The Dinner Meeting 2

"In the flesh"

He took her hand and pecked it lightly in a gentlemanly manner, a smirk adorning his face.

She quickly withdrew her hand.

"What are you doing here?" She saw his smirk drop a little.

"My dad's kinda the one hosting all this." He said lightly, his eyes never leaving hers.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

'His...dad?'

She sat back down and he took the seat in front of her.

"I wasn't really sure it was you which is why I came over. You look lovely by the way." He complimented her, his blue eyes standing out.

He looked pretty immaculate and handsome in his black suit, his tie and beautiful eyes matched.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." She heard herself say.

His smiled this time around.

"You should know better than to give a guy a compliment." He joked.

"Oh, and why is that?" She found herself getting more relaxed in his company.

"Because of our giant-sized ego." He said cheekily.

Sarah couldn't help herself, she chuckled. It was more of how he said it and his expression. She laughed easily.

"I'll keep that in mind." She looked at him from across the table and smiled.

"I feel like this is progress." He gestured to the two of them with his hand in a comical way.

"Yeah, our last meeting wasn't exactly...eventful." She smiled.

"I apologize if I came across as creepy, I'm usually not like that, I swear. I'm much smoother than that." He gave her a wink.

"Besides, I'm a sucker for dark curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. I just couldn't help myself." He chose that moment to look directly into her eyes, his smirk fully in place. She looked away unable to hold his intense gaze. She didn't want to get carried away, she still didn't know what his real intents were.

Her earlier opinion of him wasn't exactly the best.

"You weren't able to enjoy your ice cream, no thanks to me anyway. Let me make it up to you."

She chuckled.

"It's not a date, I promise." She raised an eyebrow.

"Please say yes, I know a pretty dope ice-cream shop." His blue eyes were playful as they stared into hers. She exhaled.

"Sure, why not?"

"Be prepared to have your taste buds blown away by the most exquisite flavours-mango definitely not being one of them-you'll ever taste." He chuckled.

She knew he was making fun of her. She couldn't help smiling.

Maybe she was wrong about him.

Just then a waiter came and whispered into his ear and left.

He returned his attention to her.

"I'm so sorry m'lady but I'll have to take my leave now."

"What leaving so soon?"

He chuckled at her response.

"Be rest assured m'lady, I'll find you later, just don't miss me too much ok?" He winked at her and then he stood and he was gone.

A smile lingered on her lips.

He was pretty funny and she found she didn't mind his company, at all.

As she sat alone once again at the table she couldn't help but feel a little out of place. She wasn't used to that kind of environment. She took in everything and everyone around her. She had never seen so many wealthy people in one place before.

The ladies were very gorgeous and their attire literally blew her away. She wasn't accustomed to the fancy chandeliers that illuminated the whole hall nor the thick rich sense of affluence that seemed to resonate all around her.

She became jittery and nervous as she sat by herself wondering where Mr Snow was.

|||··|||

"Yes, Doctor?" He answered in his usual calm tone. He managed to weave himself through the crowd of people, men and women alike chatting away.

He got through a side door shown to him by a waitress, which led to a closed-off area.

"Mr Snow, I know you've made yourself perfectly clear on this matter but I strongly suggest you tell your sister about your rapidly deteriorating state."

"Doctor..." He was cut off.

"I know it's not my place but as your doctor, I'm telling you this."

"When you both came into my office weeks ago, I didn't tell her about how bad your health has become because you asked me not to." There was a pause before he spoke again, this time quieter.

"You have less than a year Mr Snow, I strongly suggest you consider telling her since she's your only living relative so she can be there for you during your last..." He trailed off.

His face remained passive as he walked slowly towards the door, eyes hard as stone.

"That is none of your concern Doctor. She doesn't know the full extent of my illness and I would like it to stay that way. Are we clear Doctor?"

He heard him sigh.

"Yes, Mr Sn..." He cut the call, he exited the area and mixed with the moving mass of people.

Sarah was on her second glass of fruit cocktail when her boss came back.

She sat up straighter and put her cell face down on the table. Apparently, she hadn't been able to stop herself from playing Candy Crush.

"Welcome back sir."

His only response to her words was a simple nod as he joined her at the table.

She observed him and nothing seemed to be out of place.

"Have you made a request for our meal?" He asked his attention on his phone.

'Shoot.'

It was one of those moments when she knew she was definitely going to get into trouble seeing how she had just made a random selection. It wasn't her fault she didn't understand french!

"A-ah...s-sir, I think it was something starting with an 's'." He paused and looked up straight at her.

'Oh, God...'

She quickly looked down in order to avoid his eyes and more embarrassment for herself.

"Well whatever it is Miss Anderson, I trust it'll still be delicious." She heard him say.

She looked up at him and saw an amused smile on his lips, it was so small but it was there.

'Surprised' would be an understatement of what she felt. He had never smiled at her before and she found that she liked his smile.

Him smiling also made her smile.

Soon enough the waiters brought their order and they dug in.

"Tell me about yourself, Miss Anderson." He said out of the blue. She was completely caught off guard and at first, she didn't know what to say.

She moved her fork around a bit all the while speedily thinking about what she would say.

She looked up at him and saw him staring at her. His face looked passive and it gave nothing away as to why he asked the question.

'Why was he interested in her life all of a sudden?'

She looked at her half-eaten meal and began.

"I'm 22 years old and I...I grew up here in New York."

"I studied Accountancy at New York University and I graduated at the top of my department." She chanced a look and saw his attention was still fixated on her, so she continued.

"It was hard getting a job and me..."

"Why did you want to be an Accountant Miss Anderson?" He cut her off mid-sentence. He took a sip out of his red wine. She looked at him a bit affronted.

"It's what I'm good at. I'm pretty good with numbers. It's not fancy but it's what I know how to do best." She couldn't help but feel a kind of way.

'Why did she feel like she needed to defend her interest?'

He merely took another fork out of his meal and nodded his head.

"Okay. " Was his simple response as he stared into her eyes. As their eyes met, he found himself being drawn into her beautiful brown ones.

She was very beautiful and kind-at least he knew she was kind to him.

'Why?'

He had no answer.

His interest in her was growing.

He couldn't identify what it was that he felt whenever he was with her but he knew if it persisted, it would result into something he knew he would have no control over.

There's a warmth that always seemed to radiate around her, a kind of glow and it seemed the warmth was threatening to infiltrate his steel walls. Not the walls of his heart, but the walls around his very soul and for that very reason she was dangerous.

"ɖơŋŧ ąٳٳơɯ ɧɛř ŧąıŋŧ ყơų." He heard the sinister voice echo somewhere in his mind. He could feel its oppressive force but he tried to keep it at bay.

"I won't." He replied back to it and he felt its oppressive force leave him but not completely, he still felt it lingering just around the corner of his mind.

He noticed the slight frown on her brows and she looked uncomfortable as she looked around her, as if looking for something.

"Miss Anderson."

"S-sir?" Her attention was back to him.

"Is everything alright?" He asked in his usual calm tone.

"Y-yes, I...I thought I felt something..." She looked around her again not at anything in particular.

"It's probably nothing. I guess I'm just being paranoid." But Sarah knew she wasn't paranoid. She sensed something, a presence, an ominous presence.

It lingered for a few seconds and then it was gone.

Aaron looked at her with veiled eyes.

'Could she have felt it?' He ruminated in his mind as he stared at her.

'No...she couldn't have.'

"ყɛŞŞŞŞ." The demon echoed in his head in response to his thoughts. It sounded really angry.

"Şɧɛ'Ş ŧřơųცٳɛ." It raged on.

"Şŧąყ ąɯąყ ʄřơm ɧɛř!" He heard it shriek demonically in his head.

"Şŧąყ ąɯąყ ʄřơm ɧɛř!" It repeated.

Blinding pain exploded in his head.

He couldn't breathe.

"S-sir? Mr Snow!" She quickly went to his side to support him. The darkness she had sensed was back again and she could literally feel it.

"Are you ok sir?" She was trying her best not to panic so she started praying in her head.

'Jesus I need you. I come against you demonic presence, you have no place here.'

She wondered where it was coming from.

She heard him gasp softly in pain.

She gasped when she saw a little streak of blood coming from his nostril.

By then, people were already whispering and staring in their direction. Some moved closer to see what was wrong. She was about yelling for help when she felt him grab her hand firmly.

"Don't." He gritted out through the immense pain he was feeling.

"I'm fine, we're leaving." He wiped the blood from his nose with a kerchief from his front pocket and stood up. She quickly stood by his side to support him. She saw at least ten people now around their table with concerned looks.

"Are you alright Mr Snow?" One lady in an elegant red dress asked concerned. She had a British accent.

Unsurprisingly, she didn't receive a reply as he began walking towards the entrance, in a few minutes they were both outside.

Sarah shivered as it was cold outside.

She saw the valet bring his car. Sarah panicked when she saw him walk to the driver's seat, although it was pretty obvious he was hurting.

'He wasn't thinking of driving, was he?'

"Mr Snow, you're not thinking of driving in your state are you?"

"Get in." The look in his steely eyes didn't give room for any more objections on her part so as instructed, she got into the car.

He started the car and they were off to God-knows-where.

She chanced a look in his direction and noticed he was breathing a little unevenly and his knuckles were white from how tightly he was holding the steering wheel.

His hair was a little dishevelled.

"S-sir, we should really get you to a hospital, you look very ill."

"Be quiet." Was his sharp rebuff. She sucked in a breath and looked away and focused her attention on the shops they were passing by.

He sighed deeply and it sounded painful even in her ears.

She turned to him.

"I'm sorry. I need my medication." She saw his hands, they were trembling.

He turned his head to her. His green eyes were dull and not their usual bright shade.

"Where is it?" Her eyes were filled with concern for him.

"It's at my house." It would seem speaking was becoming a task for him as he gritted out the words.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at his house.