Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Throughout the car ride, I barely said anything and even sitting in front of him, I could safely say that we were having the most awkward conversations ever. I wasn’t normally shy believe me. I was too bold if you ask me, but being with Emrys and having the eyes of everyone in the restaurant on both of us locked that part of me up.

It was like anytime I was near him, I lost the ability to speak clearly and even reason well. I blamed it on the fact that he was too irresistible. Honestly, he was probably 99.9 percent irresistible. That was one of the reasons why the eyes of every girl in the restaurant was on him.

Looking back, he had always been like that. He was like a star that couldn’t be hidden. Every girl wanted to be his and every guy wanted to be like him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t working in my favor and only made me shrink further in my seat.

Emrys had noticed how uncomfortable I was and asked for us to be moved to a more private place in the restaurant which the waitress had so happily agreed to.

Even with that adorable move on Emrys’s part, I still couldn’t get myself back. There was something about him that had me on lock mode.

Emrys ordered for both of us. He said that he was a friend of the owners, making me wonder who he didn’t know, and their best food was gnocchi especially that particular night because it would be served with tomatoes and basil. It sounded yummy so I couldn’t wait to eat it.

The food was delicious as he promised and the tension had finally loosened up. He was asking me about my line of work and I made sure to tell him all about my company and our children’s home (which was mostly Leon’s idea). I told him about all the dreams I had for the place and the work it required and he was impressed, to say the least.

“That’s quite a dream you have, Paris. You really are going to change the world one day.” I had heard that a lot, particularly from Leon, but when Emrys said it, I suddenly wanted to make sure I achieved all my goals. “What else do you do with your spare time? You sound like your work takes up much of your time.”

“It does,” I said with a chuckle. “I only go to work and then visit the home occasionally with gifts for the kids. There’s this particular kid there and I feel so bad every time I see her. I plan to adopt her when I can. It won’t be too hard, though. She already sees me as a mother.”

“Tell me about her,” he said with a sincerely interested look.

“Her name is Violaine but she makes sure all of us call her Vi,” I laughed at the thought, “and I think it’s cute. She’s a six-year-old angel that’s blind. Her mother died giving birth to her and she had an abusive father who poured bleach in her eyes when she was three.”

He dropped his spoon immediately. “That’s horrible.”

“I thought so when we found her. She’s such a happy child and you wouldn’t even know she’s gone through so much. Leon, God bless his soul, bought her a seeing eye dog and she named him Clover,” I said with a fond smile.

“You really love her.”

“Ever since I saw her,” I said with a sigh. “I just couldn’t adopt her because I’m not always at home and I can’t leave her like that. A child would be a lot of responsibility I can’t handle. At least, not right away.”

He nodded. “It’s the thought that counts, though.”

“I did promise her that I’ll adopt her before her tenth birthday. Hopefully, by then, I’d be less busy.”

“Do you ever wonder what happens to all the kids in your home as soon as they are adopted?”

“Of course, I do but I can only do as much. If I could, I’d adopt all of them but God knows I can’t. I’m not even done taking care of myself and all those kids…it would be a mess.

Sometimes, our help does enough and sometimes it doesn’t. You just have to tear yourself away before it really hurts you.”

His eyes softened and I could tell it was sincere. A lot of guys I’d been on dates that my mother set up never really showed sympathy. Emrys did and that gave me more reasons to love him.

“I’ve never seen it that way before.”

“Many people don’t,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Leon keeps saying to me that I have to be professional, keep a distance, and not get too involved with the kids but sometimes, you just can’t. Sort of like Gabby. I just can’t resist wanting to get involved in her life. Sometimes, I go home at night, lie in bed, and cry my heart out.”

“You must need to get a breather from all that,” he said thoughtfully. “I do. Now is an example of such times,” I said with a shrug.

He nodded with a smile. “So, do you have a boyfriend?” I shook my head. “No men chasing after you? That’s quite unusual for a girl who looks as beautiful as you do.”

I blushed and said, “Nope no men.” “Why?”

“Work has always been such a dominating thing in my life.”

“I don’t buy it,” he said, rolling his eyes. “There has to be at least one guy you have your eyes on.”

“Nope no one,” I lied because I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was him. “No time. No interest.”

All lies. I had eyes for him. Only him. “What about Leon?”

I chuckled. “We’re just best friends and up until now, I thought he was gay.” “Wow,” he said obviously shocked at my fabricated reply.

“What about you? As far as I know, you aren’t dating anyone or at least not someone the tabloids have caught a whiff of.”

“Give me a break. I’ve dated a lot but they don’t last. Women just force themselves on me mostly because of the popularity and fame, and I haven’t been able to find the right one.”

“That’s baloney,” I said locking eyes with him as his lit up with amusement at my choice of words. “Find some other excuse.”

“Okay. I agree. I’m looking for perfection.”

“You won’t find it. Nobody’s perfect. I know you know that because you’re not dumb. So, what’s the real deal?”

“I’m scared shitless,” he said honestly with a sigh. “That’s better. Why?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Very few people know about what I’m going to tell you now.” I nodded motioning for him to continue. “It was about the time we graduated and everyone was preparing to college but I decided to take a gap year to you know, find myself. Know what I actually wanted to do.

“It was a hard time for me because my parents wanted me to go to school immediately and take over the family business. I wanted to follow my dreams of being an actor and they disapproved so we had a fight and I left. The next thing I heard was that they died in an auto crash and the last time I saw them was…

“All I had left was my older sister and she left college to take over the family business and take care of me. She was the one who supported my dreams and told me that I could still do whatever I wanted because that was what they would have decided anyway.” He smiled fondly. “She died three years after that from a brain tumor and Brielle’s brother, Ellarosa’s father, took over from her.

“I figured that if you put your heart on someone, they either die, leave, or abandon you. I’d much rather be the first one out the door.”

I couldn’t apologize but I felt like I should pull him into a warm hug that would be refreshing for him because I thought he needed it. If I’d ever lost my parents, I would have been broken even as we weren’t all that close.

“That makes sense,” I said quietly, knowing fully well that if I was going to win Emrys, it would take a lot of work on my part. “You pay a big price for being scared. Scared to attach yourself to someone.” I smiled at him. “But you have friends you’re attached to, right?”

“Yes, I have three of them. More family than friends, anyway.”

“I understand that,” I said honestly deciding that I had to be a particular percentage honest with him since he was doing that. “I like the way my life is being single. It’s simple and I have more time for my work. I just think it’s best uncomplicated.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The alternative is really scary. Getting your heart broken is scary. I had it once and I didn’t even like the guy.” I chuckled. “I just don’t want to be a crying mess over a guy.”

That much was true. It had always been my biggest fear that Emrys would reject me and I would be so broken hearted and be a mess like I’d seen most of my friends be.

“The loneliness would be scarier though. It gets to me more now when I see my friends getting settled and I’m not.”

“Then what do you do to get over it?”

“I go out. Have fun. Go to parties. See my friends. The list could go on.” “I know,” I said softly.

He was known on every social media for his insane parties. It was the one thing he shared in common with one of his friends, also a model and actor like him, Joni Vega.

He smiled at me. “I’m a mess, right?”

“There are worse things,” I said and cautiously added, “Let’s be friends.”

“I won’t make that promise,” he said, our eyes meeting and he held my gaze. “I don’t break promises and I’m not sure I can keep that one.”

“I won’t go out to dinner with you unless I know we’re friends.”

Childish move, I know, but I was trying to see if he liked me back or he just took me out for some reason I wasn’t aware of. I was hoping it would be the former.

“Then I guess we’ll have to start having lunch together. I’m not telling you that we can’t be friends or that we won’t be but I like you better than that. Even women like you have romances or occasionally go out on dates.”

Insert mental victory dance. Okay Paris, act cool, I told myself. “Is that what this was?”

“I don’t know. It’s whatever you think it is,” he said vaguely. “I’m not sure what it was other than two intelligent adults with similar interests having getting to know each other but next time, I’d like it to be a date that both of us are fully aware of.”

There was going to be a next time, people. If this wasn’t progress, then maybe I had no idea what progress was. This definitely had God’s hands in it.

“I don’t date,” I said and it was the truth to an extent.

“That was yesterday. This is today. You can figure it out tomorrow when it happens. I’m just talking about dinner not brain surgery.”

I wanted to smile but I bit my lip to keep from smiling when I remembered what he had said. “And which one of us do you think would be out the door first?”

“I’ll toss you for it. You might get there first.”

I frowned. That was not what I was expecting. I was expecting something more romantic like I don’t plan on leaving you or something sweet. Anything but that.

“Are you trying to use me to prove your abandonment theory, Emrys? That all women do is up and leave? I don’t want to be used to help you confirm anything especially when it’s something like that.”

“I’ll try not to do that but I can’t promise that either. Remember that it’s just dinner and not a lifetime commitment.”

I shook my head. I didn’t like that. “Are you looking for Cinderella? I’m not her. I’m the farthest thing from Cinderella so if you’re looking for her, I suggest I’m last on the list.”

He smiled. “I don’t need you being my therapist. I’m sure I have one awaiting my calls.” “Okay then, I won’t be your therapist and you won’t expect me to be Cinderella.”

“We have a deal.” He stood up and flashed me an award-winning smile. “Please excuse me. I’ll have to use the restroom.”

I nodded and watched as he left and the moment he was gone, I buried my head in my hands and squealed. I cleared my throat and tried to control myself but I was too excited to do that. I decided to do something else like text Leon since I was actually worried about him only to see that he had actually sent me nearly fifteen texts.

Paris, where the hell are you? Can you reply my texts?

Do I need to fly to Atham City no? I can cancel all my plans. Did someone kidnap you?

Okay, that’s it. I’m coming to Atham City.

Maybe you’re mad at me and I’m sorry…just tell me where you are.

The other texts were just as filled with worry as all the previous ones and I wondered how I didn’t feel my phone lowing up while it was with me. I checked and saw that it was on silent. That had to be why I didn’t hear a thing.

I texted him back and told him I was fine then put my phone aside to wait for Emrys. This night might turn out to be the best night after all.

Or not, my pessimistic subconscious added. I wasn’t counting on that.