A Step Closer to Love

Arabella trudged home as she was barely able to lift her body. As she made it to the entrance of the mansion where she now lived her phone vibrated in her pocket. She sighed as she pulled it out and looked at the screen.

She shook her head in annoyance as she forgot what she had to do. Aurora had given her so much work, that it was as if she was working hard to make sure she quit the job. She had eaten her lunch while printing out a whole manuscript to read when she could read it digitally, make corrections to it, and then do the final printing.

She watched the call ring and then fall into voice mail. She did not want to ignore his call but wanted to be the one to call her back since she promised to do so. The workload she had taken on in a day all by herself was too much and she hoped that Kieran and the others would be back soon so Aurora would not go on with her power trip.

she opened up her phone and dialed his number back before he would have the opportunity to do so.

“Hello, Arabella hope you are doing well. I have tried to reach you so many times during the day, I even thought at some point that you were trying your best to avoid me” Mark said all at once.

she was tempted to laugh at his outburst but thought against it. “I am sorry but I just got to work and had a lot of work to catch up on”

Arabella thought of what could have happened if Aurora had asked her to work overtime. she hated that such a petty woman had the power to do such evil things as such.

“That’s fine, I was so afraid since you were not reading any of my texts,” he said again.

“I was so busy all day, I could barely do anything but work,” Arabella said with a sigh.

she stood by the door to take the message before she made her way inside. She made up her mind to go to bed immediately after she went inside.

“That’s no worry, I was less busy so I wanted to hear from you,” he said again.

Arabella wished he would stop speaking like a broken tape and go straight to the point.

“Are we still on for the…” he trailed off.

Arabella in that moment thought of all the fictional men she knew and how courageous they were. how was she to say yes when he could barely get to the end of her sentence?

“We could go this Sunday, I have to take my house host out for shopping” she suggested. if she left it for him they might never fix a date.

“That could work for me, I have a night shift so I am free till five pm”

“Wonderful then, pick a place and time and send me the details”

” I sure will” The excitement in his voice was evident. “Is that a date?”

Arabella chuckled inwardly at his subtle attempt to turn a harmless meeting into something romantic.

“Sure it’s a date, Good night Mark”

“Oh my goodness,” Arabella screamed and felt her soul leave her body when she heard someone clear their throat from behind her.

she stood there to have some privacy and get the call over with she did not expect anyone to be there. she slowly turned her head to face whoever it was behind her.

her hands on her chest with her bags on the ground when she jumped in fright. Kieran’s eyes shined at her and his lips pursed in a straight line. She did not want to deny that the light from the house shining on him illuminated his beauty the more.

“I did not hear you come,” she said trying her best to play it cool.

“Yes because I came silently” he responded.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked with a nervous smile. “Did you perhaps overhear my conversation?” she asked when he did not reply. he nodded his head and placed one of his hands into his pants pocket.

“It’s not a date like a date” she began but then paused. She did not need to explain to him. He was not her boyfriend or father or even brother.

“You don’t need to explain what goes on in your life to me, I am your boss and I do not need to know those details”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

she knew he was right but hearing him saying those things felt like an arrow was thrown straight for her heart and then it was pulled and returned multiple times to make the pain unbearable.

“Figured that myself” she mumbled inaudibly. “What are you doing here?” she felt the need to keep the conversation going with him even though his face was unwelcoming.

“I live here” he responded like she was stupid for asking such a question.

“Yes, I know that,” she said as she internally face-palmed for lack of a better sentence construct.

“So why then did you ask?” he asked wondering what she was trying to drive at.

“Well, I heard at work that the reason you left so early in the morning and why you were not at work was because you went for a retreat automatically I did not expect to see you at home today because don’t those things last like two or three days?” she asked as she wondered what he was doing there.

“I have better things to do than waste my time staying in a house with strangers and trying my best to bond with them”

The tone of his voice suggested to her that he really hated the idea of the retreat.

“How I wish I could go” she murmured to herself. she turned on her heels. “I should probably let you be, you must be so tired from going back and forth all day” The sarcasm in her voice was loud and clear for him to hear.

he cleared his throat and she smirked as she bent to pick up the bag that fell from her hands earlier. “I am sure you can’t be as tired as I am anyway” she added before turning to give him a fake small smile. “Good night anyway,” she said and walked away before he could respond.

For some reason watching her walk away sent a wrong feeling down his stomach. “What is her deal?”