Chapter 25: In which she plans a surprise.
"I thought I was going home."
"We are home."
"And since when is your penthouse apartment my home?"
"Since the night we spent together at your house having hot, passionate sex," Nate said with a sly smirk as my cheeks heated to a tomato red.
"Nathan David Synclair! That is not how you ask a girl to move in with you!" I complained sternly while my insides were turning to mush. Oh My God! Did Nathan Synclair just ask me to move in with him?
Well…technically he didn’t ask. He just parked the car in the parking of his apartment building and declared that I was moving in.
"It's a good thing I'm not asking then," Nate replied smugly as he turned off the ignition.
I've only been here once, but a building this grand can be pretty hard to forget. The grand entrance hall, the elegant stairs and the huge spacious apartments. There were 21 floors in this complex, each floor belonging to a different business tycoon. Nate lived on the ninth floor and the view of the city was grand from his balcony.
"But...what about clothes?" I asked, suddenly realizing that all my clothes were in my little rundown apartment.
"Don't worry," he winked. "I've got you covered. Now, go up to our house and get unpacking. I'll see you in the evening."
"Eep!" Okay, so I'm not the kind that gets exciting just because her boyfriend asked her to move in but then again, my boyfriend just freaking asked me to move in! And saying ‘our house’ sure had a nice ring to it.
So I pulled his face down to mine and kissed that smirk off of it and then I got out of the car and raced inside.
"Savannah!"
I stopped and turned to face him, confused at his call and was faced with a set of keys flying at my face. I caught it with a startled gasp, barely in time before I got a bump in my forehead and found Nathan smirking at me, again! Fuck! How could I have been so stupid?
"I like spaghetti, but I love cake!" He shouted as he backed out of the parking lot and was gone an instant later.
I smiled to myself at his words. Giving orders already?
I was in the elevator when I received a message from Samuel. Thinking that it might be about the location where he wants to see me, I opened the text, only to release a breath of relief as I read the text.
Won't be able to make it today. Preparations taking time. Rain check?
I was about to text back when another message came in from Samuel.
Got some free time the day after tomorrow. Meet you at Rainbow Point. See you soon.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving.
My eyes went wide at the end of the text. Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving!
How could I have forgotten that tomorrow was Thanksgiving? Doesn't Nate organize a party or something, like most of the CEO’s in Seattle? Or had he simply forgotten? Oh My God! I have to ask around!
Reaching Nate's floor, I used the keys that he gave me to get into his apartment. But I didn't have to turn the lights on because someone was already there.
"Bethany?" I asked the petite red haired woman in a floral printed dress and white apron. Nathan had already told me about her. She takes care of the house and cooks for him in bulk so he doesn’t have to order out. She comes to clean twice a week and is somehow related to Roan…I think.
"Miss. Tresscot! So nice to meet you," she extended her hand towards me. "Mr. Synclair just told me about your arrival."
"Nice to meet you Bethany, but please, I'll feel better if you just call me Savannah," I shook her aged and work roughened hands, a sense of nostalgia hitting me at the thought that if my mother had been alive, then her hands would have been like this too.
"Savannah," she smiled. "Your room is ready and I've prepared a bath for you. I hope you don't mind that I've unpacked all your belongings and kept then in the cupboard in your room."
"Thank you very much, Bethany!" I was so happy I could hug her. She had unknowingly saved a lot of time for me. "I'll go take a quick shower and then I have to sort some things out. I'll be right back."
As I told Bethany, I was in and out of the shower at the speed of light, stopping only when I had a look at my wardrobe.
How exactly did Nate know by bra size? And panties? And-Holy Hell!! What's with all these revealing lingerie? And exactly how many dresses did he thought a girl needs?
I huffed. Serves me right to trust his judgment...not that I wasn’t beyond elated.
Picking out a black tee and white balloon pants with tiny red flowers printed on it, I dressed quickly and was out in the kitchen by 1 pm.
"Beth, can I call you Beth?" I continued at her nod. "Does Nate celebrate Thanksgiving?"
Beth looked surprised. "Well...Mr. and Mrs. Synclair used to, even his elder brother did, but since their untimely demise...there hasn't been a celebration in this house. Mr. Synclair usually spends the day alone in office."
Beth seemed kinda sad about it, but will Nate like it if I organize a Thanksgiving part without letting him know? I'll have to do some major digging if I wanted to throw a secret party.
"Okay...let's see what's in here," I opened the fridge....and stared.
I closed it shut and turned to Beth with my hands on my hips. "Where's....anything?" I asked helplessly.
"Well there is-"
"Milk, cream and hot chocolate mix, yes, I saw that but where is anything edible?" I asked Beth.
"Well...Mr. Synclair usually lets me know what he wants to eat and I bring in the ingredients....but I guess he forgot this time. I keep telling him to allow me to make food fresh everyday but he just likes to reheat food," Beth seemed upset and I could relate. Cooking fresh every day was the way to go.
"Alright, I'll talk to Nathan," I said and walked back to my room, feels weird to say that, and picked up my phone and dialed Nathan.
"Hey beautiful," came his cheeky response over the phone. "Missing me already?"
"Ha! You wish!" I teased. "You and I, are going to have a long chat on your dress sense. But for now, I need Roan."
"Oh, I'm all in for long chats about your clothing," he was sooo dead! "And if you need to go somewhere, I can give you a ride-"
"Stay right where you are, Nathan Synclair!" I can't let him spoil the surprise! "Didn't anyone tell you that you actually need ingredients to bake a cake?"
"Really? I thought they were made of sugar, spice and everything nice, and Oh! An accidental addition of Chemical X!" He said in a dramatic tone.
"Oh my God!" I laughed out loud, was joined in by Nate a second later. "You did not just quote The Power Puff Girls!" How did he even know about it? Looks like there is more to Nathan Synclair than I knew, and I can't wait to unravel every layer.
"Roan will be there in a few minutes," he said, smile still in his voice. "Anything else?"
"N-actually yes!" I corrected quickly. "If Tina's done, can you send her too? I promised her to go shopping together."
"Will do. See you tonight. Wear something sexy."
"Nathan!"
I could still hear his laughter as I disconnected the call.
*
*
One hour and thirty seven minutes later, the four of us, Tina, Roan, Beth and I were sitting in the living area, discussing possible guests.
"Oh! Don't forget Mr. David. He used to be their family friend." Beth joined in.
We had sorted out mostly everything in our list, the food, the decoration and the booze. Now all we needed was to call people over. Only very close friends and family, or business partners, nothing too fancy. It’s not that Nate didn’t like Thanksgiving; he just felt that the people who he was thankful for were no longer with him. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and give him something to be thankful for.
"So, we have ten guests in total who are sure to visit," I counted. "Perfect! Let's get to work then people! Tina, you call the guests and invite them over, but remember to tell them it's a surprise. I don't want anyone calling Nate and blowing our plan. Roan and Beth, go get grocery shopping. Here's the list."
"You're taking care of the decorations right?" Tina asked.
"Yes," I told her as she moved on to another call, the first invitation having been accepted.
It was 5.33pm when we all were finished. Roan and Beth had stashed the fridge to the brim, Tina had gotten a thumbs up from eight out of the ten guests and I've successfully hidden the decorations in a few boxes, under the guestroom bed. According to Beth, the guestroom was my room but we all knew I wasn’t going to be sleeping there. It was just closet space.
Tina and Roan were off soon after that, promising to come right after Nate left for the office tomorrow to help with everything. Me and Beth both started to get things ready for dinner.
I marinated the medium sized turkey with garlic, fresh chopped rosemary, olive oil and butter and salt and pepper and placed it inside the fridge to marinate overnight. Then we pureed the pumpkin, got the vegetables washed and chopped and then, made bacon and mushroom risotto and chocolate lava cake for dinner.
Nate was running late so I placed the food on the dining table and went into my room to change.
I chose a scarlet coloured lingerie which was basically see-through lace, and wore a short red cotton dress over it, the neckline plunging enough to seduce. But this was only for Nate, so I didn't feel uncomfortable. I pulled my honey coloured hair into a high ponytail and dabbed on a bit of raspberry lip balm. The doorbell rang as soon as I was done.
Excited, I raced to the door and opened it with a huge smile to find Nate waiting outside the door with a single, luscious red rose in hand.
"Is that for me?" I asked. This was the first time I've ever received a gift from anyone, except my brother.
"Depend," Nate smirked as he came inside and looked the door, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"On?" My breath caught as his hands moved down to squeeze my butt.
"Is this mine?" With that, he crashed his lips to mine in a breathtaking, passionate kiss, his other arm wrapping around the back of my head as mine wrapped around his neck.
"Yes," I answered when we broke off to gulp down as much air we could into our lungs. "All yours. Always."
The smiled I received after that made me forget the world. Held me prisoner. And then, our lips met with raw, unbound passion, the rose forgotten long ago, as he was about to pick me up.
And then the doorbell rang again, making us both groan.
“Who is it?” I asked Nate, feeling a bit self-conscious as he went to answer the door.
“Happy moving-in!” He gave me a sheepish smile and opened the door to a thousand boxes.
“Holy shit!”