Love’n’Lust

While they drove out of the restaurant driveway, Belle had her quiet time to think because Nathan had been silent since her reply back at the restaurant. She thought about Ben and then compared him to Nathan.

‘Nathan isn’t so a bad person,’ she started to think. Spending time with him today made her reconsider avoiding him all the time before.

Meanwhile, Ben was the kind of man she never saw herself falling in love with. She had heard of him previously while still living in her small town with her grandma but never thought she would meet him one day.

It was funny to her, how she met him. She just wanted a one-time affair but now she was in love with him.

“Do I drop you off at the junction here? Or can I take you home?” Nathan’s question broke her thoughts.

“Take me home, I’ll direct you there,” she replied to him. She didn’t want to walk all the way to Brie’s apartment so she didn’t mind if he knew where she stayed now.

“There won’t be a need for that.”

“Hmmn?”

“I know the way to your place,” His words surprised her.

“You do?”

“While you were still missing, I went over there to help out with finding you, Laura, and I actually.” He informed her.

“Oh.” She just said. She didn’t know he also helped out.”Thank you then.” She thought should appreciate him for his efforts.

“It’s not like I found you, don’t thank me,” his words took her mind back to Ben, he was the one who found her.

“Speaking of that, do you mind telling me about how you escaped? Did you escape or was it the police? Your sister, Brie, mentioned how unresponsive the police were so I’m assuming you escaped. How did you do it?”

“I didn’t. It was the police, they rescued me.” Belle lied, she didn’t want to say Ben’s name.”… and I don’t want to talk about it, it’s not a good memory for me.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up.” He apologized.”Here we are,” he announced to her when they got to Brie’s place.

“Thanks for today.” She smiled at him before getting out of the car. She watched him smile back before he drove off. She pursed her lips for some seconds; she didn’t know he cared that much about her.

She started up the stairs that led to Brie’s apartment but stopped midway to ask herself a question.

Was she ready to face Brie after earlier? She sighed and turned back around, going back down the stairs and standing in front of the building to hail a taxi, she was going to visit her house; the house Ben gifted her.

***

Belle stood in front of the door to her house, searching for the keys in her purse. She always had it in whatever purse she carried.

Turning the locks on the door, she pushed it slowly, trying to put the keys back in her purse afterward. She closed the door behind her and turned on the lights, her being almost left her in shock of who she saw sitting in the living room.

“Ben?” She called, her hands on her chest as she tried to catch back her lost breath. He didn’t say anything, he just sat on the sofa with his thighs apart.

Belle saw a look in his eyes that she had last experienced when she interviewed him that Monday morning. Her heart skipped, and unknown fear engulfed her. It was more scary for her that he had a drink in hand, she had never seen him drinking.

“Where are you coming from?” He asked her before drinking up the wine in the tumbler and keeping it on the glass-top stool loudly. The noise it made had her shake up from her still position.

“I… I didn’t know you would be here, I was hoping to be alone when I came here, need to clear my head a little.”

“Not the answer to my question, but what is it you want to clear your head from? Me?” She heard him ask and realized he sounded a little dull.

“Are you drunk?” She asked him. She still stood by the door.

“I’m not. I wanted to be but it seems so hard. Tell me, did you plan to come clear your head from me?”

“…” Her answer would be yes because she did want to clear her head of him but she figured out telling him that now wasn’t a good idea.

“Belle!” His suddenly sharp voice cut her off her thoughts. She looked at him.”What did you two talk about?” His voice returned to being dull.

“You two?” Belle asked him and heard him when he let out a loud chuckle.

“I saw the way he made you laugh, he must be so funny to charm you to have a date with him.” She heard him say with gritted teeth and wondered if he knew she had lunch with Nathan. She also wondered how he knew, so she asked;

“How did you know?” His mysterious smile made her worry.

“You said you were going to see Mrs Johnson.” He reminded her.

“We were, we found out that she had been dismissed by the doct…”

“And so you decided to have a date with him?”His seemingly angry question cut her words short.

“It wasn’t a da…”

“What was it then?” He cut her short again.

“We just had some food together, no big deal. Why are you asking all these?”

“I asked you to stay away from him.” Ben got up from where he sat so suddenly, she found herself moving some steps backwards.

“You don’t get to tell me who to stay away from or who to relate with, you don’t even have a right to be acting the way you are now, we are not in a relationship, are we?” She said her mind to him but realized late, that she shouldn’t have.All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.