Chapter 5 Did He Save Her Thrice?
Marcus’s words penetrated deep inside Nicholas’s heart and it made him determined that this time he would make a lasting impression on Alyssa’s mind. This time, she wouldn’t be able to forget him so easily.
He and Marcus joined the others, and dinner was served. The topic of discussion was Lucas and Sienna’s honeymoon plans, in which Nicholas had no interest. His concentration was on Alyssa, who sat opposite him and tried her best to ignore him, but was it so easy? He wasn’t the wiry, young, unsure teenager anymore, and his unwavering gaze upon Alyssa totally unnerved her. What was up with the guy? Why couldn’t he keep his eyes to himself? Reaching her limit, Alyssa glared back at him, muttering curses in her mind, but to her immense frustration, Nicholas just grinned at her. It seemed as if he was totally unaffected and enjoyed the ongoing drama instead.
Hayley elbowed her from one side while Eva pinched her thigh from the other, both enjoying the clash between the two rivals. “Stop,” she muttered, and Sienna gave her a curious look.
“What happened, Alyssa? Don’t you like the food, dear?” asked Mrs. Donnelly. Embarrassed, Alyssa smiled apologetically at her.
“It’s delicious, aunt Claudia. I was talking to my friends, actually.” His mom smiled and resumed eating, but Nicholas shifted in his seat. He wanted her to talk to him, to give him all her attention. He was tired of being ignored. If he had to make a lasting impression on her, he couldn’t afford to get ignored.
“What could cause your foul mood, dear?” Nicholas mimicked his mom, and they all curbed a smile except Hayley, who burst out laughing. His mom glared at him, but he grinned at Alyssa’s flushed cheeks and angry eyes.
“I’m sure you need to see a psychiatrist soon. You’re too stressed to notice that all of us are enjoying ourselves, except you, of course.” Alyssa flashed him a sweet fake smile and resumed eating. The others chuckled at their exchange.
“It’s hard to believe that you’re enjoying yourself in the enemy territory!” Alyssa seethed with anger at Nicholas’s insolent remarks in front of the whole family.
“I prefer to ignore a few enemies for the sake of my best friend.” Sienna thanked her warmly and even granny appreciated her words while Marcus and Nicholas rolled their eyes at her.
“How nice, dear! I’m impressed!” taunted Nicholas, mimicking his granny this time, receiving a smack on his arm from her.
“Stop being an asshole, Nick,” she said, and Alyssa gave him a victorious look after getting granny’s support, but Nicholas didn’t mind. He got what he wanted, and he was sure that for the rest of the meal, she wouldn’t be able to get him or his remarks out of her head. ‘This is just the beginning, Alyssa!’ he swore mentally and resumed eating with a smile on his lips.
Alyssa couldn’t understand the guy! What was making him smile when he should be upset with her for getting away with all his family’s support? His continuous taunts and jabs annoyed her, and she seethed with anger, thinking of ways to get back at him.
For the rest of the dinner, she chose to ignore him, but it was difficult when, all the time, he reached for the same dish she wanted. She knew he was doing it on purpose to rile her up and she took deep breaths to calm herself. She realized that Lucas and Marcus weren’t so bad after all! They hardly bothered with her. It was actually Nicholas who was the major enemy.
After dinner, they sat back, watching the stars and discussing their plans for the next day, when Alyssa escaped to her room. She was feeling claustrophobic in Nicholas’s presence beside her and his constant gaze upon her. Didn’t the guy tire of watching her like a hawk all the time? She was sure that even hawks closed their eyes for a change!
“Running away from me?” said Nicholas’s husky voice behind her, making her stumble in her haste. When she felt herself falling, she panicked, but to her surprise, Nicholas could arrest her fall. She stared up into his ocean-blue eyes that gazed down at her, with a strange emotion reflected in them, an emotion she couldn’t decipher. She couldn’t look away. His eyes had her under a spell. It was a sin to be so good-looking!
“Falling for me?” he asked in a husky whisper, leaning a little towards her. It was enough to bring her to her senses.
“Never! It’s the other way around, since you’re the one who’s following me around.” Angrily, she clutched at his arm to straighten herself up, but his muscles flexed and he helped her to her feet. She immediately released him as if stung, his nearness affecting her more than she wanted. However, his hold around her waist didn’t loosen as he kept staring at her. Alyssa couldn’t help the feeling that she had seen him before, but still couldn’t pinpoint exactly where.
“Leave me alone, Nicholas. I don’t want to deal with you at all. I’ve just come here to attend Sienna’s wedding.” Alyssa struggled to get free, but Nicholas’s hold on her waist didn’t loosen at all. It tightened like a steel band around her and she realized he didn’t have any intention of leaving her.
“Thank me nicely for saving you for the third time.” Alyssa gave him a confused look.
“Third time? When? In your dreams? You just saved me twice as far as I can remember.” Nicholas gazed at her, realizing that she wasn’t putting up an act at all. She really didn’t remember him. A sense of sadness gripped his heart, and he stared at her longingly. While his enmity was with her brother, he didn’t consider her his enemy at all, but maybe she didn’t know that.
“You have a very poor memory, it seems.” He released her abruptly and strode off, looking annoyed as ever, leaving Alyssa to gape at him. Was he crazy or something? She went to her room and lay down on the bed, deep in thought. Why did she react to Nicholas so strangely every time he came near her? She wanted to hate him, to stay away from his insinuations, but all she did was drown in his intense ocean-hued eyes.
Eva went into the room and fell onto the bed with exhaustion. “I don’t have the energy to even change for bed! This place has made me so lazy!” she complained.
“I know, right? So did you talk to Alex? Could you convince him? What did he say?” Eva sighed and turned to look at her, her eyes reflecting pain and sadness.
“He told me I am a bad influence upon you and I shouldn’t support you in every wrong decision of yours. I instigate you to go against his wishes. I should leave you alone and get a place of my own instead of living off you.” Tears rolled down Eva’s cheeks, her heartbreaking, remembering Alexander’s cruel words again. She had tried to hide her pain all evening, but now within the closed confines of their bedroom, she just couldn’t stop the ache in her heart. Alyssa sat up, her face livid with anger as she stared at her friend in disbelief.
“Seriously? How could he say all that to you?” She was at her wit’s end, and if she could, she would have given her brother a piece of her mind.
“He hates me. That’s why he says these things to me. After the wedding, I’ll apply for a room in the staff quarters of my hospital. I’m tired of hearing the same things again and again.”
“No, you won’t live there in a matchbox. You will stay with me and that’s final. Who the hell is Alex to decide who I should stay with?” Eva shook her head, determined this time. Wiping her eyes, she picked up her clothes and went to the washroom to change. It was time to forget her unrequited feelings and move on from Alexander Van Every.
Alyssa sighed at his brother’s insensitivity and decided to fight him tooth and nail on this. She picked up her mobile phone and to her surprise, there were no calls from him since he called Eva. It was strange, since Alex never let go of something so easily. If he wanted her to listen to him, he wouldn’t leave any stones unturned to have his way. Absent-mindedly, she changed into her pajamas and again lay down to sleep. Eva joined her later and immediately went off to sleep.
A strange dream gripped Alyssa. A bunch of bad boys teased and harassed her at school, and she cowered with fright. “Go away! Leave me alone!” she sobbed, but they still harassed her.
“Alyssa, wake up. It’s just a dream!” she felt someone shaking her gently. Her eyes flew open, and she looked at a drowsy Eva beside her, looking worriedly at her. “You were crying in your sleep. Maybe you had a bad dream.”
Alyssa sat up and rubbed the sleep off her eyes. Thank God it was a dream! Her throat felt parched, and she looked around for a bottle of water.
“I’ll get a bottle of water from the kitchen.” Eva nodded and dozed off to sleep while Alyssa dragged her feet down the escalator to the kitchen downstairs. She entered the dimly lit kitchen and picked up a bottle of water, but just as she turned to leave, she collided with a hard chest!