➡➡➡⏺️LOVE AGAIN ⏺️⬅️⬅️
??????????
*??????EPISODE 25??????*
??????????
From U.S Bah ❤✌?
Scarlet
When I woke up next morning, my whole body
felt like it was run over by a truck. I looked
around and found myself sleeping against the
closet door in a very uncomfortable position.
Last night, when Evan walked out of the room,
I couldn’t help but burst into tears. I didn’t
want anyone to see me cry so I locked myself
inside the closet. Everything came running to
me and I sobbed ha-rd. Somewhere between
the crying, I fell into the comforting emBr@ce
of sleep.
My whole body ached as I stood up and
dragged myself to the mirror. My hair was a
mess and my cheeks were stained with tears.
My bloodshot eyes were enough proof that I
spent the night crying. Not wanting anyone to
see me like that, I hopped into the shower. The
warm water washed away the aftereffects of
last night and when I came out fully dressed, I
felt better.
Sli-pping into sandals, I made my way to the
dining room where everybody was already
sitting. I walked behind Cara and leaned down
to ki-ss her cheeks. “Good morning everyone,” I
said and then sat down, ignoring Evan’s ha-rd
gaze on me.
“I’m done,” Cara said.
“Cara, finish your egg.” I said, pointing towards
her plate.
“But it is yucky,” she said, contorting her nose
over the runny yolk.
“Cara, don’t you want to grow up fast?” I asked
and she nodded. “Then finish it.” Nodding, she
ate the rest of her egg and I poured some
oatmeal for me. For a brief moment, my eyes
darted to Evan and I found him staring at me.
“Scarlet, I was planning on going out with
some old friends.” Nate said to me.
“Oh, good luck.” I smiled.
He chuckled before adding, “I was actually
asking would you like to join me?”
“No, she won’t.” Evan answered for me and I
cast an annoyed glance towards him. “We are
going on a dinner date tonight.” My eyebrows
furrowed at this because last I knew, I was
free tonight.
“Okay. We will hang out some other time.”
Nate said and I p@$$ed him a brief smile,
suppressing the anger swirling inside me.
After Evan’s breakfast ended, he stood up to
leave. “Come on, I’ll drop you to the bakery.”
he said to me.
“No thanks, I will manage with Liam.” I replied
in a low voice.
“Scarlet, I am going to that area to meet
someone. I’ll drop you. Let’s go.” he said and
I found Nate observing us with interest. If I
refused, he would figure out that something
was wrong between us.
“Okay,” I said and walked past him to the
room to take my handbag and mobile. When I
returned, he was already waiting for me in the
hallway.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked when we
were away from the dining room and nobody
could hear us.
“No,” I said dryly without looking at him.
“Are you sure?” he asked while walking beside
me.
“Yes.” I said.
We reached the car and he opened the door
for me. Once I sli-pped inside, he followed me
and his sharp scent dominated the inside of
the car.
“So about tonight. Are we really going on
dinner or are you planning to abandon me once
we are out of Nate’s sight?” I said and
although I didn’t want to, my tone sounded
harsh.
“So you are angry.” he whispered un-der his
breath and I rolled my eyes. “Yes, it’s a
dinner.”
“Great.” I gritted sourly, still looking out
throu-ghthe window gl@$$.
The rest of the ride went silently. Once the
driver stopped the car in front of Biscotti, I
stepped out of the car and walked into the
bakery. Liam was already there, dealing with
one of our regular customers.
“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Gérard,” I greeted
the customer on her way out. I shifted my
eyes to Liam who looked particularly happy
today. “What’s up with you?” I asked.
“Nothing.” he tried to hide the blus-h on his
cheeks.
“Wait, you were with Helena last night. Weren’t
you?” I remembered him telling me that she
had invited him for movies to her house.
“Yes,” he said and his blus-h dee-pened.
I @$$essed his face with calculative eyes and
finally reached the conclusion. “Did you sleep
with her?” I shouted in surprise.
“Ssshhhh,” he said, putting her hand on my
mouth. “Yes, but don’t shout at least.”
“Aww. My friend isn’t a vir-ginanymore.” I
cooed him and he glowered at me.
“I wasn’t a V¡rgin. Remember my girlfriend in
cooking school?” he reminded me and I
nodded, remembering that redhead he dated in
college.
“Still, it’s a shock.” I said. Helena and Liam
were too different from each other. She looked
like she was straight out of a fashion magazine
and Liam, although extremely cute was
ordinary like me. That’s why we were best
friends; we belonged to same background, we
looked alike and we both had same kind of
insecurities.
“What should I do now? Should I call her?” he
asked.
“Yes…” I said. “No…. Wait. I wish I knew the
protocol of calling someone after sleeping with
them.” I sighed.
“You should wait at least two days before
calling her… Or him. Whatever you are into.” It
was someone else who said. I averted my
eyes to the entrance where Nate was standing,
with Cara beside him. “She wanted me to drop
her to your bakery. Geena gave me the
address.” he told me.
“Oh,” I said and smiled at Cara who came
rushing towards me. I picked her up and sat
her down on the counter in front of me.
“Wow, this bakery smells like paradise.” he
said, walking towards the counter.
I chuckled at this. “Nate, meet Liam. My best
friend.” I introduced him.
They both shook each other’s hands. “Man,
once again. Don’t call a girl before forty-eight
hours. You will sound desperate.” he advised
him.
“Um… Okay.” Liam said awkwardly, clearly not
wanting to discuss his R0m-ntic relationship
with Nate.
I interfered and changed the course of the
conversation. “So would you like to eat
anything? We have everything, from Brownies
to cu-pcakes to biscuits to sandwiches to
pastries.” I told him, showing him the list of
our items.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t get sweeter,”
he winked at me and I blus-hed de-eper. “But
later sweetheart. I have some work to attend.”
After he left, my eyes remained fixated on the
door until Liam pulled me out of my thoughts
with a cough. He raised his eyebrows
suggestively and I punched him on his arm so
he could shut up.
……….
It was 6 in the evening. Evan had texted me to
be ready by this time but he was nowhere to
be seen. At first, I was not panicked by this
dinner or date or whatever it was, but then I
realised that knowing Evan’s wealth, he would
choose a fancy place for dinner and all I had
were sweatshirts, blouses and jeans. Liam
proved to be helpful when he offered to take
me to the mall and help me choose an outfit.
Now, I was dressed in a plum colored chiffon
dress. The bodice hu-gged my che-st and wa-ist,
while the bott-om part flowed down my hips
loosely. I had curled the ends of my hair to
make up for the simplicity of the dress. For
footwear, Geena had given me her heels
because they exactly matched my dress and
because she sounded more excited for this
dinner than me.
I was about to call Evan when he entered
throu-ghthe door. “I’ll change in a second.” he
said and that’s when his eyes found me. He
stared at me from head to toe, his gaze
lingering at few particular places.
“Wow. You look amazing,” he said and my
cheeks warmed up.
“Thanks.” I smiled and then remembered how
he had acted yesterday. The real smile
evaporated and only fake pleasantries left
behind.
“Um…” he paused, giving me another head-to-
toe glance. “I… Um… I should go change
then.”
I nodded and tucked my hair behind my ears,
feeling flustered un-der his scrutiny.
_______________________
➡➡➡⏺️LOVE AGAIN ⏺️⬅️⬅️
??????????
*??????EPISODE 26??????*
??????????
From U.S Bah ❤ ✌?
Scarlet
I was sitting on the p@$$enger seat of Evan’s
car. The inside of the car was silent, except
the sound produced by the car. After every few
minutes, Evan would say something to initiate
the small talk but I just responded in one letter
word. I wasn’t doing this to earn an apology; I
just didn’t want to.
“What’s your favourite food?” he said. He was
wearing a dark blue suit tonight and he looked
amazing in it. It took me every inch of control
to not stare at him like a creep.
“Pasta,” I said briefly.
“What do you like in desserts then?” he asked
further. That’s what he was doing for last half
an hour.
“Nothing.” I said.
“Nothing? You are a Baker. I’m sure you must
have some favourite dessert.” he said and I felt
his eyes on me.
“Pie.” I said.
“What kind of pie?” he asked.
“Every kind.” I replied.
He must have realised that I wasn’t in mood of
talking so he didn’t ask anything further. The
rest of the ride went silent until he stopped the
car in the parking lot of a hu-ge restaurant.
Once I walked inside, I couldn’t help but gawk
around in surprise. This place was bigger than
any restuarnt I have been, and much more
fancier. I felt Evan’s hand on my wa-ist as he
led me inside. He had already made a
reservation and the receptionist guided us to
the elevator. It took us to the rooftop where at
a corner, a table had been set up for us. It
was a secluded corner and it would have been
very exciting if I was here with someone that
had a R0m-ntic bone in his body.
Evan pulled the seat for me and then settled in
front of me. The waiter p@$$ed us a menu
card, after which he left so we can decide.
“The steaks here is amazing.” he said,
@$$essing the options.
“Okay,” I nodded and when the waiter came,
ordered black pepper steak for myself. Evan
had ordered the same.
After the waiter left, I looked around myself.
The weather here was perfect and the inbuilt
fireplace in the middle of the floor helped calm
the cold. The dark sky provided a certain
sense of calmth that an indoor setting couldn’t
provide.
My eyes shifted to Evan and I found him
staring at me with a weird expression on his
face. “What?” I asked.
“Will you stop acting? I know you’re angry at
me.” he mumbled as he leaned forwards.
“I am not,” I said and he rolled his eyes.
“Lies.”
“No, I’m not lying. I am not angry, just upset.” I
replied what I felt. “I don’t think I have any
right to feel angry at you.”
A frown appeared on his forehead at this. He
became silent and looked away from my face,
focusing his eyes at a distance.
The waiter served the dinner and it went in
silence, neither of us saying anything. I didn’t
want to initiate the conversation because I
couldn’t figure out if he was angry,
disappointed, hurt or just normal. After dinner,
the waiter asked if we wanted dessert but he
refused and paid for the food.
Disappointment filled me at how he wasn’t
talking to me. For some reason, I expected
him to apologise for last night but he didn’t. I
kept following him until we reached the car
and I walked towards the p@$$enger seat.
“Don’t,” he said and my hands stopped before I
could reach the knob. “Let’s take a walk.”
I followed him as he made his way out of the
parking lot. Cold air hit me and I trembled
slightly, the sleeveless dress failing to provide
me any comfort. When he noticed my
shivering, he stopped and took off his blazer.
Walking behind me, he offered me his blazer
and I accepted, and sli-pped into it.
“Thanks,” I said. His warmth and scent
lingered around me as I hu-gged the blue blazer
closer. We walked forwards and my hair ruffled
because of the wind.
We were walking on an empty road, with not
even a car driving down there. It was
comforting in a way, walking alone on the
deserted road in such a beautiful night, with
the full moon casting its shadow over us. This
was my idea for a perfect date; me, a guy and
silence.
The only shop that we found on the road was a
hot chocolate shop. He stopped there and
ordered two cu-ps for us. The kind vendor
p@$$ed us two steaming cu-ps of hot chocolate
which I took gladly.
After he paid, we walked past the shop and
once again contineud walking on the empty
road. Once the hot chocolate entered my
mouth, I sighed de-eply at the warm and sweet
taste.
“I don’t know how to do this anymore,” he
whispered while we were walking. “I am sorry I
couldn’t be the husband you want.”
I had no idea how to respond so I kept my
mouth shut and listened to him. “You are a
genuinely nice person, Scarlet. I have met a lot
of people but nobody is good or selfless
enough to sacrifice their lives for a girl they
had known for few months. I acknowledge your
sacrifice a lot and I wish I could pay you back
somehow.”
“You can be nice and it will be enough.” I
whispered as I took another sip of the
heavenly liquid.
“I don’t know how to be nice anymore. But God
knows I am trying.” he said in a voice that
sounded both tired and frustrated. “You
deserve better than just trying and I know that.
I know one day you will find the love of your
life and leave. But till then, you are stuck with
me— A rude, dry and boring workaholic.”
His words brou-ght a smile to my face but with
that smile, came a fear. I couldn’t see myself
with anyone other than him and the thought
was terrifying.
“I know that tomorrow, I’ll probably be back to
my shell and then, maybe I’ll hurt you again,
knowingly or unknowingly. But I don’t want you
to feel that I am using you in any way because
I would never do that.” he said and then
stopped in his tracks.
I stopped as well and turned to his side. His
face was shining un-der the moonlight and his
blue eyes were staring at me, as if looking
straight into my soul.
“What happened last night was a mistake, by
me. I don’t want to give you any false hopes
because there will never be anything between
us. You deserve the world but I had already
given my world to someone else.” he
whispered and the corners of my li-ps turned
downwards. At that moment, I wanted nothing
more than hu-g him and tell me that I doesn’t
nee-d the world.
He then cu-pp-ed my chin and scooted closer to
me. “Can you forgive me for making your life a
mess?” he whispered so gently that I almost
melted.
I gulped and my eyes trailed down his perfect
nose and rested on his plump li-ps. The urge
to ki-ss him overwhelmed me but I didn’t want
to be embarr@$$ed like yesterday. “Okay,” I
whispered.
He smiled and then he lowered his head. On
instincts, my eyes closed and I felt his li-ps,
but not where I wanted. Instead, it was a peck
on my forehead; a gentle, kind and friendly
peck.
“Let’s go back. Looks like it’s going to rain
soon.” he said when he pulled away. I nodded,
ignoring my heart that was still pounding
inside my che-st.
What’s happening to me? Why am I feeling so
many things all of sudden? Why is my heart
fluttering and why are there bu-tterflies in my
stomach?
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*TO BE CONTINUED*