She was not stalling.
Not at all.
She just had a lot to do.
"Like sit at your desk and stare out of the window?" Reyona's subconscious reared its head to poke at her ironclad reason.
She sighed and thought of how ridiculous her situation had become.
It had been a week since she moved in with them, yet it did not look like the awkwardness would end anytime soon.
Oh, he made her as comfortable as possible, and she realised he was serious about renovating his home office if she wanted.
She had told him not to bother about it and had chosen to stay in her room to do whatever she wanted to do anyway.
But then he seemed hellbent on not leaving her alone.
He was always trying to involve her in one thing or the other.
For the past two days now, he had changed tactics.
Junior was his secret weapon.
He would simply send him to invite Reyona to join them.
For dinner.
For their walks.
For the basketball he was teaching the kids.
And for every other little thing that Reyona was certain that he was just bringing up just to get her involved.
She couldn't help but marvel at how good he was with the kids though.
For a man with his ruthless reputation in business, and standoffish personality that made him an enigma to the tabloids, Reyona was surprised to see how gentle and involved he was with the kids.
She had thought most of the kids' activities were left to the legions of staff that he had, but then she came home the other day to see him helping Junior with an assignment.
The attentive way he managed to deal with how the boy had questions about every sum and why it had to be that way was just surprising.
Reyona had no idea she was smiling at the banter between tutor and student until he smiled back at her.
Then he winked and added "Wanna join us? This is so much fun, I am not gonna lie."
Reyona quickly excused herself, bade the kids goodnight and shut herself in her room for the rest of the night.
Going hungry for the night had not seemed so bad.
Until she woke up during the night due to hunger pangs and remembered that she had not had anything all day.
Reyona smacked her hand to her head as she remembered how she had contemplated for a while before she could summon the courage to go to the kitchen.
She was just sure he was going to pop out of somewhere and accuse her of being unreasonable or something.
Thankfully, she was able to get some cooked salmon from the fridge and make salmon sandwiches with it.
Of course, then she had to write a short note and stick it to the container, so the cook wouldn't think one of the staff took it or something.
What would be worse than waking up in the middle of the night to eat was to find out that her late-night jaunt put someone else in trouble.
Then she was unable to enjoy the food as she should because she was busy looking over her shoulders from time to time.
Worried that he might decide to spring on her from nowhere after all.
Reyona stood from her seat and started pacing as she bounced the Yoyo that Junior had given her that morning when she was leaving for work.
This had turned out to be a big mistake after all.
Not because there were any issues with the arrangement, but because she couldn't seem to relax no matter how much he tried to make her feel at home.
The more he and his staff did to make her comfortable, the more tense she got.
Reyona couldn't remember the last time she had had to be so careful about things before.
Every time she had to step out of the mini-suite set of rooms given to her was pure torture.
Would she meet him on the landing?
Would he be waiting around to invite her to do something again?
Would she agree?
Should she just stay in her room and do whatever she wanted to later when she was sure he wouldn't be around?
But then, when wasn't he around?
For a man with so many businesses, he sure seemed to be around almost every time.
At least since Reyona had moved in, there was no day she hadn't met him at home.
Which made her even more uncomfortable because she suspected he was deliberately being around because of her.
If not, why was it that he was always at a spot where she couldn't avoid him?
He was either outside or in the foyer.
At times, he would come down the stairs just when she got to the base of the stairs.
Or he would be in the living room with wine and two glasses at the ready.
And he always wanted to engage in a conversation with her.
Simple pleasantries wouldn't do.
Of course not.
He always wanted to know how her day went.
If she was working on anything that evening?
If she would like to join them for anything.
The discussions were not as bad as the looks.
He just had a way of looking at her these days that bothered Reyona.
Just that evening, he called to invite her to dinner they were having at a Chinese restaurant.
"The little man wouldn't stop talking about some of their food that he saw in a movie last week. I figured we would go give him a treat. Wanna come?"
Reyona had quickly rejected the offer and told him she would be working late.
"Oh, bummer. Would you like anything from the restaurant?" he asked.
"No, I am fine. I don't need anything." Reyona had said and wished them a good time.
Just when she was thinking that she would be able to get back without worrying about his presence, he sent her a message.
Apparently, Junior had decided that he would rather have the chef's homemade pizza that evening.
"Damn it," Reyona said as she dropped the bag she had just picked up.
And she had been waiting since then.
She really didn't want to see him that evening.
Not that she had anything against him.
Oh, he had been the perfect picture of good behaviour, as he had promised.
Reyona just couldn't seem to trust her reactions around him.
Especially not that evening when she could feel an inexplicable pressure building within her.
She dropped heavily onto her couch and wondered what she was going to do.
She still had at least one month left, yet she just knew she couldn't handle being around him for about twenty per cent of the day.
It didn't matter that she had avoided him as much as possible.
What mattered was, that she knew he was somewhere close by, and as much as it annoyed her, she couldn't deny the fact that it bothered her.
In a way that she hadn't believed she could possibly feel towards him.
Reyona tried for as long as possible to deny it, but she knew what she was feeling.
And she hated it!