Eliza stirred in her sleep when the rough pillow on her face disturbed the softness of her cheeks. She slowly turned around to lie on her back as she groaned and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes fluttered and the eyelids felt heavy; she made an effort to open them. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a cracked ceiling.
Her room didn't have a cracked ceiling.
She panicked when she looked around her and spotted the familiar sentence her friends had drawn on certain walls.
'This town doesn't want you'
She jerked up and instantly regretted when the movement brought forward a stinging pain making her blind for a moment. She held her head as she began to fall back but strong arms caught her and she felt herself being laid down slowly. The pillow was cushioned in a position to rest her back and she felt more comfortable with that instead of lying down.
"Papa?" she called in a low voice; her throat felt dry.
"Ah...it's me."
William
She flapped her eyes open and stared at William. He was shirtless and his hair was wet; he must have been in the shower. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and she observed his perfectly sculptured muscles and abs; her fingers itched to trace them. There was a tattoo on his chest; it looked like a sentence but she couldn't read it. She looked at his strong arms that were holding her by her shoulders. When he saw her studying him, he let go and moved towards one side.
She followed his movements as he went to his cupboard and opened it to pull out a dark blue, full-sleeved T-shirt. She watched him as he wore it with his back turned to her. The flexing of his muscles made her cheeks heat up. He turned to look at her and she averted her eyes quickly to avoid his gaze. He moved across the room and was back at her side.
"You okay?" he asked and she lifted her eyes to look at him.
His bright, blue eyes were full of genuine care and she nodded. He reached out for the bedside table and she noticed the glass of water that was kept on it. He picked it up and brought it towards her.
She took the glass and drank the water in one huge gulp, relief spreading through her entire body. She finally felt like she could speak again.
"Why am I here?" she asked him as he took the empty glass from her and placed it back on the table.
"You don't remember?"
She panicked at the sound of those words. The last thing she could remember was dialling her father's number. After that, everything was blank. She focused hard to remember anything, but she couldn't.
"No," she confessed.
"You called your Dad. I picked it up and you said that you were in trouble so I went to search for you and when I found you, you asked me not to take you to your Dad and so I brought you here."
She felt a blush form on her cheeks at the fact that she couldn't remember any of those things.
"Hmm...thanks I guess?" she said, looking at him innocently. He chuckled and his laughter sounded heavenly to her ears.
"Sure," he said, nodding his head.
Eliza looked at herself and finally realized something. She was not wearing her clothes. She was wearing a black oversized shirt and she panicked when she felt the rough mattress underneath her thighs. She wasn't wearing her jeans either. Embarrassed, she pulled the blanket closer to her body to cover herself.
"Where are my clothes?" she asked, fearing the answer. He pointed to her left and she turned to find them neatly folded beside her.
"Why am I..." she started to ask but stopped midway.
William must have seen the doubtful look on her face because he quickly got up from the bed and stood at a safe distance from her before he spoke again.
"Don't worry. I didn't touch you," he said and Eliza stared at him blankly.
"These..." He pointed towards the pile of her clothes. "You opened them yourself. You said you were feeling too hot and before I could say anything, you were already out of them. I gave you a shirt and made you wear it. You didn't want to wear that either."
As he spoke, Eliza couldn't help but feel like she would die of shame and she sunk deeper in the bed, covering her face with the blanket.
"No..." she said. "Please don't tell me I tried to do something."
William chuckled again and said, "I won't lie. When I put you to bed, you pulled me along with you and wouldn't let go. When I finally managed to get out of your grip, you wouldn't let go of my shirt and then...very swiftly I might add, you started opening the buttons. I was impressed." She blushed at that and he smirked. "I think it was the substance you took, you were practically all over me. I had a hard time tucking you in."
Eliza felt her face grow hotter and hotter as he said each word.
"I am so sorry," she said, closing her eyes, not having the courage to face him anymore.
"It's okay," William assured her. "We can forget about it. Now, let me help you. You need to freshen up and have some food. You weigh like air."
Eliza slowly let the white blanket fall from her face and she looked at him.
"Okay," she said softly and checked if she was still wearing her underwear before attempting to get up. Her limbs ached but William was there and he helped her up.
He held her as she made her way towards the bathroom. When she was in, he remained outside and pulled the door to shut it.
"I'll be here," he added. "Just in case."
He pulled the door close and Eliza found herself alone to finally put together her thoughts. She felt so ashamed of herself and wondered what her father would do if he found out about her misadventure. That made her wonder why was her father not searching for her.
Hesitant, she called out to William. "What did you tell my Papa?" she said, loud enough for him to hear.
"I..." he began. "I just messaged him from your phone that you would be staying at Arabella's."
"Oh!" Eliza said to herself.
"How did you know my password?" she asked.
Silence
"Thank you," she told him after waiting for long and finding no answer as she finished using the toilet and washing her face.
"It's fine," he said in return and it made her smile.
She knocked on the door and he opened it. She found him staring at her for some time and then he shook his head, moving aside to let her out. She stepped out and was instantly joined by him. He was at her side once again, making sure she didn't fall.
William Ray, the man who never let her fall.
Once back on the bed, she found him pulling the chair from his desk. He brought a tray from the kitchen counter which was covered with another tray. He sat on the chair and placed the objects near her. He lifted the top tray and Eliza's mouth watered at the sight of what it had been protecting.
Two sandwiches, a bowl of soup and orange juice.
"You made this? I thought your stove wasn't working," she exclaimed.
"Actually...your father made this," he said and Eliza gazed at him, surprised.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, I told him that I was hungry and he always seems so eager to feed me so he made this," he said, pointing at the tray.
Eliza smiled at his words. "Thank you."
It didn't take her long to finish her food. She was hungry beyond comparison and she almost forgot about the entire world as she ravished every bit of her breakfast. When she was done, she let out a sigh of relief and noticed William looking at her with his eyebrows drawn together.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said. "I was just thinking about how you don't eat much."
"I do eat," Eliza argued.
"No, I mean...I know you eat but when you do stuff like that, it makes you look like a starved child."
"Stuff like what?"
"Don't pretend with me, Scott. I know all about your mishaps. I saw your bunch of friends taking it at Uni," he said sternly.
She felt offended at his sudden change of tone. "Well, everyone does it. Why should I be the only one left out?"
"That's not the point, Scott," said William. "That isn't healthy and a part of me believes that you don't even like doing it."
"I do like doing it."
"Really?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Is that the reason why you told me yesterday that the world was cruel and I should protect you from it?"
Eliza was startled by that. "Why would I say that to you?"
"I don't know, Scott. Once again, that's not the point. What matters is whether you want it or not. I'm going to protect you now," he affirmed and Eliza felt a sudden surge of current pass through her. His eyes suddenly held a darker expression of firm determination and she felt a strange kind of happiness that she had never felt before.
He would protect her...from herself.
"Thanks but no thanks," she said. She didn't want him to know all the emotions that he had just stirred inside her.
"It's not healthy. Let me help you. You have your Dad, the man loves you. Do you even realize how he will feel if he gets to know about it? He will think that he wasn't a good father. You'll break his heart," William told her as his gaze softened.
"He won't know," said Eliza. "If I stop doing it then I'll once again become the outcast. I don't like being the outcast. I want people to like me. I want them to love me."
"Well, if you have to change yourself to make others love you, then practically, it's not you they are loving," William spoke gently. "You are loved."
"Only Papa. That's it. Only he loves me," she argued and this time, she felt tears moistening her eyes. This wasn't a conversation she was supposed to have with him. He wasn't family.
"I..." she began but stopped when she saw a look of hurt cross his eyes.
"William?" she said but he looked away from her.
"I know it's not my place to tell you this but you need to stop before you destroy yourself," he said, not looking at her.
Eliza felt embarrassed now. She didn't want to upset him nor did she want to ruin her mood by quarrelling with him again.
"I'm sorry," she said and William looked at her, his eyes widening.
"No, you don't have to," he said with a small smile. "I was just thinking about something else."
"Your wife?" she asked, trying to change the conversation.
William stared at her and Eliza's heart leapt with excitement.
"Yeah," he said finally and she went back to feeling low.
"Where is she?" she asked in a dull voice, pretending to ignore the tiny pang of jealousy in her heart.
"She is..." he said but he didn't complete the sentence when his eyes fell back on her again.
"Is she dead?" she asked again, bluntly.
"No," said he. "Never...I would die if she dies."
"Oh!"
"She is just...a little far."
"Will she come back?"
"I don't know," confessed William, his voice growing deeper at every sentence. "She never left me before."
"Do you love her?" Eliza asked, her heart beating fast.
William stared at her and then a smile claimed his lips. "More than myself."
"Oh," Eliza gave a low gasp, finally realizing the weight of his words. "I'm sorry."
"Huh...why?"
"I kissed you and I shouldn't have done that," she said, feeling apologetic.
"No." William smiled. "You shouldn't have done that but you don't have to be sorry about it."
"Why? It's my fault," she said.
"If only you knew." She heard his feeble voice and then looked at her floor.
"So, I don't have a chance right?" she asked with a sly grin.
Just because William Ray was committed didn't mean that she couldn't play with him.
"What?" he asked.
"With you?" she teased him and he smiled.
"Not even for a moment," he said and she bit her bottom lip.
What was it about this man that made her lose all her morals? If only he weren't married, she would have had a chance to know him more intimately.
"Okay, now can you turn around so I can wear my clothes and go back home," she said and he gave a small nod.
"Yeah. Sure, sure," he said with a chuckle.
He turned around and Eliza grabbed her jeans, standing up and putting them on. She searched for her top too but she couldn't find it.
"Where's my top?" she asked.
"You weren't wearing one when I found you. I made you wear a T-shirt that was lying on the floor. You can have my shirt," he said, still not turning around.
"Thanks. You can turn back."
He did and gave her a smile.
"I have to go," she said. "Where's my phone?"
"Oh yeah..." he said and strode up to his desk to pick up her phone which lay between a pile of papers. "Here."
Eliza took it and mouthed a small thanks before moving towards the door where she stopped and turned again. "Ah..my shoes?"
He let out a small laugh. "You didn't have any. I carried you here."
"Oh," Eliza said as she bit her lip. "Can I have one of yours?"
"Sure," he said, moving into one of the corners of the room and opening a cartoon, he brought out a pair of white chucks.
"Here," he said, placing them at her feet.
"Thanks," she said as she put them on. They were big for her feet but she managed to walk on them, somehow. She went towards the door and opened it before she heard William.
"Just think about what I said."
She turned to face him. "This world is tough, Mr Ray. Screwed up people like me have a hard time surviving without others."
"You can't blame the world for being tough, Love," he spoke, looking at the floor, his hands tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants. "It has to compete with you."
Eliza smiled at his words and he returned it before she stepped out and pulled the door closed. She kept replaying his words as she reached the door to her own house.
Love. He had called her 'Love'.