𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

Chapter-18

The next time my eyes opened, the sun was out and I was in a very messy hotel room that definitely didn't belong to me. I realised I was still in his room, but where was he? I wanted to thank him for literally looking after me the whole time.

He was in deep sleep on the sofa, it didn't look comfortable at all. But at the same time his face looked so angelic I didn't want to disturb his peace, but I really needed to get going.

I tried to reach Ken but he wasn't answering his phone, so I was on my own. I wrote a thank you note for him, gathered my things and tried to leave. That was until I accidentally bumped into one of his suitcases and made it fall so loudly he woke up startled.

"Oops. I'm sorry." I apologised.

"You don't have to apologise." He answered stretching himself out. "Where are you off to?"

"Thanks so much for taking care of me, I'll get going now."

"Wait! Let's get breakfast first." He said.

He was so confusing. One minute he acted all cold and pretend like he doesn't even know me and then the other he behaves like we were pals that go back a long time. I still had so many questions and no answers to them, because I had no courage to ask him. I wanted to ask him why he was at the train station that day, I wanted to ask him if he even remembered who I was.

"Let me wash my face and then we'll grab some." He stood up.

"No." I blustered, I didn't want to look at his eyes right now. Yet I found myself looking at them, I needed to get my guard up. I couldn't just cave in every time he bat his eyes. He looked at me wearing a hurt expression on his face, why? He asked.

"I'm tired Charles. I'm tired of your mind games. I'm really grateful for the help but that's about it." I put on my shoes to leave.

"What mind games?" He clutched onto my wrist and leaned in to say, "look at me when you're talking to me."

With whatever little courage and self control I had in myself, I mustered it too look at his face. His flawless, brilliant face. He just had one of those faces, the kind you don't forget easily and find yourself wondering about, are they real or were they carved like sculpture?

"Forget it." I scoffed freeing my wrist.

"No how am I supposed to forget it? How am I supposed to forget the best company I've had in a very long time-"

"You don't even remember who I am! Please stop. Stop being so nice to me. It's misleading." I finally said what I had been holding on for so long. It felt so good to finally get it out.

"That day on the train station, it was my second time doing too little and too late." He sighed. "I'm not about to make it a third-" I found myself placing my finger on his lips, stopping him mid sentence.

"Don't say anything at all. Please. It's already too late." I placed a finger on his lips to silence him.

"It doesn't have to be so complicated." He said, taking my finger of his lips, twining his fingers into mine.

"But it is. That's my reality and it's yours too, so get yourself together." I walked away.

"Emiko Nohara, Mrs. Edmond's star student. For someone so intelligent she barely even spoke, for someone with such bright eyes she never even saw me. I even sat next to her, hoping she'd talk to me but she didn't even try."

I turned around, did he really remember all of that? Did he really think all of that? He still had more to say, he was looking at me, asking me to come sit next to him and hear his side of the story. So I did.