Alexander
I woke up feeling like shit.
My head is throbbing, my body feels sore, and my eyes are burning as I tried to open them. I turn to my side.
Not a good idea
As soon as I did, the morning light hit my face, burning my eyes even more.
Who the hell opened the curtains?
Immediately, I turned my body away from the glaring light of the morning sun. I inhaled deeply, trying to regain my sleepiness when a scent of a woman hit my nostrils.
As much as I would want to keep my eyes close, I opened them to see if I was right.
Nothing. Empty.
The other side of the bed is empty. I closed my eyes again. Must be my imagination playing a trick on me. I inhaled again and this time I know I was right the first time.
She was here.
At that thought, I sat up.
Another bad idea
I groaned and was forced to lie back down as my head started spinning, more like cracking. Placing an arm over my eyes, I lied flat on my stomach, and then heard the door opened.
Knowing that my head will only hurt if I sat up again, I just raised my arm and squinted to see the intruder, willing it to be the girl from my dreams.
"Good Morning, sir."
I groaned again and placed back my arm over my face to cover my eyes.
It was just Rick Butler, my butler. I mentally laughed as I remembered how his last name coincides with his job.
I chuckled audibly.
"I find it hard to believe that a grown man such as yourself are still amused by the similarity of my surname and my job," Rick boredly commented.
I finally let out a loud laugh. How he knew what I was thinking is a mystery even to me.
"Hilarious," he said although I know it annoys him every time I think of that.
He cleared his throat and placed the breakfast he brought on the rather oversized nightstand.
"I hope you enjoyed your night, sir. You have a long day ahead of you."
I groaned and went back to smelling the side of the bed. I hugged the pillow I knew she lied onto a while ago.
Rick cleared his throat again and said something that made me stop snuggling into the pillow.
"The girl left your room this morning, sir. She was already paid to keep this little scandal of yours a secret."
"What?" I sat up and whipped my head to face Rick.
"Ugh!"
My brain screamed as I felt it cracking because of pain.
Great! A morning full of headache is just what I need.
But my mind drilled into the fact on Rick's information. It's not her then? I forced myself to think about what happened last night.
I heard her called me by the old nickname she gave me with her soft voice.
We talked for the first time after what happened.
I went inside and proceeded to entertain the guests, announced something important.
Then, I found my way to the bathroom and saw the guests of honor, the Winzenried twins together with the two billionaires in the country with their dates.
Whatever action is happening there, I decided to leave them alone and went to the bathroom in my room.
When I came back down, there was a commotion at the ball and saw that one of the two billionaires from earlier was making out with his date.
I was stunned for a moment as I tried not to see how the events unfold.
When I was about to leave, I had a glimpse of the girl suddenly throwing a punch at her date.
Bam! Atta girl!
I cheered in my mind but did not stick around to find out what happened next.
I ditched the party.
I went to a club and got a few drinks.
I remembered some women approached me.
I remembered dismissing them, but I took one home anyway.
"Why does this side of the bed smell like her?"
"How would Americans phrase it?" Rick paused as if in deep thought. "You got laid, sir. And I think the girl must have slept on that side of your bed."
I know that.
"What I mean is why does that woman, whoever she was smell like her?" And by her, I mean my Angel Face.
"Oh, right." Rick said and went to my walk-in closet. When he came back he handed me a half empty bottle of perfume. "I believe the girl must have put this perfume on her."
I stared at the bottle. It was the bottle of Angel Face's favorite perfume. It was her signature perfume and it was made just for her which also explains that she is the only girl in the world who has that scent. I had to pull some strings before obtaining the same bottle.
I groaned not because my head hurts but because the bottle of perfume was almost empty.
Did that girl, whoever she was, bathe in this?
My head throbbed at the thought. Smelling that particular scent seemed to amplify my headache even more. Smelling her scent makes me think of her presence even though she never reached this room last night.
Her face haunted me, and I'm not sure if her appearance last night is a good thing or not.
"Right. What are my schedules today, Rick?" I asked absently and started stabbing a forkful of pancakes and shoving it in my mouth.
He pulled out his tablet and began scrolling. "You have a meeting with Westwood-Stevens Industries at 10; a lunch with the Winzenried twins and Mr. and Mrs. Border at 12:30; Engr. Reynolds scheduled a meeting about the new building in San Francisco at 2; you will also attend a charity event held at the Medical City at 4:30; and finally, you will attend the festival in New Orleans."
Hell. How was I supposed to do that in just a day? I'm going to have to cancel some of them.
Come on, how can they expect me to travel from New York to San Francisco to New Orleans? I'm not Superman, for Pete's sake.
"Don't worry, sir. When you settled everything today, you can relax for a couple of days."
"Why?"
"So far, no one has complained about you just yet. They might be just testing how competent you are."
I snorted at that. I may have had done some irresponsible decisions when I was young but that's different now. Rick knows those decisions and me too much.
"What time is it?"
"It's 8:30, sir."
And then there was minute of silence before Rick launched his endless lecture about making him handle the party alone last night.
After that, he waited until I finished my meal before heading out.
I then forced myself out of bed and took a long shower to try to ease my head, and body.
"Xavier."
Only one person calls me that.
"Hello, Angel Face."
She walked towards me, and I took a step back. She removed her mask to reveal her beautiful face. The once half burned face is now completely healed.
I looked at her and admired everything that she has. Wearing a white gown truly makes her look like an angel sent from heaven.
"You look beautiful. The way you were always supposed to be."
"Is this all that matters to you? Beauty?" she asked as she held my face with her right hand. The soft skin that touched my jaw makes me want to surrender my whole being to her. "Is that why you can talk to me, right now? Because I'm beautiful again?"
"You know it's not true. It's my fault that you became miserable."
"Stop blaming yourself," she said firmly. And this time she held my face with both hands. I couldn't help but just stare into her gorgeous eyes.
But I forced myself to act and removed her hands from my face and started walking away.
"You know what, maybe you're right," she said, making me stop in my tracks. I didn't dare turn because I know that she's on the brink of crying. "I was miserable because of you. You left me. You avoided me when I needed you most. You were the one who gave me up. You let me suffer alone, instead of comforting me by staying on my side. You're right. I was miserable because of you."
I shook the thoughts out of my head and dried myself in a towel. Upon entering my walk-in closet, her scent filled my nostrils again. I groaned. That woman must have spilled the bottle to make my closet smell like this. I managed to get myself in a suit before walking out.
"Do you need me to accompany you, Mr. Kinsley?"
"Thank you, but there's no need," I declined politely. "I think my clients won't appreciate me having a butler at my tail."
Before walking out of the threshold, Rick managed to say something that made me eager to go to my first appointment.
"By the way, sir. The files that you asked for me are already on your desk at the office."