UNEXPECTED PEACE

For a moment, the staircase in the mansion, which was nothing but a grand affair, a marvel of polished marble, adorned with intricate carvings of lions and eagles, gracefully curving from the second floor to the entrance hall, faded from my mind. 

My attention was captured by a man, an epitome of danger and allure. A man who could make anyone fall to their knees with a single glance. He was nothing like the Eugene I knew, the Eugene who casually dragged me to the café.

There was that unique aura that I was familiar with, around him that exuded confidence and charisma, that was both captivating and unsettling, but everything else was just so different.

This man wore a tailored sharp black suit that hugged his muscular frame, a crisp black shirt that contrasted with his olive skin, and his dark hair was slicked back with gel.

Caught up in my thoughts, I barely noticed him, engrossed in a call as he stood with his side to me. It was almost surreal, "This must be his look-alike, right?" I wondered.

Right then, a memory of a man standing at where a door once stood flashed in my head before I realized it, the dam was broken. Memories of what happened the night before flooded back, reminding me of the events of the previous night.

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. This was no look-alike. I wasn't dreaming it was all real. It was Eugene but transformed. At full speed I ran past the gentleman and sprinted towards Eugene, I had a lot to ask, only to stumble and sprain my ankle on the stairs. 

"Eugene! Ahh..." I sprained my ankle upon reaching down the stairs and crouched down as the pain began to hit me. Eugene turned to me and abruptly approached me quitting the call and placing the phone in his pocket.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled in fury. His abrupt reaction startled me. I raised my head in fear because I thought the yell was directed to me but to my surprise, his anger was directed to the gentleman behind me as I saw him looking at him.

I stared at Eugene for a long time. He looked a bit ragged; the front part of his hair looked a bit disheveled even though the back side was still a bit intact. "Why did he look so mature and grown overnight yet still so undeniably appealing?" I thought to myself. 

I felt the urge to touch his face forgetting about everything I wanted to ask him.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt much?" his voice tender and a great contrast to the yell he gave to the gentleman. 

I nodded unable to make up any words. I was hypnotized by him right now.

"Patron, por favor, she said she wanted to see you, but I don't know when she got past me that fast. I apologize" The guy felt guilty for something that was entirely my fault. Feeling his despair, I managed to step out of my reverie. 

"No Eugene it's not his fault, I...I wanted to speak to you. I remembered what happened last night. What's going on? How did you know I was in danger? I know you know something. Please don't keep anything from me. I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't get answers to anything. Please Eugene," My mind raced with questions about the danger I had been in, about his involvement. I pleaded for answers, desperate to make sense of the chaos surrounding us.

Eugene held my face with a tender touch, and tucked a stray hair from the messy bun I did to the back of my ear. Unexpectedly he kissed my head. But his expression and actions felt so sad. It made me wonder what was it that could make him so sad.

"I will tell you everything, let's go back inside" Eugene assured me. His voice was gentle and caring. He carried me princess style and for some reason, I found an unexpected sense of peace in his arms like I belonged there, despite the turmoil of uncertainty.

"Would I have felt the same way with Collin?" I began to wonder, but here with Eugene, I felt a certain solace and protection I couldn't quite explain. I laid my head on his chest as we ascended the staircase.

"Max!" "Yes, Patron" "Tell Judith to get the miss some clothes." "As you wish Patron." And with that, Max was gone leaving us two.

Back in the room, Eugene laid me back down on the bed in a sitting position just at the center where I was before, with my back placed on the bedrest. He stood at the end of the bed staring at me with an unreadable look. I felt nervous under his intense gaze.

"What is it? w...why are you staring? It's rude you know" he chuckled.

" You do look kinda cute in my clothes, " he said with a grin.

"Heyy!" I took off one of the slippers and threw it at him which he swiftly dodged and then let out a full-blown laugh.

"Tsk, it's your fault you know you could have gotten me some girlie clothes when you brought me, instead of partly putting your huge and oversized shirt on me" And then it hit me, I was in my towel last night. He saw my nakedness. With eyes wide open I held myself on impulse due to the sudden revelation and ogled at him. 

"Y..y..you what did you do to me" I lashed out pointing my finger at him but unfortunately it came out funny to him. He let out a laugh again which was quickly replaced with an expression I couldn't comprehend.

He jumped on the bed and started to crawl towards me.

Wait how did we get here in the first place? How come we were acting as if we'd been together for such a long time? Everything felt easy with Eugene, and I felt like I really could get used to this. Perhaps this was what I yearned for all this while. This was something I never had.

Is it really him? Is Eugene the one? Could I accept him and not regret it later on? What about everything that was going on? Like Collin, I knew nothing about him.

No, I can't be hasty in my decisions. I made a hasty one with Collin. I allowed him to crawl into me because I had no one and he gave me the attention I never had but not with Eugene I can't make the same mistake twice. If anything, I need to get to know him more.

"W..what are you doing? stop!!" Despite my remarks, he didn't stop. He had this look on his face like I was a prey to him.

"I said stop!!" I felt a mix of nervousness and attraction, unsure of his intentions, and I could feel beads of sweat form on my forehead.

"What do you think I did to you" He was so close to me that I could feel his warm breath fan over my face and his voice, gosh it was so sultry and hypnotizing.

I gulped.

The tension was so high that I didn't realize I had held my breath in expectation for something to happen. He stared at my lips and back to my eyes in a triangle form.

"Was he trying to seduce me?" My mind raced with conflicting thoughts, torn between the comfort he offered and the uncertainty of our situation.

He opened his mouth to speak and then we heard a knock at the door shattering the moment and bringing us back to reality.