It was fun, just like she had predicted it would be. Nate was everything awesome and she loved him tenfold for giving her today out of his entire life and she enjoyed everything with him. They were in his apartment and even though she didn’t know much about cooking, she had insisted that she would cook dinner for them and Nate being Nate agreed, but only under the condition that he will supervise her himself in case she tried to burn down his apartment which he loved so much, in his words.
From where she stood in the kitchen, she could have a glimpse of him playing his game in his living room and she smiled lovingly, this is what she loved. And what they did today, how they spent their entire day gave her a homey feeling that she sometimes forgot he was just her boyfriend, not yet her husband. “Nate?” She called out loud and he tilted his head to have a better view of her face.
“Yes, Anna? Should I call the fire service already?” He asked with a relaxed voice that was filled with humor and Anna didn’t know when she broke into a fist of laughter.
“When will you ever change, Nate? Of course, not. I just want to thank you for making today so much fun for me, and letting me cook for us, which Mom has never done in her life. I only do that when she’s not home.” She stirred the soup in the pot and smiled. It felt good to be a housewife, wouldn’t it? It would be amazing and also, knowing that you have a husband that expected some things from you wouldn’t be so bad.
He lazily walked toward the kitchen as she watched him came toward her with a gait she almost drooled for. He wrapped his hands around her waist and brought her closer to him, “Why would you thank me for something I’d kill to have, Anna? Of course, I enjoy today better than you do, and do you know what? Thank you for saving me from the tons of works on my desk, it’s an entire heavenly feeling.” Anna giggled when she felt how his hand tried to sneak under her short gown but was obstructed.
“Nate,” she giggled and slipped out of his hold when he leaned toward her face to give her one of his steamy kisses that always melted her heart. But she was cooking now, and she was certain a kiss from Nate would never stay as just a kiss. “As you can see, I’m cooking. All you have to do now is go back and continue playing your game, I’d let you know when I’m done, okay?” She caressed his cheek and he smiled lovingly at her.
“Add this spice in the sauce, I love it.” She lifted the can he placed in front of her and smiled.
“But Nate…” she began, and then she realized if he loved it, why wouldn’t she do? He was going to be her husband, wouldn’t he? She hated garlic, allergic even. But if he loved garlic, she had to taste it now because she knew he would love to have it in his meals once in a while when they get married.
“What is it?” He asked as he brought his hands closer to her face and she quickly shook her head flashing him a very bright smile.
“Nothing, it just slipped out of my mind to ask you about the spices. Now, let me work in peace, unless we want to be calling fire service in the next few minutes, do we?” He chuckled, pinched her cheeks before planted a soft kiss on her lips before he walked back to the living room and reluctantly, she stared at the garlic spice before she sprinkled it in the sauce. This would be bad on her later, she just prayed it wouldn’t be so bad until she left his home.
When she was done cooking for them, she set the table and went to have a quick shower because she knew she had to do it fast and leave after taking that garlic spiced sauce unless she wanted to have her allergic attack in his presence. He would blame himself for not knowing that she was allergic to garlic and she wouldn’t want to see a guilty Nate.
When she was out of the shower, he was laying on bed as he surfed through his twitter until she got ready and he turned to have a better look of her face, “Why do you have to be so beautiful, Anna?” He asked, with his head propped up against his strong arms.
She giggled as she put back her necklace, “You don’t have to say that to me. Let’s go, I’m done with the food, and it’s getting late I want Mark to go and have dinner with his family as well.” With their hands entwined and his other hand wrapped around her waist, they walked back to the living room and she nervously pointed at the table for him.
“Sit down, I’ll serve you first. And after you have the first bite, tell me how it is, okay?”
“Like a king?” He flashed her his perfect white dentition and she felt melted by just a smile. She lifted her face to hers and kissed him so hard. “Yes, like the king that you are, Nate.”
They smiled at each other and he sat down while he fixed his eyes on her as she served him the meal she had cooked. She waited nervously as he had the first bite and when he looked up at her with his eyes gleaming with happiness, she released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding for so long. “This is the yummiest meal I’ve ever had in a very long time, since the last time I visited my Mother. Come on, I’ll feed you myself.” he pulled her until she sat down on his laps and the happiness she saw on his face made her so wary of telling him that she was allergic to garlic and when he pointed the spoonful toward her mouth, she willingly swallowed the meal.
The meal was eaten through stolen kisses, deep kisses and smooches which melted Anna to the point that she wished she could spend the whole night with him, but she had to leave, her medications were in the hotel room and she couldn’t afford Nate to know she was sick, and her body was so weak to the point that she had a lot of allergies and sicknesses. She stood up after they washed the dishes, her chest was already tightening, and she knew it would only be a few more minutes before she would be out of breath.
“I need to leave, Nate.” She hugged him for one last time and waited to have him ask her to stay for the night and he didn’t. Even though she knew staying there would be so hard, but she might have considered doing that if he had asked.
He walked her to the car and kissed her goodnight before she hopped into the car and waved him goodbye. She had forgotten to ask him about his plans for tomorrow, even though she knew he would certainly go to work since he had taken the day off today. They were about to drive past their estate when she saw a car drove toward his house and she wondered who would visit him at this time? Or maybe it wasn’t his house? She was even sick to think straight, wasn’t it?
The moment she waved Mark goodnight, she held her chest and tried to walk into the lobby, but her breath was proving to be so hard and she was feeling the rashness on her lips. Why did she take that garlic? Just why?! If Mom was to hear about the stupid thing she had done all in the name of love, she would have been so angry at her and Maya would even threaten to call Nate and tell him of all the things she was allergic to so he would have to be careful next time.
She tried and got into the elevator and after it had landed on their floor, she staggered until she walked out of it, all the while panting so hard for her breath and her whole body was threatening to stop functioning. What had she done to herself this time? What kind of thought did she have when she ate that garlic? It was getting hard to the point that even though it left only a few steps to her suite, she collapsed on the ground and everything became black. She silently prayed that Nate would call her and if she didn’t pick he might think to call to hotel to check or he would contact Mark. Or maybe Mom would surely call to hear about her wellbeing even though that kind of call always ended into a fight, or Maya, or Julia about work. Someone should please check up on her before she died.
❦
Jack placed the phone down and cursed himself for accepting the invitation. He had a few friends in Florida and he didn’t know why he called David in the afternoon and now he had invited him to the party he hosted in his apartment. Maybe he was bored when he was on phone with him and he didn’t think he would actually not like to go to the party when he accepted the invitation? Anyway, he had to go now since he had accepted.
He got ready in a flash and when he stared at himself in the mirror, he smirked. Maybe he would have the fun he had long to have in a very long time. His phone rang and when he saw who had called him, it was Clara, he didn’t know when a smile broke his lips and he turned away from the mirror. He didn’t need to see his reflection when she was the perfect reflection of himself.
“Clara, oh darling, I’ve missed you.” He did, and he got into his shoes before he walked toward the door. He would have someone to talk to before he got to the address David had sent to him.
“You haven’t missed me, Jack. How long has it been since the last time you contacted me? You had your phone switched up that I began to worry about you.” She was whining, and even though he was aware that she was sad for him not contacting her since he came to Florida, it felt nice to know that someone cared to check up on him. Not to ‘nag’, just because she’s worried about him and his wellbeing.
“Clara, I’m so sorry. I was so tired yesterday and I wanted to call you today.” He locked his door and glared at the opposite suite. He wondered if he should ask Clara about the perfect way he could hurt Anna with, maybe she would give him the perfect way, right? But wouldn’t she be jealous if he told her the whole story? No, jealousy isn’t the right word, one would think they actually would have a thing between them. It should be insecure, or even furious that someone had done that to her boyfriend, right?
He saw a figure laid on the long corridor and when he stared harder at who it was, his thoughts went back to the woman that had a warm smile on her face in the morning as she hopped in the back of a limo. She wore this dress, right? “It’s alright. How are you…”
He cut her off, something was wrong. “Clara, I’ll call you later, okay?” He didn’t wait to hear her response before he ended the call and rushed toward the figure on the floor. And when he lifted her face, it was indeed Anna Brayden.
“Hey,” he softly tapped her face, what was wrong with her? Was she sick? “Can you hear me, Miss?” She was breathing heavily and the skin on her cheeks and neck was red and if he looked carefully, they looked like rashes, right? Was this an allergy attack?
She wasn’t breathing, “Anna!” He convulsed her vigorously and when she didn’t move or made a sound, he brought his phone out of his pocket and called the lobby. “Hello, this is Jack from ninth floor. Someone here is sick; can you quickly send the ambulance please? Be fast!” He knew he had been wanting to take his revenge on her, but this wasn’t the way he wanted to hurt her. If he let her die here, she wouldn’t know he was the one that let her die, right? He wanted to hurt her while she was awake and in her right senses.