“Good morning my love,”
Rafael greeted Nicole the next morning when she finally woke up, she looked at him weirdly and looked around her surrounding.
“What? Don’t tell me you thought it was all a dream,”
He said patting her face, she frowned before getting off the bed.
“I thought it was, I was ready to cry a load today,”
She responded rubbing her eyes
“Well, guess you don’t need to cry because it’s not a dream,”
He replied.
“I still can’t believe it, you love me? How did that happen? How so soon, you are supposed to be a ruthless man with zero emotions,”
She said, Rafael smiled, she was saying exactly what he had thought about the night before, maybe it really wasn’t that, maybe he just didn’t get someone to make him feel but now he did and he didn’t want to lie to himself, he always gets what he wants and that includes her.
“Let’s just say, I am not really that, even I think I was but it took a sassy but shy missy to change that, and I don’t regret it,”
“So you love me?”
“Yes,”
“And you wanna be with me? You are not mad at me? ”
She asked.
“You are asking so many questions, I think you should come closer, then I will show you just what I mean,”
He invited, he didn’t like how she was doubting his feelings for her.
“Yeah, even you doubted yourself so what do you say?”
“Shut the fuck up,”
He mentally told the annoying voice, he felt it was time to start taking his medicines again, he has become annoying.
“Okay, I am just gonna leave.”
The annoying voice said and he rolled his eyes. When he looked back at Nicole she was looking at him weirdly, like he was crazy.
“What?”
“Huh, you were having a whole conversation with yourself, I know you weren’t talking to me,”
Well fuck it, he thought laughing awkwardly, his workers would never believe if anyone told them he acted this way, even the general public won’t.
“It happens, I am hungry, make me breakfast please,”
He said changing the topic and walking away from her.
“Okay, what do you want?”
“Anything you make,”
“Let’s go to the kitchen then, is your hand okay? You hit it last night when,”
She said trailing off, he knew what she was talking about, he had forgotten for a moment that his hand was injured while they have been on the act, he smiled at the memory.
“Yup, the hand is just fine,”
He followed her to the kitchen where she made him breakfast despite the chef insisting on helping, Nicole had said she will do it herself, he had made sure to eat everything in appreciation, after breakfast, she helped him take a shower and dress up.
“What should we do?”
He asked as they sat in the living room, he was bored and needed to do something but he wasn’t allowed to work, he couldn’t do any foul play again because his hand got in the way, it was a struggle last night.
“Let’s go for a walk?”
She suggested.
“Okay, let’s do that,”
They left the house and took a walk around, he couldn’t remember the last time he toured his estate until he got married the house had just been there and he occasionally visited it, after they got married, they stayed here but they were either in bed together or she was at her studio while he was at work, speaking of her studio, he made some changes he knew she will like and would show her later, he didn’t know what had moved him to do it but right after he found out about his real identity, he adjusted.
They walked around the huge mansion, talking about everything they came across, she told him about the lake at her family’s house and excitedly told him it was her secret hangout when her parents were hosting parties.
“How is it possible that no one knows about you?”
He couldn’t help asking as they sat on the bench on the walkway to rest, he has been curious about it since he found out about her, how did the world not know Natalie had another carbon copy of herself at home, hidden away.
“Well, I have always been a quiet child, I didn’t like crowd or the attention that comes with being known, and also Natalie and I were mostly homeschooled, when I got into uni, Natalie left for New York so we were never seemed together, we didn’t have the same circle of friends, well I didn’t have friends, but Nat had and she sometimes brought them home, again I didn’t like dealing with people so when she tried to get me to know her friends I turned her down, then Natalie went the same way my parents did and well, they are public figure materials I am not, I prefer dealing with caricature than humans,”
She explained, he understood her even though he couldn’t relate one hundred percent to her, he had felt that way too but he was different, he had been an outgoing child until his dad had gone bankrupt, his parents had divorced and his dad had become an alcohol abuser, he had been left on his own most of the time that he had withdrawn to himself, but then after his parents died and he had had to go from foster home to foster home, he had decided that being open will favor him more, not open in terms of giving everything about him away but, at least he made friends and interacted with people and had met the right kind of people who had given him the push, both negatively and positively.
“Wow, I really want to know everything about you, Nicole, honestly,”
He said sincerely.
“Really?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind,”
“There isn’t much to tell you, I hate attention, I am blind without my glasses and I suck at a lot of things, the only thing I am good at is being an artist,”
She replied.
“That’s interesting,”
“Liar,”
“I am not lying, it is,”
“Okay, let’s get you inside the house, you still need to rest more,”
She said getting up and stretching out her hand to him and Rafael took it and they both walked back to the house, he still had a lot of questions to ask her but he decided to take it one at a time.
They spent the rest of the day watching movies and just doing anything and everything, they both went to their room, not like they were sleeping no, just laying on the bed and enjoying each other company they weren’t even talking but the silence was comfortable, then he remembered he had something for her.
” I have something I want to show you,”
“What’s that Rafael?”
She asked, she was lying lazily on top of him, he loved her weight on him, loved everything she does.
“You will find out when you get there,”
“Where is there?”
“Here, in our house, I did something and I wanted you to see but you didn’t go there when you got here, let’s go”
He said getting up and pulling her along with his good hand, she followed him asking him what it was, he didn’t say anything until he got to her studio.
“We are here,”
He said pointing at her studio when he opened the door, she stood their mouth open and just looking.
“Hey, babe? Say something,”
He said but she didn’t say a word just stood there with an expression he couldn’t make out, maybe he had done the wrong thing.