"Truthfully you're the kind of man I want." This sudden statement made Ben's heart skip a thousand of beats. Did that mean he had hope?
"Don't joke around." Ben pushed a piece of cake into her mouth. It was too early to get his hopes up.
"I'm serious; you're smart, nice, caring, cute and you know how to treat a lady well." She said in one breath. Ben floated to cloud nine.
"Then maybe I should consider you." He wouldn't let an opportunity to drop a subtle hint pass by.
"No you shouldn't."
"Why not?" Ben was surprised by her response. It wasn't what he had envisioned.
Calm down Ben, you're doing great… he encouraged himself inwardly.
"Aren't you afraid that one day I will wake up and not remember you anymore?"
"I can live with that, I like you just the way you are," he reached out and caressed her face. "Besides, if you ever forget me, I'll keep chasing after you every day and make you remember."
"Then we'll start a never ending tragic romance story just like in the movies." She squeezed his hand and smiled at him warmly. Her eyes looked so charming and full of mysteries which kept drawing him in bit by bit.
"Just like in the movies…" he repeated the words while staring at her pretty face.
"Hey don't look at me like that or I'll smack your cute face!" she pushed his face away playfully while giggling like a child.
"If you give this cute face a bruise, you'll have to take care of me," he mimicked her voice and she laughed at it.
"Do I sound like that?"
"Pretty much." He nodded.
"Don't flatter yourself; I've met someone much more handsome than you."
"You just had to burst my bubbles, didn't you?" Ben still had his cheesy smile on his face, "who is this 'cute guy'?"
"Bryan." She replied, "Bryan Derrick, we met once at the café."
"Maybe I should punch him instead of your brother." Ben joked.
He knew she was just trying to make him feel bad.
They spent the rest of the time talking about random things and they ate and drank juice.
After a while, the sky seemed to have quarrelled with the earth as dark clouds covered the bright sun; it was going to rain soon.
"We better return home before it rains."
Ben stood up and helped her up before they started packing up.
"Thanks Ben, I really had a great time." She gave him a surprise hug.
Ben felt countless fireworks explode in his mind. They stood there staring into each other's eyes, their faces moved closer and closer to each other. They could feel every breath the other person took as their lips were only a centimetre apart….
….
8 o'clock and she still isn't home yet…
Frederick paced around the sitting room restlessly. Where was she?
He had returned home at 6 p.m. and prepared dinner. At first he thought that she had just stepped out to get something or had gone to meet Dr Adama but his worries increased after she didn't come home by 7. She has never stayed out so late without telling him.
The worst part was that it was raining heavily outside. The rain had started late in the afternoon and had persisted up till now.
What if she gets stuck in the rain? Her phone isn't reachable and I don't even know where she is in the first place!
He kept pacing around aimlessly. The food was getting cold.
A streak of lightning flashed outside followed by a loud thunder clap. Fred felt more anxious as the time ticked by.
He had noticed that Maria had started keeping things from him. She no longer told him of what she wanted to do or where she wanted to go and it bothered him. He was trying to protect her.
Fred didn't bother to sit down for a bit and only stopped his pacing when he heard the door open. He rushed over and saw Maria, who was totally drenched, standing in front of him.
It took him a bit of time to react, "Where were you?"
He pulled her inside and closed the door again.
"I went out with Ben." She answered with a blossoming smile. Fred, who wanted to get her some dry towels, froze on the spot.
"You went out with Ben and you didn't tell me?" he turned to face her.
It was now that he noticed that her cloth was so wet till it became a bit transparent and clung to her body outlining her curves and showing her fair skin.
'She was with Ben like this?'
"What's wrong," she asked noticing that her brother's face had become as black as charcoal.
"You were with him and he let you get wet like this?" he said not bothering to hide his anger which burned as hot as lava.
"No." Maria looked around, "I jumped into the rain and he chased after me, we ran around and played under the rain and…"
"Stop!" he raised his hand, annoyed by the way she recounted her story.
"This is why I don't want him near you, what if you had gotten a cold?"
"It's just rain, Fred, relax." She didn't know why he would be annoyed because of this, she didn't do anything wrong.
"Something could have happened!" he raised his voice this time.
"Stop yelling at me Fred!" she shot back. "You're not the boss of me."
"I'm not your boss but I'm your brother!"
"A brother? Or a control freak?" she was tired of playing dumb anymore. How dare he yell at her?
"What?"
"You want to control everything I do, where I go and who I meet with, I'm an adult!"
Fred walked past her and went over to the sofa. Those words really hurt him.
"I do that to protect you." He said softly, "what if you go out and you don't remember your way back?"
"Is that what you think?" she wrapped her arms around her body to feel a bit warm, "I have a phone which contains a map and I also have your number, how would I get lost?"
He didn't reply.
Maria felt angry and walked away, towards her room.
"What if he took advantage of you?"
Maria halted and turned round to face him again. She had had it!
"Is that what you think of your best friend?" she walked over to where he was sitting. "Maybe you should know that he's a better man than you!"
Fred went wide-eyed but before he could say anything, a fierce slap landed on his face.
He took a while to recover from the slap. He sat there and watched as she went to her room.
He was only trying to protect her, why couldn't she see it? What if something about Ben triggered her dark memories? What if…what if…
Crash!!
The plates of food were sent flying across the room by an angry Frederick….