"What's with that sinister smile?"
Callea's smile was gone and looked up on Deive's face in wonder. "Why?" she asked.
"Nothing. Your smile made me feel strange. I got a feeling that you have naughty plans for me. Are you still mad because I didn't arrive early last night? "
She shrugged. "It's okay!"
It didn't matter if she would get mad at him. It was a done deal anyway.
"No, it's not!" he contradicted and flayed his arms. "It was my fault. I went to a party with my friends. I didn't expect that it was traffic on the expressway. My bad. I should have come earlier. I hope I didn't stay at the party for long." He held her hand while the other one cupped her cheek. "Let me make it up with you."
Her eyes sparkled. "How?"
With his gorgeous body?
The gross ideas inside her head were replaced by carnal thoughts. His body was really a meal. Argh! She was still a normal woman with libido after all. She couldn't help it. Wait, she had access to his body once they were married, right?
"I will cook for you and Marina," he offered instead.
The fantasy inside her head burst like a bubble. His cooking skills were his only way to make amends. "You don't know how to cook, right?"
"I know. A bit. "
She came down the bed and retrieved the tray. "No, thanks. Marina and I will cook and you relax here. Stay here inside this room and don't come out until you are well. "
"Yes, Ma'am!" he replied and gave her a snappy salute. She was on her way out of the room when called out to her. "Callea, wait!"
"What?"
He took her shoulder and kiss her firmly on the side of her lip. "Thank you for taking care of me." He caressed her cheek. "You look beautiful today. I hope you are the first sight I see whenever I wake up. See you later."
She felt like she was floating on air as she left the room. He kissed the side of her lips. He thanked her for caring for him. He caressed her cheek. He found her beautiful. Shit! She felt like a giddy teenager.
She was shocked when she met Marina who was on her way up the stairs. "Let eat. I'm hungry. "
"Why don't you eat on your own?" Callea asked and gave her the empty tray. Then she walked towards her room.
"What is happening to you?" asked Marina. "What's did you do with Deive?"
He kissed her, caressed her cheek and called her beautiful. That's it.
"Nothing," she replied in a still-zombie tune. Her eyes were just straight and didn't look back until she gets to her own room. "No interruptions. I will just spend my day inside my room." Then she slowly closed the door.
She leaned on the door and held the cheek caressed by a Deive. "He kissed me, touched me and told me beautiful."
She uttered that over and over again while she was staring in space. All she could see was Deive. All she could feel was Deive. All she could think of was Deive.
Deive. Deive. Deive.
Her smile was wiped on her face. Then she realized her predicament.
She didn't want to be kissed by a man. But she agreed to kiss to Deive.
She didn't want any man touching her but he allowed Deive.
And most of all, she doesn't want to be called beautiful. She even yelled at Marina earlier for praising her beauty.
But he let Deive call her beautiful. And she loved it.
"Eeee!" she screamed loudly and pulled off her ponytail. She pulled her hair like a crazy woman.
She faced the mirror and stared at her reflection. She was now far from the presentable woman earlier. Her face was covered with unruly hair. "How did I become beautiful? I didn't even put on make up. Deive must be trying to soften me up."
She angled her face and tried to look for proof that she was beautiful. Her eyes burst while looking at her body in her pastel-colored dress. She quickly took off her dress. She grabbed the old maid's costume that was tattered and marked with blood. Then she flopped down the bed and stared at the ceiling.
A real smile shone on her lips. Finally, she felt normal. The woman earlier with Deive was a fake. That woman didn't exist. Not even at the outside world.
The unkempt hair and tattered clothes were the real Callea Lopez. She people outside this mansion sees her as a ghost. She decided to be a ghost day and night. But inside that mansion, she was alive.
In that place, she was really free.