CHAPTER 4

CHRISTINA

I pack my suitcase with all the necessities I needed for the trip. I keep my mom’s letter safely in my purse. For my clothing I decide to go casual with a floral dress, camel lofers and sunglasses. At quarter to eight Stephen arrives at my house and I ask the butler to escort him in.

My breath hitched as I saw him. There was no doubt that god had spent the most of his time carving this being. I thing I was sure of was no human could look as good as him. He was wearing camel shorts , a light blue shirt and his hair were still damp from a shower. But, the most alarming feature was his beautiful grey eyes. Damn his eyes!

“Woah ! so you live in this huge villa alone ?” he asks clearly amazed. “ Ummm…. No I still have the servants working here.” I stated in an obvious tone.

“You know it is not safe for a young, beautiful girl like you to live in such a big mansion.” He says sternly. “What are you? My dad.” I remark sarcastically.

“All I am saying is….” He starts. “Oh! I know what you are saying and will consider it now can we please get going.” I say getting agitated.

“ Not before I meet your parents.” He fires back. I heave a sigh and ask him to follow me. As he silently prays, I decide to request something myself.

‘Hey mom and dad. Just as you had wrote I will be going to meet your friends and this young man here was with me in my hard times and in the small frame of time we have spent together I think I fell for him. Wherever I am I always hope to at least get a glimpse of his face. But I’m too scared to express my feelings as he’s all I’ve got and I don’t want to ruin our friendship with my silly fairytale dreams. So could you please help me out just this once.’

I open my eyes which meet a pair of grey eyes staring at me. I can’t help but blush. Stephen steps forward and takes my hand. ‘Get him girl!’ my inner goddess speaks.

“Are you ready to go ?” he asks. All I manage is a nod.

“For the hundredth time Stephen you will get to   know when we reach  there.” I say frustrated.“My parents can be a handful you know.” He warns me again.

“I. Know.” I say rolling my eyes. “But….” He starts.

“No more bickering Stephen.” I say in the most calm way I could manage. He finally decides to shut up. “So could you tell me about your family.” I say quickly changing the topic.

“ Well I have a younger sister who is actually  Overseas and is living with my grandparents. My  mother is a very strict person and let me warn you  she rarely smiles. But, my dad is the exact opposite. He’s really outgoing.” He explains. “ People say I take after him while my sister is like my mother.” He adds with a smirk.

After sometime we pull up in front of a petrol pump. “I’m gonna fill so gas. Why don’t you go check out the Store?” he asks. I nod and head towards the store.

Out of the blue, I start feeling nauseous and duck for the bushes as my breakfast comes up. “Oh Christina!” Stephen says as he pulls my hair away from my face. He hands me a bottle and looks at me with written all across his face. He steps forward and places his cool hand on my forehand. I manage to relax a little at his touch.

“ You have a fever my dearfriend. I’ll go to the convenience store and get some medicine for you.” He says.

Before I could even reply back, he lifts me up in his arms and carries me to the car. I am too shocked to object him.  He asks me to stay put and goes to get the medicine. As I look at his back I realize it’s too late, I’ve already fallen for him.

We stop at a hotel for the night cause  ‘Stephen was  tired’ a reason I found hardtop believe. He checks into the Presidential Suite and when I deny sharing the same room gives me a threatening expression.

“ I’ll sleep on the sofa and you sleep in the bed.”  “ No. Way.” I deny.

“ What do you mean?” he asks clearly puzzled.“ I’m not letting you suffer because of me so either you sleep in the bed as well or I’m out.” I say in a serious tone to which he replies with a sigh.

“There is no winning from you is there .” he says.We partition the bed with a bunch of pillows. “ Good Night Stephen.”  “ Sweet Dreams Christina.” He whispers back.

STEPHEN

I drive in as the gates to the villa open. I am left in awe of its beauty with picturesque gardens. The villa is situated in the middle of the gardens and I see  the butler standing in front of the doors. Then the thought strikes me that Christina is living in this mansion all alone. I get furious just by the idea of it.“Is it safe for a girl to live here all alone.” I ask the  beautiful angel standing infront of me and as expected, she answers sarcastically. Before leavingI ask to meet her parents and she quietly leads me to their graves.

The graves of her parents was enclosed within a beautiful glasshouse. She explains her mother likedgardening so she decided to bury them in a sunny part of the garden. I kneel in front of their grave and introduce myself.

‘Hello aunt and uncle, I’m Stephen renolds a friend of your daughter. I promise to take good care of her and not leave her side. Actually I have fallen head over heels for her and I’m gonna try my best to win her over. So rest assured.’

I get up and ask if Christina is ready to go as she nods I instinctively grab her hand and lead her to the car.

I get really curious about why she wants to meet my parents and ask her, “Why do you wanna meet my parents?”  “You’ll get to know the reason soon.” She replies.

Half an hour passes and I find myself asking again, “But why my parents? Don’t tell you wanna ask for my hand in marriage. But isn’t it the other way round.”

I ask getting more confused. My question is answered by one of Christina’s glares. After sometime Christina inquires about my family And after I gave some details I ask her about hers.

“Well I moved to NYC when I was three. My mother Was a very loving and caring person while my father was kind of a mystery.” She replies with a smile. I  can’t help but remain stunned by her beauty. Damn  that smile! “So what were you like when you were a  child?” I ask her. “Well I was a very naughty girl. Once, I decided to play hide and seek with my parents and they told me to hide. But, they got caught up with some work while I stayed hidden forthree hours. A whole team of servants came looking for me then.” Christina says with a giggle.

“Enough about me, what were you like.”

“I was one of those easy going and carefree children. I also never complained about anything. One time I had gone to an amusement park with my family and I got lost. When my parents found me, I was hanging out with a group of children on the carousel.” The memory brings a smile. “So what are your hobbies?” I ask bringing the topic back to her.

“Well I really like singing, cooking, painting and playing the piano as well as violin. And let me warn you I am perfect in all of them.”  “Oh really.” I ask raising my eyebrows. And the car  brightens with our laughter.

Before long, I stop in front of a gas station. I tell Christina to go to the convenience store as I fill up. As I turn back to filling the tank, I turn around to a sound. I rush towards Christina’s side and help her to stand up. I tell her to stay put as I rush to get a water bottle for her. I couldn’t help but feel worried by the look of her face. I touched her forehead and she was burning. I picked her elegant figure in my hands and carried her to the car.

“Stay here I’ll go get medicine.” I tell her and go back to the convenience store. As I stand at the counter, I stare at my hands which were still warm from carrying Christina. I pay for the medicine and rush back to give it to Christina.

“I know a hotel on the way so we’ll stop to rest for today.” I tell her. And no matter what I was not gonna change my mind.

I choose the hotel Atlantis and give my car keys to the valet parking. After I get Christina settled in the lobby, I go to get checked in.

“Hello sir how may I help you.” “ I would like to book the presidential suite.” I answer.

After getting the keys, I grab Christina by her arm and lead her to the elevator afraid she might fall down any moment. I open the door and help Christina get into the bed. When Christina threatened to leave I decided to give in and after arranging pillows in between us finally could get her to go to sleep. As, I lay staring at her beautiful face, I got up and gave her a peck on the cheek.

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