Chapter 4: Chapter Three

Athena

Right after I walked out of the building a few hours ago, I head straight home. I can't be stuffed, and I can't definitely be bothered. Joanna called, but I ignore almost all of her calls. I can contact her later on. Simon was an ass, and I sure do agree that Alex is too. He didn't even deny anything! He could have helped me out of this mess! He sits there and says nothing—what a prick.

I try my best to sleep because from what happened this morning, I somehow feel exhausted. Exhausted from thinking too much. I need to calm myself, but I just can't. I keep on thinking about Alex and how stupid he acted this morning. 

I close my eyes once more to find myself drifting away.

I snuggle closer toward my pillow before groaning lightly. My legs feel cold from being exposed. This happens every day, and my comforter would always fall from the bed or be wrapped all over my body. As for today, it has fallen from the bed. My hand moves down to reach for the comforter, but I can't find it.

The laziness has consumed me that I don't even bother to open my eyes. Suddenly, I feel the presence of the comforter nicely covering my shivering legs. I smile unknowingly after finding the source of warmth, and it took me a while to think about the comforter... How did it end up here if I didn't pick it up?

My eyes open widely, and I look straight ahead to find Alex standing as he looks at me. I blink a few times to make sure that I'm not dreaming, and my vision became clearer as I wipe my eyes. I tug onto the comforter tighter, hiding my exposed legs. I'm wearing an oversized shirt, and there's definitely no bra under.

''What the f—what the hell, Alex?!'' I shout loud enough for him to chuckle. My eyes widen once more at sight. He seems to notice, and he immediately put on a straight face. I decided to ignore it, ''W—what are you doing here? How'd you get in?'' 

My eyes wandering around to see if those two huge men came with him, but I let out a sigh of relief when I find him the only one. Alex just stands there, his arms crossed as he eye every inch of my body. Luckily for me, the comforter is covering my whole body up to my neck. I start to feel uncomfortable. 

''Oi, I asked you.'' I snap my fingers at him, and he looks up at my eyes. 

''Get dressed. We're going out.'' He replies the bored look on his face appears again.

''Where? I'm not going anywhere with you.'' I furrow my eyebrows at him, but he just wanders around my room. He looks at a few frames on my desk. There's a picture of my parents and me, and there's not even a single picture of me and anyone else, to be honest. But oh—wait! Jeremy's picture is still there. Alex seems to have found it, and he starts to reach out for the frame.

I immediately run toward him. He turns to look at me, and I take that opportunity to grab the frame. I run out of my room to throw it into the bin in the kitchen. Alex looks at me with a smirk on his face as he leans his side against the wall near the kitchen's entrance. I pour a few milks inside the bin so that he won't have the guts to pick it up. 

After washing my hands, I smile proudly at myself, but that smile drops as soon as I caught his gaze.

''What? Get out.'' I start to push him away, but he won't budge. I pull on his arm, and he moves a little.

''We're going out, Athena.'' He mutters, bored.  

I drop his arm and turn to look at him, ''No, we're not. You're going out, and I'm staying here. In my apartment. I don't even know how you get in and how you found out where I live, but you need to leave.'' I groan in frustration before going behind him and start pushing his broad shoulders. He walks toward the door with me making him. 

''I'm not going anywhere.'' He grabs my wrists, and I feel like I've been shot with electricity. 

''Oh my god.'' I sigh heavily, ''You're annoying! Leave.'' I pointed at the door and glared at him. He seems to take the challenge as he locks the front door and leans against it. His eyes are focusing on mine as he just gives me a slight smirk. 

''Get dressed.'' He repeats. 

''I'm not getting dressed or anything!'' I shout at him, but he didn't even move a bit, ''So get out.'' I send him one of my scariest glare, but he just rolls his eyes. I can see that he's not taking me seriously. 

Alex leans in, and I stand at the same spot, arms crossed, I'm not scared of him. I can feel his breathing at the back of my ear and his lips brushing against my earlobe. I shivered a little, but I manage to control it, ''Get dressed, or I'll dress you.'' 

He pulls himself back, and at the same time, I move my head to look at him. Our faces are inches apart as we stare into each other's eyes. My mom gave me the name Athena for a few reasons, and as I said, I manage to catch up with one—courage. 

I'm not giving up easily. 

''Like hell, you will,'' I smirk at him. 

He smirks back before giving me his serious expression. He grabs my wrist roughly before pulling me back into my room. My eyes widen at his sudden action, and he pushes me on my bed as soon as we walk in. Luckily for me, I manage to stop myself from falling. I turn around to find him walking in my walk-in closet. 

I eye him as he goes through my clothes. He takes my white loose blouse from the rack with a pair of ripped shorts. When he turns around to look at me, he throws the clothes, which perfectly matches my face. I groan before throwing it on the floor. He keeps on growing through my closet to pick up my black heels, which has a strap. He throws the heels toward me, and I manage to move away before it could hit my face again.

''Alex!'' I shout at him, but he ignores me. He opens a drawer before taking out a black bra and black panties. He smirks when our eyes meet, but he just throws my underwear toward me. I can feel my cheeks heating up, but I try my best to avoid it. Not the best time to blush. 

He walks toward me. His hands move to my waist as he pulls up my oversized shirt. My eyes widen at how fast he could undress me. I didn't even get a chance to block him. He looks down at my exposed body before throwing my oversized shirt on the ground. I try to slap his hand away, ''Oh my god,'' but I cover up my own body first before running toward my bed and taking the comforter to cover my body. 

Alex holds the black bra he took earlier, ''We're not done yet.'' He smiles, but I know he is faking it because he is still holding my bra isn't calming me down. 

''Drop the bra,'' I say through gritted teeth.

He looks at the bra as he tries to search for a size, but I run towards him and pull it away from him. He laughs immediately when he sees that I freaked out. I didn't even realize that it's the first time he laughed, excluding the moment at the bar. 

''Get dressed and be out in ten, or I'll come and continue doing it for you.'' With that, he walks out of my room and slams the door shut. I take the comforter to cover my whole face before screaming. I throw the comforter down before changing into the clothes he chose.

I tuck in the loose blouse carelessly, making it look a little bit messy. After that, I put on my heels and walk quickly toward the mirror to look at myself. I look fine without any makeup on, so I just tie let my hair down on both sides. I drag my black handbag before walking out of my room. 

When I look up, I see that Alex plays with his phone as he sits on the couch. I roll my eyes at him, and at the same time, he looks up from his phone. He eyes my outfit for a while before walking toward the door, ''Let's go.'' He unlocks the door before opening it.

I drag myself lazily toward the door until we are out of my apartment. 

Alex walks first toward his car. My eyes widen at a black glossy Lamborghini Aventador in front of me. He turns to look at me before unlocking his car, ''What? Get in.'' I mumble something under my breath at his order before stepping inside the passenger's seat. 

When we are already inside, we both buckle up, and he starts to drive.

''Where are we even going?'' I break the silence as I turn to look at him. He is looking out at the road, not really focusing on what I just said, but I'm sure he heard me. 

''Why does it matter?'' He spats back at me, and I just roll my eyes. It's useless to argue, so I keep quiet until we reach our destination. I look around to find that we are in front of Tiffany & Co. I start to look around if we are stopping at a traffic light, but none. 

''Um, what are we doing here?'' I ask him again. 

Alex sighs before looking at me, ''You talk too much.'' And he starts to step out of the car. 

I furrow my eyebrows before opening the door and stepping out. I see him walking toward me, ''You weren't complaining the other night.'' I roll my eyes at him, and he just glares at me. I can sense that he wants to snap my head, but he just put his hand at my back near my waist, ''What are you doing?'' I glare at him.

He glares back, ''It's called pretending.'' And he pushes the glass doors in front of us. We are greeted with a cold air-conditioned room. I look around to find the store filled with only two customers at the moment. Alex's hand felt warm behind me, soothingly warm. 

A woman with light brown hair walks toward us. She smiles widely, ''How's your day, Mr. Herrera? How may I help you today?'' 

''I'm fine, Nina. Thank you for asking.'' He replies before clearing his throat, ''I'm looking for an engagement ring for my fiancèe.'' And the woman turns to look at me. She still has the same smile. I smile lightly at her, but I can see a tiny tint of envy in her eyes.

''Alright, come this way.'' She walks away, and we follow behind her until we reach a spot where there are rings everywhere from different shapes and sizes, platinum and gold, diamonds, and the list goes on. 

Alex pushes me slightly, and I sit down. Him following me after. The woman opens up a catalog, ''Here are the lists. We have from the recently chosen list and up to the rare ones.'' She adds. 

He looks up at her, ''Any specials?'' 

''Oh, here are the specials. See anything that caught your attention?'' Nina points at one of the counters, and we both follow her. I look down to see a ring that immediately caught my attention, but I look away from it. I look up to see Nina eyeing Alex, but he doesn't seem to be bothered as he just looks at the rings. 

''Nina, can you please give us a moment?'' I smile lightly at her, and she returns my smile before walking away. I sigh as I look at Alex, ''What are we even doing here?'' I ask him. 

He lifts his gaze from the rings, ''Looking for an engagement ring, what more?'' 

''We don't need this.'' I look around as I whisper. I find that Nina is staring at someone, so I hold his hand. Alex looks up at me in confusion, but he looks in Nina's direction, and he looks back at me with a look of admiration. Crap. ''It would only last till July.'' 

He fakes a smile, ''They won't leave you alone if they don't see the engagement ring, Athena.'' And he turns to look away, ''Now just choose so we can get this over with.'' 

I look back at the ring that caught my attention, and I sigh, ''Fine, that one.'' I point at the ring, and Alex looks down before calling Nina. Nina comes by within seconds to take the ring out. 

She gives Alex a ring, ''This is the Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger Buds Ring.'' She points at the center, ''This round brilliant center stone complemented by pavé-set diamonds was inspired by the simple beauty of flower buds.'' 

Alex takes my hand before sliding the ring to my ring finger. I feel his warm fingers touching my hand, which causes me to look at him immediately. What's with the tingling feeling whenever he touches me? Does he feel the same? 

Our eyes meet in an instant, and Nina seems to be caught in between our little stare. I slowly pull my hand and look away from him. I touch the ring to feel the stone.

''Do you like it?'' Alex asks.

''Um—'' I look up to Nina, ''Yeah. I like it.'' 

Alex ends up staring at me, but I don't take the chance to look at him, so I just look anywhere but at him. Nina nods her head, ''Shall I make the bill?'' She asks, and Alex nods at her. She walks away, leaving us alone. 

''You know, you can still change your mind.'' I point at the ring.

''Nah, even if this ends in six months, you can keep the ring.'' He shrugs a bit. Nina walks back with the bill in her hand, and she puts the bill in front of us. Alex looks down at the bill, and I follow after. My eyes widen at a price. Holy mother of—

''The carat weighs 1.5.'' Nina suddenly says, which makes me blink instantly. 

''Alright.'' Alex gives his debit card to Nina, and she went away once more. 

''Um, I don't think I want this ring anymore,'' I mutter lightly to him. 

He snorts, ''Why not?'' 

''It's too fucking expensive. Who would someone buy a 40 thousand dollar ring?'' I furrow my eyebrows at him, but at the same time, Nina came back with his debit card, and she gives us the Tiffany & Co. bag. Alex thank her, and he holds me by the waist as we walk out. 

And when we reach his car, he stops beside me, ''I would, and I just did.'' He enters his car afterward, and I did too.

''I think I'm just going to sell it back,'' I say. To be honest, I love the ring, and I would love to make him buy me an expensive ring, but the point is, this doesn't seem right. We will not have a long-lasting marriage, and if I were marrying him for love, I wouldn't buy this ring! I feel like a gold digger. This feels wrong.

''No, you're not.'' He grabs my wrist before looking down at my ring, ''You're going to wear it, and you're going to keep it. No matter what happens after we divorce. It's yours now.'' 

''But—'' 

He cuts me off, ''No buts.'' And he starts the engine. Alex drives away in the other direction, and I just look at my engagement ring in regret, or should I say, in confusion. I don't even know if I should really keep it.

''You know, I think—'' 

He cuts me off again, ''You're keeping it, Athena.'' This time his voice sounded more serious, and I just keep quiet afterward. 

''Where are we going now?'' I decided to ask. 

''Lunch.'' He replies shortly, and I don't bother asking anything anymore. It seems like I couldn't take my eyes off the ring. It costs much more than my salary, and I can't even afford this. 

We arrive at Union Square Cafe in about ten minutes. We both walk inside and find our spot near the window. Alex sits in front of me, the table separating us. I sit down as I look at people walking around, eating their lunch, or just enjoying their coffee. 

A waitress comes to take our order, and she smiles at me before taking out her pen, ''May I take your order?'' 

Alex looks up at me, but I just look at him, gesturing him to order first. He rolls his eyes before looking up at the waitress, ''Chicken Milanese, and water.'' She wrote it down. 

''Frascatelli and lemon juice.'' She nods before walking away with our order.

''There's an event tomorrow night.'' Alex suddenly says. He is rubbing his other hand softly, and I can't help but eye his every action. I look up to meet his blue eyes, ''There will be reporters there. So, they might come to us. They will be attacking with questions.'' 

''I know.'' I mutter lightly before looking away, ''That's my job.'' 

He furrows his eyebrows to think for a while, but then he seems to have got the answer, ''Right, you work at Published.'' 

''Yeah.'' I clear my throat. He knows almost everything about me. Simon must have gone through a few researches and details about me. 

''How old are you?'' This time, I ask him. 

Alex eyes my eyes and down to my lips, and trust me, I want to look away, but I just can't.

''You can find it out at Wikipedia.'' He smirks lightly. 

I roll my eyes at him, ''Come on... stop playing around.'' 

''What? It's the truth.'' And he leans back on his seat before crossing his arm. He sighs, ''Fine, I'm turning twenty-six on March 22nd. So now still twenty-five.'' 

I nod my head as a response because the waitress has already served us our food.

After lunch, he drives me back home. I step out of his car, but he calls out my name, so I bend down to look at him, ''What?'' I ask.

''Um...'' He rubs the back of his neck, ''Nothing.'' And I roll my eyes at him before walking toward my front door. I unlock the door and step inside. After closing it behind me, I run toward the window to see if Alex has left, but he hasn't. 

His Lamborghini is still there, parked. After a few minutes, he starts to drive away. 

This all happened because of one stupid kiss at the bar.