Which?
Abigail's eyes widened as a thought passed through her head. W-was she already starting to fall for him? T-this soon? T-that fast? It was only the second day!
Suddenly, Abi felt torn and a little confused, but in the end, she shook her head and decided that that couldn't be right. She thought that she was probably quite infatuated but surely she wasn't in love yet. She still had time to figure everything out and she didn't want to assume so early, even though this made her feel really excited.
She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by this foreign feeling but she didn't want to overthink this. She would just focus on doing the things on her wishlist, for now.
…
Abi left the mansion when the taxi got there and she headed to the orphanage. She was happily greeted by the children at the school as always and she enjoyed spending the day with them.
She also called her dad and grandparents during lunch and told them she was doing fine. Her family was, as always, supportive of her and she was very thankful that she had such a caring and loving family.
When the classes were over, Abi headed to Kelly's place and she called Kelly to let her know that they were on the way over. Abi was accompanied by all the children from the orphanage on a school bus.
The two talked for a while but the conversation was mainly Kelly trying to make Abi tell her everything. The two were like they were participating in some talk show, with Kelly as the annoying interviewer and Abi as the shy and soft spoken interviewee.
By the time the bus arrived outside Kelly's apartment, Kelly was already outside so she jumped into the bus straightaway. They were headed towards the venue where the fundraising event they had organised would be held in three weeks' time. This fundraising event was something they had done every year for the last 3 years to raise funds for the orphanage.
They arrived outside a music theater. This was their venue as their target audience were the older individuals. They planned to put on a show of classic plays, to revive the old times. The aim was to entertain the older individuals and take them back to the old days; for them to reminisce about their younger days. The plays were loved by many grandmas and grandpas and they looked forward to it every year. Lately, some of the younger generation, especially couples, also started to get attracted by the concept of the plays, saying that they felt that it was nice to see the things people did in the olden times that the new generation had never seen.
What made her plays special was that all the children from the orphanage would be performing in them. She acted as the play director, as well as the soothing piano accompaniment for the whole show. She practised with the children every day leading up to the event, working long and hard with them. Abi was happy to do all this, knowing that she wasn't only helping to raise money for the orphanage but also putting a smile on other people's faces. Abi and Kelly spent a couple of hours planning and practising with the kids, telling them where to stand, what to do and what their next cues would be. When they were finished, they all packed inside the school bus again and went on their way to drop Kelly off at her apartment.
During the ride back, Kelly insisted on being the one to send her back to Alexander's house. Abi was a bit worried. She knew when her friend became curious, nothing would stop her from barging in and satisfying that curiosity so she was understandably a bit reluctant to have Kelly drive her back. Gladly, one of the other teachers asked for her help at the orphanage when they got back and Abi was relieved to have an excuse. In the end, Kelly relented but she looked like she wasn't going to take no for an answer the next time.
It looked like she would have to remember to ask Alexander if he was ok with her bringing Kelly to his house to see the place.
…
On her way back to Alexander's house, Abi brought out her little notebook. She skimmed the list and she smiled when she saw that one of them was finally marked with a tick.
She was happy that she managed to coax Alexander and made him play with her, even finishing the game with her. It was a lot of fun, definitely an experience she would never want to forget.
As she stared outside the taxi's window, Abi started to ponder what item to do next from her list because she had to do one thing on her to-do list by the end of the day.
The sun was just setting when she finally arrived at the house, just scraping by within her curfew.
Of course, what she immediately looked for once she entered the huge door was Alexander. Her eyes landed on him, sitting on the couch like a bored but brutally beautiful king, right next to the gigantic fireplace. He didn't seem to be thinking deeply about something or anything at all. It was as if he was just too bored about life that all he could do was stare at the fire just to waste time.
Regardless of his expression, Abi smiled widely. She finally got to see him for the first time that day!
"I'm back," Abi said and the man glanced at her.
"I thought you would actually break the rule today. Too bad… here I was, thinking about what punishment I would give you," he smiled, a smile that looked like the devil was plotting someone's downfall.
Abi ignored him and she moved towards him. She was thinking about what a girlfriend should do once she met her boyfriend again after a long hard day at work. Thinking about the classic movies and books she read, she could think of two things - a peck on the cheek or a hug.
Which was better?
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Made of ice
Still trying to decide, Abi stood before him, staring hard at him and then, suddenly, she threw herself at him and hugged him.
Alexander's eyes slightly widened. He never expected this little lamb to throw herself at him upon coming back. Abi was actually surprised as well. She was planning to kiss him but she ended up hugging him, instead. Maybe it was because she was a bit tired.
"T-this is what a good girlfriend does when they see their boyfriend when they get home, right?" she mumbled and Alex finally snapped. He looked away and rested his chin on his palm.
"Well… I'm surprised you at least know how to be sweet, little lamb," he replied. He was about to give her more information on what else a good girlfriend did but Abi spoke first.
"You're warm, Alex," she suddenly uttered and it looked like she surprised the man again. Alex didn't see those words coming. He was speechless.
Three seconds passed before his expression returned to normal.
"What? Were you expecting my body to be cold as ice?" he asked with a smirk on his face and Abi nodded without hesitation.
"That's right. You can't blame me! You are so cold towards me almost all the time that I sometimes thought you were made of ice."
A laughter echoed inside the living room. "Little lamb… did you know that you are the first girl to actually bravely tell me that right before my very face?" he was both amused and bewildered.
"I'm the first?" she pulled away, curious. "Really?"
When Alex nodded, Abigail's expression changed into something Alex never expected.
"That's strange."
"What is strange about that? Huh, Abigail?"
"You are supposed to have a lot of past girlfriends. And now you're telling me, not one of them ever told you that you are cold? Alex, it seems like my first impression of you was wrong after all, because it seems like you didn't really have as many past girlfriends as I thought."
Alexander was once again rendered speechless. He had no words to say at all. This girl… this little lamb… how could she think like this?
He couldn't help but bite his lips. He had never met anyone who dared to talk to him like this, to the point that he, of all people, couldn't even say a word back. She was just… What the hell was with this girl?
The man pinched the skin between his brows while Abi just rested her head on his chest again. It was only the second day but she was already like a pet who had immediately grown attached to its master who gave her food and shelter.
"Uhm… Alex," she called his name as she moved away again and stared at his eyes. Her hands were still on his waist.
"What?" The man arched his brow.
"I have a request again." she said with an expectant look in her face and a crooked smile curved on Alex's face. Did this girl come here and act this sweetly to pacify him before asking for her request? Not bad, little lamb…
"What kind of silly request are you trying to ask of me now, huh?" he lifted her chin with his elegantly long finger.
Abi swallowed. She met his probing gaze and ignored his evil smirk.
"Can we climb to the roof?"
". . ."
A sound of a flying noisy crow could almost be heard because of the sudden deafening silence between them. The two of them stood still as if they were frozen in time and just stared at each other.
Alex was speechless, while Abi was holding her breath for his reply.
After another few seconds, the man finally opened his mouth.
"No," was yet again, his solid answer. He really couldn't believe this girl at all. He predicted that it was something silly but she completely leapt to another dimension of silliness. No, this couldn't even be called silly, it was simply outrageous. "Go and rest, Abigail. I have important things to do tonight." He rejected her outright.
"B-but, Alex, I –"
Suddenly, Alex put his finger on her lips and stopped her. She knew he wouldn't give in so easily. She would have to persuade him again.
However, before she could remove his hand from her lips, she noticed that Alex's gaze was no longer fixed on her. He was looking past her and she felt Alexander's aura turn unbelievably dark and cold again.
Abi instantly thought that he had unwanted visitors again so she turned and followed his gaze. She was right. There were two men already standing by the door.
She was expecting these guests to be like the other ones from yesterday, intimidating and powerful, but to her surprise, the guest today looked pleasant, unlike the serious and cold Ezekiel Qinn.
The man by the door was another beautiful creature. He was tall and lean and he had the look of an innocent man. He even smiled brightly as soon as Abi's eyes met his. She wondered if he was a celebrity from somewhere and then wondered if Alexander was actually only acquainted with beautiful people. She found this thought to be quite silly but seeing these people - from Mr. black leather jacket to Mr. Ezekiel Qinn and then to this man - she couldn't help but think that way.
Suddenly, Abi turned to Alex.
"I didn't stare at him. It was just a little look," she said in haste as she shook her head, circling her big, brown eyes.
Her unexpected actions and words immediately dissolved the deadly daggers in his eyes and he suddenly laughed. Abi blinked, wondering if she had said something funny.
She watched him laugh. He looked even more outrageous when he was laughing, although she still couldn't tell if this was his genuine laugh. At that moment, Abi thought that she would never get tired watching this man laugh like this.
But then, as always, the unpredictable jellyfish changed colors when she least expected it. He suddenly stopped laughing and his face became serious in a matter of millisecond. She wished that he would have let her see it a little longer.
His eyes flashed past her before he spoke.
"Go upstairs now, Abigail. I have business to deal with."
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The Miss is...
Abi bit her lips and looked down on the floor, like a disappointed child who was told to go to her room when things were just getting interesting. But she obeyed nonetheless, as she knew the drill by now, even after just living there for a day. She knew that when Alex was like that, she would get nowhere even if she pleaded and until her voice ran out.
So she walked towards the elevator and pressed the button. She hadn't used the elevator before but she figured now was good a time as any. She looked up and saw that the walls of the elevator were made of glass. It made a soft 'ding' just before the doors opened and she stepped inside, pressing the level 3 button. As the elevator went up, she looked down to see that the floor was also made of glass, which made her heart leap out from her chest. However, she reasoned that if it could bear Alex's weight, then she would be okay and her heart calmed down again.
Instead of going straight to her room, she roamed around the third floor like a lonely ghost. She sat down in the communal lounge area, staring outside through the large glass windows for a bit and when she got bored of that, she decided to walk out to the balcony to get a better view of the sunset. She was fascinated by all the shades of purple and orange and pink that were painted on the sky as the sun made its way down the horizon. It was just so beautiful. She sighed. That was such a pretty picture that she was a little sad that she couldn't share it with him.
She tore her gaze from the horizon and explored the large balcony. It went from one side of the house to the other. Once again, it was a picture perfect area, with the railings intricately carved into golden patterns of vines. The floor was also made of white marble with the same patterns as the floor inside the house. She could see a round table and a few chairs around it, as if people sometimes had their tea and biscuits out there. The setting was again immaculate despite being outside and being at the mercy of the elements. She went towards the table and chairs and was about to take a seat when her eyes caught sight of a ladder that went up all the way to the roof.
…
Back in the living room.
"Please stop glaring at me like that, Alex. You let Zeke stay here so why are you sending me away?" the man was whining. "You're not being fair at all! T^T"
"Stop acting or I'll break your ribs right now," Alexander coldly replied and the man's shoulders immediately dropped. He sighed and with just those words, his expression changed and he became serious.
"Look, I think you need me here, Alex. You need someone to watch him."
"Kai's already here, Xavier."
"You think that just Kai watching him is enough? Have you forgotten what Zeke is capable of? He would do everything to…" the man trailed off as his eyes fell towards the door.
Ezekiel Qin had arrived and Kai was with him.
"Yo!" the man named Xavier smiled at them as he stood and approached them. He went straight towards Kai intending to drape his arm around him.
However, Kai didn't even give him a chance and he quickly dodge him.
Xavier puffed his cheeks. "Tch! This brother of mine is still so stingy. We used to be inseparable when we were children. How come you're so distant with me now? You're no fun at all!" he started whining again.
"Shut up," was all Kai said and once again, the man's shoulder dropped and sighed before his face turned serious.
The three walked towards the fireplace and sat across Alex.
Alex looked at them with displeasure while they didn't seem to be bothered at all. A deep silence settled in every nook and cranny of the ground floor. No one spoke until Kai finally broke the silence.
"Alex, I suggest that you let Xavier stay here with us," Kai said and Ezekiel Qinn's lips curved up in a silent smirk.
Ezekiel didn't say a thing but Kai seemed to have understood the meaning behind his smirk.
"You're too troublesome for me to handle, Zeke," Kai told him and Xavier agreed enthusiastically.
"Right, right. I agree!!"
As Kai and Xavier continued trying to convince Alex, Ezekiel Qinn left them and went to his room.
At that moment, Charles, the butler, suddenly appeared by the doorway. He was very reluctant to interrupt the group of men as they seemed to be talking about something quite serious but he had no choice. This involved the lady guest of the house, after all.
"Ahem…," Charles cleared his throat, earning him a curious glance from the two guests, and a cold gust of wind from his master. He continued despite the frigid coldness in his bones. "Master, the miss is…"
"What?" Alex's tone was crisp and abrupt, as if he had no time for this interruption.
"Please, follow me, Miss Lee is…"
Alex curbed the annoyance that rose up because his loyal servant knew not to interrupt unless it was of utmost importance. Most importantly, he started to feel uneasy when he mentioned Abigail while wearing such a grave look in his face. When Alex got up and walked in haste, Xavier and Kai looked at each other before they also followed Alex. The lines on Alexander's forehead were getting deeper as the butler led him out the back door.
In no time, they were finally in the backyard. The butler then looked back towards the house and looked up.
Alex followed the direction of his gaze with curiosity but the instant he saw what the butler wanted him to see, he gaped in utter disbelief.
His little lamb was slowly climbing up to the roof!
"Abigail…" he uttered with his jaws clenched.
Alexander's face then turned unbelievably dark. 'What the hell are you doing up there?!'
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Damn hard
Back on the ladder, Abigail slowly climbed up towards the roof. She was slightly shaking from both fear and the cold. It was slightly scary for her so she didn't dare look down as she kept climbing up, higher and higher, with a blanket draped over one shoulder. After a few more steps, she was finally on the rooftop. Luckily for her, the day had been a sunny one so the roof was dry. It would have been very dangerous if it was covered with moisture or rain.
As she straightened up, a wide smile curved on her lips. This was something she had never dared to do before but was something that she thought would be an awesome experience. However, her grandparents and her father were too much of a worrywart and she was afraid that they would have a heart attack if she climbed on their roof, so she never dared.
She didn't know that standing on the roof felt this refreshing. She felt the cool breeze of the air brush her face and she took a deep breath, rewarding her lungs with fresh, unpolluted air. She looked around and she could so far ahead in all directions. She even got the better view of the sunset and the twilight sky. She felt like she was on top of the world!
Standing up on the rooftop, Abi felt free and she subconsciously spread her arms out in response to that feeling.
However, to her surprise, at that moment, someone suddenly grabbed her from behind.
"Abigail… What the hell are you trying to do? Huh?" Abi shivered because of the coldness in his voice. No, it wasn't cool indifference he emitted; it was anger. For an instant, she felt a genuine fear of him, raising the hair on her arms.
She swallowed hard and forced herself to calm down. She slowly turned and looked at him but she quickly realised that that might have been a big mistake. As soon as she saw his darkened face and the fury in his eyes, her spine instantly turned rigid and she froze. She felt her throat dry up and she felt her heart want to leave her chest for fear of what was coming next.
This was the first time he was this angry towards her. She bit her lips to stop it from trembling before she managed to answer.
"I… I… I am working hard, Alex," she stammered.
"Huh?"
"You said I should work hard for you to approve my request, right?"
". . ."
"P-please don't be angry at me," she pleaded like a terrified, little drenched puppy. But then, despite her fear, her arms flew around him as she hugged him tightly.
Alexander didn't know how to react. He didn't understand this girl at all. She was clearly scared of him to her bones and yet she was… she was…
Before Alex knew it, his anger had already disappeared. He didn't even know why he was not angry anymore. This girl… this little daredevil needed a good scolding! He must punish her for doing something crazy like this! He needed to stay as scary as the devil to show her the gravity of her actions, and yet… he didn't even know what killed his anger so suddenly.
Alex let out a deep sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair before his eyes blazed again. But it was no longer with fury; his eyes glimmered with something else.
His hand moved to her nape and he made her look at him.
"Abigail… do you want to die?" he asked. Abi saw that he was no longer angry at her but his question made Abi feel like something strangled her. And then, a second later, tears suddenly fell from her eyes.
Alexander was stunned. He didn't see this coming. Why the hell was she crying now?!
"No… I don't want to die, Alex," she uttered as she began to sob. No, she didn't want to die. She wanted to live longer. She wanted to experience a lot more things in life. She wanted to grow old too. She didn't want to leave her family, her friend, Kelly, and the kids in the orphanage. She also wanted more time to be with this man before her; to get to know everything about him, to experience a lot more things with him and to love him with all her heart. She wanted to live.
As Abi silently cried before him, Alexander didn't know what to do or say. He had seen and made countless girls cry before but for some reason, he hated seeing this little lamb cry like this. He really hated it.
"Stop crying, Abigail," was all he said. His voice was still cold but his eyes never left her face and he didn't know why, but he felt damn angry again, although this time, he didn't seem to be angry at her anymore.
"You were the one who climbed up here on your own and now you're crying?" he gritted his teeth to control his voice.
"I-it's because… you're scaring me," she replied, wiping her tears. She had let out the wave of pain she suddenly felt so she felt better now.
"Abigail, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm angry because… why the hell are you doing this? Do you think you can still live if you fall from up here, huh, Abigail? Why risk your life for something that silly?" he narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not risking my life. I'm being very careful! And… this is not silly, okay? You were the one who told me to work hard. You told me to show you!" she argued. She began to hiccup but her eyes suddenly looked fiercely determined, causing Alex to close his eyes in frustration.
Alexander shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair again.
He then grabbed her chin with his thumb and pulled her face closer to him.
"Listen little lamb. Let me be clear about this. I forbid this kind of crazy stunts. No matter what your reason, never do anything like this again! Anything that I think is dangerous is forbidden. Do you understand?" he firmly told her with a burning intensity in his eyes forcing Abi to swallow. "I'm warning you, if you do something dangerous like this again, I'll punish you… damn hard... You hear me?"
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In exchange
Abigail knew that his threat wasn't a joke. She could see it in his eyes and feel it deep within her bones. She admitted that she may have gone a little overboard this time. No matter what she said and no matter how she justified it to herself, Alex was right. This was pretty risky. A simple mistake on her part could have killed her - a slight misstep, a small trip over a roof tile and she would have fallen to her death. She shivered at the thought because she thought of none of these things when she decided to climb up the ladder onto the roof. All she thought about was not looking down to see how high up she was from the ground. She didn't know why but when he rejected her, she felt like being stubborn all of a sudden, as if she had no other thought except to complete another one of her tasks. It was as if something was pushing her to keep going and take the risk.
She didn't do this out of a whim. She had decided to do this to show him that she was more than serious about her requests and that they were not just trivial playthings to her. She wanted to show him that she was willing to do anything to fulfill her wish. She wanted to show him how determined and serious she was.
She honestly didn't want to experience the punishment he was talking about. She didn't know what it was but she felt goosebumps when he said it. Even though she didn't know what kind of punishment he might inflict upon her, she was afraid she might not be able to handle it. Who knew what kind of terrible punishments his cold heart would think of? So Abi immediately thought of something that might turn things around for her.
She meekly stretched her hand and tugged his shirt as she looked down.
"Alex… I promise not to do anything risky again if… if you promise to grant me one request a day. I will still work hard for it… I just want you to promise me that you will grant me a request daily. Please…" she cupped her hands in a pleading way and looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
Alexander's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that despite his stern and serious warning and threat, this girl still dared to negotiate with him. Why was this little lamb not scared of him at all? It was as if his words only had a small impact on her.
"Please Alex. You said I can request anything aside from your love, right? Please, just one request a day," she continued pleading. "In exchange, I will work hard to be a good girlfriend. I will do anything for you."
At that moment, Abi thought of the scene from last night and a daring idea popped into her head as she thought of something that she might be able to do to please Alex. That was the only thing so far that she knew could make him feel really good and as she had never seen him look so pleased as he did last night. Her eyes fell to his groin. She could see a certain bulge, though it was nowhere near the size of bulge from last night. If last night's bulge was Mt. Everest, then, this bulge might be just a small hill. However, it was still a bulge. Thinking that the little monster might need some help to be tamed, Abi thought she had something she could use to bargain with him.
"If you promise me to grant me a request a day. Uhm… I… I… I can tame your big… uhm… little monster daily as well in exchange," she said and Alex's lips parted in utter surprise.
He threw back his head and stared at the sky for a moment as he inhaled sharply. What nonsense was this little lamb spouting out now?
"I… I can tame him two… uhm… three times daily for one request, if you want," she continued negotiating and Alex seemed to struggle within himself.
He just couldn't believe the audacity of this girl! If he didn't know she was inexperienced, he would have thought she was trying to seduce him right then and there and he would have pounced on her! But he knew that wasn't the case. She was saying these very seductive words in a very non-seductive way to make him agree to her request but his body didn't care. It reacted to her words as if she had talked dirty to him.
He closed his eyes and pinched the skin between his brows. He was having trouble controlling his body's reactions and he wanted to think about her request but his body was screaming at him to agree.
"Three times? You barely managed to do it twice, Abigail," he muttered. It seemed his body had done all the thinking for him.
"Yes, three times! I think I could even do it four times once my hands and wrists get used to it."
Alexander laughed. He cupped her face and whispered in his ear. "Abigail, are you sure about this? Four times a day…?" a devilish smile curved on his lips.
She swallowed because of the look in his eyes but she persisted. If this was the only way to get him to agree to her request, then she was going to do it. She had to make sure to complete her list before her time was up!
"I'm sure!" she said decisively and she even emphasised her words with a short nod of her head, showing her extreme determination.
Alex's smile turned even sexier but a dangerous kind of sexy. A glint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Okay, I agree to your terms but let me make this absolutely clear to you now, Abigail. I wouldn't want you to just use your hands for all those times," he mischievously smiled.
Abigail creased her brows. "Not use my hands? What else is there for me to use?" she asked curiously but before Alex could say a word, "Okay, I will work harder!" she declared. She thought that it didn't really matter what else she would need to use because even if he told her to use wooden spoons, she would definitely try to do her best!
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