JOANNE
–
“You can make Hardy fall in love with you,”
make Hardy fall in love with me?” I scoffed, saying the words as if they were heavy.
And they were in fact, heavy-handed and absurd.
Trinity is amusing.
“Are you kidding me?” I scoffed yet again.
Trinity shook her head and wore an air of difficulty.
So she wasn’t and that wasn’t a joke?
“Wow,” I mumbled as I made my way to the bed, all the way to the other side of the massive room.
“You know, I thought you really meant something logical when you claimed you knew what to do about my circumstance. But this is just ridiculous. how can I get Hardy to love me?, this sounds like a poor fairytale line.”
Flushing really hard, I had to fan my face with my hand to stop myself from exploding.
But I kept going,
“What happened to plans like assisting me in escaping, or even finding a replacement, or getting me out of this contract? Making Hardy fall in love with me sounds like bad news; he’d never fall in love with his toy, who lives and breathes for him. Please, Trinity.”
Trinity took a big step forward,
“Pay attention, Jo-
“No…” I approached her with vigor.
“I’m not listening to you because every time I do, I realize every line you say is either tragic or makes no sense at all.”
“I know it doesn’t make sense, but trust me, you don’t realize it because you’re still young, but love is like the key to all doors, I’ve seen Hardy in love, and you can get him wrapped around your fingers like it’s nothing, it’ll take a long time, but I promise you.” You can only leave here if you get what you want.” Trinity elaborated.
I rolled my eyes
“See… you’re doing it again,”
“Doing what?”
“Not making sense,”
She called, sounding more than a little concerned, “Joanne.”
She shouldn’t, as it is obvious that she doesn’t want me to leave this place.
She moved closer to me, lifting her hand to take my in hers, but as soon as she saw how my brows arched, she dropped it back to herself.
She said, whispering. I’ve seen that man in love before, and he gives his all when he is in love, so trust me when I say you can have his whole world in your hands if he falls for you. He will give you more than just the freedom you seek.”
Why is she so sure that Hardy will like me or that I’ll be so stupid as to try to make someone like me?
I let out a sigh.
“Trinity… I don’t know which is worse: this baby that’s growing inside of me, this dumb prison or villa, or your everyday remarks, which are fine! I may be too young to understand your perspective that love is the key to all stupid doors, but I’m pretty sure I’m not too young to comprehend the fact that you’re too old to be babbling about love with a pregnant woman rather than being in a relationship with a man yourself.!”
I knew the words would hurt Trinity the moment they left my mouth, but maybe I wanted to watch her hurt. I wanted her to feel half as much as I did.
But when her expression darkened with grief, my heart was weighed with guilt, and I found myself marching out of the room, saying that I needed some fresh air and wouldn’t require any escort.
I left the room with a heavy sigh.
What in the world did I just do? Trinity was the last person who needed to be heartbroken by me.
She was unusually sweet, and I simply blew it with her, but she was being unbelievable.
I made my way through the tall and quiet hallway, my mind rigid as my eyes scanned every nook and entrance.
As I was checking to make sure I wasn’t being followed or escorted.
Because, for the first time, I needed to clear my mind and do so alone..
I began to regret my ‘choice’ to be alone and clear my thoughts’ after discovering I was lost, lost in between enormous walls and different turns of hallway that all appeared to be the same, and realized that constantly being escorted was a nice advantage in a villa like this.
Great. Simply perfect…
I turned left without giving a damn where I was going.
After several steps, I came to a door.
I reached for the door knob, and as I pushed the door open, the wind blew to my face and body, waking me.
For a split second, I was caught up in the breeze, savoring its coolness, my thoughts seized, and my mind cleared.
But, like a wave, I was jolted out of my trance by a voice from a distance.
“Fine… Saturday it is!”
The voice was Hardy’s and it didn’t sound happy.
Why would it?
I looked around at the still pool in the center, the fake grass circling the pool, and a bean bag at the edge of the place. The scenery was exciting, but I needed to get out of there before Hardy noticed me.
But, just as I was about to shove the door open again, his voice stopped me in my tracks.
“What exactly are you doing here?”
He appeared to be offended.
Great! My bad luck
I turned slowly to meet him, but my gaze never met his.
He beat me to the punch before I could respond.
“Why are you out alone when you should never be alone? Where have your escorts gone?” He grumbled.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I had no idea what the man in front of me was capable of, but I knew I should never respond unreasonably, so I kept my cool.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
I could swear I noticed a hint of surprise in his look when I apologized, but immediately his face returned to the still, horrible, expressionless one he has.
“I’m sorry, I wanted some fresh air and I didn’t want to disturb any of the maids or guards or…”
Or whatever..
“They’re here to serve, not to be served, and no one cares if they’re disturbed, so proceed with caution, You understand!” His tone was soft, yet it came across as very forceful.
My eyes moved up slowly from his feet to his face, and when they finally met his, I made sure to keep his sight as I peered directly into his eyes.
Goodness.
Despite the fact that the day was already cloudy, at that precise instant, I had the impression that the sun had pierced through the clouds specifically to shine a ray of light on Hardy’s face in order to prove to me how gloriously he appeared, despite his hideous, emotionless face.
His glossy eyes remained sharp with black narrow rims surrounding it, and the sensation of his lashes against his lids was like that of a waterfall and there was something else about his eyes that I couldn’t wrap my head around.
My inspection of Hardy’s face came to an end the moment I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Hardy standing in front of me.
“Now I want to mention a few things… And I need your utmost attention.”
He gently squeezed my shoulder.
I need to be saved.
…