Chapter 21- Heat of the Moment

Day 21

I can't believe it has really been twenty-one days. It feels like it has been a whole century since I've been here with Raphael. I know my daily logs are unnecessary at this point, as I no longer intend to use them against my dear love.

Yes, I love him. I love him with all my heart and I don’t think I could ever love someone like I love Raphael.

He grants me happiness daily, as you could see by reading my daily logs, and even though sometimes he becomes detached, withdrawn and he would randomly believe that I would up and leave him someday, I could never.

I knew it was the BPD doing its best to him, and I kept encouraging him to book a therapy session once a week, just so he could deal with it better.

But ah, our Raphael is so stubborn. He even refuses to take the damn pills, saying he 'is fine and doesn’t need to be on medication'. But I can't force him. I simply show him day by day that I would never leave him, and I'd be damned if I let any distance be put between us, for as long as we both shall live.

***

Tami sighed in content as she recorded her twenty-first log since she arrived here at Raphael's mansion, and they became better by the day.

She didn’t change the name of her log book. It was still called 'Being Raphael's Captive', as she found a little humor behind it whenever she would open it to record a new one.

Tami could imagine herself reading her logs two years from now, probably when she’s away at medical school and missing Raphael dearly when he's away on a business trip. She still didn’t tell him about them, but she hoped that one day she would.

She saved the log and threw the laptop aside, as she quickly made her way to her closet to grab appropriate wear for the day they had planned.

Tami had finally loaded her closet with the clothes Raphael's assistant had bought and sent to the mansion, and she found everyday that she just had to meet this assistant one day as she believed they would get along quite well. They somehow had the same style.

She beamed brightly as she grabbed a small bikini and a matching overall, as Tami couldn’t contain the excitement in her veins for the day.

For the past five days, Raphael had been in the office, dealing with whatever needed to be dealt with. She didn’t imagine that taking over a firm could yield so many issues in the beginning, but she had missed him at home for the past week.

Whenever he got home, they would have dinner together, stay wrapped in each other's arms and fall asleep like that, and she realized that Raphael fell asleep quite earlier than she had liked every night.

But today, Tami would have him to herself all day, and she couldn’t wait.

Raphael reserved a day specially for her as he felt awful for all the time he had been spending away from her, when in truth, they were supposed to be spending every last second together in order to be sure that they were ready to take their relationship to the next level by the end of summer.

Tami already knew that she wanted to go to whatever 'next level' there could be, as she wanted no one but Raphael at her side.

There were days when she felt guilty and selfish for doing this while her family and friends were out there with mixed emotions, but with only a few weeks left before she returns home, she couldn’t help but stay wrapped in Raphael's arm every second she got.

Quickly, Tami rushed to the bathroom to freshen up, before pulling on her swimsuit and throwing the overall over it. She then grabbed her sunglasses and let her curly hair fall in all its waves before finally shoving her feet in her sandals, deeming herself ready for her pool day with Raphael.

The minute she pulled the door open, Raphael was on the other side holding up his hands as if he was about to knock. Bright smiles grew on both their faces as Tami threw herself on him, and immediately captured his lips in a sweet, well deserved kiss.

"Good morning beautiful," he mumbled against her lips as she pulled away.

"Good morning handsome," she returned with her never falling smile. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this was the Raphael she hated a few weeks ago. He made her so happy, that she found it impossible that she once hated him with all she had.

"Ready for today?"

"More than ready!" Tami chirped as he held her hand. She had been to his indoor pool more than once, but she had never been to his outdoor pool. One reason was because she fell in love with the indoor one, and she simply didn’t walk across the huge mansion to find the other.

Raphael had already set everything in place. He set the tables by the pool with fruit, beverages, her favorite foods in the perfect breakfast for her. Since it was only nine in the morning, neither of them had eaten, and so as early as seven this morning, he arranged for Mrs. Garcia to make the biggest breakfast and pool date picnic for Tami and him, and he spent the last hour helping Mrs. Garcia set it all up.

Given that the pool and kitchen were a good distance away from each other, he assumed the food would've been cold by the time Tami came down. Still, he wanted to do something special for her, as he felt guilty for not being with her that much for the past week.

Tami was left breathless when Raphael slid the glass door open, revealing fully the exquisite beauty of his pool area. Her mouth fell open as she took in the scenery of it all.

"Raph..." she whispered as she took a careful step onto the outside patio, as if worried she would've caused a mess with her step.

Before her sat a wide, open pool with sparkling water that seemed like it had no end, as it was at the edge of the patio. At her angle, the beautiful blue seas sat neatly behind the open pool, giving it a breathtakingly marvelous view.

The rest of the patio was littered with beach chairs and a single dining table under an umbrella, filled with food of all kinds that made her hunger even more evident.

"You like it?" he asked as he led her further into the area with his hand on her back.

"Like it? I freaking love it! Is this a five star hotel or something?" Tami couldn’t help but grab her phone to snap a picture, awaiting the day she could finally connect with the world again to share all the pictures she had taken over the weeks. This was surely a depiction of what she believed heaven was like.

Raphael chuckled as he watched her wiggle her toes in the warm pool water. "No. Just my humble home."

"Humble." She scoffed. "This is a freaking villa!"

"Well I'm glad you liked it." He held her around her waist and placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Shall we have breakfast?"

"We shall." Tami chuckled, loving the way his breath tickled her neck, but she couldn’t suppress the hunger in her stomach.

Raphael held the chair for her as she sat, before joining her on the other side of the table. She immediately helped herself to the wonderful breakfast Mrs. Garcia had prepared for them. She never disappointed them.

They filled the air with light conversation, asking about each other's week and Tami listened attentively while Raphael filled her in on what had been happening at his firm. Tami felt stuffed, but ensured she left just enough space to enjoy her fruit punch that had her eyes rolling back in bliss.

This made Raphael pleased. All he ever wanted was to see Tami happy, and she looked indeed happy. All he wanted was to fill her life with peace, joy and love, spoiling her in any way he possibly could.

He couldn’t wait for the summer to be through, so that they could come out of hiding and he could show her the world. He wanted to do it now, but Tami made it clear that she wanted to remain here until the end of summer.

Still, he didn’t mind one bit. As long as he was with her, there was no other thing that could make him content.

"Let's go swimming," Tami chirped happily as her eyes lit with excitement, and Raphael made no hesitation to grant her request.

He soaked her in greedily with his eyes as she discarded the black overall, revealing her blue two piece swimsuit that enhanced her every feature and appeased him to the bone. Despite the numerous times he'd seen her like this, he couldn’t get enough of her.

He could never get enough of her.

She made a loud squeal as she dived in the water, making a huge splash before emerging with her infamous smile and inviting eyes. Raphael whipped his shirt off and joined her only seconds after, where she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him like there was no coming back.

"When I get back home, I will personally arrange a trip here for all my friends and family so that I can win them back," Tami mumbled against his lips, but in a teasing tone.

Raphael’s chest rumbled in a light chuckled as he swept a lock of her wet hair away from her face. "And will you buy everyone's heart with a luxurious trip?"

"Hhhmm." She plopped a finger to her chin as if she was thinking. "Maybe. But maybe it would be harder to buy Malik's." Malik-- one of her only friends from uni that knew her like the back of his hand.

Tami had time to think about him, and how worried or hurt he must've been at her disappearance. Surely, he would’ve either seen her mother's statement or her sister's video, and he must've decided on what truth he wanted to believe by now. She sometimes worried about how she would tell him that she 'ran away' with her childhood crush, and now they are in love.

Raphael frowned at the mention of this man's name. "Malik? That guy friend of yours who you were going to run off to medical school with?"

Tami frowned, not liking how defensive he sounded, or how he said 'run off'.

"I wasn’t 'running off' with him, Raphael," she defended, using air quotes. "We were going to go together because why not? I doubt he already left though."

"What was your plan for living arrangements once you leave?" His eyebrows pulled together in thought, and he couldn’t believe he was just thinking about this.

She shrugged and pulled away a bit, not liking how his mood was changing. She suddenly regretted bringing it up at all. Tami remembered the night he took her, when he got really closed off when she first mentioned Malik and told Raphael that she had invited him. She was just so caught up in the moment that she didn’t think to keep her big mouth shut.

"I was either going to live on campus or rent an apartment with Malik," she said softly, awaiting the eruption from Raphael. But oddly, he seemed calm.

His jaw ticked once, and he looked as if he was thinking. "What school were you planning to attend?"

"David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA."

"California, I believe?" he asked, already cooking up his plan.

She nodded. "Yes." Tami didn’t like that their pool day had become tense with school and jealous talk, as it was quite clear that Raphael didn’t like that idea of her living with Malik.

"I will buy you a temporary home close by, or if you already have apartments in mind, I will cover all the costs. You will be well taken care of and when I visit we will stay there. But I will not have you living with another man."

"You don’t even know him, Raph. And I appreciate your offer but if you are only covering my living expenses out of jealousy-"

"Do you think it is appropriate to have you living with another man? If you want to dorm, then so be it. I will cover that expense too."

"You're being dramatic. I've known Malik for years. But I understand that it might seem unsettling and inappropriate if we should remain serious, so I am willing to reconsider."

"No, you are going to reconsider, Tami. That's final." Tami didn’t like the way he spoke to her, and so she felt defensive.

"I am a grown woman Raphael. I will not have you dictating what I do or don’t do. If you want to suggest something, then that is no problem. But I will not have you ordering me to live here or there."

With a frustrated huff, she stubbornly swam across the pool and grabbed her overall, feeling her mood for the day draining.

"Tamika," Raphael called after her with gritted teeth. “Don’t walk away from me."

But she continued to walk as if she hadn’t heard him. He caught up to her and gripped her hand as soon as she reached for the door.

"I said don’t walk away from me."

"And I said, don’t order me around." Tami raised her voice as she yanked her hand from his iron grip and glared at him.

Both their chest heaved as they had an intense staring contest, each upset for their own reason.

"I will not lose you to someone else, Tami. You're mine," Raphael said sternly.

There he said it. He finally spoke it out loud.

But as much as the words caused Tami's stomach to flutter and her knees to wobble as they grew weak, she still pointed an accusing finger to his chest and said, "I am my own person. You don’t own me."

He gripped her shoulders and stared intensely in her eyes. "Don’t test me Tamika."

"Don’t challenge me Raphael," she shot back with equal intensity.

But the harder they glared at each other, the quicker their breaths grew and the closer they inched to each other.

"You will not speak to me in this manner, Tami. Don’t get me angry. You will stop this right now."

Tami tipped on her toes and sank as much venom in her voice as she could manage. She was angry, very angry.

"I dare you to make me," she said through gritted teeth, and for Raphael that was the last draw.

With a frustrated groan and one single yank on her hair, he tilted her head towards his, grabbed her close to him and crashed his lips roughly against hers.

She dared him, now he would show her who she's playing with.