Chapter 51

Sean didn t return home immediately after work, for some reason, he doesn t want to see Athena. He knew TB was back, he had dropped by at the office before going home. He went to one of his best exclusive bars where only the top notches are seen. He sat at the bar, not bothering to order for a private room, he ordered for whiskey and the bartender attended to him immediately. It has been so long he drank in a bar, after meeting Athena; he has not been in a bar again. He had been busy and didn t bother to search for her, he had believed she would come find him; they all do after spending a night with him.
So he had traveled out of the country to meet Leo as well as attend a business meeting together, but what he didn t expect was for his mind to be dominated by the young, innocent girl he had shared a drink with and spent the night with. She was everywhere in his mind, he has never thought about a lady so much. He often browse through the internet, watching the news, all to know if she had revealed their night together and wanted him to take responsibility of her. He often asks his assistant if someone contacted him to make threats or blackmail but the answer was always no.
Then two weeks passed and there was nothing, no news from her or a call, neither could he even see her. That was when he confirmed his thought, she was different and then was when he wanted to mobilize all his men to find her because she was the type he wouldn t like to lose. But who would have expected her to sneak into his house that night? And just when he had been happy that she had finally come to find him, he had heard what he heard and how the stupid Frank belittled her and he had forgotten about his interest in her and decided to make her better to show the idiot what he was and would be missing. But how could he have expected that even though Frank treated her like that, that she would still love him so dearly? To make her happy, he had promised to get her back with the fool, even though he was hurt so deeply when she had described the night he held precious and often think about as a mistake.
But if he had known that keeping her close to him would only make the feelings he had identified as infatuation to intensify, would he have let her come close? If he didn t, would he be going through this pain now? He doesn t blame her, he blame himself, after all, he had always known that Frank was the one she wants, yet he allowed himself to feel deeply for her. The fault was his, he had train so many models, been in touch with so many women and all of them had a thing or two for him but he always turned a blind eye to them and their confessions and then the one person, the one lady who doesn t want anything to do with him is the one he stupidly fell for, he must be crazy. Yes he was crazy, he was crazy for letting himself fall for a woman who is hopelessly in love with another.
Before he knew it, he had finished one bottle of whiskey and the bartender was staring at him in reluctance as he ordered him to pour another glass for him. After doing that, the bartender left the bar and went outside to find Smith who was standing near the car and smoking. Seeing the man, he quickly dropped the cigarette and stepped on it and was inside the bar before the man could say anything.
He saw Sean sitting on a high-stool drinking in his cool way and he turned with a frown to look at the bartender who was behind him. The man cleared his throat, "he has had too much, he already finished a bottle, I have never seen him drink so much so I m worried."
Smith nodded then and walked up to Sean, "boss, shouldn t we go now?"
Sean looked up at him and sighed, he could feel the alcohol in his bloodstreams and one thing he doesn t want was to go home drunk so he nodded and stood up. He didn t bother to look back and just left the bar. Smith settled the bill and rushed out to meet him.
Getting home, he saw Athena and TB in the living room. TB stood up when he saw him, "what happened? You took longer than necessary. You said you would be home soon."
Sean looked at Athena and she looked down immediately, avoiding his gaze, he sighed and kneaded his temple then gave Tobias all his attention, "I had a few drinks."
"Yeah, it s reeking from you," he rubbed his nose and said, "well, Athena has something to say to you, isn t that right, At?" he turned to look at her.
Athena looked up and her eyes met Sean s own, "well yes, I um…I met Frank today."
"Oh, that s good, you guys talked?" Sean asked, acting a little nonchalant.
"Yes, yes we did and he wanted…"
"That s awesome," he interrupted, "which means you would be going back to him or you have already done that?"
Athena felt bad at the way he was speaking, it almost felt like he wanted her gone and out of his life as soon as possible, she felt hurt and closed her eyes briefly and sighed, "yes, I have accepted him."
"What?" TB asked, "that wasn t what you told me."
Indeed it wasn t what she told him, she had told him that she still wanted to think about it and doesn t want to make a hasty decision, that she would give it some more time but the way Sean spoke to her, she knew she had to be out of his life as soon as possible, she doesn t want to bother him anymore. "Well, TB, I have thought about it, it is something that is bound to happen so there is no need delaying it, don t you think?"
"Yes but…don t you think you are rushing back to him? I mean, you just talked with him today, are you going to make everything so easy for him?" TB asked, he was worried no doubt but he also doesn t want her to move out of the house.
"She is right, Tobias," Sean answered, "the agreement was that Frank would want her again and he already did, so what s the point of keeping them apart a while more? They should be allowed to be together and give her mother her wish, isn t that right?" he looked at Athena.
Athena doesn t know why his words hurts her so much, she had expected or rather wished to see a little resistance in him just like in TB, maybe tell her that it was so soon to go back to Frank, but the way he was acting, talking and also reminding her about her mother s wish told her there was no need in wishing and hoping. He doesn t want her means he doesn t want her, it s high time she accept the simple fact. She raised her head high and blocked her emotion deep in her heart, "yes, there is no need delaying any further which is also why I have decided to move out tomorrow, I will be going to his place, he said I m welcomed."
"What the hell, Athena," TB was angry; "when the hell did you decide this? How could you be like this? He came and asked you back today and you are moving into his house tomorrow? Really, Athena, is that how much you can t stand staying away from him? You didn t even think of making him beg a while more, you didn t even think of playing a little hard to get, you are just throwing yourself at him, don t you know that?"
The words 'throwing herself at him slammed deep into her heart, it was one of the lessons Sean taught her, and she could remember his words as clear as the day.
'Never throw yourself at a man, no matter how much you are dying to be with him or how much you want to stay with him, never throw yourself at him. Let him want you, let him desire you. Give him a reason to respect you afterwards because when you give yourself willingly, a man who is not true can easily take advantage of you. But how would you know a true man and the fake one? It s simple, reserve a little respect for yourself. Give him attention but don t throw yourself at him.
She looked up at Sean and saw the anger blaring in his hazel eyes, she looked down, expecting to receive a lashing from him and also regretting why she was so irrational, she shouldn t have said what she did but she was pushed by his nonchalant attitude and now she doesn t know what else to do. She decided that if she receives one single lashing from him that she would change her mind but what she heard threw her off balance, "that s okay, I m sure he is dying to be with you as well. Now please excuse me, I really need to catch some sleep, I am so tired." Sean said and when Athena looked up, she could still see the anger in his eyes as well as another feeling. Is that pain? She wondered but he didn t give her enough time to figure it out for he looked away from her and strode towards the door that leads out of the room.