The Billionaire and His Intern (A Christian Romance)

Chapter 22: Sunday

Alexander propped himself up. He winced as the pain ran through his temple and down to the lower back of his skull. Arielle and Julia were frozen in their spots, staring back at him. He couldn't blame them. He had fallen on their bedroom floor- the wood nearly resembling stone in coolness and toughness against his flesh.

Arielle's mouth was agape as she watched him, not knowing where to start or what to say. She pressed the cool leather cover of her Bible against her chest, the dark brown hue contrasted greatly against her pale yellow dress.

Julia's shock had soon worn off, now replaced by a growing curiosity as she watched the strange man cradling himself on the bedroom floor.

"I- I apologize." Alexander began, speaking poorly through the pain. His words came out strangled. He had suffered multiple injuries in the recent past and his body screamed at him. Wondering, mandating even, that he put a stop to his painful ventures.

He could tell that they were waiting for a clear explanation and they were not expecting a man of his status to be writhing in pain before them. Yet there he was. Alexander closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to capture his many thoughts to form a sentence.

"I hope I don't make this worse," he thought to himself.

"I had to go to the bathroom and I heard the two of you speaking... I- I thought to say hello. Just a brief hello and goodbye before leaving," he spoke, his dark eyes connecting with Arielle's first. The pounding in his head had slowed down on its own with the shock from the initial fall wearing off.

"How did you get inside?" Arielle's breathing had calmed. Her large brown eyes weren't filled with judgment, but curiosity. To her knowledge, they were the only two home, but her mother had been taking more time off of work. She had begun working on their garden more, hoping to revive the struggling marigolds she received from a church friend.

Glancing through the window, Arielle smiled, seeing her mom's bun and gardening apron bob about as she hopped from plant to plant, giving it her all. Gracefully, Arielle walked from one side of the room to the other, gingerly placing down the leather Bible. She grabbed a seat across from Julia.

"I saw your mom outside, and she was the one to let me in. During my last visit, I forgot my wallet." He lifted the perfectly crafted fold of genuine leather in the air for both ladies to see. "There's a lot a man can't do without his wallet," he replied sheepishly.

Julia snorted. "I can see why you two were made for each other." She muttered recalling when Arielle had left her wallet at the AMI tower. It was a tale that Julia was never meant to use against her, or so she hoped.

Arielle, who sat closer to her best friend, heard her clearly and restrained herself from responding, not that her words would have done much to save her because her face had become a slight shade of pink.

Alexander glanced down, away from her, biting his inner cheek to hold back his smile. One thing was for certain, he found Arielle to be fascinating, but he was still in hot water and he didn't want to make matters worse.

The guilt he began to feel settled, but he knew what he did was wrong and he hadn't originally intended to do it. He arrived at their home to merely grab his wallet that he had forgotten to grab from the night before, but when he arrived, his need to use the bathroom halted him from leaving immediately.

No one would prepare him for the thin walls of Arielle's home or the location of their bathroom. The house was practically silent, except for their voices and that's when he heard about her fast.

Alexander had been done by that point and walked over to the door, thinking of greeting the two ladies before leaving, but the information only piled on from there. Arielle had been praying for him, that he knew, but she had been praying and fasting about the role he played in her life and that was what he wasn't prepared for.