The Assistant ( Saving His Assistant)

Chapter 27.

Rita could not sleep . For the past weeks she has been relying on sleeping pills but then they all got finished so she kept on tossing and turning in bed. She could not dare close her eyes because images of her mother's burning body and Bucks' tortured face while he struggled to stay awake  invaded her dreams. So she decided to stay still allowing her mind to be filled with regrets all over again as she stared at the celling.

If only she listened to Bucks and didn't go out with Jonathan ... If only she did not push him away by her hurting words... If only she stayed at the apartment like a good obedient girl... If only she waited and listened to Terry before the explosion, Bucks wouldn't have run back to save her ...  Probably if she stayed in the car...

She went on and on until a beeping noise from the alarm on the table beside her bed interrupted her . It was 7 : 30 a.m . She dragged herself from the bed  to the bathroom , worn out and opened the cold freezing shower to freshen up herself.

She then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast . Rita still stuck to her childhood meals , she was preparing millet porridge and then she would prepare pancakes later. She was now washing the dirty dishes when the door bell rang.

That was odd. She rarely had friends or any relations so literally no one visited let alone at eight o'clock in the morning. She turned the gas off and went to open the door.

What Rita saw made her eyes almost pop out of their sockets and her jaw almost hit the floor. The least person she expected stood at the door, casually leaning on the wall and smiling brightly at her.

Rita did not know whether to go on her knees and kiss  his expensive pure leather shoes as she begged for forgiveness or to jump and hug his perfectly muscled chest happy that he was alive so she ended up standing still as if she were paralyzed.

"Uhm, hey Rita ," his deep gravel voice did things to her chest and she had to scold herself to behave.

"Ehm... Halloo, Bucks ," she managed to say both happy and guilty.

"May I come in ? "

"Sure, " she stepped aside and opened the door wide to let him in . She looked down at herself and wished she wore her fancy shorts and tanktop instead of her oversized,mid thigh pink tee that had ' Pink panther ' scribbled on her chest and also a pair of socks to hide the fading scars on her feet. Stop it ! He hates you anyway ! She scolded herself and shut the door taking a huge breath before she turned to face him.

"We need to talk, " both of them started together once they faced each other.

"Well, you first , " Bucks said and weakly moved to sit on one of the sofa leaving Rita feeling a new wave of guilt wash over her.

She slowly walked over to him and stood in front of him. Admiring his beautiful features and taking in his pained face and determined eyes. He must be in serious pain. She thought and bit her lip.

"Uhm, I'm sorry for everything. I... I ...couldn't , " Rita broke down, her vision blurred with tears that she was not seeing him anymore, " please forgive me ! " She wailed ,her legs giving way that she ended up on her knees.

She  felt strong arms pull her up and a gentle hard wipe away her tears . Rita blinked ,opening her eyes and was met with black sparkling eyes staring intently at her.

"I hate it when you cry.. " he spoke in a gentle tone.

" You .. you don't hate me ? "

"No. Why would I ? All those things are in the past now, we need to move on ," Bucks comforted her.

Rita then blurted out the first thing her mind realized a long time ago but was too afraid to admit it.

" I love you, "

Bucks froze, " say it again, " he whispered thinking his ears suddenly started malfunctioning.

" I love you - " her words were cut off when she was pulled into a tight hug , his huge arms tight around her waist . Bucks then pulled back and kissed her forehead.

" If this was the only way to win your heart why didn't you say earlier, babe. I would've jumped in front of a speeding car just to prove my love for you ,  Rita "

"Not funny! "  She retorted, " I don't want to lose you ever again , "

" You won't ! Aww ! You care,  " Bucks said, grabbing the back of her head then assaulted her lips with a deep kiss.

" I've been dying to do that , " he said after breaking the kiss and lightly ran a hand through Rita's thick afro admiring her tiny soft curls then chuckled feeling satisfied to have a confused panting Rita staring at him like he was a piece of cake.

"You evil brute ! "

" Oh ! Rita ,that is no way to call your boo , "

" Shut up ! " She bit her lip making Bucks to internally groan. This woman should stop doing that.

" And if I don't , chocolates ?"

"I will kick your ass ! "

" Then you are more than welcome , just don't kick my balls , " he laughed.

" You're disgusting ! "

" You hurt my feelings, Rita , " he feigned a hurt expression one of his hands on his chest.

" By the way, can I ask you something?"

" Yeah, what ? " Bucks looked down at her worried.

" Errr... Why does Martha wear a house  ...wear those uniform like clothes and you keep calling her your house servant if she's truly your aunt ? " Rita knew this was not the right time for such a question but she could help herself, that matter was bugging her mind.

Bucks sighed, what an odd question for the time. But he understood Rita's curiosity.

" Well, it's for some sort of safety measures. You know , I've many rivals . And they might discover she's my aunt and want to harm her and plus, she insisted that she wants to wear those clothes and be called that. She always feels like she owes me something that  I don't even know. I've tried to convince her to wear normal clothes but she won't ... There is a time she even scolded me for calling her 'aunt' , "

" Gee, she's twisted , " Rita commented in wonder.

" I know ,any way... Bye chocolates, " Bucks left her in the sitting and strode into her bedroom.

"Where do you think you are going ?"

" To bed , I'm tired ,"

" You can't do that , you just can't get into my bed ! " She said following him as he pulled his black shirt over his head and unbuckled his belt then got under her covers.

" Yeah ! Yeah ! Whatever just wake me up when breakfast is ready , " he muttered , hugging her pink fluffy pillow as if his life depended on it.

He's cute. These were the only thoughts on her mind as she went back into the kitchen , a stupid smile on her face.