Chapter 42: Chapter Forty-one

Alexander's POV

I watch as she sleeps soundly. Her dark brown hair falls down her face, covering her forehead. As I trail my finger down her face, a frown appears between her eyebrows; making me smirk unknowingly. My eyes focuses on her pink lips, wanting to taste them again even though I've been tasting them endlessly yesterday. I lean in, brushing against her lips.

To my surprise, her lips curve up into a small smile; making me lean back slowly. I look down to see her open her droopy eyes. She looks straight at me before touching my cheek, pulling my face closer. Our lips touch once more within seconds and I kiss her softly, as if protecting something so fragile.

Her hands move down to my neck, deepening the kiss as I peck down her neck, making her back arch from my kisses. I grip onto the comforter that's covering her body before slowly tugging it down. Athena chuckles as I grin against her neck, grazing my teeth slightly. I lean back; seeing that her neck has a few dark red spots from last night. Is it just me or do I feel proud of myself?

I leave a kiss on her cheek before rubbing it with the back of my hand, ''Good morning.'' I whisper softly. She smiles at me and I can feel my heartbeat raising. She blinks a few time and I can see her brown eyes lighter from here because of the sunlight passing through the curtains.

''Good morning.'' She replies.

Without me realising, I have been rubbing softly onto her exposed thigh. She turns us around so that she would be on top before kissing me on the lips. I close my eyes, enjoying every second of it. My hands grip onto her hip; making her place her body on mine; letting me feel every inch of her skin.

I turn us around this time and she let out a chuckle as I trail kisses down the back of her neck; making her laugh. My lips rests on her forehead for a few seconds before staring down her face, not uttering a single word. She stares back at me, am I falling for her?

''Have I said that you're beautiful?'' I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Her cheeks heat up slightly before chuckling, ''Yes. Yes you have.'' Then she adjusts her head on the pillow; not breaking our eye contact. Her eyes twinkle as I see them watering.

''What's wrong?'' I furrow my eyebrows.

She shakes her head quickly, ''Nothing.'' Then she continues to touch my cheek, smiling to herself. I focus on her—only her. ''It's just hard to believe; meeting you, knowing you, liking you...'' She stops for awhile, looking straight into my eyes.

My eyes widen slightly as she looks at me; her breathing slowing down and her heart beating faster. My lips curve up slowly into a smile before leaning in and brushing my lips against hers. She kisses me back just as soft as soon as our lips meet. Hovering on top of her as she pulls my face to deepen the kiss.

I softly hold onto her face before kissing down her neck; making her chuckle due to being ticklish. I grin as she run her fingers through my hair. When I run my other hand down her cold skin, she shivers at my touch and quickly collide our bodies together.

I peck down her collarbones and just like that, her stomach grumbles in hunger. We both stop moving as I peek up through my lashes and see that she's covering her face with her hands and grinning. I smirk unknowingly before patting slowly onto her stomach, ''You hungry?'' I ask.

She bites onto her lower lip, nodding. I move up so that we're face to face before pecking onto her forehead for a few seconds and pulling her up with me.

I watch as she take a bite of her pancakes before chewing it slowly and turn to watch the view outside. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. It's like; I just want to stare at her all day long and do it all over again. Athena turns to look at me, her eyes shows confusion as she grab onto my hand at the side of the table, giving me one of her assuring smiles.

I would say she confuses me, but that would be too weak. She intrigues me. I feel I could know her for a hundred years and still only catch small glimpses of who she really is. Just have a few pieces of the puzzle lined up.

I would say that my fascination and love of puzzles was all that drew me to her, but that would be a lie. There is too much fondness for that. There is physical attraction as well, but that is irrelevant, I could feel that attraction to any beautiful women without dwelling on it. My fondness for her is different. I would call it love, but how can I really love something I don't understand? Something that continues to confuse me? But the fondness is still there, strong, and unexplained. I thought.

''Why are you looking at me like that?'' She continues to take another bite without breaking our eye contact. She stops for awhile to wipe the non-existing stain on her lips, ''Is there, um, something?''

I smile, shaking my head, ''No, there's nothing.''

Her eyebrows furrow in confusion, ''Then why are you looking at me?'' She repeats the same question—leaning forward, trying to make me look away but I lean in and she quickly lean back; smirking.

''I'm looking at my wife, there's nothing wrong with that.'' I shrug, taking a sip of my drink while peeking through the glass to watch her reaction. She seems to swallow before clearing her throat. Bet she feels awkward hearing me say that.

''You're staring.'' She says, stubbornly.

''I'm looking.'' I reply.

''Staring!''

''I'm—''

She cuts me off, ''Okay fine, let's play a game. Who breaks the eye contact first loses.'' Then she leans back, crossing her arms; waiting for my answer. I nod my head before leaning forward and staring straight into her eyes; blinking a few times—trying to show how calm I am with this.

Within seconds, I am able to focus into her brown eyes. The way she blinks while she looks back into mine just attracts me. Everything seems to slow down as we both fall into our own trap. I can see her cheeks heating up and I notice her biting softly. It impresses me how she doesn't notice herself doing little things that could attract me in so many ways.

''How long do you want this to go on?'' I ask, tilting my head to the side, ''Because you know, I don't mind. Whenever is fine with me.'' Pretending to shrug at the end.

''The one who loses, ends it.'' She replies.

We spend another minute staring at one another. Athena takes a sip of her drink without breaking the eye contact. I bite the inside of my cheeks as I wink at her; teasing. She chuckles, trying to hold back from spitting the water out, ''A-Alex.'' She coughs, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

''What?'' I ask teasingly.

''Damn you.''

''I didn't do anything.'' I reach out for her hand before laughing as she continues to cough, ''Looks like I won the game, huh?'' I add.

She glares, ''You might won this time but you're not going to win anything in the future.''

''I just won something last night.'' I rub the back of her hand with my thumb. ''If you didn't forget.''

''God...'' She rubs her temples, taking another bite of her pancakes. I laugh at her reaction as she continues to chew and ignore me successfully. I take a bite of her pancake and she slaps my hand; preventing me from taking more.

''Ouch?'' I raise an eyebrow.

''Yeah, ouch.'' She quickly finish her pancakes, not letting me have them. I watch as her cheeks moving up and down due to her chewing. Her cheeks as puffy as a chipmunk. Adorably cute.

Once we're done eating, we head straight to the airport for our flight back to New York. It feels just like yesterday; flying to Rome but it has been awhile since that. I turn to see Athena sleeping soundly on her seat, her head falling to the side as she leans back. Her arms crossed, tugging onto the blanket; preventing from being cold.

I lean in toward her, pecking onto her forehead, long before trailing kisses down her nose and finally meeting her lips. I stay still, not making any movements. I finally feel free; doing anything to her, showing her, holding her, kissing her. It's like I'm not being held against my will anymore.

Leaning back, I take my time to watch her breathe. Slowly, one of my hand moves down her thigh and the other goes behind her back, ''Come on, princess.'' I mutter slowly to myself.

Once I've manage to fully balance her weight, I walk straight ahead to the back. One of the stewardess looks at me and down to Athena before smiling and moving to the side; giving us the way. I nod and smile until I finally reach the bedroom.

I slowly put her fragile body onto the bed and she snuggles closer toward one of the pillows. One of her hand grips onto the comforter and she stops moving all at once; only the sound of her breathing was heard.

I lay onto the bed, using my elbow to support my weight before laying on the right side and facing her. Failing to keep my hands away from touching her face, I end up caressing her cheek with the back of my hand.

''You're so beautiful.'' I mutter under my breath, ''It amazes me. Amazes me how you manage to surprise me. Everything you do surprises me. From the way you laugh, talk and even breathe, it's like I've never seen you done those things before but you have. You did.''

She continues to lay still.

''When I first saw you at the bar, I somehow feel attracted. You were alone which was a bonus and you were drunk. I guess it would have been a bonus if I was a pervert.'' I mutter the last one quietly, ''But, you looked so sad, so frustrated. How can I ever leave a woman like that? Especially not you.''

I sigh, ''It's weird, isn't it?'' I chuckle softly, ''Three months knowing you and I'm already thinking of what would happen in the next three. Would I let you go or would I keep you here... with me? It bothers me. You know, it bothers me all night. It's like one of my 3am thoughts.'' Without me realising, I have been drawing circles on her arm. ''Man, you've been making me feel all sorts of emotions.''

I look down, seeing that she's still sleeping soundly. My lips curve up into a smile before laying my head beside hers; our face inches apart from one another. I peck once more onto her forehead before pulling her close toward me and closing my eyes.

''Alex...'' I hear her soft voice calling out my name. Turning around, I see her grinning widely at me as she waves toward my direction. I smile immediately before running straight ahead toward her, feeling anxious by not feeling her touch. ''Alex.'' She calls out my name once more.

I continue to run, as fast as I can. Not even wasting a second, not even caring if I trip, as long as I can make it there. I can make it toward her. ''Alex.'' She calls.

Furrowing my eyebrows, why am I not getting closer? Her brown eyes continues to distant away from me. ''Wait, no.'' I reach my hand out, trying to grab onto her arm but the harder I try, the further I am.

My body shakes violently and I look down to see myself being pulled away by some sort of force. I look back up to see Athena disappearing into the dark, making me hit onto the non-existing walls around me.

''Alex!'' I continue to hear her voice, ''Damn it, Alex, wake up.''

I open my eyes to see Athena shaking my body. Oh, it was all a dream. A weird dream. Her eyes staring back into mine; and I quickly sit up straight, ''What?'' I look around.

Athena crosses her arms, ''Welcome to New York.'' She says sarcastically before stepping off the bed and taking her jacket with her. I watch as she closes the door behind her. Sighing, I rub my face before standing up and pushing the comforter away from my body.

Stepping out of the bedroom, I turn around to see Athena picking up her handbag. She glances toward my direction as she waits for me to come closer. I fasten my pace toward her and meet her lips instantly. She kisses me back; the sound of the door opening, stopping us.

Athena smiles and she holds my hand as we walk down the plane.

Once we have gotten home, I place Athena slowly on the bed. She has fallen asleep again and I don't blame her; she continues to talk quite a lot in the car and I couldn't help but ignore her and she ends up sleeping. I smile as I look down at her sleeping figure. She likes to cuddle somewhere warm—that is something new that I learn about her.

I sit down beside her, taking off her socks and pulling the comforter to cover up her body. She snuggles closer as she breathes out; finding a comfortable spot.

All of a sudden, Athena's phone vibrates—stating that there's a message. I glance toward her phone on the nightstand, should I go and check? I thought. No. I shake my head. That's invading her privacy. I won't do that. I look away but within seconds, I am already looking back at her phone. It vibrates again, another notification went in. It might be important...

In a fast motion, I stand up and reach out for her phone. Pressing the home button, I look down and furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

Joanna

You know you can't run.

Joanna

It's on, Athena. It's on.

I slide the screen to unlock but the passcode stops me doing so. Putting her phone back down, I turn to look at Athena who hasn't move a bit. Who is Joanna? What's on? My mind feels corrupted. It's not that I don't trust her but the message shows something.

Is she hiding something?

Is there something that she won't tell me?

I stare once more at her figure before closing the light and walking out of the bedroom.

Athena's POV

Breathing out, I snuggle close to the comfort beside me before slowly opening my eyes. My eyes focuses on the familiar surrounding around me—making me blink a few times; trying to reassure myself. I sit up straight, seeing the sunlight shining brightly from the window. Yawning, I turn to look at the door, seeing that it's fully open.

I head straight outside before hearing noises in the other room. I lean against the wall; peeking. Seeing that Alex is cleaning up a few boxes in his office. I push the door open slowly, receiving his attention. He looks up at me, eyeing my whole body before smiling, ''Good morning, baby.''

My cheeks heat up at the nickname, ''Good morning.'' I mutter slowly.

He picks up one of the empty boxes before throwing it down beside him. I walk forward, seeing that he has arranged a few new books on the shelves. I sit down near the Mahogany desk before looking around and my eyes widen for a moment. A picture of a familiar woman on the desk.

I pick up the frame, examining the picture. A woman smiling widely at the camera while Alex is kissing her on the cheek and hugging her tightly. She has light brown hair with blue eyes that shines brightly due to the sunlight. I've seen her somewhere...

''Oh that's mom.'' Alex breaks me from my thoughts. I look up, seeing that he is holding another frame, ''Here.'' He gives me the other frame and I slowly take it. Another picture of Alex and his mother. Alex is smiling at the camera while his mother is just looking at her son; as if admiring him. She looks young. They look more like brothers and sisters.

''She's beautiful.'' I mutter under my breath, loud enough for him to hear. Right, she appeared in my dreams. How can I forget?

Everything felt real. She felt real.

Alex sits down in front of me, looking down at the picture, ''She is, isn't she?'' I examine the look on his face. It shows how much he misses her, how much he just wanted her to be here right beside him, how much he wants to kiss and hold her again. ''I remember when it was her birthday. I took her out the whole day, saying that I wanted to see her smile. I wanted her to be happy and I wanted that day to be the happiest day for her.'' He starts talking, ''I miss her. I miss her more than anything.''

He clenches his jaw, holding onto the frame, ''God, how I wish I could hold her right now and tell her how much I love her.'' His voice, low and almost inaudible. Then he looks up at me. I was surprised to see his eyes red with tears, ''I want to show her the beautiful woman that made me fall head over heels like crazy.'' He chuckles a bit, making me smile slightly, ''Damn, she must've been really happy if she could meet you.''

I lean closer, wrapping my arm around his waist and resting my head on his chest, ''She's very lucky to have you as her son and I'm very, very, very sure that she wishes to be here and tell you how much she loves you too.'' I say and he run his fingers through my hair.

''If you'd have the chance, would you meet her?'' Alex suddenly asks, ''If she's still alive.'' He adds.

''I wouldn't miss the opportunity.'' I reply, snuggling closer.

I hear my phone ringing from the bedroom. Breaking the hug, Alex clears his throat before continuing to clean up the books on the ground. I quickly walk toward the bedroom before picking up my phone. Looking down at the caller ID, Clara.

''Hey.'' I answer, sitting down on the bed.

''Athena. Hey.'' She replies from the other line, ''I need your help,'' She chuckles a bit, ''I know I've been asking you to help me quite a lot lately but I know how you love spending time with Colton nowadays.'' My lips curve up into a smile, hearing Colton's name.

It's weird how I'm loving that little kid. I used to hate; despise him whenever I hear his name but now, I just love hearing it. I would want him to appear in front of me and just spend time with him, show him the stars and tell him stories.

''That would be great. I miss him already.'' I say.

''I'll come in a bit, yeah?'' Before I could say anything, she has already end up the call. I roll my eyes, knowing that she has that one as a habit. I look up, seeing that Alex is leaning on his side against the wall and looking straight at me.

''Who was that?'' He asks, pointing at my phone with his lips.

I didn't even see him standing there earlier.

''Clara. She wanted me to babysit Colton. If that's okay with you?'' I raise an eyebrow, putting my phone on the side as I stand up and walking straight toward him. Once we're close enough, he pulls me by the hips, blocking the space between us.

''I kind of miss him.'' He smirks, ''We could bring him out.'' Then one of his hand goes up to caress the side of my cheek; making me look straight at him.

''Really?'' I ask.

''Yeah.'' He replies. Within seconds, he is already leaning in; reaching out to brush his lips against mine but before he could do so, his phone rings. He sighs deeply, pecking me on the chin before taking his phone out of his jeans' pocket, ''Hello?'' He answers, ''Be right back.'' He pecks me on the cheek as he walks away to the hall.

I cross my arm and watch his back until he disappears into his office. Walking back inside, I pick up my phone to see any notifications from yesterday. I pull down the notification center and my eyebrows furrow, Joanna messaged me yesterday?

Sighing, I bite hard onto my lower lip. What, now?

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