A WALK IN THE SNOW

It was starting to snow outside so there was extreme cold this night. Cole had already advised me to sleep on the bed but I refused, I guess it was because of he was sleeping shirtless. I laid on the couch squeezed up like a ball. I was still freezing, even with the help of my thick duvet.

Now I wished I had taken his advice and just slept with him. I was starting to wonder if it was too late to turn back. I planned to sneak into the bed with him without even considering the consequence.

When I was pretty sure he was asleep, I stood from the couch and tiptoed my way to the bed. I was lucky that he was sleeping, facing another direction. I slowly snuck into the cozy warm bed and placed the duvet on my cold body.

I laid in the bed and turned my face to his direction so that his back was right at my front. Just then, he moved a bit and turned over to my side. I just shut my eyes in pretense that I was sleeping even when I was sure he couldn't see my face clearly in the dark room.

"I know you're not sleeping" I heard his voice say.

Even with the shock of him knowing I was on his bed, I decided to keep up with my pretense.

"I can't force you to stop pretending but I want you to know you're allowed to sleep on the bed anytime you want" he said.

His kind statement made me smile but I still didn't move an inch.

With every passing moment the cold became worse and it started to get to me. I wasn't sure of the exact time I started shivering. The cold must have been so intense that it still got be through the thick duvet. I turned to master to see him laying completely normal, it seemed like I was the only one affected by the cold. I tried my best to fall asleep but I just wouldn't.

Suddenly, I felt a hand slowly wrap around me. This shocked me. I looked to see master's arm wrapped round my body. This was awkward but it was more of comforting on my side. Warmth from nowhere crept into my skin and it felt like he worked much better than a duvet did.

I looked at his face to see his eyes shut like it was nothing. He didn't know how much his action affected me. My heart was beating uncontrollably as his scent intoxicated me.

I comfortably placed my palms on his chest as I felt him set his chin above my head. Almost immediately, I was feeling very sleepy and I whispered the words.

"Thank you".

**************

I opened my eyes to the dull room. We seemed to be in the same position as we had slept this made my cheek turn red.

Just then I wondered, "Why was I thinking like this towards my master?"

I brushed the thoughts off my mind and sat up slowly. Today, I had plans to explore the villa in the snow and I wasn't going to back off.

I got off the bed leaving Cole who was still fast asleep. I snuck into the bathroom and did my every morning routine. By the time I was fully dressed in a long sleeve cotton dress I snuck out of the room.

It never snowed in the village so I had never actually seen it snow. I didn't even know what clothes to wear and I was really shivering but I was still bent on exploring the villa.

*******

Ashley looked into the sky and just before a snowflake fell on her tiny nose. She loved the way it felt. The once green grasses were all white and covered in snow. She was walking aimlessly in the snow covered area when she remember something. She remembered snow movies she watched, she wanted to imitate every action she saw.

She laid on the cold ground and waved her arms and legs with rhythm, she was making a snow angel. Though the ice was felt freezing, she wasn't ready to give up her fun knowing once she returns into the villa, she may be stopped from going out again. She had a look at her masterpiece but was disappointed as it didn't work as well as the cartoons did.

Another fun idea came to her mind, she wanted to mold a snowball, her very first snowball. She had a pretty hard time doing so as she didn't put on snow mittens or something, not like she even had one. She was finally successful in making a tiny snow ball but her palm and fingers were going numb and giving a pretty tingling feeling.

"You forgot to dress up properly" a voice said.

She knew that voice and she could recognize it from anywhere of course it was her master, Cole. She turned towards the direction of the voice to prove her guess and it truly was him. He was dressed in full winter outfits like she had seen in the movies. She could also see another jacket in his hand.

"Oh" she said not knowing what more to say.

"Put this on" he said passing the jacket to her

"Thanks" she said as she took them from him.

"Sit here" he said pointing to a bench.

She sat there without any argument and put on the jacket. It was just the thing she needed at this time. As she sat there not knowing what else to do. Cole got on one knees, his action gave her a weird feeling and left her wondering what he wanted to do.

"Why didn't you dress safely, do you want to get frostbites?" he scolded as he took off her sneakers. He was about to wear a thick boot on her leg.

"No no, I'll do it" she said.

She felt really weird that her master was going to dress her up. This was not proper.

"Shhh, relax, I'll do it," he said to her slowly but the tone and eyes in which he used seemed threating.

With the way he sounded she knew she couldn't persist further so she backed down. There was silence between the two as she was too scared to speak. He had already flashed his dangerous eye to her.

He put on her boots, mittens and even head warmer all this making her feel more warm and comfortable.

"That's better" he said as he got back on his feet.

"Umm…thanks." she said.

"Don't thank me," he replied coldly. "If you die all the money I spent in purchasing you will go to waste."

"Oh…," she said in embarrassment.

There was silence once again as no one said anything. Ashley sat thinking of a situation to get her out of this awkward quietness while Cole just sat there on his phone,

"Um…Cole," she finally said.

He turned his eyes off the phone and gave her full attention.

"Aren't you like…going to the office today?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, but tomorrow, we're going out" he said.

"We?" she asked in confusion

"Yes, both of us" he said.

"W-why?" she asked

"Aren't you bored of staying here 24/7?" he asked.

She just nodded in agreement.

They walked side by side each other, it was more like Ashley was walking a bit behind him.

"What happened there?" he asked.

She traced direction of his eyes to a tiny scar on her wrist. It was a scar she had since birth. That was not the only one she also had another one on her abdomen. At birth, even her parents were worried about the scars she had but they grew used to it just like she did.

"They just scars I had from birth" she said with a smile.

"From birth?" he asked "Is that possible at all?"

"I'm not sure about others but I do have it" she said. "I also have another one on my abdomen"

"I usually see a huge scar on your back" she said. "What happened there?"

"I think it happened when I was little" he said.

"What caused it?" she asked.

"Swords," he said. "I was taught how to use a sword at age eight."

She was surprised at his confession

"Is that even legal?" she said.

"Well…according to the rules of the Hendrix's Family, the heir or heiress needs to learn intense self-defense from a young age" he replied.

"My life in the village was free, natural, just anything you ever wanted" she started.

They still strolled slowly not knowing where their destination was.

"I would play with the farm animals, climb trees, spend time with friends and most of all dance in the rain" she finished.

"Dance in the rain?" he asked in surprise.

A smile appeared on Ashley's face as she thought back to fun memories in the village.

"Haven't you ever been in the rain?" she asked. "It would be the best time of your life"

"It could cause pneumonia you know?" he argued.

"You would never understand just by being stuck in this place" she blurted out unknowingly.

Just then she knew what she had said and she placed her hands over her mouth. Cole just pretended like he never heard what she said and went on with what he said.

"If you're tired of staying indoor, would you like to go out with me tomorrow?" he asked.

"Um…will it be okay if I ask where?" she replied with a question.

"Wherever you want to go?" he said finally.

"Wherever?" she asked as her eyes widened in surprise and innocent excitement.

"Wherever" he replied.

Ashely had lots of places in her mind but there was one that she had wanted since young; an Art gallery.

"Can we go to more than one place?" she asked.

"Yes" he answered "Anything in mind?"

"Hmm" she replied. "An art gallery"