NAYA’S P.O.VIf I thought Talon was closed off and a jerk ass before we spent the weekend in his parents’ house and that he couldn’t get any worse, he proved me wrong when we arrived back home. He walked straight into his study without uttering a word to me, slamming the door heavily behind himself while the servants looked at me in pity. I gritted my teeth in anger and frustration. It was probably my fault – stupid little me – for thinking that after the conversation we had at his parents’ house that night, we might have reached some sort of….I don’t know, truce or agreement. But the moment we got back home, he reverted back to his old, grouchy self. I should have seen that coming especially after the way he shut me down that night while we were talking. That hurt, I wasn’t going to lie. With nothing for me to do, I did the only thing I know how to do best – went into my room to wallow in self-pity and solitude. I drag my bag along with me, politely refusing help from the maids an
NAYA’S P.O.VI held the small phone in my hand, admiring it with a smile on my face. I stare at the small note Talon left beside the phone – simple and straight forward but it still managed to bring a smile to my face. Well, that s step worked well, didn’t it? Still smiling, I turned around, slipped on my flip-flops and walked out of the room. I walked down the long hallway leading to the stairs, and slowly descended the stairs. Before I could get down the stairs, I heard the voices of everyone in the living room. A sudden fear and agitation washed through me at that for a while. Would I really have to face Talon’s family this morning? I let out a sigh. Looked like I didn’t have a choice. I walked down the stairs, one step at a time, hoping my anxiousness wasn’t so vivid on my face. As I descended, they all came into view – Eric, Karen and Nelson. However, none of them really noticed me as they were all engrossed in their conversation with each other. Karen was engrossed with her mo
NAYA’S P.O.VI walked out of the kitchen holding a tray that contained a number of dishes for dinner. Eric, Karen, Nelson and Mandy were all seated at the table waiting. Karen and Mandy chatted animatedly with smiles on their faces, and for a minute I was saddened by the fact that I might never have that kind of relationship with anyone in this house. I wondered if they would ever like me enough to sit and chat and laugh with me like this. Probably not. I shook off those depressing thoughts, heading to the table as fast as I could. I slid the plates gently on to the table.“Heyyy,” I greeted in a bright tone and a wide smile. “What do you think you are doing?” Karen’s voice rang sharply in my ears.My brows creased but I refused to look at her and continued to arrange the plates on the table. “Hmm…. serving the food?” I responded. “And who gave you the right to do that” she snapped.I said nothing at first. Once I was done serving, I straightened up and turned to look at her. “Well
TALON’S P.O.VI could not remember the last time I got surprised.When I said ‘surprise’ I meant the kind that caught you off guard, that stopped your heartbeat for a millisecond and then got it racing again. I had trained myself to not entertain any form of emotions including surprise. I spent years of my life learning to not show my emotions – fear, sadness, surprise, shock. Even when I once received news about a cousin of mine dying, I had not shown my shock or sadness or fear. When my parents organized surprise family trips to expensive countries and places, I still never showed any emotion – surprise, happiness or excitement – never. Growing up, no matter the amount of surprise party my parents threw for my birthday, I never showed real surprise. My facial expression was always the same – jaw tightened, lips pursed, face stoic. Each passing year and I never changed and my parents were beginning to feel frustrated with me; I could sense it. They spent years trying to change that
NAYA'S POV The door opened up immediately I reached it and without sparing a last glance behind me, I shut it. My breath comes in fast as I try to steady my breathing.For more than a minute, I stood there in front of Talon, a thin towel shielding my nakedness from him, while he stared at me. I could have sworn he was looking at me the same way I looked at him, but that's the thing with Talon. His eyes are like some shield, hiding his emotions from the world. He was really good at hiding.I walked over to the mirror and let the towel fall when a thought creeped in.What if Talon walks in?I threw the towel around me, holding it in place, before returning to the door. After securing the lock, I let out a sigh for two reasons. Talon wasn't staring at me through the door, nor had he walked in which assures me he's not a pervert. Second is because he wasn't staring. I was hoping, which was of course stupid, but I was hoping that Talon found me slightly attractive and was at the door, pe
TALON’S POVThe man in front of me, staring at me, the same Talon Thwaites I'd known all my life, was not this one. He couldn't be. Talon Thwaites never stares at woman the way he did. It's unlike him.Anger pouring through me at the sudden feeling I can't place, I raise my hands up, and let it fall forcefully on the mirror in front of me.Guess who comes walking into the room? Another woman.***Why do you try so hard to please Eric?immediately the words fell into my ears, i lost mototr function. or ratehr, my motor function was rearranged. As though being pushed, I turned towards the girl sitting on the bed and I felt my anger rising as I neared her. Why do I try so hard to please my dad? Was she mad? The one thing I didn’t do in my life was please others – except yourre a customer paying for the comfort.When i was about to open my mouth, the sound of knocks on the door called at me. I blinkied and she was gone from before me when I opened my eyes. I didn’t stand for long in that
NAYA’S POV“It’s been long you told a joke,” Eric said, forcing a laugh out of his lips.Even as he said it, it was evident Eric didn’t believe it himself. His face was grim and it was the saddest thing I’d ever seen. He seemed like he would crash into tears if we stayed too ling in his presence.Talon was clad in a white shirt tucked into indigo pants, his black shoe glinting in the light that shone in the room. Eric was in an armless round-necked shirt that was worn over khaki shorts and a slippers.Less than five minutes ago, Talon had knocked on his door. The time was between 7 and 7:15. From what I knew thanks to Lily Eric rose early but stayed in his room until it was 8am; Talon was disrupting his routine.When Talon announced his presence at the door, is father had come out with disbelief evident on his face as he stared at Talon and I. I understood the look. Talon would leave him before 6:30 and only made it home until the sun was long gone. So, seeing hi standing there, in f
NAYA’S POV When the car reached the front gate, we were checked in by security who smiled heartily at Manuel — dude was so popular! Gosh! Past the security, who made a show of checking underneath the car for bombs. Anyways, Manuel shook hands with one of them and I didn’t miss the green paper that changed hands.The car drove past the checkpoint, moving past card and I waited for us to settle into the parking area. Except we didn’t. The driver kept driving towards the building and I felt my chest tightening.What happens now? What if security called us for trespassing? Would the trip to the Maldives be cancelled? I was looking forward to this! Why is the driver acting like he’s some brainless twat? This isn’t how it happens in the movies! The driver’s don’t drive like they’re going mad!Looking over to Talon, I saw his eyes buried in his iPad as he relaxed into the passenger seat of the Mazda CX-5 we were crushing along in, looking as handsome as ever. What was wrong with him? Why wa