The Troubled Billionaire

Chapter 47: Day Out

Christmas lights illuminating the dark backyard is definitely a sight to see. Nothing about it screams disappointing and in the long run, I'm pretty sure it never would. The way the Christmas lights, along with the lanterns Mom has hung around the place, is a perfect combination to the frequently visited place inside the house. Even when the front yard is just as pretty and Christmas-y as the backyard is, I still think the beautifully decorated backyard can never be topped by the front yard.

A smile slowly appeared on my face as I leaned on the railings of my balcony, soaking in the feel of the warmness my sweater has brought due to the cold whip of the winter air. I let out a contented sigh as the thoughts of the previous days reeled back in my head. Reminiscing the current happenings of my life at one in the morning on a very cold December twenty-third is somehow oddly very satisfying. Despite my eyes threatening to drop any time soon, I still didn't feel the need to go back inside and succumb to the warmth of my comfortable bed and fluffy duvet.

Even when the winter air is slapping me on the face, I still find it very comforting to stay out here and feel the ever chilly weather. I held up my hand and opened my palm, catching a snowflake in my hand. Seeing it fall and melt in my hand made me suddenly think about Chase.

Furrowing my eyebrows at the current thoughts my head is going, I wrapped my arms around myself more tightly and focused on the loud thumping of my heart just even by the thought of him. Am I really that affected by him that a mere mention of his name or a brief thought of him sends my heart jolting to oblivion?

Suddenly, a noise from below me interrupted my train of thoughts. I quickly looked down, my thoughts going as far as murderers being able to breach the place I call home and burglars who want to steal some of our things, but all of those disappeared when I saw a sheepish looking Chase stumble on the snow-covered ground. A string of curses escaped his lips when he stood up, but not before reaching out to retrieve the box he dropped.

"Are you okay?" I called out as quietly as I could, careful not to wake my parents up. After all, it's a few minutes past one and I'm pretty sure they would be wondering why the hell I'm still up — and probably get the wrong idea when they see a suspicious looking Chase on our backyard.

"Just fine." He smiled. "I knew I made the right choice when I decided to come here. I had a feeling you would still be up and my instincts sure didn't fail me."

With a roll of my eyes and a slight tug at the corner of my lips, I told him, "You're stupid as always. Come up here before you freeze to death."

He gave me a mock salute. "Yes ma'am."

Chuckling, I said, "I don't have to tell you that you have to come up here as quietly as possible, right? I was under the impression that you're smart and can get the drift when one says something entirely subtle."

"You were never subtle to begin with." His chortle quickly died down his throat when I sent him a glare and when he registered the fact that he's making too much noise, which, I'm sure is something my parents can notice. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

When he made his way inside the house to do as he's told, I let out a silent jovial laughter before shaking my head in pure amusement and heading back inside my room. The snow is still pelting endlessly outside by the time I closed my balcony door and Chase came walking in inside my room. I turned around to face him, my hand still on the curtain I was about to draw back in. "Welcome to my humble bedroom."

He stared at me for the longest time, his eyes trying to gauge my expression and tone of voice, before a charming smile escaped his lips. "I'm honored to be here." He said as he ruffled his hair, sending a puddle of snowflakes on my floor.