“Yes, sir. Have a good night,” he replied with a courteous nod and turned his head in my direction, giving me one as well. “Have a wonderful evening, Ms. Peterson,” he stated softly.
“Oh, you, too. Thank you for driving us here,” I replied with a small smile.
After our quick exchange, the man in the front passenger seat got out and opened the door on William’s side. He didn’t hesitate to get out of the car, which showed his excitement. I followed behind him and silently laughed at his actions.
We both watched the car drive off before entering the café. William has always been outspoken about waiting too long outside the cold, dark street but I didn’t want to be rude. The café looked the same as the last time I came here with Ally when I was asking her about William. I expected to recognize at least one person inside. However, it seemed that my bad luck was on a roll. My father’s doctor and my next-door neighbor were sitting right in front of the entrance.
I cringed for a second before proceeding towards an empty booth on the far end of the room, hoping that none of them would look our way.
“Andy! Is that you?” a familiar female voice suddenly called my name, making me wince as I stopped walking abruptly.
In slow motion, I turned my head towards the voice, groaning at my lame attempt at sneaking. Why, oh, why did my mind pick this day to not function with logic?
“Ally! Hey! How’ve you been?” I called with fake enthusiasm as I walked towards her table, feeling a sudden pressure due to the situation.
“I’m doing well,” she replied with a small smile.
“Andy Peterson. I didn’t know you were the Andy that took my old place.” Dr. Stanley told me, a surprised look on his face.
I turned towards him and gave him a smile of recognition. “Dr. Stanley. It’s been awhile. I didn’t know you two knew each other,” I said, throwing them off the topic. I’m not even bothered to know that my father’s doctor and my neighbor might be dating.
“Andy, is that who I think it is?” Ally asked in a loud whisper as she leaned in towards me. Her eyes were staring behind me, ignoring my words.
At this moment, I was cursing myself for even thinking that this was a better place to go. And I was cussing even more when William came up to me like we were together. I wanted to tell him to pretend that we just met by chance. I wish I had telepathic abilities, but that wasn’t happening, not even in a long shot.
“Hi. Good evening,” William greeted them warmly. Smooth move there, Mr. Mogul.
“Good Evening, Mr. Maxwell. It’s lovely to see you again so soon,” Ally gleefully replied and pointed out, her eyes landed on me for a second.
“Ah, yes. Ms. Peterson and I are going through some extra work tonight. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll be ordering our food and start working,” he stated softly yet sternly. His voice had an edge of authority to it.
“Ah, yes. If you’ll excuse us…” I agreed shyly and quickly brushed off the lie. “It was nice seeing you guys.”
In a fast pace, I distanced myself from them and moved towards the counter. I could feel William following behind me silently. As we reached the counter, I placed my order without any hesitation, already knowing what I wanted to eat.
“I’ll have a Mushroom Melt sandwich and a caramel macchiato, please. Thank you.”
“Is that all ma’am?” the cashier asked as she typed in my order in the computer in front of her.
“I’ll be having your veggie and chicken salad please, and do you have any wine or alcohol?” William interjected beside me, making the cashier look up in his direction.
From the way the woman’s eyes grew wide, I felt slightly annoyed at her sudden ogling. She kept her eyes on William for a few seconds before she stuttered a reply, “Ah, yes… Eh… no, sir…we don’t serve alcohol…”
William pursed his lips in disappointment, which made me raise my eyebrow at his reaction. “You shouldn’t be drinking after that episode two days ago,” I mumbled suggestively.
“That is why I should, and a glass of wine wouldn’t hurt,” he countered softly in the same tone, but he let it go with a sigh. “That would be all, I think. How much would that be?” he asked as he swiftly got his wallet out from his inside blazer pocket.
The cashier was lost in her thoughts and too dazed with William, making me grimace. To quickly get myself out of this misery, I tapped the screen, which showed the total bill and told William. He nodded his head in understanding and got out a hundred dollar bill for payment. I choked at the huge bill he had given, but I didn’t point it out loud. The cashier studied the money for a second before placing it down and giving him his change.
After getting the receipt, I gestured for him to go ahead and take a seat on the farthest booth from Ally and Logan. I hoped that they got the clue that I was not in the mood to catch up. I knew that Ally had seen right through William’s lie when my eyes finally landed on hers. She gave me a suggestive wink and smirked.
“I think we should have the food to go. I don’t feel like eating here anymore,” I stated in defeat as I turned towards William.
“I understand… So, where to? My place?” He nodded in understanding and asked like he was trying to weigh options.
I snorted at his question and slid out of the booth. “There is no way I’m taking that lame bait easily, Maxwell,” I said and walked towards the counter to tell them to have the food packed as to go.
It took me awhile to get back to my seat since I had to pay for extra to have the food packed. As I got back a few minutes later, our table had crowded a little. Why didn’t it cross my mind to check on him?
“Oh! Andy, you’re back… I hope we aren’t being a bother. I just wanted to properly introduce myself to William here. And talk a little business…” Ally said shyly, as she slowly slid out of the booth across from William.
“I promise you, Andy. I tried to talk her out of this…” Logan pointed out in defense.
“No worries,” I replied to both of them with a small smile, and quickly gave William a glance to see his expression.
The way his mouth was set softly and his eyebrows relaxed, I was relieved to see that this didn’t annoy him at all. I didn’t want them both seeing his not-so-good side. I had enough experience not to mess with a man with money—though, I realized he never really did anything with that power against me.
“So, are you two not going to eat here? Are you heading back to the apartment, Andy?” Ally asked, her tone bordering on an intrusive way
Before William could try to answer her question, I gave her a reply that would make William’s day. “No. We won’t be heading back to my place. It’s his turn to do the cleaning at his own place,” I replied with a strained chuckle.
“Oh! You live close by?” Ally turned to William in surprise.
“Ah! No. His house is on the edge of town,” I replied, cutting William off again as he tried to answer her question. “It’s a long drive from here, but when I told him about this place, he wanted to drop by before heading out,” I continued, predicting her next question.
From the way Ally smirked at my words, she was contented on my reply. I was about to end the conversation when the arrival of our order did it for me. Ally was quick to follow and suggested that we walked out together. Since I didn’t want to be rude to someone who’s been nice to me, I accepted her offer.
As we got outside the café, we made a quick farewell before we separated ways. While I was doing so, I gave sly glances towards William to warn him not to go on the direction of his apartment. Even though I trusted Ally, I didn’t want his address to be common knowledge. Even the paparazzi don’t exactly know where he is currently living from my understanding, since I hadn’t seen any paparazzi in these parts.
We walked at the opposite direction of his place as Ally and Logan continued to walk back to my apartment building. As we continued walking towards the curb, I pushed William on the corner to hide him before peeking back in the direction where Ally and Logan
had gone.
“They are still a few meters from the apartment. We have to wait at least fifteen minutes before making a run for it,” I stated in a whisper as I kept my eyes on them.
“Why are you so paranoid if they’d know where I live?” he asked in refined interest as I felt him lean back on the wall behind me.
I turned towards him before giving a reply. “I don’t want to be too suspicious, and us together is suspicious enough,” I replied sternly as I gave him a scathing gaze.
“So, what if they found out that we are dating?”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I snorted in disbelief.
I didn’t add anymore for his benefit and turned back to check on Ally and Logan. They were already by the entrance of my apartment and had gotten in. I glanced down at my wristwatch as I calculated how much time we had left before making a run for it. After a few minutes or so, when nobody in the street looked familiar to recognize me with William, I grabbed William’s arm and pulled him out of the corner. I quickened my pace as I walked towards his apartment.
“You don’t have to be rude about this…” I heard William mumble in protest behind me, which I pretended not to hear.
When we finally reached the lobby of his apartment building, I let out a huge sigh of relief that we made this far without any more interruptions. I made a quick glance at the reception desk and looked at the guy behind it.
“Good evening, Fred,” William called out beside me before he made his way towards the elevator.
“Good evening, Mr. Maxwell. Miss,” he greeted back with a nod towards his direction and mine.
I nodded back in greeting and hurried my way towards the elevator. As the metal door closed on us, I sighed yet again, faced one of the metal walls and leaned my forehead to it. I couldn’t believe how tiresome today had been.
“Are you okay?” William asked behind me, feeling his warm hands caress my back.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled in reply as I let his hands soothe me.
We stayed quiet for a while until the elevator door stopped on his floor. I slowly stepped out as William held the door for me. Then, I suddenly felt nervous and shy as we reached the main door of his apartment.
“Are you going in or not?” William asked, his voice brought me out of my stupor.
“I’m sorry. I’m going in now,” I said as I quickly walked past him towards his living room. This would be my third visit within the span of three days.
“Please make yourself at home.” He gestured towards the living room after he closed the door behind me. “I’ll place this is the dining room and I’ll change,” he added as he raised the paper bags in his left hand.
I nodded in reply and made my way to one of the black couches in his living room. And as I sat down on the single couch, I could feel William’s eyes on me. I didn’t dare to meet those eyes with mine, not until I’ve calmed down my pounding heart.
When I heard a faint sound of a closing door, I quickly got up from my seat and walked towards the dining room. I got the paper bag with my food and drinks and I sat down on one of the seats in the table and started munching on my sandwich – well, eating it with big bites is my description of munching. I was really hungry.
“And you just couldn’t wait for me,” William’s voice startled me enough to make me jump in my seat as I turned towards his direction.
“Please do not creep behind someone, Mr. Maxwell,” I grumbled in annoyance.
“I told you to call me William,” he countered in the same tone, though his eyes were bright and amused.
“Yeah. Yeah. Right,” I chuntered but brushed it off as I took another bite of my sandwich.
“Is it good?” he asked as he made his way towards me. He sat down on the chair across from mine.
“I won’t be eating it if it wasn’t,” I replied caustically after I swallowed the food in my mouth. “Aren’t you going to eat your food?” I asked when he continued to sit and look at me.
“You are distracting me with your eating,” he replied with a sly grin.
I coughed twice at this smooth comeback. “I can’t believe that you’re using a cheesy line like that,” I laugh in disbelief. “You can do better than that, William,” I added with a smirk.
“I agree with you there. That was pretty lame,” he chuckled in agreement and grabbed the food inside the paper bag.
We ate silently for a while until William opened another topic for us to talk about. He started asking me about my previous jobs and what I did before moving here. I was very vague when I told him about my six-month painting sting after I graduated as an art major. Then I briefly told him about my short-lived teaching job before my father was diagnosed. I skipped the sad parts of my struggle and told him how I got the waitressing job that crossed our paths.
“Why didn’t you just find another teaching job in the city?” he interjected. His tone was filled with curiosity.
“I did apply, but there were no available slots. Then, your sister offered me this job. So, here I am,” I replied and quickly wrapped up the conversation.
“Well, I’m glad that you accepted that job. We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t,” he whispered in admission. His words sent a tingling sensation all over my body, making me stiffen at the alien feeling.
“So, I’m done eating… And, it’s getting late…” I stated aloud as I brushed it off and tried to start a new topic.
“How about you stay here for the night, we could watch some movies…” He stood up from his chair abruptly. My plan on changing the topic had worked its magic.
“What kind of movies do you have?” I asked as my eyes twinkled in excitement.
“What kind of movies do you like?” he asked with a grin, knowing that I was hooked by his offer.
“Let me see what kind you have and then we’ll see our options from there.” I stood up and gestured for him to lead the way.
William gave me a quick, beaming smile before he walked towards the living room. My eyes grew wide at the sudden expression he had on his face. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, his smile will always leave me awestruck.
With a secret smile, I quietly followed behind him and sat down on the huge couch across the huge plasma television. William walked up towards the television and clicked on something before the wall in front of him separated, revealing a ceiling to floor hidden cabinet. I gaped at the huge stash of CDs in front of me. This might take a while.
We were currently watching a Kevin Costner action movie but I was already yawning and my eyes were getting watery from sleepiness.
“Do you want to go to bed now?” he softly asked beside me, his warm breath caressed my forehead.
By now, I had given in to the temptation to lean against his shoulder. He had somehow scooted himself beside me throughout the movie until there was no gap between us.
“No. We can still finish this one,” I replied softly as I kept my eyes open and glued on the screen in front of me.
Beside me, I could feel William chuckle at my stubborn reply. For the next few minutes, the battle to keep my eyelids open had become a challenge, like climbing up the great Mount Everest. When I heard another faint chuckle from William, I knew that I was losing the game. The next thing I knew my mind went pitch black and sleep had taken over me.
Somewhere in the distance, I could faintly hear muffled voices across the room. My body registered something soft and silky covering me. I twisted myself and rolled once until I finally realized where I was. I’m in someone else’s bed.
As that realization hit me, I abruptly sat up and assessed the room I was in. The dominant black and white color in the room seemed familiar. Then, I glanced down on the bed sheets and saw that it was a familiar color, too. I whipped my head and looked at the far wall on my right, guessing that there might me a desk and fridge there. And I was right.
“Damn! I’m in William’s room,” I cursed as this fact hit me.
Before I could jump out of bed and start to give him a
beating, I heard a female voice muffled across the door. I stiffened at the sound and slowly got out of the bed. I glanced down on my clothes, checking if I still had them. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t really care that he had a guest. I will get out of his room and give him a good beating.
When I was contented with my current appearance, I tiptoed towards the door as I tried to make something to the sound. I leaned my ear to the door to hear more of the conversation.
As I continued to eavesdrop, the voice behind the door started to soften until I couldn’t hear anything. Curiosity got the best of me. I gently opened the door and got out of the room without making any sound. I placed my back on the left sidewall in the hallway, knowing that they won’t see me from this angle. I continued to tiptoe towards the sound until I could hear their words clearly.
“How much did you lie to her, William?” a familiar female British accent asked softly.
I felt rigid as I recognized who the voice belonged to. But by then, I wasn’t contemplating about why she was here. My mind was racing about the question she asked. What lie?
Thirty-Three
What lie? Has William been lying to me? About what? I continued to listen and decided to not jump into conclusions just yet. I didn’t want to walk out of this hiding spot until I know what they are talking about.
“I didn’t lie…” William replied softly, his voice trailing off.
“Don’t dare lie to me, William. I know what is going on with you and Andy. I asked Maggie about it and Mark had said the same,” Alexandra stated sternly, her voice was very commanding.
“You hired the people who work for me as your spies?” he asked in disbelief as he brushed off her words.
“I didn’t hire them as my spies. I’ve asked them nicely and they willingly gave me information,” she replied. “And if I hear that you’re going to fire them because they told me the truth, I won’t hand over the company to you,” she continued after a short pause.
“I’m not that childish…” William raised his voice in disbelief after I heard footsteps moving away from me.