Stuck in bed
For a brief moment, I didn’t recognize myself as I stared at Simon. The short period I spent in his arms gave me the chance to study his features. Never once had I looked at him long enough to notice the details I was finally seeing, and I absolutely loved the sight before me.
“I see you really like being on the floor a lot, don’t you?” he said as he slowly helped me sit on the bed. A bit of his hair fell into his face, and he flipped it back to get it out of the way. All I could do was quietly watch him as he did what he did. Simon had amazing features, and there was no denying that. Not with his well-dressed wavy hair, well-sculpted brows, defined jawline, and extremely kissable lips.
“And what are you staring at? Look down now,” he said as the usual frown found its way back to his face.
“Thank you for saving me, my king. If not for you, I would have probably broken my legs or gotten even sicker. I really do appreciate your concern for me.”
“Concern? You can choose to believe I helped because I care for you, but you and I both know that I don’t give a damn about what happens to you as long as you get my work done on time. Speaking of which, that reminds me, you did not finish the work I asked you to do yesterday. So you hatched a brilliant plan to faint to escape punishment for your laziness, right?” I knew better than to answer at that moment because he was obviously going to yell at me for trying to talk while he was talking or something like that.
“Are you deaf or something? Speak!”
“I’m really sorry if it seemed like I was trying to evade your instructions, but I never meant to do any of that or to make you feel that way.”
“Yeah, whatever. That doesn’t mean you’re not going to be punished.”
“What?”
“You are not allowed to move even an inch off this bed until the doctor declares you fit to do so. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my king!”
“Good, because I can’t tell at this point if you are using this sickness to evade punishment or something. I need you to get well as soon as possible so I can punish you for not doing what I asked you to do,” he said and then made his way out, leaving me to my thoughts. I watched his retreating figure and a smile soon appeared on my face.
Everything else he had said completely left my memory, and the only thing I could think about was how cute he looked. There was something about the aura Simon carried that seemed too irresistible, so much that I instantly forgot how badly he had been treating me within a matter of seconds. The part where he flipped his hair was constantly replaying in my memory, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Lost in thought, I didn’t realize when Madam Mortica walked in and started eyeing me as I daydreamed. I only came back to my senses when her hard hands hit me on the back.
“Ow, that hurt!” I hissed as she took the tray from the table.
“Do you seriously think this is a joke?”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, so you are really enjoying this, right?”
“Madam Mortica, what are you talking about? I don’t understand you at all.”
“Listen, you better stop pretending and get back on your feet. Do you seriously think you can just get away with your chores by pretending to be sick?”
“What? No! Do I look like I’m pretending? I don’t even know what’s wrong with me, to be completely frank with you. All I know is that I feel extremely weak, and I can barely even handle carrying my own body weight,” I said, and she rolled her eyes.
“Well, that’s your problem. What I need from you is to wrap up whatever drama you are trying to play and get back to work, that’s all,” she said, taking the tray out with her. I shook my head as I watched her leave, wondering what exactly I had done to make her hate me so much. Ever since I got into the house, she had never once been nice to me, and I just couldn’t make sense of why that was. Brushing the thought off, boredom soon got to me, and I frowned at the thought of being alone in the room without the ability to even stand up for a while. Not too long afterward, Madam Mortica returned to the room, and I didn’t realize when I impulsively rolled my eyes at her.
“And what in the world was that? What did you just do to me?”
“Huh?”
“Listen, I am not like the other maids that you can just respond to or behave anyhow with. You better show me the respect I command because I will not tolerate you rolling your eyes or any such behavior at me.” I sighed and just remained silent. Obviously, there was nothing I could say that would change the situation or make it any different from how it had been portrayed.
“You seem to be misbehaving a lot lately, and I’m not going to tolerate any of it,” she said, handing me a pill. I quietly took it from her.
“The doctor prescribed that you take this twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, so here,” she said, handing me the full pack of medicine, which obviously had one taken out. I took the medicine quickly, and it was at this moment that Lucas walked into the room.
“Oh Ashley dear, I hope you’re feeling much better now, my dear. Please remember to rest, and don’t stress at all, okay? I am one call away in case you need anything, so please do not hesitate at all. I’ll be on my way now,” she said as she made her way out of the room, leaving Lucas and me alone. As I watched her leave, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that moment because it was just too comical seeing her switch from one manner of approach towards me to another just for Lucas’ sake. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to tell what exactly had transpired between them for her to be so concerned about that, but at least with Lucas around, I would easily be able to get away from her insults and constant bullying.
“Are you okay now, Ashley? You scared me so much yesterday. Please, be more assertive about how you feel, okay?” Lucas said, and I turned to face him. He looked at me with concern etched in his eyes, and a tear soon dropped from my eyes. Not once, not even once, had I experienced such genuine concern being expressed towards me after my mother before her death. It almost seemed forgotten, so vague in my memory, and almost so hard to relate to again.
“I am fine now, my King. I just noticed that I cannot lift myself up, that’s all. Other than that, I feel completely fine. Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Ashley, but why do you keep calling me ‘my King’? I’ve noticed that for a while now.”
“Oh, isn’t that what I am supposed to call you and his highness Simon?”
“Oh my goodness, Ashley,” he laughed out loud, taking a seat close to me on the bed, and I turned to face him.
“Ashley, Simon and I are your mates; you are free to call us by our names, come on.”
“Um, I’m not so sure about that, my King.”
“Why not?”
“His Highness told me never to call him by his name, so I figured that rule should also apply to you as his twin brother as well.”
“Oh really? Well, you figured that out wrongly then, because I am telling you that you are more than permitted to call me by my name, Lucas.”
“Uh, I really don’t think I can do that, my King.”
“Oh moon goddess, please save me from this girl,” he joked, chuckling once more, and this time I just had to laugh out as well.
“Ashley, please do not call me that. Lucas is what I want you to call me. Lucas, for heaven’s sake. You can say all that ‘your Highness,’ ‘my King,’ or all of that to Simon, but for me, please call me Lucas.”
“Hmm, okay, your… sorry, Lu… Lucas!”
“Great! Just how I want it,” he said, turning to face me, and it was only a matter of time before our faces were just so close to each other. I looked at him eye to eye, and my breathing suddenly got hitched. We were so close to each other that there was no longer any space left between us anymore. Our lips locked together in a passionate kiss, and I moaned in satisfaction as his mouth traced every bit of mine. We were already getting lost in each other, basking in the feel of each other’s mouths. As Lucas started deepening the kiss even further, the door suddenly barged open, and we both separated, only to be met with a shocked-looking Simon. I couldn’t tell what exactly he was feeling because it all seemed like a mix of emotions to me. Without saying a word to Lucas and me, Simon quickly walked out, and though I had expected Lucas to also go with him, the latter surprisingly stayed back, holding me in his arms.
“Um, Lucas,”
“Hhmm?”
“Aren’t you going to go after him?”
“Go after who? You mean Simon?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding, and he smacked his lips.
“Nope! Why do I need to go after him?”
“What? I mean, he just saw us, you know? Don’t you think he’d feel weird or maybe even angry about it?”
“Angry about what? For kissing our mate? Come on, Ashley, he’ll be fine,” he said, and I sighed deeply. For some weird reason, I felt bad that Simon had walked in on Lucas and me kissing. I couldn’t really tell what the feeling was exactly, but all I did know was that it felt like I had wronged him, even though I already knew Simon wouldn’t obviously care about me or what I did with just about anyone. Lucas stayed with me for a little longer before he finally had to go attend to his duties, which he had originally postponed just to come see me and how I was faring.
I rested for a while before finally getting tired of being in bed. Although I had clearly been told not to get up from there just yet, I really couldn’t spend even a minute more just lying there; it was already starting to feel like resting was making me even weaker instead of stronger. I struggled a couple of times at first, but after giving it my very best and trying even harder, I was finally able to stand up on my feet without any assistance whatsoever. I slowly took some steps towards the door, and though it took me quite some time, it was a progressive process that I eventually accomplished. I made my way out of the room, and as I slowly continued moving towards the stairs, I heard a voice call out from behind, stopping me in my tracks.
“Oh no, not again,” I muttered to myself, sighing heavily.
“And where do you think you’re going? You really do enjoy making everyone feel so worried about you, don’t you?” I turned to face Simon, and as usual, he welcomed me with a frown.
“I just wanted to go outside for some fresh air. I feel suffocated inside.”
“Oh really? But when you were busy kissing my brother, you weren’t feeling suffocated, huh?” I bit my lip as he said it out loud, making me feel embarrassed. I looked down at the ground to avoid meeting his eyes, but the next thing he said instantly made my head jerk back up.
“Now kiss me!”