Misplaced Heirs

17. The Day I Turned Seventeen

Chapter-17

Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

That noise right there? That would be me pacing up and down my room, my red stilettos kissing the carpet constantly. Even with the carpet, the noise was noticeable, what with my velocity so high and footsteps not-so-lightly treaded. My head was buzzing with incoherent thoughts. I wanted to reach up to scratch and shake my hair, but that would disturb the elegant bun Mom made of my curls; even you would not want to mess with things Mom worked hard on creating – the consequences are worse than dire. My cream-hued gloves were fast becoming sweaty as I ceaselessly rubbed my hands together, sometimes bringing them up to slap my cheeks lightly.

In all this chaos created by your very own narrator, I did not hear the knock on my bedroom door and the subsequent click. It was not until someone commented with a light humour lining their voice that I noticed I was not alone.

“You would wear out your heels into flats.”

My breath tensed for a moment as I stopped to collect myself before facing the newcomer. Only when I wheeled round and took in the view of that sweet smile did my own forehead lose its creases and my lips broke into a smile.

“Damn, you scared me.”

He exhaled a long breath, the hazel eyes under the mask filling with warmth. “You look stunning, my little tiger. All this time apart just for a breathtaking view of you, worth it.”

I don’t know what consumed me the next second, but the moment he said ‘my little tiger’, my heart raced, my body’s temperature rose on its own, and I leapt towards him, a little squeal escaping my lips. As if he had anticipated my reaction, Lucas removed his hands from his trouser pockets and opened his arm to catch me and raise me up slightly.

I gave him a mischievous smile before leaning down and crashing my lips into his, wrapping my arms around his neck. His lips responded almost instantly, his hands easily rounding my torso and tightening their grip. Even with the high heels, my feet were still more than two inches above ground.

When our lips separated, I stared into his eyes for a long time before blushing and burying my face in his shoulders. A tremor of soft laugh ran through his body as he gently brought me down. My head never left his shoulder.

“You know,” he began in a low voice while his hands rested on my hips. My arms were still wrapped around his neck. “I heard you cheated on me already.”

I snorted as I opened my eyes and quickly amended his statement, “That wasn’t me. It was Amelia.”

He chuckled and said, “If someone does ask that publicly, I’ll have to act furious. You know that, right?”

I nodded, closing my eyes again.

“You seemed terribly rattled just now? Why?”

The ominous feeling that had left my mind resurfaced once again and I clutched him tightly. I separated an inch from him and stared into his eyes. Why were they as scared as mine?

“You look the same, Lucas.”

“I have a reason, little tiger. In two months, I will be eighteen and all hell will break loose,” he spoke in a serious tone, his eyes drifting away from mine and staring into some future I could not see.

I looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

His jaw had hardened, eyebrows were brought together with emotion that was unreadable for me. He did not reply for a second. Then, suddenly, all those indecipherable emotions disappeared as he tuned his eyes to mine and a smile formed on his lips. “It means, my little tiger, that it will be time to remove all the masks forever.”