outside the door, the same footsteps I hear now.
Nathaniel.
The last thing I needed to do was get caught roaming around his house at the asscrack of dawn. I sucked in a deep breath and slipped into the first room I saw and hid behind the door waiting for the footsteps to retreat.
But instead, they got closer, and before I knew it, the door I was hiding behind swung open, shoving me against the wall, and in came a naked Nathaniel wearing nothing but a small towel wrapped around his waist. (See picture above for reference.)
I held my breath, not daring to exhale as I stood there, frozen pressed against the cool wall. Nathaniel walked towards his nightstand and flicked on the lamp, lighting up the enormous room.
Water dripped down from his dark hair, onto his neck, still wet from his recent shower, and I couldn't help but stare at his muscular tattooed back, watching his muscles flex every now and then. If someone were to walk in the room right now, I would've looked like a crazy stalker getting ready to jump his bones, but only one out of those two things were true.
Luckily, he was too distracted with something on his phone to notice my ogling, giving me enough time to escape out of the crack in the door.
But as soon as I glanced back with my hand resting on the doorknob to get one last look at his mouthwatering body, the towel around his waist, the only thing keeping him covered, suddenly dropped to the floor.
--