DECEPTION

chpt.25 continued

Anura's POV

"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemy."

"I see a women I want to cherish and give my whole world to."

I stayed quiet, not really knowing how to respond back to him, I rested the back of my head against the wall as his words played in my mind, they were like a record stuck on repeat, he sounded so sincere, I knew he meant every word but I couldn't allow myself to accept him into my life in that kind of way, at least not yet, I just got out of a relationship, I'm not stable enough to get into a new one at the moment.
I'm not ready to be loved again by someone else, right now I need to start loving myself, really loving me, loving Anura Hayes.

I got up off the floor and walked to the sink, I turned on the faucet and splashed the cool water against my hot cheeks and eyes, after I was done I lifted my head and stared at my reflection.

"What do you see?"

"I see... a girl who wants to be happy."

I deserve to be happy, I owe it to myself, I've been through so much the past few years, and this separation has been the best thing that has ever happened to me, I should savor moments like these being far away from Dave and cherish every last one of them. I was stupid of giving Dave the time of day and allowing him to get into my head, he's not going to change, he never will, if I go back to him right now he'll just revert back to his abusive ways, I continued to stare at my reflection, I tried to force a smile on my face but I was having a difficult time doing it, I'm not happy at the moment and I shouldn't force happiness onto me.

I heard the door jiggling and before I can reach out and open it, it flew wide open and in entered Neal with a knife, I jumped slightly, he looked down at his hand and dropped the knife." Don't worry I was just using it to open the door." He said smiling, he walked over to me and grabbed my hand pulling me into a hug, I laid my head on his hard chest and sighed.

"I'm sorry... I promise to love myself from now on, it's just hard." I said softly against his chest.

"It's okay, I know it'll take time but I'll be here to help you every step of the way." He said causing me to smile, and this time it was a real smile, Neal was like an Angel sent from God, I was very grateful to have him in my life, I wish I had accepted his affection a long time ago.

I felt him lift me up and I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist, I looked down at him."Where we going?" I asked.

"You need to get some rest."

"But-"

"Don't worry I'll clean the kitchen." He said already know what I was thinking, I smiled at him, he walked up the steps carefully with me in his arms, he went up to my room and walked me to the bed laying down gently, he tucked me into bed, I giggled.

"I'm not a baby."

"You're my baby." He said smiling, I blushed and covered my head with the thick bed sheet, he pulled it down from my face and stared at into my brown orbs causing me cheeks to redden even more.

"You're so beautiful." He leaned in and kissed my lips repeatedly." Get some rest." He told me, I grinned and nodded my head at him, he kissed me one more time which caused my heart to do back flips, he pulled away and closed the lights leaving out the door, I sighed and snuggled closer into bed, I closed my eyes and immediately drifted to sleep, realizing how extremely exhausted I was.