by Ashley Nemer
CHAPTER TWENY ONE
Nadia heard a knocking on the door and looked at the clock. It was time for the party, she knew, and she supposed everyone had wanted her to come out and be social.
“Nadia, are you awake?” Anabella said, whispering as she cracked open the door.
“Yeah, I am. I’m coming out.”
“Alright, just making sure you’re okay.” She watched her sister shut the door and swung her legs out of the bed. It did feel good to be refreshed and have a peaceful sleep.
She stood up from the bed and walked over to the window. She adjusted the blinds to let in the light, and she loved the warmth on her skin. She grabbed her hairbrush and started to fix her hair when she heard fingers rapping on the window. She turned around slowly and saw him looking in. He wasn’t exactly smiling, but he had a look of pleasure on him. She saw him point to the window and realized he wanted her to open it.
Nadia walked over and lifted the window and stepped back. Carlisle hopped into the window frame and then stepped into her room.
“Hello my fan, I hope you are feeling better.”
She took a few breaths. He was definitely grinning at her now. “I am doing better. It’s good to be home and with my family.”
“I’ve been watching. They seem to really love you and are protecting you.”
“You’ve been watching?” She took a step towards him. She didn’t know why, but the moment she realized she had done it, she retreated.
“I am. I drilled little holes in each of the ceilings. I installed undetectable cameras that only someone like me could find. Don’t worry, Nadia; only I can see you now.”
“That kind of sounds like a stalker there….” Nadia paused. She was very unsure what all of this meant, and this man scared and fascinated her all at once.
“It means no one will be able to hurt you again without me knowing about it, so you are safe. Don’t worry; your home is now properly protected. Think of me as your own private ninja.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say. Nadia was overwhelmed that someone she didn’t know all that well would take so much effort to protect her, but she also thought it was a bit stalkerish. “Cameras?”
“Don’t worry, nothing will be seen that isn’t supposed to be. Your privacy will be protected. Your images and the images of your family and your little male friend out there won’t trigger the sensor to go off, but any other image will.
“How am I ever going to thank you for what you did for me? You saved my life.”
“You know, you are the first life that I’ve saved.” He paused for a moment. “Well, that’s not true. There are hundreds that are saved by the work that I do, they just don’t know it. I never meet them. You were my first face to face survivor.”
Nadia closed the distance between them. She grabbed him and hugged him with all of her force. She didn’t want to let go; she was enjoying this moment. He brought her home to her family, and now he restored some safety to her house in a weird, creepy sort of way. “I’ll never forget you. I’ll always remember what you did.”
“I’d appreciate it if you stopped talking about me.”
She stepped back and looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. “I didn’t tell Kevin you were there. I told him I couldn’t remember. I won’t let the police know it was you. I wouldn’t do that!”
He laughed; he realized she didn’t know what she was referring too. “I meant your talk with your sister and mother. They asked about who saved you. They asked if we were sleeping together.”
Nadia’s hands flew to her face to attempt to cover the red that was now engulfing her cheeks and neck.
“There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Nadia. We’re adults; it was a fair question for your sister to ask.”
“A real gentleman wouldn’t have brought it up,” she bit back at him.
Carlisle moved closer to her. He leaned his head down and whispered into her ear. “My little fan, one thing you need to remember when you are dealing with me, is that I am not now, nor have I ever claimed to be, a real gentleman, so if you are expecting me to follow some customary rules, you better change your mind. They will be broken every chance I have. Now, don’t we have a party to attend?”
She cocked her head to the side. The question was there; he didn’t need to read minds to know she was asking We?
“Yes ‘we’, I saved you. Don’t you think that I should be fed at the very least?”
“I thought you wanted to keep a low profile.”
“Well, it just so happens you have this new neighbor who moved in next door, and he saw all these people and thought he would stop by for the party.” Carlisle shot her a half smile and completely threw Nadia off her guard.
“You really want to come meet all of my family?”
“No, I was just teasing you, but I will be around every now and then. And we will always have our chat room. Don’t forget that.”
“Right, that’s where all our magic happens.” She laughed. Her smile was big; her laugh filled the room.
“I’m gonna get going. Please tell your friend Gabe that he’s not to mention any of our conversation to his friend Kevin.”
“You spoke with Gabe?”
“Yes, you should ask him about that.”
“I will. See you later, and thanks again.” Before Carlisle had a chance to leave out of the window she leaned over and kissed him, nothing ostentatious, just sweet and sensitive.
He took no time in hesitating. He reached his arm out and pulled her body close to his. He pressed them together and let his mouth open hers, his tongue slipped inside, and he stole a few more moments of sweetness with her before slipping out of her window and walking down the street, into the distance and eventually out of sight.
There was a knock on the door. “Nadia?” Anabella came pushing through, moments afterwards.
Nadia turned around and looked at her sister. Her body felt flushed from head to toe, and she knew that her face was giving away that there was something going on.
“Are you alright?” Anabella came up to her sister and put her on her face to feel for a temperature. “You look flushed. I was worried when you didn’t come out.”
“I…um, yeah, I’m fine. Come on, let’s go out to the party.” Nadia took her sister’s arm and strung her arm through hers and started to walk towards the door, when she felt her sister not moving.
“You’re hiding something. Spill.”
“It’s nothing. Come on, the food is probably getting cold or eaten.”
“Nadia, don’t make me go get Mom.”
“Drop it, Ana.” Nadia lowered her head and started to look away, but she was smiling and that was teasing Anabella.
“What happened, Nadia? Tell me!”
“He came.”
“Who came, Gabe? So what? He’s always around.”
“No, not Gabe. HIM, he came.” Nadia was smiling ear to ear. That was when she suddenly remembered the cameras that he had mentioned were in the ceiling. She looked up and started to inspect each of the cracks in the walls. Was he listening to the conversation they were having right now?
“The one who saved you, the gang member?” Anabella’s voice picked up an octave and she even sounded excited for her sister.
“He’s not a gang member and shhh. Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Nadia, come on, tell me what happened!”
“NO, a girl doesn’t kiss and tell.” She made it out of the room and heard Anabella yell, “Kiss and tell, you kissed him?!?”
Everyone in the other room turned and looked at Nadia who was now walking into her living room. She was embarrassed and mad. She turned to look at Anabella who had now made it out of her room and froze when she saw all eyes were looking at her.
“Oh shit.”
“Who did you kiss, Aunt Dia?” Daman said as he came running up toward Nadia.
She smiled down to him and picked him up when he approached her, shaking her head. She glared at Anabella with a pointed look. “N
o one, lil’ man. Aunt Ana was on the phone with a friend, she wasn’t talking to me. Right, Aunt Ana?”
“Yeah, I was on the phone with my friend Kim. You remember her, right buddy?”
“Oh yeah, I like her,” he said. His head found a place snuggled into the crook of Nadia’s neck.
Anabella smiled as she passed by Nadia and walked into the kitchen to make her a plate of food. Nadia handed Daman off to Kain who was watching her like a hawk. None of the adults bought the line the girls had used on Daman, and she knew that eventually one of them would corner them and want more details on what had really happened.
“Feeling better there, Champ?” William handed his daughter a plate of food. Nadia had no idea how she was going to eat all of it, but it looked good and she was willing to give it a try.
“Of course, like you always said, nothing cures a hangover better than sleep. That’s all this is, a bad hangover.” She picked up one of the ribs and bit into it. The meat fell off of the bone and into her mouth. She let out a moan of enjoyment as the tender meat broke apart as she chewed and swallowed, savoring each and every piece.
“Good, well now that you’re awake, we can let the party begin. Everyone, let’s eat!”
“You didn’t have to wait for me; you know that, Dad. You all could have started without me.”
“See, Dad, told you she didn’t care.” Kain walked past Nadia and poked her in the side with brotherly teasing; she loved it even more now that she almost lost it.
“Hey, where is my cat?” Nadia started to look around the room. She hadn’t seen her precious kitten in a few days and was anxious to get him in her arms.
“I have him, Aunt Nadia. He’s here.” Leon walked up to her holding Triple T in his arms. “I think he’s missed you, but I kept telling him you would be home.”
“Thank you for taking care of him for me, short stuff. I knew I could always count on you when I need help.” Nadia took the kitten from his arms and she put him in her lap.
Leon smiled at her and she gave him a hug and kissed his head. “You are my little hero. Let me buy you a rib.”
“Buy me a rib? Grandpa made ribs; that’s cheating. You have to buy me something else.”
“Oh? I do huh? Hmmm, well what does my hero want?”
“How about a new bike?” Leon looked at her with a big smile on his face. The two teeth he had lost recently were still missing, so the holes made his mouth look even cuter than if he had his normal smile plastered for everyone to adore.
“What if I have your dad talk to Santa about it? Christmas is just next month.”
“Okay fine, I hope he listens to you. I’ve been asking for a month now.”
All the adults laughed and Laura came up and hugged her grandson. “Child, I promise, one way or another, we will get you a bike.”
“Thanks, Grandma!”
