"Say aah." Ariana requested, holding a spoonful of food while waiting for Alexander to open his mouth, but the only thing he's been doing since the last few minutes she has arrived with his lunch that was prepared by the maids, was to stare at her.
It made her uncomfortable at first, until she realized that this was one of his many habits that she would have to get used to. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he's been trying to recover his memories, but whichever one it is, she hoped that he won't figure out that she's a fake so easily with the way he's staring right at her soul.
It's not been up to two days since her last visit here, and she had woken up this morning feeling happy, courageous and more agile than she was yesterday when she met him. Until Harry decided that it was best to leave her with Alexander to eat lunch.
Although she knew that this would happen eventually, she won't continue to hide behind Harry's shadow. Which was why she's trying her best not to mind the way he was staring at her.
She raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, when he chuckled at her cuteness before he finally ate from her spoon. She was feeding him and he loved it.
"What's funny?" She asked,bringing the spoon down to scoop some porridge, but paused at his next words that made her feel butterflies in her stomachs.
"You are so beautiful." Alexander said, looking at her without breaking eye contact, instead she was the one to look away. He couldn't remember Selina being this shy around him, but he's loving every bit of what he's seeing here.
"You are so beautiful that it makes me jealous that other men would be looking at you the way i just did, so, I can't help but think of locking you away from the world, then it would be only me that you get to see everyday. I'm a possessive and jealous man and you, my love, are my most prized possession." Alexander confessed.
"Huh?" Ariana looked at him confused, certainly she didn't hear him right. Why would he want to lock her up?
It was giving creepy stalker vibes.
Was this why Selina left him?
She couldn't help not to think of the negative part of his last confession to her, was this the part where she's supposed to feel happy and loved that he thinks of her as special to lock her up to keep her away from the world?
"Something is wrong with this man."
Ariana thought.
She looked away from him instantly, goosebumps crawled all over her skin that she couldn't help but pray that Harry appears here to explain what's wrong with his friend.
Was this as a result of the accident that made his thinking so unpleasant, or had he always been like this?
She was so lost in thought deliberating over his words, that she had no idea that she was having a panic attack. She doesn't do too well with being locked up, she was claustrophobic, and that was as a result of being mistreated by the matron at the orphanage that she grew up at.
"It's okay, you are no longer at the orphanage, Ariana."
She told herself. But it was as if she was back there, inside that little cupboard that Mrs. Rose would lock her in after beating her up and starving her for days.
Noticing her situation, Alexander rushed up to her and squatted to her height while he cupped her cheeks to keep her eyes on him.
"Selina, look at me, honey. You need to breathe." He said.
"I ..c..can't." She managed to say, grabbing his arms for support that her nails dig into his skin but Alexander didn't feel that pain. All he was concerned about was making sure that she was okay.
As if it wasn't enough that Alexander's words triggered her past trauma, when she looked up at Alexander, he wasn't there; rather it was Mrs. Rose that was holding her down, trying to strap her down on the bed to inject her.
"Mother..I'm ..sorry. I'm sorry, I wouldn't do ..it again." She pleaded."
"Selina, baby. Come to your senses." Alexander shouted, which made Harry rush inside to see the situation. He was confused as he didn't know what had happened.
"Call the doctor!" Alexander yelled at him before he rushed out, while he went ahead to help her up in the bed and with one slap to her face, he knocked her out.
"What the hell?"
****
Seven hours later.
It was seven in the night when Alexander's discharge papers came out, and he left with a sleeping Ariana, who hasn't woken up since morning after the doctor has attended to her.
He sat in the back of the car with Ariana in his arms, his eyes had never left her ever since what happened in the morning. His mind is still heavy with what the doctor has said about her, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after he fully explained every detail of what happened to him.
Harry who was driving the car would once in a while look at him and a sleeping Ariana, who he had no idea what was up with her. But he was genuinely worried about her and hoped that once she woke up, she would be okay.
"How stressed up has she been ever since i was in the hospital?" Alexander asked Harry.
"Huh?" Harry wasn't able to hear what he said, because he was lost in thoughts. Before Alexander smacked his teeth then repeated himself, which was something that he didn't like doing.
"Couldn't you have just lied to her about me being on a business trip, and not at the hospital. You are part of the reason why she's stressed." Alexander attacked Harry.
"I'm sorry boss, I tried to do that but you were in a coma. I had no idea when you were going to wake up, so I'm sorry that i couldn't lie to her."
Harry apologized for something that wasn't his fault.
"Do you know anything about her parents? The last time i remember Babygirl was looking for her parents, how far has she gone in the search for them?"
Now this was a difficult question that Harry didn't have any option than to lie rather than getting caught. "She stopped searching for them."
Yeah! It was true that the real Selina was searching for her parents, but what does that have to do with Ariana fainting at the hospital in his arms?
What did she say to him for him to remember that Selina was looking for her parents?
"And why is that?" Alexander asked further, if he could remember right, she was keen on finding her parents so why did she stop?
"I'm sorry, but i didn't get to find out." Harry said, before he turned into the driveway before the penthouse appeared in view. The moment he parked the car inside, he said. "I will call the guards to help with the young miss.."
But unfortunately, Alexander seemed not to be in a good mood tonight, so he attacked him right away for his words.
"Why would i allow another man to touch Babygirl when i have my hands?" Alexander snapped at him.
"I'm sorry boss." Harry apologized again, since that's the only thing he seemed to be doing today.
It's not been up to two days and she already has him wrapped around her hands. He should be happy, but he didn't know why he was bothered that his plan was working so fast and efficiently.
Well, he was happy that it was going to take a while before Alexander found out her real identity, which was a signal for him to further investigate where exactly Selina was, but she was nowhere to be found at the moment.
It was like she was off the face of the earth, so, he was at a lost end here.
He watched Alexander carry an unconscious Ariana inside the house, while he sat here thinking of who exactly is going to be the problem between the two, when it's time for Ariana to go back to her former life.
At first, he was bothered and worried that Ariana would be the first to fall hard for Alexander, but he was dead wrong. Alexander fell first and he fell harder this time around.