Somewhere along the fourth movie I had fallen asleep and felt Ward cover me with my blanket and adjust my head with a pillow. The apartment was cold so I appreciated that he took his time to adjust the temperature and lower the volume of the television. I felt oddly comfortable with him around and I can feel his eyes on me.
"You aren't completely asleep" He spoke up a couple of minutes later. I wasn't surprised that he noticed that I wasn't falling asleep. My breathing was all uneven and I was fidgety under his stares.
I turned my head to face him and just looked at him, "I can't sleep with you staring at me". The room was quiet besides the low mutter from the television. He looked away and I saw a tint of pink rise to his cheeks but I must've been imagining it. He can't blush, he's not capable of that, after all he's a robot.
He started playing with the pillow on his lap and when he was about to open his mouth to say something he stopped and cocked his head to the side. "Your phone is ringing". I rubbed my eyes and tried looking around for it, I couldn't hear it ring. I wasn't even sure if I brought it down with me when we started watching TV.
"It's upstairs" He told me. His face was blank and stared straight at the movie playing. I removed the blanket and ran up the stairs, as I got closer to my room, the louder the ringing became. I mentally added that to one of his weird attributes. He had bionic hearing. Fantastic.
I managed to get to my phone before it stopped ringing. All out of breath, I answered the call. "Hello?" I heard giggling on the other side of the phone and I quickly looked at the caller ID. It was one of my friends from college, Jade Thirlwall. "Oh girl, you sound exhausted. Were you doing the dirty? Did I interrupt something?" I rolled my eyes. That was such a Jade thing to say.
"No!" I took a deep breath and answered a bit more calmly. Her giggles continued, I'm sure I sounded guilty to her. "My phone was charging in my room and I had to run to pick it up". She was quiet for a while, probably wondering if I was telling the truth. I didn't want her asking questions so I asked questions myself. "Why did you call?".
She cleared her voice, "Oh yes, My cousin just came from her trip in Australia and we wanted to go to a club and party. I heard that your bestie went out of town so I decided to invite you". My heart warmed up when I heard her say that. Jade was a great person to be around with, she was always bright and warm to the people she became friends with.
"Well, yeah. I'm not doing much tonight besides watching movies with-" I stopped. I had forgotten I was in charge of taking care of Ward until my dad came back.
"With who?" Jade spoke up breaking my mental thoughts. Her voice sounded excited and I knew she was going to ask more questions. "Oh a family friend, he's here for a week and I'm not sure if I can go. I don't want to leave him alone in the house". My excitement to go out with the girls slowly diminished.
"Oh! Don't worry about that. You can bring him, Katie is bringing her boyfriend and I invited someone too, but who knows if he's coming". Her joyful tone of voice dimmed towards the end of the sentence. Jade was probably sad that the guy she liked wasn't giving her the time of day. Very annoying, since she was a very sweet and attractive girl. Anyone, would be lucky to be with her.
"Oh if he doesn't, you can always have fun with the long list of gentleman that will surely follow you around in the club" I tried to cheer her up and I smiled when I heard her laugh on the phone. "Oh yeah, sure. Anyways, do you want me to pick you guys up around nine or do you want to meet up in front of the place?" I gave it some thought and decided that being picked up was the best choice.
We hung up and I walked over to my closet mentally preparing an outfit to wear at the club. I heard wards heavy footsteps going up the stairs but I chose to ignore him. He confused me a lot and I had so many questions that needed to be answered. What I needed tonight was a good drink and loud music to distract myself from Ward thousand mysteries.
"What does one wear to a club?" I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him. "seriously? prying in my phone conversation? That's very rude. And you can wear what ever you want. Leather and black jeans would do". I can feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I wasn't sure why I was feeling all flustered and angry when ever he was around. He left my room and I could hear him getting ready in the other room. I chose an outfit and found matching accessories to go with it. I tackled my messy curls and tried to make them more presentable.
I didn't try to spend a lot of my time with my appearance because at the end of the night I would look like a mess. The moment I stepped out of my room, Ward did too. I was almost sure he synchronized his pace with mine so we could be done at the same time.
"You look very radiant" he said to me when we walked down the stairs, I gave him a small smile not to be rude but I found his compliment unnecessary. He didn't really mean that, he wasn't capable of forming his own thoughts. Was he?
I waited for Jade's driver in the lobby of the building, Ward looked around with a serious face, like he was annoyed at something. I just texted on my phone wondering how much longer I had to wait to get picked up. Several guys that live on the building entered chatting loud, making it evident they had a couple drinks tonight. I ignored them and felt their eyes on me, but Ward did something that surprised me. He covered me from their strong stares and he put his hand on my lower back. It oddly made me feel more comfortable. I looked at the reflection from the glass door and saw him looking straight at the guys intimidating them to go away.
It brought chills up my spine and his sensitivity to everything around him, had him turning his attention to me again. His eyes went to his hand that was still on my lower back and his eyes observed the goosebumps that were all over my exposed skin. I didn't dare look him in the eyes, they had an intensity that overwhelmed me and I didn't want to show him any further reaction. I snapped my eyes away from his reflection on the glass door and looked back at my ringing cellphone.
Luckily, it was Jade calling me to tell me she was a block away from my building. My heart skipped abruptly when Ward removed his hand from my lower back, I tried to remain calm and speak on the phone with Jade. She was, thankfully unaware of my strange tone and I blame the alcohol because she's quick in picking things up.
"Oh my gosh! You didn't tell me your family friend was hot!" Jade squealed when we got inside her range rover. Luckily she wasn't driving so I allowed myself to relax in the drive to the club. I took a couple of shots and hummed to the song playing in her car. Ward was offered liquor by Jade and he tried it but the rest of the car ride he was quiet. I tried to ignore the way his closeness made me feel. I was out to have a good time and I didn't bother explaining to him what a club atmosphere consisted of, he just had to learn certain things on his own.
Three hours later and I was drunk out of my ass, Jade and I had danced so much that I couldn't feel the bottom of my feet. Ward was actually enjoying himself but I always felt him close to me or his eyes wherever I went. Jade was upset that the guy she invited didn't show but a couple shots of vodka and the crowd of guys surrounding her quickly changed her mood.
At that point I decided to take a break and let Jade enjoy herself, I walked out from the dance floor and went out through the back door of the club. I looked around as I was stepping out making sure Ward wasn't following me. It was hot inside even though the AC's were on blast but all of the dancing and sweat was getting to me.
I avoided a group of guys that were in front of the door and just waited by the bar until they left. I checked my phone and saw that it was close to one in the morning. That explained why I was exhausted, I was used to sleeping early and waking up early to do some studying. The guys had moved so I quickly walked out and sighed in relief when I took a deep breath of cold air. I looked around and found myself completely alone. I texted Jade not to worry that I was going home.
She texted back a corn emoji which I took as her saying it's okay with her. I started walking, completely ignoring the little voice in my head telling me that I was forgetting something.
"Oh look at this" I heard voices behind me but I wasn't sure if it was towards me. I didn't pay any attention to the multiple voices speaking out in the darkness of the street. My mind wasn't capable of remembering which way was back home and the chills were starting to spread all over my body.
I felt something hard and rough grab my arm, "where you going sweety?" I almost threw up by the disgusting smell of alcohol and vomit that came from the mans mouth. He was obnoxiously loud and it made me feel so dizzy. "Badly you smell sir". I started speaking all yoda and I heard him curse as he started dragging me somewhere.
"Can you not drag me around these heels hurt like a bitch". I wanted him to let go of me but I was so weak and I didn't have a clue where I was. "Dirty mouth you have, aye?" I wrinkled my nose at his scent, "Oh do you know where we are? I need to get home?" I was worried about the homework that was due Tuesday. I needed to get it done, I was mentally preparing for it but Ward had me occupied watching movies.
"Oh! Ward. I forgot my friend at the club". That's what I had forgotten. Now I felt 10 times dumber for forgetting a human. I giggled, "Oh wait, he's not really a human. He's a robot". I didn't hear those words come out of my mouth, its like slowly my mind was shutting down and then there was a smelly guy dragging me who knows where.
We made an abrupt stop by the back of some building and slowly my mind started connected the guy's aggressiveness and his drunkness. "I have to go!" I said in a loud and authoritative tone. I couldn't see his face well, everything was blurry and confusing. But what I did see was his snake like smile. "No you aren't you're staying here". He started unbuckling his belt and I felt a huge knot form in my throat. "Holy shit" I tried walking away but he was faster than me and obviously more aware of his surroundings. The street was dark but there was loud music coming from the club or a nearby party.
No one would hear me scream, "Please just let me go I don't want to do this" I was gasping for air as it slowly started getting hard to breathe. My heart was beating so hard and my legs were so weak. "No? you don't then why are you dressed like that? and talking to me all nice?". I was so confused I was thinking as hard as I could to remember what I told this man to make him believe that I was actually intrigued by him. "I can't think", I was so close to being sick and the guy didn't seem to pay attention to me as he brought his pants down.
"You're gonna rape me" I said stupidly. Or at least it sounded like I said it, the guy didn't flinch or respond to me. I started backing away from him and felt the tears coming down my cheeks. "Just be quiet and it's gonna be over". I tried to push him away but it was no use, he was bigger and stronger than me and the alcohol in my system made me dumb with my reactions.
"No I don't want this" I cried out loud and he just grunted in annoyance and covered my mouth. "Why do you got to make this difficult? I just want some pussy". I tried biting his hand and he just pulled it back and slapped me with the other.
I fell to the ground and started crawling away from him but that didn't stop him, he just pulled me back from my hips. I struggled really hard to get him off me but it was useless and pathetic. "Maldita sea, quedate quieta", I whimpered as he turned me around. I close my eyes really tight and stopped fighting him.
I stayed very still and heard heavy footsteps approaching us; I covered my face and hoped it wasn't one of his trying to join him. "what the fuck" I heard the snake like man say and then multiple unidentifiable noises. I was feeling sick to my stomach from everything that was happening to me tonight and cried. Cried so hard because I wanted everything to be over.
I couldn't hear anything but the ringing on my ears, I was sobbing and feeling sick to stomach. I felt someone pull me up and carry gently. Nothing like the hands that had pulled me down the street five minutes ago. I opened my eyes and saw his dark hair and his brown eyes looking down at me.
"Ward?" I touched his face and pinched his cheeks, leaving a pink mark. He nodded and looked at my face and everywhere else. "Are you okay?" I nodded my head but I really wasn't I didn't feel well at all. "I can hear your heart it's unusually fast and your temperature is lowering". He said this and I was just nodding my head like an idiot. I snuggled to his chest and gave him my phone.
"My driver. Call him'' Ward managed to call him while still carrying me, I would of helped but I couldn't see things properly, and my head was giving me a bad headache. I slowly closed my eyes and thanked him for getting me out of there but who knows if I actually said anything.
The next morning I woke up to very good aroma, my room was dark, and by my bed stood a tall glass of orange juice with two advils on a small plate. I swallowed them and slowly looked around. My room wasn't in an usual mess, like it normally looked after a night at the club. I tried standing up from my pillow but i felt drained and my skull felt like it was going to explode.
I looked down at myself and noticed I was in my hello kitty pajamas and no bra under. I looked at myself in the mirror and expected to find mascara and eyeliner smudged all over my face but it was clean. I leaned in a bit closer and touched my face, it was super clean and smooth. Did Ward do all of this?
I wasn't aware of when the sound from downstairs stopped but when I looked up from my mirror, I saw Ward standing by my door with a tray of delicious food. He looked at me with a worried expression on his face but I only briefly noticed it because my eyes were busy looking at the rest of his body. He wore sweatpants that hung on his waist and no shirt to cover his chest. His hair was messy and he wore slippers, making him look casual but worthy for a magazine shoot.
He spoke first, "I made you breakfast", I tore my eyes away from his trail and his sweat pants waist. I eyes the tray and found sausages, an omelette, toast , pancakes and jam. Everything looked so good and it made my stomach grumble very loudly that even the Queen of England was sure to hear it. "Oh thank you". I tried to be as friendly as possible with my tone of voice but everything about this was so odd and new to me.
"What happened last night?" I started to eat the omelette which thankfully had spinach and looked up at him. He avoided eye contact and scanned my room, "I saved you from an ass who tried too..." his face tensed up, ''Tried to take advantage of you". I stopped chewing and nodded slowly. "I sort of remember that but then after that it was all blank".
"Well nothing bad happened to you, you were safe with me and made sure you were in your bed". He said it and his words just had my heart skipping in weird beats. "Thank you". I reached over to hold his hand and show him that I was really grateful that he took his time to change my curtains, change me into my pajamas, remove my makeup, leave me two Advils and make me breakfast. He felt very warm and soft under my touch. I rubbed my thumb and looked at him, "I was kind of irresponsible last night, leaving the club drunk and without you or Jade. I'm just glad you saved me on time before, you know, something bad happened". Ward was very close to me and I can feel his warmth from his body and his scent. It calmed me down and the throbbing pain on my temples. "You shouldn't drink like that anymore, you passed out and your body was so unresponsive to me when I tried waking you up". I chuckled, and gave his hand a squeeze. "That's very normal and common when you drink heavily, but yeah after tonight I doubt I will drink for the next couple of months. It's not for me".
Ward gave me a small smile and looked at me very deeply. I couldn't look away even though my stomach was doing acrobatic back flips and chills went wild throughout my body. All you could hear was my frantic heart beat, the ticking of my clock and his strong steady heart. He looked away and pointed to my food, "you should eat before it get's cold". I looked back at my plate and wondered how I was going to eat all of that with the weird feeling in my tummy. I looked up to but Ward wasn't in my room anymore.
"Thank you" I whispered. But something told me he heard me say it so I ripped my eyes away from the door and ate my breakfast.
________
HIII wassup people. no we aren't dead. Ahmbria and I have been busy since this semester started but today I felt inspired and once I started I told myself that I needed to continue until I finished it. Hope you guys like this update. It was fun writing it.
- angela