Chapter 27

~Eliana~

I had missed Alistair so much, but I hadn’t had the time to go and see him. We were supposed to meet at the cinema yesterday, but I had cancelled on him, via a text message, because I couldn’t bear to hear the hurt in his voice if I decided to call him, and tell him I couldn’t meet up with him again, due to the fact that I had forgotten I had to the hospital with Sam.

If I had remembered early enough, I wouldn’t have agreed to go to the cinema with Alistair in the first place, only to later cancel on him. He was probably mad at me, because he didn’t even give me a call throughout the remaining hours of yesterday, and I didn’t call him either.

Lately, I had been distant, but I was going to definitely make it up to him. It was for that reason I had dressed up in a tight sexy white mini dress, which had slit sleeves, and hung tightly to my body. I wore white strappy heels, and carried a black purse. Alistair had once told me he liked my hair down, so, despite the fact that the weather was so hot, I left my hair down, not minding the discomfort it brought by touching my back.

I was on my way to pay him a surprise visit at the office, and there was no way he could stay mad at me with the way I was dressed, not forgetting the fact that I was with some homemade butter cookies, which my mum had instructed me to give to him. After he tasted it, he was going to forget ever being mad at me.

I had already eaten one or two pieces of the cookies, and it took a very strong determination to have not finished eating all the cookies by now. They had a very delicious milky taste, which I had tried to achieve over the years, but failed time and time again. I had many skills, but cooking and baking were definitely not part of them.

Davies pulled over in the company’s parking lot, and stopped the cool pop music that had been playing all the way down to Alistair’s company. He then ran over to open the door for me to step out of the car.

“Thank you,” I said, while alighting from the vehicle.

I then took out the box of cookies, and my purse, which had been resting in the backseat, and watched him close the door behind me.

“In case you have an emergency, don’t forget to let me know. Don’t just run off like the other time,” I instructed, having a flashback of how he had left me stranded the other time at the cemetery.

“I will do just that, Miss,” He said.

“Good. I’ll be right back. Just stay in the car, okay?”

“Okay, Miss,” He said half-heartedly, and I could guess why.

These days, I’d always tell him I’ll be right back, only for me to spend hours doing things that definitely did not make me get back to the car as early as I had promised. I was almost certain that he liked me better when I hardly went anywhere, and if I did, wasted no time in heading back home.

His job had been easier back then, but then again, his salary was more than enough, and it wasn’t like I asked him to wait under the sun for me to be done with whatever I was doing. He always waited for me in the car, and when I did get back, I always met him sleeping, or having a video call with his girlfriend or mother. He probably wasn’t even upset that I wasted time, and I was probably just the one overthinking things. So much for being an overthinker!

I walked inside the company, and this time around, the receptionist did not ask me anything, but just wore a broad smile, and said I could go to Alistair’s office, since he was around. I thanked her, and got on the elevator, and some seconds later, I was standing in front of his office.

If he was truly inside, he should already know I was around, and even though seeing my face wasn’t going to surprise him, catching my scent already did surprise him; that, I was sure of.

I tapped thrice on the door, waiting for him to tell me to come in.

“Yes? Come in?” I heard his deep sexy voice say, a few moments later.

With a smile plastered on my face, I stepped into his office, walking slowly.

“Hey, handsome,” I said, as soon as I saw him, sitting at his desk, obviously busy with his laptop.

“Hey,” He said, half-heartedly.

“I knew you were mad at me,” I said, closing the door gently, and walking to where he sat.

“I’m not mad at you, I’m only busy,” He said, without looking up to even catch a glimpse of my face.

I dropped the box of cookies on the table, and went to stand beside him, checking out what he was doing with his laptop.

“You’re distracting me. I need space,” He said, typing aggressively.

“Now, I’m a distraction?”

“You’ve always been a distraction,” He responded.

I rolled my eyes, and stood by his side, deciding not to even move an inch, and let him do his worst.

“What did I just say about giving me space?” He asked.

“If you want your space so badly, why don’t you look me in the eye and say so? I can’t take you seriously if you can’t even look me in the eye, and tell me to leave,” I said.

“Eliana,” He said, in a strong tone that made me shiver, as he finally looked up from his laptop.

“Alistair,” I said, calling his name, with a look of determination, not allowing myself to be deterred by the tone of his voice.

“What is it that you want?” He asked.

“Your forgiveness. I’m sorry that I’ve been distant lately, and I am sorry that I cancelled our meeting yesterday,” I said, in a pleading tone.

“You cancelled over a text message, and that was so annoying. I’m not even going to lie,” He said.

“I know. Trust me, I do. I could not call you because I didn’t want to hear the annoyance in your voice, but I’m willing to make it up to you,” I told him.

“And how, if I may ask, are you going to make it up to me?” He asked.

I smiled broadly, and sat on his desk, in front of me. “So, my family has this beautiful lake house in town, and let’s just say that I’ve asked my mother, and she has agreed to let us stay there for the weekend,” I said.

He looked thoughtful. “How’s this supposed to make me forgive you?” He asked.

“Well, my offence is literally the fact that I have not been making out time to be with you or spend time with you, and in order for you to forgive me, I am trying to make it up to you by going to my family’s lake house for the weekend. It will be just the two of us, and there’ll be no third party, which means that no one will get to disturb our peace, or come in the way, or take me away from you,” I explained.

“By no third party, you mean that there’ll be no ‘Sam’?” He asked.

I chuckled. “Have you been feeling jealous because I’ve been spending time with Sam? Is that why you’re so upset? I actually thought that you were mad because you’ve not been seeing much of me. I had no idea that you were feeling jealous because instead of being with you, I’ve been being with Sam,” I said.

“I’m not jealous, Eliana. I’m just wondering why you guys are so close,” He said.

“So close? Well, we’ve been friends since we were kids, and now that he’s back, I’m the only friend he has to help him out with stuff. This is only temporary, and that’s because he just got back. You’d always have me, Alistair. I’m just trying to help out a friend for a little time, at least, till he has settled down,” I explained.

“Friends? Is that all that there is to it? Are you guys just friends? Is nothing happening between you guys, or has something happened between you guys?’ He asked, looking at me intently.

I licked my lips, carefully considering the answer to give to him. “Well, nothing is happening between us, but yes, something has happened between us, and that was years ago, before he was transformed into a wolf,” I responded.

“Did you love him?” Alistair asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. We were teenagers, Alistair, and when you’re a teenager, you don’t know what love really is. We were never in a relationship, but we used to hang out and do stuff like teenage couples, and on the day of the accident, he told me he loved me. I saw life flash right before my eyes, and I felt that if I did die, I didn’t want to have any regrets, and so, I told him that I loved him.

“You know what’s strange though? All these years that he has been gone, I’ve never thought of it like I was missing a lover. I didn’t miss his kisses or his touch or any of those cuddles. I just missed a friend, who I could talk to, share my secrets with, take out my anger on, and dance in a weird manner with. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve never seen him as anything more than a friend, but to me, you are more than just a friend. What I feel for you, Alistair, I’ve never felt it for anyone before, I swear,” I told him, sincerely.

“You mean to tell me that all you had with him was just child’s play?” He asked.

I nodded my head, in the affirmative. “Exactly, Alistair. You shouldn’t think about it so much, okay?”

“But why didn’t you tell me this before?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Well, I didn’t think it mattered. Besides, like I already said, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Sam is that he’s my friend,” I replied.

“Did you tell someone else though?” He asked.

“Umm...” I was racking my brain, and then it dawned on me that I had actually told someone. “Yes, I did. I told Jennifer. Fuck! I was in my feelings, and she was being really sweet and saying how both of you were just friends, then she asked me about Sam persuasively, and the words just fell out of my mouth. I told her that he’s my first love, but you’re the one I love right now,” I explained.

“It’s cool. Please, just be honest to me about everything next time, okay? I want to know about your exes and all of that, so, I don’t get shocked in case this were to happen again,” He said.

I chuckled. “Trust me, this will never happen again. I haven’t had a boyfriend in my life, and I didn’t even have sex for ten years till I met you, so, you can be sure that something like this will never happen again,” I promised.

He stood up from his seat, and put his arms around my waist as I sat on his desk, looking at me with so much adoration. “Tell me something, Eliana. Is it just the lake house you intended to use as a bribe to make me forgive you?” He asked, with a look that made me yearn for him.

“No. I brought my mother’s delicious homemade butter cookies as Plan B, in case the lake house idea failed,” I replied.

“While I’m sure that your mother’s cookies taste delightfully enough to soften my heart, are you sure you didn’t have another trick up your sleeves?” He asked.

I giggled. “You caught me, Alistair. Yes, I had another trick up my sleeves. I wore this short dress, and let my hair down to seduce you into forgiving me,” I told him.

He seemed surprised. “Oh. I wasn’t even referring to that. I was talking about your lips. Did you purposely leave them dry, so, I could be tempted to keep my promise by wetting them for you?” He asked.

My stomach sank inside, and my heart had a tingling sensation. “I didn’t leave my lips dry on purpose. I guess I must have forgotten to put on my lip gloss,” I said.

“Well, I once said I wanted to be your lip gloss, isn’t that so?” He asked, and before I could give him a reply, he crushed his lips on mine, kissing me passionately, like he had missed me so much. I had also missed him in more ways than I had earlier thought, and kissed him back, with a strong desire for him.

He stopped kissing me abruptly, making me wonder what it is I had done wrong.

“I should be working,” He said.

“I understand,” I told him, in a sad tone.

“We’ll have the whole weekend to ourselves though. Won’t we?” He asked.

I blushed, warmly. “You’re in on the lake house plan then, isn’t it?”

“I am in,” He replied.

“You forgive me, then?”

“With everything you brought as a bribe to ask for my forgiveness, I have no other choice than to forgive you. I am not as incorruptible as you may like to think, can’t say no to a well thought-out bribery,” He said, pushing my hair behind my ears.

I chuckled hard. “Thanks for forgiving me. I knew all this would work,” I said.

“From the moment you stepped in, I was willing to forgive everything. You actually didn’t need to bribe me, your presence is more than enough bribery,” He said.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time,” I told him, then brought down my lips, which I pressed to his, kissing him passionately, without caring if he was in the office or not. He had the ability to tell if someone was coming after all, and the kiss had been too beautiful to just end it all like that.

My purpose of coming to see Alistair had been served, and I was glad that he was easy to persuade. However, the questions he had asked about Sam made me uneasy, and for some weird reason, I had this negative belief that things weren’t just going to end there. It seemed like a small issue, but it felt as though it was going to grow into something bigger in the long run. I could only hope that I’d be prepared if that time ever truly came.