Taken by Hawk

Chapter 3

Ethan

Nova came into my office the morning we leave for Italy. I know for a fact that I make her uncomfortable but she just has to act like I don't in front of Richard Downey and his wife. She was lugging a heavy suitcase with her, it looked like she packed for a month, not a simple week but I should've guessed she would -her being a typical female and all.

Since the little makeover they gave Nova she looked radiant and the clothes I asked Erica to pick out for her made her look spectacular. I kept this information to myself, she just needed to hear that she looks good and that Downey would approve of her. If I impress him then I get my contract and we can be on our way back to reality.

"Nova, why did you bring such a big suitcase for a week?" She shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I didn't really know what to expect in Italy so, yeah." I shook my head disapprovingly, she should've called me to find out but then again I can say with confidence that I intimidate her. That's something that we should work on if we want to sell our act as the real thing. I tried to give her a comforting smile but she was more eager to study the outline of the couch than look at me. I frowned at her shyness, women have always given me adoring looks and stared -here is  Nova who can hardly keep her eyes on me for more than a few second.

"First things first-you need to be comfortable with me, if you want to look like you are head over heels in love with me," She looked at me with a frown and let out a deep breath.

"How do you suppose I do that? You're very intimidating." She said the latter part very slowly.

"Hug me, hold my hand, I don't know, do anything you want to feel comfortable with me," I hope she understood that I meant that in a non-sexual way.

She stepped closer and examined me, she then all of a sudden puts her arms around my waist and squeezes me tightly. I got a whiff of her perfume and was surprised, she smelled exactly like a lemon tree in bloom and reminded me of my younger years. I felt more at ease with her and she relaxed too. I just spread my arms around her limply because I'm not the best person when it comes to physical interaction.

She released and I could see she looked a bit more comfortable and was able to look me in the eyes without looking like she's scared to breathe around me. She gave me a shaky smile and muttered "I feel better," I nodded to her and took the bag from her, it was so bloody heavy.

"What are you doing with that-I can carry it!" She objected, I gave her a disbelieving look and my eyes shifted from her to the bag-it's a miracle she got this brick of a suitcase up here without any help.

"No, I'll carry it to the car-what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend out?" I lugged it to the car and had the driver put it in. I  slid in first and she after me, she absentmindedly looked out of the window and kept her distance from me.

Nova looked a little alike to Austin, but Austin was a blonde whereas she was a brunette, they had both brown eyes and facial characteristics that were the same. We stopped at the airport, I opened her door and she almost fell out but luckily I caught her.

"Were you sleeping?"

"No, I was just thinking."

The airport was as busy as always, but I've seen worse when I  go on a business trip on Fridays and sometimes over the weekend. When you are a renowned lawyer you're always requested to work on a case and sometimes it's in a foreign country-luckily I'm used to it but I can't say that much for Nova.

Our flight was called, I walked beside Nova into the passage and I could see her becoming more nervous with every passing step. She hasn't flown before, has she?