Chapter 85: No More Insecurities
Alina's Pov
Theodore burst through the front door with me still in his arms, his movements urgent yet careful. "Martha!" he called out, his voice echoing through the hallway as he headed towards my room. "Prepare a hot water bag for Alina. Now!" Martha hurried from the kitchen, her expression shifting to concern the moment she saw me.
"Right away, Mr. Maxwell," she responded, disappearing quickly to fulfill his request. Before we could reach the bedroom, Asher came running out of his room, his face lighting up with excitement.
"Daddy! Mummy! You're back!" His joy turned to worry as he took in the sight of Theodore carrying me, my face contorted in pain.
"Daddy? What happened to mummy?" he asked, his voice small and anxious. Theodore slowed down, crouching slightly to meet Asher's eyes.
"Don’t worry, Asher. Mummy is just not feeling well. I will take care of her, okay? Till then, go and play with your toys." Asher nodded skeptically, his little face still full of concern.
"She will be alright, right?" I mustered a smile for him.
"Baby, I'm fine," I said softly. "I'll come and play with you in a few minutes, okay?" Asher hesitated but then nodded, reassured by our words, before running back to his room. Theodore carried me the rest of the way to my bedroom, gently placing me on the bed. He knelt to remove my heels, his touch tender and careful. He moved to turn on the AC, creating a cool, calming atmosphere. A few seconds later, Martha returned with the hot water bag.
"Is there anything else, Mr. Maxwell?" she asked, handing the bag to Theodore.
"Yeah," he replied, his focus still on me. "Prepare something for Alina. She hasn’t eaten properly." Martha nodded and left the room to get started on the meal. Theodore sat on the bed beside me, placing the warm water bag on my abdomen. The heat seeped through my clothes, and I released a long sigh of relief, the pain starting to dull slightly. My muscles began to relax, the tension easing out of my body. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face, his touch gentle.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked quietly.
"Better," I murmured, my eyes fluttering closed. The combination of the heat and his care was working wonders. "Thank you."
"You don’t need to thank me," he replied softly. "I’m here for you, always." I didn't know how to respond to that so instead I changed the topic.
“I have a question though.”
“Ask away!”
“How did you manage to arrange the clothes and the…well sanitary stuff for me?”
“I obviously had no idea about women's sanitary stuff. Luckily Rebecca stayed back for a while. I found her in the hallway so I asked her. She was very helpful.” The moment Theodore uttered Rebecca's name, the unsettling pang returned. The knot in my stomach grew tight as I took a deep breath. Why the hell were my hormones acting so weird?
“Oh, it was Rebecca? She seemed…” I thought about my words carefully to not make me look like I was digging in too much, “..very comfortable around you.” I don't know why, but my sentence came out more insecure than I had intended it to be. And that of course made Theodore immediately smirk and lean in closer to me.
“Why are you so curious, Alina? Does it bother you?” His breath fanned over my skin, that's how close he was. I flushed knowing I sounded jealous. But that's not what I was feeling. Or was I? I couldn't.. right? I scoffed, sounding annoyed. The last thing I wanted was to give him the impression that I was jealous of him being so friendly with another girl.
“Bother me? Why would it bother me?”
“I don't know…” Theodore trailed, teasing me.
“Maybe you were jealous of me giving attention to someone other than you..” he suggested with a smirk.
“Jealous? Me?” I huffed giving him an ‘are you serious look'. “Care to explain Mr. Maxwell, why would I be jealous of someone I don't even want to look at?” I folded my arms over my chest. Theodore leaned in further, his lips being centimeters away from mine, making me gasp.
“Maybe because you have started to like that certain someone but are just stubborn enough to accept it,” he answered.
“Not in a million years,” I said confidently, quickly unwrapping my arms to push him away to create some distance between us. Because his proximity was doing something to me all of a sudden.
Theodore chuckled, not seeming to mind a bit. “I like it. Infact, I love it. I love that you finally care to get upset over seeing me talking to other girls.”
“I wasn't upset—”
“But just to put you to ease, Rebecca is my cousin. She has helped with the business lately. I can assure you, I have only had my eyes for you. Always on you only,” Theodore stated solemnly, making me gulp because the way he said the last sentence was extremely hot. Again, blame my hormones for thinking that. But I hated the fact even more that once Theodore told me that Rebecca was actually his cousin, made a cloud of relief wash over me.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, you didn't actually have to explain any of that to me because it's not my concern who you talk to or not.” I felt the need to add that.
“But it is my concern to make sure that my woman always knows that I have eyes only for her. Which means it is my responsibility to never let her be insecure of any other woman, so yes, I will explain until she gets it in her head that she is it for me. I will explain every time she has a doubt so there is no misunderstanding between us. Because as my woman, she deserves everything. And I will make sure I give her just that.”