He was right, she did not believe him. One week after and still in Deleze, still in damn Alvas she did not believe him. He just wanted her somewhere within his reach, that meant within Alvas and within Deleze Inc. Why else would he pull out all the stops to prevent her from leaving? The damn lockdown was over but she was still as trapped. He would not even allow her to go back to the other company. He was giving her space but she could feel that it would not last long.
Four days till Christmas. The Christmasy air made her feel even lonelier and anxious. She heard the doorbell and went over to see who it was. She looked through the peephole and grimaced. Not again, she thought. She opened the door. “Hello Mrs Attane,” she greeted.
An old woman between the age of sixty five and seventy two stood at her door. “Hello dear, Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” she smiled. “Do you have anything for me?” Rita only asked because she was being polite and a bit sarcastic. The woman had been bringing her ‘treats’ for days. And if that cockroach had not taken a dive for the first bag and subsequently turned into stone then she would have had a bite and this woman would have used her for heaven knew what.
“Yes, these” handing her another pack of cookies and a present. She was expecting the cookies but the present caught her off guard.
“Um, thank you Mrs Attane. Is the present from you?” If it was she was chucking it.
“No dear, it's from him.” Mrs Attane replied.
From him? Who? Her anxiety was skyrocketing again. Samuel appeared from the side of the door, a solemn look on his face. “I'll leave you two alone.” she said and scurried off.
The moment she disappeared behind her apartment door, she glares at him. “You can have it back.” Rita thrust the box to him. “I don't want it.” He took it, their fingers brushed against each other. Rita took her hand away like the box burned. “I got it for you.”
“I'm not taking it and you can't buy me.” she moved to close the door but he stopped it with his foot.
“Please just give me a chance.” he begged.
She tried to pry his foot out. “No. Leave.”
But it would not budge. He was making a scene and that was the last thing she wanted. “Rita I'm sorry. I truly am, I just need you to give me one chance. Just one to prove it to you. For you to believe me.”
“Why should I? You've done nothing but wreck my life.” she spat in a low voice.
“So you can understand. So I can understand.” he pleaded. What the heck did he mean 'understand'? She already understood. He was nothing but a self serving bastard and a liar, nothing more. It was not just about what Carmilla said, it was about everything else. Everything that happened to her, all the things that had gone wrong since he had waltzed into her life. If he did not understand that then that was his problem. She had already tried to tell him and he just would not take a hint.
“Two months. That is all I need, two months, to prove to you that I am not making this all up. And if at the end you still do not believe me then you can go. Contract and everything else with it will be nullified and then you can go wherever you want to no strings attached.”
That last bit made her think, in her current circumstances what he was offering sounded amazing but this was Princeton, she could not trust him.
Samuel knew he was throwing in his own destruction but he had to lay it all out on the table. This rejection of a thing was hard, grueling even. The days were miserable, the nights unbearable. Alcohol did not lessen things at all, it made everything worse. Samuel did not think he could stand it any longer. If only he had taken enough precautions, then he would not even be in this mess. That was all over, in the past. His main focus now was getting Rita back. He needed her.
“You'll let me leave scott free in two months if I don't feel anything?” She asked, her voice dripped of sarcasm. He heard it loud and clear, she only thought of his request as a joke. She would rather do anything else than be in a relationship with him.
There was no way he was going to do that, not exactly, but what she did not know would not kill her. “Yes.” he lied.
She hesitated and looked at him. Really looked at him. Samuel did not know what she saw but he hoped she was seeing that he meant what he said. His sincerity. She opened the door a bit more. “Fine.”
He felt a little bit of shock that she had agreed but joy quickly replaced that. “Great–”
She interrupted his happy response. “On a few more conditions,” she added.
“Anything. Just name it.” At this point, he was willing to give her access to the country's gold reserve.
She leaned against her door, hiding most of her body behind its wooden surface. “No more cameras.” He wanted to tell her that there never were but she would likely not believe him. “Done.”
Her next condition caught him a little off guard. “You'll keep that wolf of yours under control.” Her eyes were stern and trained on his. “I'll try.” he offered. She was not done though.
“We will remain entirely professional at work.”
“Consider it already taken care of.”
“You will not touch me without my express permission.” She glared.
He could do that, besides that was what fantasies were for. “Done.”
“No one should know that you think I am your mate.” That stung a little bit. “You are but I understand. I will honor all your conditions.”
She nodded her head once. “Good. So when does this trial basis start?”
“Tonight.” he gushed excitedly.
What?! Oh hell no! Rita looked at him, taking in the small dark circles under his eyes and the happy expression on his face. He looked like the description of unstable like when she had too much caffeine or something. She did not need unstable right now, let alone tonight. “Hold on. Slow your roll. How about maybe after Christmas?”
“27th?” he offered, handing the present back to her. He really wanted her to get in this really soon.
“I guess that sounds good. The sooner we get this started the sooner I can be done with it.”
“Thank you.” A smile spread across his lips and it struck her heart strings. Must have done that same thing to other woman. She took the present out of his hands. “Whatever. Now leave.” she said before closing the door on him.
She had agreed. She had agreed! He felt like jumping up and down and screaming from the rooftops. Now he had the chance he could not slip it up. Samuel walked out of the apartment complex with a spring in his step.
‘Another deal? Am i really that hopeless?’ she thought. She dropped the bag full of cookies on the kitchen slap with the other five bags full of cookies. In her haste the get the conversation over with she had forgotten to give it back. The present, a medium sized cube, the same size of one of her boxes in the closet, as a wrapped in red paper and tied with a silver bow stood in her hands. She did not know what to do with it and did not want to open it. She ended up keeping it in the kitchen cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
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