Gradually, I started coming back to my senses. The echo of the birds' chirping became nearer and the touch of soft silk rolling over my skin became clearer. I forced my heavy eyelids open to find myself blinded by a ray of sunlight falling directly on where I lay. I blinked repeatedly until my vision adjusted to the room, and my gaze took in my surrounding. It was a large, grandeur bedroom and I was seated in the center of it, lied on a king-sized bed with grey silk bed-sheets that were unbelievably soft against my skin.
It took a few minutes too long to recall the last events that went down before my sleep. I didn't know how long ago that was, because I had no idea what time of day it was at that moment. Abruptly, I sat upright in bed, the sheets falling off my torso. I backed against the headboard and immediately grabbed my pounding head. I was familiar with that pain; I must have slept for way too long.
My gaze shifted to my right where I searched the nightstand for a clock, but found it bearing none. There was only a single lamp that was switched on even though the sunlight provided more than enough brightness to the room.
My eyes moved down to my body to find that I was still in last night's attire; they allowed me to sleep in jeans? No wonder I was so uncomfortable.
I'd wished someone would've woken me just so I'd changed into a more comfortable attire then gone back to sleep. I would've enjoyed being wrapped by those silk sheets much better.
I shifted my weight to the side of the bed, where I had to literally roll to reach the end because of how big the mattress was, and I dropped my legs to the cold-tiled floor. When my skin adjusted to the cool surface, I pushed my body to stand straight and instantly grabbed the headboard for balance. My vision turned black for a second then returned to normal.
That's when my stomach gave a deep rumble.
I was so starved to the point where I was craving the taste of literally anything and everything.
But within the next few seconds, the haze that was clouding over my mind blocking the memories of last night, began to back fade away and the events started to become clearer. I started to remember the story I narrated to Xavier word by word, and a strong sense of shame and embarrassment nestled deep in my chest. I could feel my face begin to heat up, and I face-palmed so hard I heard the slap echo in the quiet of the room.
Why?
That was the only question running through my mind. Why the hell did I tell him all of that? Why didn't I lie? Why didn't I come up with a story that wouldn't have ruined my image the way I know it is ruined now?
My hands were beginning to tremble with the shame I felt and I couldn't bear the thought of running into Xavier ever again; of looking him in the eyes when I knew he was fully aware of my past stupidity and vulnerability.
I searched the room to check whether my purse had been brought up here, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Groaning, I began to walk towards the open door leading to the bathroom, where I splashed my face with ice-cold water and brushed my teeth with the spare toothbrush I found in the cabinet behind the mirror. I dried off my face then fixed my messy hair into a tight bun. After a few minutes spent focusing on my breathing and gathering up the courage, I decided to walk out of the bedroom.
I was in the same hall from earlier, directly across the wall covered in family portraits. The amount of characters within the pictures was unbelievable, and I had to fight against my curiosity and force my feet to continue moving towards the staircase instead of examining the portraits.
I began to slowly tip-toe towards the staircase, my senses on high alert in case someone suddenly steps out of any of the bedrooms - I distinctly remember Xavier informing me that three families are staying in this house.
I reached the staircase within seconds, but the instant my hand grabbed the railing, I heard the creak of a door opening by the end of the hallway and the deep voices of at least three men discussing a matter among themselves. A sudden rush of adrenaline coursed through my veins and a voice in my head yelled at me to flight.
Letting go of my grip on the railing, I flew down the stairs skipping two - sometimes three - steps at a time. However, in the process of running, the sound of my feet coming down hard on the steps got louder than before and echoed through the house, and the murmurs of earlier slowly came to a stop. I didn't spare a second to glance behind as I kept running down the long staircase, reaching the end and frantically searching the front room for my purse. I needed my purse if I wanted to get out of here, it carried my phone - which I needed to call a cab - and also my money - which I needed to pay the cab driver with.
I rushed from room to room, entering the kitchen too and walking straight into the housekeeper from earlier as she carried a pile of napkins in her hands, she almost dropped them to the floor and I murmured quick apologies.
"P-purse! Did you see my purse?!" I didn't know why but I was whisper-yelling at her as her brown eyes widened in fear.
She shook her head repeatedly. "N-no, ma'am. I did not see your purse."
I groaned loudly, my heartbeat now racing as I began to panic. I had to get out of here before I run into anyone else. I needed to go home. I needed my friends.
"Your purse is in the living-room, ma'am." A soft voice spoke from behind the counter; it was a younger girl dressed in the same house-keeping attire who had informed me of that.
I nodded my head, repeatedly thanking her as I left through the kitchen door, not knowing where exactly the living-room was but going on a search anyway.
After walking into three different seating areas and finding each to be bigger than the last, I finally found which living-room the housekeeper was talking about when I spotted my black purse on a coffee table right next to an L-shaped couch. I rushed over to it and grabbed the bag, zipping it open and fishing for my phone. With trembling hands I began to dial the number to call a cab, simultaneously turning to head towards the front door. But the second I turned away I slammed violently into what felt like a wall, losing my balance and dropping the phone. I heard it clatter to the ground, and I cringed at the sound - knowing for sure my phone screen wouldn't have come out alive from the strong impact.
A pair of hands grabbed my upper arms and steadied me, and I instantly backed away from the familiar touch. My eyes fell down to where my phone lay, face-down on the floor.
"Everything alright?" Xavier questioned.
I bit the inside of my cheek, last night's memories still fresh in my mind. "You broke my phone," I accused.
His head lowered to where my eyes lay, and he cleared his throat. "I apologize. I will replace it with a newer one."
My neck heated up. "I don't want you to do that."
Xavier went silent for a second, before speaking up. "But I must make up for my mistake."
I shook my head, stepping aside to pass him by. "I want to go home." I started towards the open doorway leading out of the living-room, searching for the front door. And I could hear Xavier's footsteps following me behind.
"Nora, I don't think that's a good idea-"
"I want to see my friends," I cut him off.
He reached out for my arm once more, his hand coming to wrap around my wrist and stop me from moving further away. I turned around and yanked my arm out of his grip, stumbling a step back. "Stop touching me." I blurted out.
Xavier's arm dropped down to his side, and he continued to stare at me. I was breathing heavily by that point, my eyes burning holes in his chest.
He took a step closer, and I mocked his by taking one back. When he noticed my movement, he stopped his, planting his feet to the ground a few steps away from me.
I was still staring at his chest.
"You don't have to do this, Nora." He informed me in a gentle voice, taking a step forward. I tried to move my own legs but they wouldn't budge. His arm stretched forward and his hand gently grasped my chin, tilting my head upwards. "Look at me," he demanded.
But I refused to.
I couldn't bear the look in his eyes, no matter what it was. So my eyes remained fixed on his chest.
Xavier moved another step forward, his hand moving from my chin to cup the side of my face, and his other hand coming up to repeat the action on the other side of my face. He softly tilted my head back again. "Nora, please look at me."
The gentleness of his tone almost broke me down, but I bit hard on my tongue, almost drawing blood. I could sense him coming closer to me as his head lowered down, his warm minty breath fanning over my face. In a gentle motion, his soft lips crashed against my forehead, and he held still for what felt like an eternity with my breath hitched in my throat. A spark of sensations traveled from where his lips connected with my skin down to my cheeks where they warmed up.
Slowly, Xavier pulled away from my face but his hands remained in their positions. I blinked away the shock and slowly moved my eyes up to meet his gaze. His shimmering silver eyes were staring down at me with a deep emotion that clenched the muscles in my chest. They brightened up as our gazes met, and I saw the glimmer of joy sparkling in them.
"It's alright," he whispered reassuringly. Those two words alone caused my eyes to well up with tears, and I swallowed the lump growing in my throat. I forced my feet to take a step away to back up from his touch, blinking the tears away as I cleared my throat.
"C-can we just forget about last night?" I asked hopefully. Xavier pursed his lips, looking like he's about to argue. "Please."
The muscle in his jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth, before forcefully nodding his head once. I sighed in relief, thanking him.
"I still want to go back. I want to see my friends."
Xavier nodded, his eyes moving from mine to the button of his dress-shirt's sleeve as he fixed his attire. "Of course. I will take you to them." He motioned towards the front door, offering a tight smile.
*
We were driving down an unfamiliar path, not far away from where Xavier's family estate lay. It took only a few minutes to reach the small cabin surrounded by tall, enormous trees, and I wasn't sure we even left the premises of his estate. The car slowed down as it got closer to the modern cabin.
I frowned. "Why are we stopping?" I glanced at Xavier in confusion, to find his eyes still fixed on the cabin.
"Because we've arrived."
My frown deepened. "I thought you were taking me to my friends." My tone was accusatory, and it came out harsher than I expected, because I was tired and I needed my best friend.
Xavier quickly glanced at me, and cleared his throat. "They're here."
The second those words came out through his lips, the front doors of the cabin were burst open and two figures came walking out, their postures stiff and in high alert. As they descended the porch steps and neared us, I began to see them more clearly.
"Noah?" I whispered in disbelief, my hand already on the door handle pushing the car door open. Elliot and Noah stopped a few feet away from the car, Noah's fist tightened on a baseball bat.
What the hell is going on?
I rushed out of the car and ran towards them, stopping a foot away and my hands immediately falling on Noah's shoulders as I began bombarding him with questions. "What's going on? Why are you guys here? And why are you holding that bat?"
He dropped the bat in his hand with a soft thud, his hands went over my own and he grabbed them gently. "Everything's alright, don't worry." he reassured. "Lets get inside first then we'll explain." He motioned to the cabin and dragged me towards it.
"Nora, wait," Elliot stopped us, and we all turned to look at him. He glanced at Noah and Xavier, "we'll be right behind you."
They understood that he was implying he wanted to speak to me privately, so they nodded and continued towards the cabin, Noah picking up his bat along the way. I walked towards Elliot.
"Hey, uhm.. I'm really sorry for pushing your buttons the way I did. I was freaking out and I-"
"It's alright."
"No, it's not. I shouldn't have treated you that way."
I shook my head. "I understand that you were stressed out about everything, so it's alright."
Elliot sighed, his hand coming up to brush his black hair back frustratingly. "We're all stressed out. I had no right to say those things to you."
My heart clenched as I detected the sincerity in his voice. "I forgive you," I voiced the words I knew he needed to hear; and I meant them. I understood how freaked out he was and people often bable random things when they're in that state.
Elliot broke out a cheeky grin, his arms stretching wide, and a single eyebrow rising in question. I chuckled as I moved forward into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his torso and giving a crushing squeeze, to which he groaned painfully in response to.
He backed away then and chuckled, too. "Let's go inside." I nodded and followed him towards the porch.