Episode 34

Episode 34.
When Ric stopped in front of me,his smile is fading an I watched his eyes as they watched me,tearing every piece of clothing from my body with his hot eyes.
"You look beautiful" he said.
For that moment I didn't know whether to thank him or just nod. But I knew I needed to show some appreciation.
"Thank you" I replied,reaching to pull my hair behind my ear like I always did when I'm nervous about something. He made me nervous.
"Can i get the shoes now?" He said to ms Anderson.
"Oh yes!" She replied before Anita ran over to the shelves and brought back a black box. She gives it to Ric who turns to face me again. With his eyes doing the talking,he asked me to sit on the couch and I did,pulling up the gown from my legs. I watched him kneel before me and pulled the shoe box open. He pulled out a pair of black pump shoes. Slowly, he placed each one on my legs,buckling them tenderly like the perfected the art of putting shoes on women's legs. Many many didn't know how to work their ways around women shoes but he did. He knew how to put them on tenderly and slowly, catching the moment as he did.
He's worn shoes for many other women,don't feel so special. There comes my mind again. I fought back the thought with a small smile as he looked up at me.
"They fit perfectly" he said and I nodded immediately with a smile. He helped me to my feet and I tried walking in the shoes. They were a perfect size. After testing it out,I put them back on the box.
Ms Anderson took us to another room at the back where we picked out a ball mask. The masks were beautiful, I would probably take forever to make a choice. But when ms Anderson picked out a beautiful black one for me,I took it without question.
"I'll just make a bit of work on the dress and have them delivered to you tomorrow" Ms Anderson said after we walked back out "is that okay?"
Looking from Ric to her,I nodded "yes"
"Fantastic!"
When we walked out of the store,I couldn't help think about Riccardo. How he'd been today. I'd seen him laugh most of the time and he'd looked at me like he'd never done before. There was something thrilling about him tonight. It bothered me to think about it cause as I continued to think about it,I couldn't quite understand why I felt how I did. He's been exceptionally nice tonight and as much as I tried to stop telling myself that it was all just a facade and that he's gonna go back to being how ruthless he was any minute now,I found myself wondering after him. He's nice,he's been nothing but that tonight and yet,I knew that deep down,somewhere inside him was the ruthless man I'd been working with before. Why was he suddenly so sentimental and nice? Whatever happened while I was away? Why was he so nice? And as we got to his car,I knew there was something that I should know. Something he's not telling me.
He started driving and I fixed my eyes on the front again,thoughts shipping through my mind serially. There was that woman in his house. . . . .no,no,no. I'm just gonna think about tonight and nothing else. And just like that I was occupying my mind with thoughts of how he'd smiled,how he'd watched me walk out wearing a dress,how he'd disapproved the other dresses,how he'd slipped the shoes on for me and how he'd told me I looked in the dress. All the thoughts made my heart go wild and sometimes,my lips went lose,smiling uncontrollably.
"I assume you haven't had lunch too" he said as he pulled into a restaurant. It was past 8 so neither of us has actually had dinner yet. I don't reply because it wasn't really a question but a statement. I just sat still till his car came to a stop and I stepped out.
We ordered and ate a few minutes later. And while he tried to make small talks,I always ended them. I was tempted to ask him what was going on. Why he was being so nice,what had happened after I stopped working with him. But then I decided that those questions were just baseless and irrelevant and just eat quietly.
After eating,he drove me back home. This time,he pulled up right in front of my house. Hmmmm fishy!
"Hey" he said just before I pushed the door open,causing me to turn back to him. "Um. . . . we take a flight to London tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay" I replied and he nodded before I stepped out and shut the door. I watched his car pull out completely before I went into the building, wanting nothing more but a quick deep sleep. The moment I pressed the ring button on my door,the door flew open,Katie welcoming in chastisely.
"Welcome back!" I stepped in "how did it go?! Where's the stuff you got?"
"It'll be delivered to me tomorrow"
"So? How did it go with you know who" she said,punching her fists and causing me to laugh.
"It went great with Ric,Kay." I sat down and tried to pull off my shoes,remembering how he'd put the shoes on me earlier "he was. . . . nice"
"Well. . . . the date must've gone out pretty well for you not to answer your phone" she put up her phone.
"Oh!" I quickly rummaged through my bag to get my phone "I'm really sorry,didn't hear it ring"
"I understand girl" she wiggled her brows knowingly at me.
"Don't do that!" I exclaimed "I know what runs in your mind when you do that face!"
"What? I was just wondering why your boss is suddenly so nice to you. Maybe he has an ulterior motive" she shrugs her shoulders before backing away towards the kitchen.
"I'm so exhausted," I started to rub my face "I'm just gonna go to bed"
"What about dinner?" Katie asked from the kitchen as I started walking towards my room.
"Already eaten!" I replied, swinging my shoes behind as I disappeared into my room.
*
My alarm blared,causing me to flinch off the bed on impulse. And I actually wondered why I set an alarm. Oh right,I'd set it in the morning yesterday to wake me up so I'd get ready for this travelling to London before going to work so when Ric comes to pick me up,he wouldn't have to wait for me to start packing up again.
When I walked into my closet,i stood akimbo,wondering what exactly I'm to pack. An extra bra and panties; seriously, I can't stand dirty under wears. Not even the slightest. A mini gown and maybe a pair of shoes too. I decided my old and fancy travel box would fit just for the task. I threw in a deep blue slip dress and an ankle high heels with a pair of matching under wears. Just then,Katie screamed my name.
"You've got a delivery!" She added loudly.
My ball gown! I hurried out to meet a young man just outside the opened door, a long pink box in his arm.
"Oh hi" I greeted him,reaching for the box.
"This is for miss Ashley Shawn?"he said.
" yes thank you"
He gave me a paper to sign before handing off the box to me and left.
Katie couldn't stop gushing over the dress before I left for work.
A part of me couldn't wait to wear the dress and be at that party. . . . . with him. Owning to how Katie kept praising the dress. When I got to the office,Ric hadn't arrived yet. Trevor is the only person seated at his desk table.
I threw him a quick good morning before hurrying over to my table. Shortly after,Trevor is walking towards me, a smile on his face.
"Hey,T" I called out,eyes fixed on my computer as I tried to prepare Ric's schedule.
Trevor stops beside my desk,his arms folded. When he didn't say anything, I looked up to see his eyes,trained quizzically on my computer.
"What's up,Trevor?"
"I'm just wondering. . . . you've been in a pretty good mood since you started work yesterday. Anything to share with me?"
"Well. . . . . this is how I am when I'm working happily" I finger quoted the last word "obviously you've never gotten the chance to meet this part of me thanks to Mr Marcello"
"Understandable," he gave me a small smile "nice to hear that though"
Just then,the elevator doors slid open after the jinxing sound and I looked behind Trevor to see Mr Marcello step out of it. If I was just noticing how blondish brown his hair is,then shame on me. His tailored suits fits perfectly. I look back to my computer immediately before he catches me watching him.
"Quick notice though," Trevor said as Ric proceeded towards us "the eatery doesn't have cheese anymore"
"What?. . . . " I tried to look up at Trevor again but my eyes are averting to Ric and this time, my eyes met his.
He walks past us and I watched him go till hr disappeared into his office room. Trevor looks from his door to me,obviously aware of the stares I've been throwing his way.
"Ughm," he cleared his throat "is there still. . . . . something between you two?"
When he said 'something' I could only think about two things. Either he meant there's something romantically between us or there's still the previous hate between us. And somehow, I feel like his question referred to the former.
"No," I shook my head.
"Alright. I'll . . . let you do your work then"
Throughout the day,I can say that I had a neutral working weather with Mr Riccardo. There's usually no meetings on Fridays so I just took most of his calls for him. At 12p.m,he'd left the office and never came back. Shortly after he left,he phoned me,telling me he'd be picking me up to his private jet by 3.
Once it was 1:30p.m, I started getting ready to leave.
After making sure everything's on check,I walked out clamping my shoulder bag,just as Trevor made his way out of his office.
"I think you're going my way" Trevor said with a smile,obviously inviting me for a ride home again.
I laughed shortly "seriously, T,I really appreciate you giving me a ride but. . . . aren't you ever. . . . you know,tired? Don't get me wrong please,I'm just. . . . being considerate"
"Tired? Nah. . . I can't get tired of that" His smile is encouraging and downright reassuring. In the end,I nodded and walked out with him to the garage.
He drove me me home and stopped on his usual spot just outside my apartment.
"Thank you Trevor" I said as I turned to him. He gave me a lip lined smile,his eyes watching me intensely. With the way his eyes watched me,the way he forced his lips into a thin line told me there's something he wasn't telling me. When last did we even talk huh?
"Trevor? Is there something you wanna tell me?"
"Me? Uh.....nope"
Huh. I studied him for a moment before shrugging it off and decided to get out of the car.
"Ashley" he called me,his hand reaching over my arm,holding me still as if stopping me from getting off the car. I turned back to him,only to find his face a few inches from mine.my breath caught in my throat immediately as I watched his eyes up close. His eyes watched mine unblinkingly and I struggled to breathe. He suddenly dominated the air around me. Just as I tried to say something, he crashed his lips against me, claiming my lips in a soft and tender kiss.