Eva waited for Alexander to unlock the door to his apartment, wondering how long she would stay with him. She hadn’t uttered a single word to him since she left Alyssa’s apartment. Everything happened so fast that she could hardly get a grip on herself. She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing in moving into Alexander’s apartment, but she couldn’t hurt her best friend. Alyssa meant everything to her, and she knew her concern was genuine. No one knew her as well as Alyssa did. It was true whenever she was upset and heartbroken; she had the habit of forgetting to eat!
“Welcome home, Eva!” he said, opening the door wide open for her to enter. It brought Eva out of her daze and she walked inside carrying her stuff. Home! Yes, she had wanted this to be her home forever! She had dreamed of her wedding with him, of their children, of a happily ever after with him, but now those dreams have been shattered. This couldn’t be her home. It was Beatrix’s! She was just a temporary guest here!
Alexander pulled the larger suitcase inside and locked the door, leaving just the two of them alone in such a huge penthouse. Even after knowing everything about him, her traitorous heart skipped a beat at the thought of being all alone with him. ‘No, Eva! You need to be stronger. Don’t let him use you and throw you away like trash,’ her inner mind warned her.
She walked away from him towards the spacious living room, placing as much distance from him as possible. She knew the layout of this floor, but hadn’t been to the top floor yet. With all the bedrooms on this floor, she knew he had his gym and personal swimming pool upstairs.
“Come, I’ll show you your room,” he said, coming up behind her. He led her to the room next to his and Eva’s jaws dropped at seeing the tastefully furnished room. “Do you like it?” Eva gave him a brief nod. It was the best room she had ever stayed in! How could she not like it?
“Yes. Thank you.” Alexander smiled with relief and placed her luggage down. He walked over to the door that led to the balcony and drew the curtains close.
“Go to sleep and don’t even think of escaping. I’ll bring you back every time,” he threatened, gazing into her eyes with so much determination that Eva knew he meant every word he said. She nodded, and he just turned around to leave her room. “I’m driving Lisa to the airport. Are you sure you can stay alone here without missing me much?”
“Good night, Alexander!” she said, without replying to him. Of course, she would miss him! As if he didn’t know it already! Alexander smiled and left to drop Alyssa at the airport, but he was sceptical about Eva. What if she attempted to escape? What if he returned to find her gone? Where would he look for her? Therefore, he instructed the security guards on duty downstairs not to let Eva go while he was away.
“It seems you care about her more than I do, bro!” said Alyssa, and Alexander frowned worriedly. Realizing what she said to him, he smiled but didn’t reply, his cheeks colouring a little at being caught by his little sister.
“Don’t let her leave, bro. I’ll be back in a month.”
“Do you need me to accompany you?” asked Alexander, but Alyssa shook her head.
“It’s your wish if you wish to.”
“I’ll come down for a few days, but can’t stay for long. I hate working at the hobby centre.” Alexander wasn’t close to either of their grandparents and neither with any other relative for that matter. He was usually reclusive and hardly had any other friends apart from Stefan and his brothers.
“Call me when you’re planning to come down. You can bring Eva along as well, or she will escape to the staff quarters of her hospital. I know she won’t cook anything for herself and eventually land up at the hospital,” said Alyssa with a groan.
“If I go, I’ll definitely bring her along with me. Don’t worry.” Alexander’s heart skipped a beat at her suggestion. This would be a perfect excuse to go on a holiday with Eva, else she would never agree to go anywhere with him. “Just update me when you bring grandpa home from the hospital.”
He dropped her off with a happy frame of mind, his heart filling up with hope. When he reached home, it was late and Eva had already gone back to sleep. He tried her door, but she had locked it from the inside. Of course, he didn’t mind. He knew that one day she would accept him in her life. One day, she would look at him the way she used to before. He still preserved her love letter! He didn’t need to read it, knowing it by heart. She might have forgotten about it, but he didn’t.
The next morning, Eva woke up early and got ready for work. When she went to the kitchen, Alexander was still sleeping. He might have returned late from the airport! It was good that she didn’t have to face him. She set about making breakfast and strangely, didn’t at all feel uncomfortable in his luxurious kitchen with its sparkling, expensive appliances. It felt like home, as if she had been living here for a long time. She made chicken sandwiches and scrambled eggs for breakfast and helped herself to her share, leaving enough for Alexander. She wanted to get out before he woke up, since facing him would be the biggest challenge of her life now.
Thankfully, he was still asleep, and she could sneak out to work without having to face him. With Sienna busy tending to Lucas and Alyssa gone away, she felt lonelier than ever before. Hayley was busy with her dad’s business and Skylar was busy fighting the man her grandparents had dumped upon her. The whole day she felt restless, wondering whether Alexander had eaten the breakfast she had left for him. She couldn’t concentrate much, as thoughts of meeting him in the evening played havoc with her senses.
So, when she got off work in the evening, she stayed back for two hours only to avoid facing Alexander. With no work left to be done, she drove home with her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Had Alexander returned? What if his dad visited him and saw her there in his house? She just couldn’t imagine what that would lead to! So, crossing her fingers, she pressed the doorbell to his apartment and waited patiently.
The door flew open and Alexander gave her a look of annoyance. “At last, you got the time to return home. I thought you had already left. Shouldn’t you have called me once to inform me you would be late?” he scolded her, pinning her with his angry gaze while he fisted his hands to stop himself from shaking her roughly. He had been so worried about her! Of course, he knew her duty schedule that he saw in her room when he sneaked in and had been waiting eagerly for the last two hours.
“I had some important work. You don’t need to feel responsible for me, Alexander. I’m just a paying guest here for a month. I’ll leave when Alyssa returns,” she said, going towards her room.
“I was worried about you, dammit.” He turned around and marched towards the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.”
Eva’s eyes widened with surprise at his behaviour. Was he really worried about her? Why would he be? Who cares about rebounds? She went to freshen up without a word. The delicious aroma of home-cooked food made her realize how hungry she really was. Why was he going out of his way to please her? No, she wouldn’t give in at all after knowing the truth.
She went into the dining room and stopped in her tracks at seeing the table decorated with red roses, fancy candles, and laden with delicious food and wine. Alexander had dimmed the lights to give the whole place a warm, romantic glow. With him standing near the enormous bay windows looking outside as he waited for her, Eva couldn’t take a step further. What was going on? Why did he take so much pain for her?
He turned to look at her upon sensing her presence in the room. “What’s all this, Alexander?” she asked breathlessly.
“Our date. You didn’t come home, so I cancelled everything and planned it here, at home.” Eva gaped at him in surprise. She had completely forgotten about their date.
“Why do you want to go on a date with me when after a year you will marry Beatrix?” she turned away bitterly, all her appetite lost. Alexander was near her in two strides and grabbed her wrist, refusing to let her leave.
“I’m not marrying Beatrix.”