What Dreams Are Made Of: Episode 51

#Episode_51

Christina basked in the glory of his words. Nikloi Swaroski, the man that the world feared, the man whom she had feared not long ago, was here in her arms, shaking at her touch. Not in her wildest dreams, she could have imagined this becoming a reality any day.

She was still enjoying her happiness, when there was a door bell. Seeing Chrissy turn tensed at the sound, he said, “Don’t worry. It must be room service. I had

ordered breakfast for us. You need your energy to keep up.” The smile on his face was too mischievous and Chrissy loved this Nikloi.

“We can have it together in the bed”, Nikloi added while getting up from the bed.

Chrissy colored at his continuous innuendoes but suddenly something struck her.

“You ordered for both of us?”

“Yes..”

“That means, they know.. They know I stayed the night here with you?”

“Yes. What’s the problem? This is not the first time”, he said.

“No.. last time was different. I didn’t.. I mean.. we didn’t spend the night together even though I had stayed here for the night”, she said trying to make sense with her words.

“How do you know we hadn’t spent that night together?” He said coming closer again. “As I remember, you weren’t very conscious for most of the night.”

Chrissy remembered the night Susan had spiked her drink. She had woken up to find herself in this room with Nikloi watching her but he had stepped out after their clash, saying nothing she did concerned him.

“Yes. But.. you had gone out to sleep in the living room, didn’t you?

“Oh Christina. Do you honestly think I was capable of leaving you alone that night? Doctor had told me he thought it was a case of food poisoning. And since no one other than you had suffered that night at the party, I had suspected something was added to your food or drink consciously. At that time, I hadn’t known it was Susan otherwise I would have…”, he seethed with anger.

Chrissy covered his hands seeing his rage exude from his eyes and voice. She didn’t want him to suffer because of the past. She turned his head to face her and asked, “But you had told me Mrs Clark had also stayed at the hotel that night?”

“Yes, Aunt Martha was almost hysterical at your state. And Henry wouldn’t leave your side either. It had taken me everything to get him to leave with Aunt Martha. Watching him hold you in his arms when you had fainted was too much for me. I had felt a rage as never experienced before. I wanted to punch him in the face and pull you away from him”, he said pulling her hard across his chest.

“I didn’t want him anywhere close to you any longer. I wanted you all to myself even then. So I had stayed out here right next to you, watching you all night”, Nikloi continued.

Chrissy remembered she had felt someone around her that night but had discarded the thought later, thinking she must have been dreaming. And she couldn’t believe Nikloi had almost forced Henry out so that he could be with her. He had wanted to be with her ! But he kept taunting her for her friendship with Henry when he had known it was Henry who had feelings for her. And it was such a long time ago. Did he feel something for her since then? She was about to ask him why didn’t he say something to her then, when he interrupted her.

“I don’t know about then, but right now you are surely fuelling room service’s imagination by keeping me in the bed with you. The guy at the door must be wondering what’s taking us so long”, he said thoughtfully, though his voice was laced with so much jest.

Chrissy jumped at his meaning and pushed him, “Gooooo, open the door”. He stood up leaving the bed sheet behind. Chrissy was frozen for a second but breathed when she saw him standing in his boxer. She quickly turned her eyes away not to pry at his well-toned but otherwise na.ked body. But another quick realization was enough to push her off the bed as well.

“Oh no, you can’t open the door like this!”

“No? What should I do then? Lend me your bed sheet”, he said, tugging at her bed sheet.

“Nooo! Get some clothes o

n”, she exclaimed and worrying he might pull her bed sheet again, she dashed off to the washroom holding the bed sheet around her.

Only when she had closed the door and turned the lock in, did her breath return. Much as she would have liked to know if he put on some clothes or not, she couldn’t bring herself to go out and check. She could still hear the unusual sound of his laughter ringing in the room.

Chrissy was actually astonished at his behaviour. She realized that this was the very first time she had heard the sound of his laughter! She had just seen him smile yesterday and experienced how that small curve had the power to change his look completely. She was still not used to a smiling Nikloi. It was too much happiness for her heart to absorb in a day.

She could have never guessed this side of Nikloi. He had never been the one to display his emotions. Not just with her but with everyone around. But especially with her, he was all the more serious, severe and mostly condescending. Who would have thought, that Nikloi who had lectured her on her lack of ability to conduct herself among men, would be telling her that he was bewitched by her.

She was thankful to God that inspite of everything, she was lucky enough to experience this side of Nikloi. She had fallen in love with him knowing that there was no future for them. She had known her place and had never really expected him to return her feelings. Still her heart had continued loving him. So, even though she knew Nikloi’s feelings were not as deep as hers and that he may not remain the way he was right now, it was still much more than she could have ever dreamed for.

God had been really kind to her. Not only she fell in love and experienced this wonderful ever-lasting feeling but she also got to live these memorable moments with the man she loved.

Even if they are not together in future, even if Nikloi did not feel attracted to her the way he felt now, she would always have this time. The happiness he was giving her would last her for the lifetime. And though when the time comes for him to move on, she would be devastated but she would still have these memories to cherish forever.

No, she wouldn’t think about the future. She would focus on the present. She can live with this.

When she stepped out of the washroom, she saw a simple white dress laid on the bed. It was a one piece dress reaching her knees with mega sleeves just reaching off her shoulders. She didn’t know who it belonged to but was surprised that it was her perfect size, accentuating her curves in a stylish way. Since there was nothing else other than her two days old clothes, she decided to put the dress on. Coming to the living room, she saw breakfast was already laid on the small table near the window. This was the same place they had sat during her first lunch with him.

Nikloi was standing next to the table speaking to someone on his mobile. He had also changed into a white shirt and grey trousers which did wonders to his attractive form. The moment he saw her, his eyes went all over her body with open desire. He ended the call and extending his arm to hold her hand, took her to sit at the small table.

The first thing she noticed on the table were apple pies. A smiled curved her lips and she looked up at Nikloi to see him watching her. He turned around to sit on the seat across from her and offered her the plate full of apple pies, “Your favourite”.

Picking up one of them, she asked shyly, “You remember?”

“There is hardly anything about you that I don’t remember”, Nikloi said. There was a spark in his eyes which Chrissy couldn’t fully place but she could see it clearly. She asked him, “So, what else do you remember?”

“Apart from other things, I remember your disgust at finding yourself at my house. It was nothing short of shock for me, considering that there are a number of women who would give their left arm to be in my house with me”, he said with a carefree shrug.

“I wasn’t disgusted”, Chrissy replied quickly. Then held herself because she realized he was comparing her to the countle

women he had been interacting before her. It was no pleasure to be reminded of his earlier relationships.

“Then what was it?” he asked.

“I wasn’t comfortable being alone with you in your bedroom”, she said slowly, lowering her head.

“And why was that?” He probed further.

“I had told you then.”

“I don’t remember being fully convinced with your answer.”

Chrissy squirmed in her seat. She was still not comfortable discussing such intimate stuff with him. Finishing the apple pies, she quickly got up to avoid him. But Nikloi was quick in getting hold of her hand. Pulling her towards him, he made her sit on his lap and urged, “Tell me.”

“I..I was scared of you.. and myself”, she finally said. “I had never been with anyone. I had had no relationships. You were the first man to have.. kissed me”, her eyes lowered. It was not just because she was shy of speaking about it but also because that memory of their first kiss also brought back the memory of Susan.

“You were so intimidating. Stealing my first kiss and then making it the most horrible experience of my life. I hated you at that time. Or at least I thought I hated you. You were arrogant, mean, rude, selfish and absolutely awful. Every time I was with you, you made me feel small, insecure and wanting. But.. but.. at the same time I felt kind of awe towards you. You were the one who gave me work in your hotel though you knew I had no prior experience of working in a place like this. You kind of trusted me even though you made it clear that it was done unwillingly. But frankly, you had no need to do even that. So your doing that was almost like giving a chance to live my dreams. Giving me a chance to think of a better tomorrow.”

“And as much as I wanted to hate you for making me be on pins and needles always, I couldn’t really ignore you. So that day when I realized it was your suite, I was suddenly too conscious of our physical proximity and I had to run away to put in as much distance between us as possible. But obviously you wouldn’t have it. You wouldn’t let me leave till I had answered your all questions. Just like you wouldn’t let me leave now”, she said trying to pull off her hand from his hold.

“I will never let you leave”, Nikloi murmured softly but too low for Chrissy to catch it. When she asked what he was saying, he said, “Much as I would like to spend the day like this, I am worried your doctor is going to punish me for not letting you rest.

The last thing I want is for you to get into any pains because of me. Now, finish your breakfast and let us go to see your mother”, he said and stood up.

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To Be continued