She watched him take off his shirt with suppressed groans. His face was sweaty but she could not keep her eyes off him- he was still gorgeous as hell. He wiped his groin every minute as he cleaned himself with a wad of tissues. It looked like he needed help with it because his shoulder was bad too. There below his taut abdomen was a horizontal cut.
It looked a little deep and Loretta was sincerely worried for him. She tried to put back her putrid thoughts and focus on his condition
"Nick, are you okay?" She asked him, following his every move
"I'm okay. Don't worry about me" he said, fishing out his first-aid box and cleaning the bloodstains on his body a second time.
"But Nick, you are hurt. Can I bind that for you? Where did you go to? How did you sustain these injuries?" She went on and on, sighing in betweens. Then, she grabbed her phone from her pockets trying to make a call.
"Don't you dare! I know you're not about to call my mom right now"
"Your sister coz your mom is in a meeting right now" she said, dialing the number. Nicolas snatched it from her when she wasn't looking and dropped it on the bed.
"What are you doing in my house, Loretta?" He whispered, his voice slightly strained
"Aww, I love how you pronounce my name, sweetie. I came to check on you as you can see. I'm sure you need someone at this point"
"I don't need you"
"I heard you lost your girlfriend. I'm really sorry about that, okay? I've come here to cheer you up. I'll stay for as long as you want, I promise"
"I don't need your help" he scoffed. "I don't know who in heaven's name put this confidence in your head but you and I know I will never need you" he struggled to get up and walk into the bathroom.
Loretta instinctively tried to help him up but he yanked her arms off without looking at her face.
"I don't want to see you in my room when I come out. I'm a grown man and I need some privacy in my own room" he didn't say more as he slammed the door of the bathroom in her face. Loretta was too pained to respond to him. She kept quiet and sulked inside. What was she thinking? That he would accept her because she surprised him by visiting?
She did not go away. Instead she waited, listening to the splash of water in the shower. He was groaning, like the water did something to his injuries.
When he came out and saw her there, he picked a pair of pajamas and went to the sitting room in his towel. Loretta literally drooled watching his bare chest and athletic legs.
She completely forgot about dinner until she got to the dining room.
"I'm sorry, Nick. I'll just go out and give you some privacy." He went back to his room without uttering a word. Then she yelled, "There's food too. Please come have a bite of it at least, I spent hours cooking it"
He seem to have turned back before heading in. He came out again in his pajamas and walked to the refrigerator. Loretta silently prayed that he would pick the champagne, and he did.
"I am just doing this out of concern. No one put me up to it I promise." She said drawing out a chair for him. All of a sudden, he looked behind him and stared at a spot for about two minutes
"What's wrong?" Loretta asked, fearing that she had been caught. He seemed to be talking to himself as if in a trance.
"It's just a simple meal, okay?" He said but he seemed to be directing his words to someone else
"Yeah, I promise. It's your favorite jambalaya" she replied him anyways.
He sat with her and ate in silence. He was obviously starved from the way he stuffed pieces of chicken in his mouth.
Loretta thought she was dreaming. He had never sat with her like this or talk to her for more than a minute.
"Is it nice? I mean, does it taste good?"
"Yeah. Where did you learn to cook?" He asked with a full mouth. She blushed telling him about how she studied part-time in a cooking school for six months learning to prepare local and international delicacies.
"You didn't need it, you have chefs and housekeepers. You could even hire them all your life" he said matter-of-factly
She wanted to tell him she did it for him but she changed her mind. She was not about to ruin the good moment.
"That's true but I wanted to do something different, something unusual"
"That's nice" he said, drinking water from the jug. She waited for him to pop the champagne he had taken with him but he didn't.
"Thank you. Can I help pop the champagne?"
"No I don't want it now. I'll just drink water" he said getting up. "Thanks for dinner" he packed the plates and went to the kitchen. She went after him, trying to help him, her arms violently brushing his shoulders. He groaned, the plates and tray falling at his feet. Luckily they were not breakables.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry" she reiterated. He was definitely badly injured but he wobbled back to his room and locked the door behind him.
Loretta sat alone in his lounge not knowing what to do. He had warned her not to tell his mother or sister, Cass. Besides, her plans had fallen flat. She had put some narcotic in the wine so he'd drink it and sleep off, or at least be so drunk and hazy and then she'd make him kiss her and do things with her.
She at least wanted to make out with him because somewhere in her heart, she felt he would never feel the same way she felt. Somehow she thought he figured out her action already.
So, she waited shamefully for morning to come so she'd disappear into thin air.