NIRELLE - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

The woman looks at me as if I am asking something that is forbidden in the house. "Well?" I urge because I need answers from her.
"I do not know, ma'am; I guess you'd have to discuss that with Mr. Theo," she said and gently guided me out of the kitchen. I stand with the door shut in my face, unsure of what to do. I return to my room and sit on the chair I had fallen asleep on earlier in the morning.
Once I am still, I feel the pain from the position I have taken fill my entire neck and back. I wonder why I was just feeling it now. I stare out at the morning sky and watch the sun come up gently. I sigh at the beautiful sky as I realise it has been years since I last saw the sun like this.
Enoch and Yvette had made me stop going immediately after high school. There was no way they could keep an eye on me if I had gone to college, and they knew it. "You don't need the education; after all, you won't use it," Enoch had said when I begged them to allow me to go, but then his mind was made up. I later learnt that was their way of making sure I never escaped because that had been top of my list. If I had found an escape, then I would have been sure to take it without thinking twice.
Suddenly, I see Theo emerge into my line of sight, and the more I stare at him, the more I realise that he is a breathtaking man. He was wearing a tank top and shorts, and it seemed like he was going for a run or maybe to the gym. I had been too preoccupied with my troubles yesterday that I did not even have time to think about him or what his face looked like. I could not remember the last time I had thought a man was cute. The only men I saw besides Enoch and Cory were the bodyguards who stayed in the mansion, and since I had a lot on my plate, I barely had the time to think of what they looked like. All I saw was a bunch of faces.
Lucien joins him a moment later, wearing something similar to what Theo was wearing. Both of them begin to talk, and I wonder what they are talking about. They could easily pass off as product models, and everyone would fall in love with them at once. I can't help but think of the reason why Lucien would be so determined to hide what he looked like when that could be his greatest asset.
Soon they shake hands as if they had agreed on something, and then they begin to run. They take about four runs round the compound, and seeing how long it is before they reappear in my line of sight, I have to say this must be a very large compound. They stop, and both take a bottle of water that one of the staff members had brought for them, and I wonder where she had come from.
I was strong, but then I realised a pair of dark eyes was staring back at me. I can't see him clearly, but I know he is sharing. I stand up and run back into the room, closing and locking the door behind me. What am I supposed to say? I was staring at him. And why? For no reason?
I pace the room thinking of what to do, and nothing comes to mind. A knock on the door throws fear into my body, and I feel my hair stand as goosebumps fill my entire skin. Maybe it's the staff here to tell me to come down for breakfast? I was hungry since I had nothing to eat last night, and I couldn't eat. I glance at myself in the mirror and press down the hair sticking out on top of my head. It's not like that action was going to make me look better immediately.
I open the door and want to forcefully close it, but Lucien puts his legs in between the door and frame to stop me. "You are hurting my legs," he says when I press the door to close it. I should have made sure that I knew who was on the other side of the door before I rushed to open it.
"You don't sound hurt," I say when his voice sounds like he is having a normal conversation.
"Well, I am."
"Then I guess you need to take your leg out of the gap so it hurts less."
"Let me in."
"I don't want to," I say. I was unable to comprehend that this feared billionaire was acting like a child in front of me.
"Why not?" He asked with a smirk on his face, and then I realized how close our faces were. With me trying to get the door to shut and him trying to push his way in.
"I don't just want you in here," I say, and he almost laughs.
"I think you do; I mean, the way you were staring at me earlier says you wanted to tell me something."
"You had it all wrong; there were some birds, and I was staring at them," I say, the lie flowing out of my mouth at once.
"I never thought you were such a quick and sharp liar," he says and pushes the door at once. You stumble backwards, and my legs weirdly get in each other. I let myself go, not bothering to even try and catch myself because I know that I am going to fall. I close my eyes and brace myself for the fall; it can't be worse than all the beatings I've gotten in the past. I only wish the bed were closer so I could fall onto it.
My eyes flutter open when, instead of the hard floor, my body hangs midway in the air with a firm hand holding me up. I open my eyes, and the ones staring at me earlier are now clearer.