71. A Lifetime...

"You said you'd be attending an occasion tonight, why didn't you go anymore?" Mea asks as she lays snuggled up in bed next to Marco. Life with him was way higher and beautiful than she had even dared to dream of, he helped her paint a new world, a new fantasy, a new meaning of life.

He was her angel, and she was ever grateful to God for finally answering her unspoken prayers and sending him to her.

"I decided to stay in bed with you… don't you like it?" he jests, and she giggles delighted by his words.

"The truth is… The truth is that… remember my boss, I told you about him right?" she nods a yes. "And I still can't believe you work for Zeno Silvestri…" she shakes her body, as if trying to shake the thought of the man from her head.

She'd heard people talking about him, talking about how bad he was, how he was a Brute, how he never laughs or smiles. She'd heard a lot about his personality, but whenever Marco talked about him, it was like every previous story she heard, was being tossed in a trash can.

"Well, I actually work WITH him rather than FOR him but I guess we can say I do so…, remember Oldman, I told you about his daughter too, Luna…" She nods again.

"Well the thing is they are both very close, like bee and honey kind of close, but something happened, and now they're like, not talking to each other because Zeno can't sort out his feelings, and he's still held down by his past, and is scared of his future and won't admit it. So I told him off today, and I just don't feel like seeing him again tonight. So I decided not to go to the party." It was a simple and brief summary.

"You told your boss off?" Mea asked awestruck… "Well, he isn't acting himself, so he needs someone to tell him straight to his face, and make him stop being a coward, so yes, I did." he shrugs like it was nothing. Then he suddenly pulls her waist closer to him, causing her to curl and giggle as he holds her close.

"Enough talk about others, let's talk about this lovely girlfriend of mine…" He croons into her neck, his breath tickling her there.

"Girlfriend," she whispered, she loved the sound of that, she really did. Each time he said it sounded like a reassuring pill for her. Reminding her that for once in her life, for the first time in her life, she belonged to someone, but not as an item, or a merchandise, or a sex toy, but as a human being.

For the very first time in her life, she was someone's girlfriend. And she loved him for honoring someone like her so.

"mm-hmm, this sexy girlfriend of mine…" He kissed the side of her head, and her fingers trailed the length of his arms that wrapped around her waist and chest.

"What's there to talk about me? You already know about my past." she says in a low whisper.

"Yeah, but what do you plan to do with your future?" he sweetly asks, kissing the side of her head again. "Of course, I plan to be your major future, but I can't be the only thing in it…" Her heart skipped, for some reason, that sounded like a proposal, like he was telling her he wanted to spend his future with her, or maybe she was just over thinking it. Maybe…

"Is there anything you have in mind? Is there something that you wish to do, maybe something you couldn't do before, just tell me. I want to support you in anything you wish to do." He nuzzles her, patiently waiting for her response, he could feel her hand holding him tight, could feel her heart race where his arm rested.

"I__I__I don't know," She sadly states. All her hopes and dreams died the night that she was forcefully taken, she'd never thought of dreaming again until he came along, and the life he was showing her, the Love he was giving her was more than she could ask for, it would be wrong and shameless of her to ask for more.

"You don't know?" he asks in a tender whisper, and she nods a yes. "You don't know, or you just don't want to tell me?" he guessed. They haven't known each other for even half a year, but he knew her like she'd always been with him. He could tell what she was thinking just by the flutter of her lashes, could understand what she was feeling just by looking in her eyes. He knew her, he knew her very well.

And right now, he knew she was probably thinking she didn't deserve to receive anything more from him, and she was wrong. Very wrong because to him, she deserves much more than he could ever offer.

"Tell me Mea, what's your dream?" he suddenly asks, turning her, and placing her gently over his lap, he moves some strands of hair from her face and tucks them behind her ear, raising her chin up with his index finger, urging her to meet his soft alluring gaze, now he could talk to her face to face, eyeball to eyeball.

"I know you have one, so tell me." He urges sweetly again. "What more could I possibly dream of? Being with you like this already feels like a dream. There's nothing more I could wish for." She lies. She was a really bad liar, this lover of his, and oh was she adorable…

"Being with you is a bigger fantasy for me too, but Mea, the sad truth is, although I love being with you, it's not the only thing I do everyday. And being with me shouldn't be the only thing that can make you happy either. I know there is something else you wish to do, so tell me…" Her lashes fell over her eyes, she took her lower lip in between her teeth and bit down on it, but then he leaned in and kissed her, fast and short.

"I told you not to bite your lips," he purrs over her mouth, causing her to chuckle heartily. "So tell me, is it dancing? Would you like to continue dancing?" Her eyes flew wide open at his words, the excitement written all over her face, but then, like she was struck with a memory missile, her face went blank again. "Would you like to finish schooling?" her face lit up again, but then it went down, just like that again.

"I can't, I don't have the means to do any of that…" her shoulder drops low, and a smile crawled up his lips as he watched her. Then he flicks his finger at her forehead, causing her to cry out in pain as she rubbed the part of her forehead that he flicked. "What was that for?" she cries out

"That was for forgetting who your boyfriend was. Just say the word, and I'll have the best and only the best tutors for you, for your dance classes, and for your studies too. Did I ask you to pay for them? What am I here for?" he drags her cheek playfully.

" That's the problem, I have no means to take care of myself, I can't do anything on my own, you're already treating me so well, you've provided a place for me so I can feel safe, you feed me, you clothe me, and most of all…, most of all, you've given me the biggest gift… that is you. It would be shameless of me to expect anything more from you." She explains in a long breath.

And he just sat there, looking at her, listening to her, he knew it. He knew that was exactly what she would be thinking.

He suddenly wraps his arms around her body, and pulls her into a hug, holding her tight, resting his head at the side of her neck, trying to show her how much she meant to him… If only she knew…

"Mea, my love, it's okay to feel ashamed of collecting things from others, but not from me. Don't feel ashamed, or tag yourself shameless because I give you something. You deserve heaven and earth if I could give it all to you." He gently breaks the hug, holding her by her shoulder and looking her in the eye…

"I want to do everything with and for you. It doesn't matter what. And besides, who says you'll be getting my help for free, nothing is free in this world, not even the salvation of your soul is free. Someone had to pay the price for it, by dying on the cross to bring you salvation." His sudden words got her confused. How was she supposed to pay him back, she had no means of paying him back and he knew that, so…

"W_What then will I…?"

"All I ask in return is a Lifetime." He whispers into her ear. "Pay me by giving me a lifetime with you." Lords! She could die for this man, she knew it now.

He was literally telling her he wanted to help her, and the price she would have to pay for his help was that she would live a wonderful life. He was just too much. For him, she could live or die, whichever he told her to. She was sure of it. He was just too precious to not devote everything to.

"You're such a crybaby," he laughs as a tear trickles down her cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb. "See, I'm also being selfish with the kind of payment I want, it's the grand payment, so it's not wrong to exploit me as much as you want too. So tell me, would you like to continue studying?"

With tears trailing down her face, and her lips threatening to tear apart from the way she smiled, she nods a big yes. She really wanted that, she envied all those who went to college, she never got to finish high school more or less step foot in college, so it always hurt her, and now… now this guardian angel of hers was giving her the express chance to do so… Lords! How she loved the man.

And she jumped into his embrace, kissing and thanking him at the same time, she could barely even say the words thank you out loud, all that left her lips were muffled sniffles and cries, making the promise in her heart. The promise of this lifetime, and the next.