Chapter 5

~Alistair~

After parking my car, a shiny black Rolls Royce, in front of her gate, I gave her a call. That had been ten minutes ago, and even though she had said she was on her way, there had been no sign of her yet. Why was I surprised though? Every woman was always late, and it was a thing I had learnt to accept when my foster mother was alive, and spent ages while trying to dress up for any occasion.

I turned the rear-view mirror towards me, and adjusted my necktie, then sensed that she had stepped out of her gate, which made me look forward, and I saw her standing in front of her gate, looking really elegant.

I licked my lips lustfully, then stepped down from the car, and walked slowly and gallantly to where she stood, apparently waiting for me to be her escort.

A pink tube dress, hugged her curves tightly. It was a short dress, which was above her knees, and had glitters all over it, which shimmered in the bulb lights. Her outfit suited her silky and flawless brown skin, and her silver sparkly heels, complimented her long legs.

“Hey,” She said, wearing a nervous smile, as soon as I got closer to her.

“Hey,” I said back.

Her eyes rested on her feet, probably feeling too shy to look up at me. I admired the way she had packed her brown hair in a half bun, leaving the rest to fall flatly on her bare back.

“You look amazing,” I said, not because I thought it was something she’d like to hear, but because she really did look amazing.

“Not flattering me, are you?” She asked, slightly looking up at me.

“I’m not,” I said, and squeezed her hand gently, reassuringly.

She stared into my eyes, then her lips gave way to a really beautiful smile, which made my heart sink.

“Let me guess, you’re not a makeup person, right?” I asked, admiring how beautiful she looked, even without applying powder on her face.

She bit her lip. “I am not. It’s just too much trouble,” She said.

“But you apply something to your lips, right?” I asked, brushing my thumb against her full red lips.

She nodded, with her lips trembling at my touch. “Yeah. It’s lip gloss,” She replied.

“It’s different from lipstick?” I inquired.

“Yeah. It’s transparent as you can see, and it makes my lips wet. I don’t like them when they’re dry,” She replied, blinking her long dark lashes rapidly, as I continued to brush my thumb against her lips.

“I don’t mind getting them wet for you, you know. Let me be your lip gloss from now on,” I told her, wearing a flirtatious smirk.

A small gasp escaped from her mouth. “I don’t mind you getting them wet for me,” She said, then suddenly put her arms around my neck, closing her eyes spontaneously.

Tilting my head, I placed my hand on her cheeks, then the other on her tiny narrow waist, then touched my lips to hers. Her lips slightly parted, and she responded to my kiss, pulling me closer to her, then without warning, she let me go.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I left through the back door, and distracted the security guards, so, I could get out. Dinner will be served in no time, and if the maid checks up on me and I’m not there, they’ll first check outside. That’s why we have to go now,” She explained, taking my fingers in hers.

“How old are you? 15?” I asked, in a joking manner.

A smile appeared on her face. “What do you mean?” She retorted, in a calm voice.

“I want to know if I’m involved in a minor, before things between us get more serious. Are you less than 18, seeing that you had to sneak out of your house to meet with a guy?” I asked, poking her sides playfully.

Eliana gave a small laugh. “You know I’m older than 18,” She said.

“Of course, I know. I’m just wondering why a grown-up lady like you would have to sneak out of her own house in order to meet up with a man,” I said to her.

“I’ll explain once we’re in the car,” She said, placing her arms in mine, skipping like a child to the car, and pulling me along with her.

“Careful, you’ll fall,” I said, wearing a smile on her face, as I watched how she moved like someone who wasn’t wearing heels.

“If I do fall, I’ll stand up again,” She said, nonchalantly.

“I like your spirit,” I said, then opened the door of the passenger seat, when we got to the car.

She looked surprised as she stared at the car. “You’ve got a beautiful Rolls Royce here, but you drove a G-wagon the other day, didn’t you?” She asked.

“Someone really knows cars,” I said, motioning with my head for her to get in.

“My family deals in cars,” She explained, rolling her eyes.

“Thought you didn’t care about your family business,” I noted.

She shrugged her shoulders, getting into the car. “Doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about it,” She responded, as I closed the door, and went over to drive...something I hardly did, but was doing because of Eliana Venator.

I wore my seatbelt, and pushing the accelerator, started the car, driving to an exquisite eatery, where I had made a reservation for us.

“You’re not vegan, are you?” I asked.

“I’m not. As a matter of fact, I’m a big-time foodie, and I eat anything and everything,” She responded, smiling mischievously.

I stifled a laughter. “My mother would have liked you. She hated the fact that I don’t eat well,” I said, shooting her a small smile.

“I’m sure I’d have liked her as well,” She said.

“So, you said you know a thing or two about your family’s business?” I asked, confirming what she had said earlier on.

She nodded in the affirmative. “Yeah...not a thing or two though; a whole lot of things. It was compulsory that I was equipped with the knowledge of how things are done in the company when I was much younger, in case I needed to head a branch or something. Back then, I didn’t really mind, but after the accident that got all my friends killed, I wasn’t interested in anything again,” She explained.

“Must have been really tough to lose your friends in one day,” I said, turning in the left direction.

“You can’t even begin to imagine. First of all, you just slip into a coma, and when you wake up, you’re told you’re the only survivor from the car accident. My family seemed thankful that I survived, but I live everyday like I’m actually not living...I don’t know if you get me...”

“I understand you perfectly well. Narrow escapes can be scary, because you’d spend forever, thinking what would have happened had you died, and some days, it feels like you’re still not alive because you almost died.”

“Exactly! Then, you see your friends' family, and you know they’re thinking it’s your fault because you were the one driving, but while their kids are dead, you, who drove recklessly is still alive, and you can’t even look them in the face because of guilt. You see them in certain places and just hide...”

“I’m sure they don’t know the whole story, that’s why,” I said, wearing a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. They don’t know the full story, and trust me, you don’t even want to know,” She said.

“What makes you think so?” I asked, acting like I didn’t know the whole story.

She shook her head, in negativity. “Nah. You’d think I’m out of my mind. Whenever I tell people what really happened that day, they either think I’m out of my mind, or making something up because I don’t want to take the blame,” She said.

“By now, haven’t you figured out that I’m not like other people you’ve met?” I inquired.

“That’s the thing. You’re not like every other person I’ve met, and that’s why I can’t bear to scare you off. I don’t mind others leaving, and sometimes, I say the truth of the matter just so they’d think I’m insane and leave me the hell alone, but even though I haven’t known you for that long, I don’t want you to leave,” She said.

It was like an arrow had slightly grazed across my heart, and for some reason, it pleased me to know that she didn’t want me to leave. “Trust me, Eliana, I’m not going anywhere,” I told her, pulling over in the parking lot of the eatery I had reserved for us.

She unhooked her seatbelt, and took my hand in hers, smiling in an appreciative manner. “Thank you,” She said.

“It’s nothing, trust me. You were going to tell me the reason a beautiful damsel like you has to sneak out of her house in order to go on dates,” I said, remembering that she hadn’t answered my question yet.

“My parents let me go on dates with men they’ve chosen from other wealthy families. Someone like me has to get married to foster a positive business relationship, and not because of love. Before I go out, they’d tell them that I survived an accident and haven’t really been able to move on, so, I make stuff up about what had happened, and tell them that they just have to see past my psychotic nature, and focus on the beautiful lady inside,” She said, looking down at her feet.

I scoffed, irritated. “And they think telling everyone their daughter is a psychotic nutjob is helpful?” I asked.

“I guess so. I’ve never gone out with anyone that wasn’t arranged by my parents, and they all end up in a total disaster. If I had told them I was going out on a date by myself for the first time, they’d want to meet you in person and tell you the same thing they tell everyone...”

“And that would make you feel embarrassed?”

She nodded in the affirmative.

I gave her hands a gentle squeeze, then smiled at her. “Next time, don’t sneak out. If your parents say something like that, I’ll put them in their place. I hope you won’t mind though,” I said.

“Trust me, I wouldn’t mind. Someone needs to teach them a very good lesson,” She said, and reaching out to me, planted a soft chaste kiss on my lips.

Smiling from just a corner of my mouth, I took my keys from the ignition, then alighted from the car, adjusting my tie a bit, then ran over to her door, then opened it for her.

Her cheeks blushed a heavy red colour, as she smiled broadly, then took my hand, stepping out of the car.

“You’re not going to take your purse?” I asked, gesturing towards the silver purse, laced with diamonds, that was sitting on the chair she had just gotten up from.

Shaking her head, she responded, “My parents will bother me with phone calls which I’m not interested in picking, and if I switch my phone off, they may get unnecessarily worried. It’s better they think I’m ignoring them on purpose, which is true by the way.”

“Okay then,” I said, then extended my arms, which she entwined hers in.

I locked the car, and we went inside the eatery.

“Wow! This is exquisite,” She said, looking around the large glass-covered eatery. There was an incredible lighting, and it had chandeliers all over.

“Glad you like it,” I said.

She held on to my arms more tightly, as I took her to the table, which I had reserved for us. I hit the button to let the waiter know that we were ready to place our order.

The waiter came a few seconds later with a notepad and began to take down our order.

“What drink would you have?” I asked.

“Umm...something sweet, but not strong,” She replied, staring blankly at the menu.

“Red wine should suffice,” I said.

She nodded, agreeing with what I had said.

“What about the main course?” I asked.

“Steak, Wedge Salad, Mac and Cheese...what else?” She asked, looking up from her menu for the first time since we arrived at the eatery.

“Hmmm... Sweet potato fries,” I replied.

“Sounds good. Please, I’d like a lot of ketchup, and I’d have vanilla ice-cream cake for dessert,” She said.

“Yeah, me too,” I said.

“This will take a few minutes. Please, be patient,” The waiter said, then left after taking a bow.

“How do you manage to look really healthy and slim when you eat this much?” I asked, teasing her a little bit.

“How do you think? I exercise, of course,” She said.

I felt her heartbeat slightly rise up, after she made that statement, and I knew it was officially the first time she had told a lie, since we first met.

“Are you telling the truth?” I asked.

“No. Actually, I’m too lazy for exercising. I just don’t get fat, I always remain this way, irrespective of what I eat,” She said, with a shrug.

I saw the waiter approaching from the corner of my eyes, and was about to respond to the confession Eliana had made, when a loud high-pitched howl that I recognised all too well, pierced the room, and I blocked my ears with both hands.

Jenny...she was in trouble.

“Are you all right?” Eliana asked, looking at me, both with curiosity and concern.

I nodded my head, then took out my phone, in order to pretend that I had received an emergency message.

“Uh...I need to be somewhere. I’m so sorry,” I said, then stood up immediately.

Opening my wallet, I took out my cards and ID, then dropped it on the table. “The money in there should be able to cover the bills. I’m so sorry, but I have to run,” I said.

She nodded her head, not saying a word, with a disappointed look written all over her face.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” I said, then planting a kiss on her forehead, made to leave the eatery.

“Mr Duke?” She called.

I turned around, wondering what it was that she wanted to say.

She forced a smile. “You also look amazing, I forgot to tell you that. Please, be safe,” She said, in sincerity.

I nodded, then turned around, and left the eatery, in a quest to find Jenny and help her out. If she was playing a trick to get me to go to her and abandon my date with the prettiest and most understanding girl I’d ever come across, because of a petty jealousy which was stupid, I was going to make her pay.

I slapped my cheek twice, as what I had thought sunk in. Thinking of Eliana as a pretty girl with good qualities wasn’t going to help matters; she was and would forever be just a piece that fitted perfectly in my puzzle.