A sense of defiance filled Alyssa’s heart and soul after reading his message. No, she wasn’t missing him at all. Why would she after knowing his motive? She quickly typed a reply in case Nicholas concluded otherwise seeing her silence.
Not at all Alyssa.
Liar Nicholas
I don’t lie. Why are you so full of yourself? Alyssa
Why do you search for me every day at the office? – Nicholas
Alyssa gasped reading his last message wondering how exactly he knew that she searched for him. This was really creepy! Did he watch over her somehow? Nothing was beyond him!
“Why would I? A casual outing and a few thank you kisses don’t actually make you mean something to me Alyssa
It was a date! And those weren’t just thank-you kisses. You know it as much as I do. It’s no use running away from reality, Alyssa Nicholas
Alyssa sat up and wondered what reply she would give to that. She knew perfectly well that those mind-blowing kisses were too passionate and magical to be termed thank-you kisses. In fact, Nicholas had branded her for life with his smoldering kisses as in no way could she like anyone else’s after experiencing those.
Whatever they were, they didn’t affect me in any way the way they affected you Alyssa
We can see if it does when I kiss you again Nicholas
A gasp escaped her while her heart started racing after reading the message. Was he planning to kiss her again? While her mind prodded her to switch off the phone and sleep, her heart wanted to know more about what he had in store for her.
There’ll be no repeat Alyssa
Why? Are you afraid that I will prove you wrong? Nicholas
I’m not afraid of anything and I’m never wrong Alyssa
Then show me that you’re immune to my kisses Nicholas
I don’t need to prove anything to you Alyssa
But I do and I’m going to prove you wrong this time. Good night, Alyssa. Dream of me till then Nicholas
Alyssa switched off the mobile phone out of frustration. What did he think of himself? She wouldn’t at all fall into his trap. She wouldn’t agree to kiss him again. It was too dangerous and she didn’t want to get addicted to him.
The next morning she woke up late, yet Nicholas’s promise rang in her head all morning. Eva returned home but strangely didn’t stay with her. Her brother was going away on a work trip to Paris and he wanted Eva and Alyssa to accompany him since Eva had a few day’s leave from the hospital. Alyssa declined as she had just joined work but his brother insisted that Eva went with him. Eva packed her stuff and went to his apartment as they would be leaving after breakfast.
Alyssa went upstairs to Alexander’s apartment to see them off. “Are you sure that you don’t want to go?” asked Eva and Alyssa nodded.
“I’ll lose my job if I went.”
“It’s no big deal. You’ll get another. It’s not every day that we go to Paris,” said her brother.
“It’s okay, Alex. You guys enjoy yourselves.”
After they left, Alyssa went back to her apartment to deal with a week’s laundry and cleaning. She could have gone with Eva and Alexander but she wanted them to figure out their relationship. Eva was too shy to ever admit her feelings again after she was snubbed years ago. Alyssa still remembered the heartbreak her friend went through when Hayley discovered the love letter she wrote for Alexander. Despite Eva’s protests, Hayley had dumped it into Alexander’s college backpack and all hell had broken loose. That was seven years ago and maybe Alexander had a change of heart after that but Eva deserved so much better!
Lost in her own thoughts, she vacuumed the apartment and dealt with the laundry in record time. The whole morning had gone by and she took a quick shower and entered the kitchen to check what she could make for lunch. There wasn’t much and she groaned realizing that she needed to stock up her kitchen for the coming week. Her phone buzzed with an incoming message and she checked impatiently. What did Alex or Eva want now?
However, her eyes popped out seeing a message from Nicholas instead.
The coast is clear at last! I’m at your doorstep with lunch. Thank me ‘coz you don’t need to go store hopping now Nicholas
What? How did he know that she needed to go grocery shopping? What was he doing at her doorstep with lunch? She dashed off to check through the eye hole and saw Nicholas staring right back at her. He winked and she gasped, staggering away from the eye hole. Wasn’t the guy creepy? She opened the door to give him a piece of her mind but he just stormed inside without even greeting her, brushing past her towards the kitchen as if he owned the place.
“Do you always like to force yourself into other people’s houses? Don’t you have any work of your own?” She seethed following him to the kitchen. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she remembered his messages from last night. Did he come here to repeat the passionate kiss they had shared? What would she do now? She knew she wasn’t immune to him and he would know it too.
“No, only yours. It’s Saturday and I thought you wouldn’t want to cook with Eva and Alexander have gone.” Alyssa gaped at the guy wondering how exactly he knew that they had left.
“How do you know that they have left?” she asked curiously while he chuckled and took out plates and cutlery. Alyssa helped him carry the food to the table but her mind was rattled by what he just said.
“I have my ways.” Alyssa scoffed at the cliche line.
“What ways? Do you have spies after me?” she asked but he shook his head, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Then? Do you have a camera fitted somewhere around me?” she asked with a scowl while he laughed, instantly making her suspicious. “You have, don’t you?”
“A camera?” he asked lifting his eyebrow mockingly. Alyssa forgot to breathe. Did he have more than one camera fitted around her?
“Then how many cameras did you fit around here?” she gasped while he chuckled and served her the food he brought.
“Find out!” he shrugged tucking into his Philly cheesesteak sandwich, chicken wings, and lime pie. Alyssa looked around but didn’t find anything.
“I’ll soon find out.” She dug into her food. “Thanks for this anyway. I was so tired, I didn’t want to make anything.” Nicholas nodded as if he knew how tired she was.
“Why don’t you break up the housework over the weekend instead of doing everything at one go?” Alyssa rolled her eyes now taking him seriously. It seemed he really had placed cameras in her apartment the last time he was here.
“This isn’t right, Nicholas. You shouldn’t have placed cameras here. Tell me where they are or I’ll complain to aunt Claudia and granny.” Her threat however made Nicholas chuckle instead while she seethed with anger. The food lost its taste and she wouldn’t have eaten if she weren’t so hungry.
“Mom and granny would then start making plans to get us married. Sure go ahead and complain if you’re dying to marry me.” Alyssa stopped eating and stood up angrily.
“I’ll pay you for the food just now. Please leave, Nicholas. I can’t tolerate you at all.”
“Sit down Alyssa. I’m not going anywhere but if you want you can do the same to me. I’ll take you to my apartment and you can fit a few cameras there and watch me when you miss me.” Alyssa’s jaws dropped at his suggestion. Did he really say that?
“No, thanks. You can keep your creepy ideas to yourself. Let’s quickly wrap this up. I have an important task to do right away. I’ll locate all your precious cameras and destroy them completely.” Nicholas chuckled looking totally unperturbed as he savored the food, eating as slowly as a snail.
Alyssa finished her food but Nicholas still was not done. “I can go grocery shopping with you if you want me to.” Alyssa shook her head vehemently not wanting anything to do with him.
“Okay as you wish. I’ll come over with our dinner.”
“No, you don’t need to. I won’t be there at home,” she lied just to avoid him. Nicholas looked a little disappointed but didn’t argue with her.
“My bad.” He started helping her clean up but Alyssa took the plates from his hand.
“I’ll manage. Thanks for the lunch.” Nicholas knew that she was actually throwing him out but he needed a kiss before he could leave. After all, that was the sole reason why he came here. Did Alyssa forget their discussion of the night before?