Junie looked over her shoulder at the young lady standing by the door. She didn't know her name or who she was, but she was certain she had come to find Nicolas, and that she was of a high-class society.
"Please come in, I'll make you tea" she offered.
"It's all right. I'll go to him now" she said. She seemed to not like the old lady's humble abode.
"He doesn't want to be disturbed, my child. He doesn't look good when he gets mad, you can stay here until he calls for one of us" Junie Nelson warned and Loretta turned to stare at her in the most deathly way ever.
"It's Loretta, and you don't tell me what to do, old woman. I have known him since high school. You can never know him as much as I do"
"Well then, serve yourself" Junie said, walking into her room and leaving her there. She was in no mood to exchange words with someone less than half her age, and someone who could easily put you behind bars without committing a sin.
Loretta walked back to Nicolas'. She had heard a car zoom past and assumed it was him. She ran into his room to confirm it.
"I don't know what's wrong with Nick. He won't talk to me and he seems to be very disturbed about something" she complained to his mother on phone.
"I'll call him. Please prepare him some dinner before he gets back. Show him some love too, he just lost his girlfriend in an accident" Jenny instructed her.
Loretta didn't know that he had lost a girlfriend. She didn't even know about the said girlfriend, and so she wondered which one of her friends and Jenny's younger business associates it was.
Nicolas never mixed with all of them except on important occasions that brought the aristocrat families together, and so she couldn't tell who he had been dating.
"Oh Goodness, Nick is just too tough, I can't read him no matter how I try. I hope this tactics work on him this time though, it's like my last resort" she soliloquized, relaxing on the plush sofa in his lounge. She didn't realize that his mother was still on the phone.
"Loretta my love, what tactics this time?"
" Oh It's nothing Momma. I just wanna treat him to a nice dinnertime, I guess" That was half-truth.
"That's great. Nick loves good food. You had better start with the cooking already"
"I can't believe I went to a cooking school just for him! That's sick!" She groaned
"It's called love. Soon enough, Nick will acknowledge it, I can assure you. You go girl, I have to call him now. He's an adult and I trust that he'll be fine but still, I need to confirm" she hung up after and Loretta just made herself feel at home.
Since high school, Loretta had openly displayed her strong affection for Nicolas' but she almost gave up when they reached college and he barely muttered more than a "hello", "bye" to her. It seemed like he was avoiding her and did not love her back.
When she turned eighteen and became a beauty model, especially seeing Jenny face to face, she started to think that she might find a place in his heart through his mother.
Luckily for her, Jenny liked her too and that fueled her determination to keep trying to win Nicolas' love. She didn't want any of her admirers but him.
"Wow! His apartment is definitely more expensive than mine. I can't believe his parents have no dime in the expenses. I hope Nick sees the love I have for him and try to accept me" she sat on his bed and adjusted her gown which was so transparent and slitted in the back that you could literally see her panty lines when you moved close.
It was deliberate to have dressed like this to meet him after having not seen him for six months. She was going to make him want her.
Loretta admired his interior design as she walked into every room in his house. She was literally drooling. One would think it was her first time being in a such a luxurious building but what had only caught her fancy was that he built it all with his own money.
"He got a nice car too. Imagine me living here with him, with our kids, Janice and Brandon, calling me mommy and calling him Dada. Oh my! I so want it!" She slapped her mouth and walked around, searching for his kitchen.
There she looked in his cupboard and decided to make do with whatever he had. Surprisingly, he had so many food items that Loretta started to wonder if he had hired a cook.
She was grateful for those things in the cupboard anyways. She found an apron and got to work as soon as possible. Now that she knew the way to his heart, she was definitely going to win his love this time, or so she thought. She was going to prepare him his favorite jambalaya with a lot of shrimps, chicken and ham. She added a side dish too and also blended apples to make juice.
She didn't know if he preferred juice or red wine or alcohol. No, he was not going to take alcohol from her. He wouldn't get drunk when he was vulnerable like this. Not when she was with him, she was certain about that.
So, she opted for champagne.
As soon as food was ready, she placed his dish on the dining table and returned the champagne into his refrigerator. He was definitely going to grab that particular wine when he got back. It was one of the special champagnes Cassandra bought him from Italy.
Loretta had worn a sexy underwear underneath her gown and she was going to be in it when he got in, but she thought it was insensitive to do that when he was mourning.
So she just loosened the buttons on her chest and revealed the most part of her cleavage.
He got in late into the night, about a quarter past 10, looking so spent that he could have passed out at the entrance. Loretta was already very sleepy when he arrived but she jerked awake as soon as she heard him drive madly into his parking lot.
She watched him go into the old woman's house first before he came in.
"Hey sweetie" she whispered with a bedroom voice and welcomed him. Surprisingly he let her take his coat from his hands but he didn't look at her face. Loretta thought she saw a streak of blood on his shoulder but she was not sure.
"Are you okay, Nick? Is that ..." She trailed off noticing his blood-stained hands too. He was hiding them behind him but she had caught him. "Did you get hurt on the way, was it an accident huh?" She tried to ask but he just walked up the stairs to his room without casting a glance at her.
Typical Loretta followed him up immediately.