Three Thousand Miles (17 page)

“Why?” He looks at me and lightly presses a smirk from his lips.

“I like it better when it’s loose.” He finally says. I smile at him and I let go of my hair. I let it hang freely around my face and Adrian deeply smiles at the sight.

“Will you graduate this year?” H
e asks.

“Hopefully, Mr Hopkins my teacher told me that he doesn’t see a
ny
reason why I shouldn’t.” I say, I do not give Adrian time to respond. “What have you been doing in New York?” He looks uneasy but he is not unresponsive.

“I was taking time to
…
process what happened. I called the hospital every day and I
wished that I could see you,” he
admits. I sit up and I rest my head
against the wall. I pull my legs back from Adrian a little, however he pulls them back.

“You could have come to see me. I prayed every day that you would.” Adrian sighs gently as he picks at the buttons on his Armani shirt.

“I tried, I even came to the hospital but I could not go into your room. I felt at blame and I still do. However
,
I know that I cannot be apart from you, baby you are everything to me.” I smile at his words,

“Michael told me that you put Jeff in charge of your company.” I grit my teeth at the sound of Michael
’
s name. I wanted to through Michael into the conversation as I hunger to hear what Adrian has to say about him. Adrian slightly rolls his eyes and he runs his fingers down his jaw.

“That’s correct, I needed space away from business and Jeff is my right
-
hand man.” I notice that Adrian totally ignored my comment about Michael and that only leads me to question him more.

“Have you spoken to Michael?” I ask bravely.

“No, I have not.” He says bitterly. I move my head away from the wall and I stare at Adrian. He lies fully stretched out on my small bed. His sleeves are rolled up and his massive gold Rolex is on display. I g
lance to my wrist and I see mine
, Adrian and I have matching watches and I have not taken it off since he bought it for me. The past few weeks, I have felt compelled to wear everything
that
he ever bought me. I have in the diamond earrings that he gave me first and I always wear the black diamond pendant. His coat is draped on my chair, my legs are fully stretched out across him, and he slowly runs his fingers along my ankle.

“I
don’t
suppose
you
know tha
t he is back with Katharine?” He looks Irritated. “I had no idea until Katharine told me. Y
ou know that he doesn’t love her, right?” I feel awkward, however I know what Adrian is saying is the truth.

“I know, but he says that he do
es
care about her. I worry that he will break her heart and Katharine does not need that. She is a lovely person that deserves love and I fear that she won’t get that from Michael.” I say intensely. Adrian
slides himself up on the bed and he rests his arms behind his head. He looks very serious and I am beginning to worry what he might say.

“Baby, Michael will always love you. I feel that is not an ideal situation. However, I love you and I will have to accept Michael.” I sigh and I reach over to him. I place my hands on his chest and I gaze into his eyes. He pulls me towards him and his hands are now tightly grasping my head. He has a devilish smirk on his face, he pulls me even closer to him and now our faces are less than an inch apart. I slide one of my hands up his body and I run my fingers through his lightly greased, tousled hair. He smiles at my action
s
and he jerks my lips onto his. In his moment of passion, I realise that this is the most physical we have ever gotten. It feels nice to be this close to him and I would not give up this emotion for anyone. I break free from his grasp and I lock my eyes on his. He smiles at me again but this smile is different from the others. He genuinely looks happy. I have never seen him like this before. I feel that he has changed. Adrian used to be very controlling and very intense. This new side to him that I am witnessing is softer and more refined. He seems more passionate in his actions. His kisses are more sincere and he melts my heart with just one glance. His breath
-
taking looks are hypnotizing and I fall into his deep green eyes. Adrian seems different in so many ways. I feel that he understands me more than before. I feel that his steel shell is beginning to show cracks and I feel honoured that he is letting me see this side to him. I again lean in and this time I kiss him. He pulls back from me and he lets out a husky laugh. I lean back in surprise and I feel a little embarrassed. Why was he laughing at me?

“What’s wrong?” I ask in a very quiet yet firm voice. He catches my hand and again he lets out his laugh. I take my hand from him, and I ask him again.

“Adrian, what’s wrong? Why are you laughing?” I insist. My words are icy and Adrian quickly straightens his face.

“Nothing is wrong.” He says. His words barely even scratch the surface of coolness. I begin to get frustrated with him. He clearly finds me amusing and his laughter only irritates me more. I push him down onto the bed and I move my legs across him. I sit on his chest and I hold down his hands. He stares at
me in bewilderment and again he lets out his deep husky laugh. I shake his hands on the bed and his laugh gets even louder.

“Adrian, this is not funny. Tell me what is so amusing?” He gently loosens my grip on his hands and he pulls my face down towards him. My hair is caressing his face and he briefly takes in the lavender scent of my shampoo.

“I am laughing because I am happy. I missed you baby and I love this demanding side to you.” He says as he stares so deep into my eyes that I am sure
that
he can see my soul. He kisses me gently on my lips and he flips me over. I lay flatly on the bed as Adrian slides himself off the bed
and he glides over to the chair -
which his coat is draped on. He quickly takes his phone from one of the pockets and he begins to walk back over to me. He does not sit back on the bed. Instead, he hovers over me with his black shiny phone
in his hand. He smiles,

“Baby, stay still and do not move an inch.” I flash him an awkward smile but I do exactly what he says. He leans closer towards me and I hear the clicking sound of him taking pictures. I wrinkle my face at the sound. I hate cameras and I dislike people taking my picture, Adrian immediately notices my facial expression.

“What’s wrong?” H
e says looking miffed by my action. I try to sit up on the bed but Adrian gently pushes me back down. I widen my eyes at him.

“Why are you taking pictures? I was never allowed to have any of you.” I say firmly. He leans down even further and now he is very close to my face. His hand ruffles my loose curls and he lightly touches my lips with his.

“I want to remember this moment for a lifetime.” I sink at his words and my heart is racing heavily. He slowly pulls away from me and he again starts to take pictures of me. I smile for his camera but I am still worrying how they will turn out. I am not a very photogenic person; in fact, I would say that I take the world’s worst photograph. I always look pale and awkward in every image. I cannot even look at a picture of myself without cringing. Adrian on the other hand, takes the most gorgeous picture. I think back to the image that I took of him that night we were alone together in his hotel suite. His face was perfect
and he stood like a god pouring champagne. I smile again at this thought and Adrian notices my emotion.

“You are smiling heavy. Is there something on your mind?” He says as he takes a break from capturing the photos of me. I manage to sit up fully without Adrian pushing me back down. I shift my legs onto the floor and I gaze at Adrian. He sits on my white leather chair with his hair tousled along his forehead. His strong arms are loosely folded at his chest. I breathe in a large gasp of air at the sight of him.

“I have you on my mind.” H
e smirks and he makes a signal with his hand that indicates me to come over to him. I slowly stand an
d I walk the short distance
to him. I stand before him and he places his hand around my waist. He gently pulls me forward so that I can sit gently on his lap. I sit and he slides one hand up my back and he is now running it through my hair. With his other hand, he places it onto my chin and slightly turns my face to the side. I do not fight is actions. Instead, I take a deep breath and wonder what he is doing. He turns my face the other way and then back so that I am now staring into his eyes. He whispers gently to me,

“Y
ou are the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen.” I flush at his comments but at the same time, I am very flattered at the sound of them. I lean forward and I kiss him softly on his
full lips. I pull back
,

“Adrian you know that I love you, right?” He gently pushes a smirk from his lips and replies.

“Yes, you love me for all my sins.” I close my eyes and I have a sudden flash of Michael. I remember when he had kissed me and how it felt. His lips were different from Adrian’s and not all entirely bad. He was rougher than Adrian was and I feel immensely guilty for even thinking of him while I am with Adrian. I quickly open my eyes and I am again faced with Adrian’s shining green eyes. I lightly caress his check with my hand. Adrian exhales and flashes me that devilish smirk.

The door pushes open and in bursts Sophie. Her face almost hits the floor as she locks her eyes on Adrian. She smiles at me and gently closes the door the
behind her. Sophie walks calmly over to her bed and places her brown leather bag onto the bed. I quickly rise from Adrian’s lap and I make my way over to my bed. I sit nervously as I wait for Sophie to break the silence. She sits down onto her bed and gently crosses her legs. Adrian rolls his eyes and he is the one to break the silence.

“Hello Sophie.” He says in a light sarcastic tone. She does not reply immediately so Adrian shifts the seat around so that he is now facing her. He locks his eyes on hers and he passes a wicked smile from his lips. Sophie crumbles at the sight of him and she can no longer hold in her words.

“Hi Adrian, it’s abo
ut time you showed your face.” S
he says in a jokey tone. Adrian quickly responds,

“I waited until Alanna was back at college; you know that I cannot stay away from you.” I smile at the teasing that is flowing between Sophie and Adrian. I think back to how I had longed for her and Adrian to get along. I spent most of my time arguing with Sophie over Adrian. She hated him and she felt that he was
overcontrolling
. I had to practically beg her to see sense and conclude that he was not all bad. I could not be happier at the sight of them. Adrian gets up from the chair and he swiftly places on his coat. I rise up immediately at the sight of him.

“Where are you going?” I say in a very desperate tone. Ad
rian strides towards me
.

“I have business I need to sort out. Do not worry I am not going anywhere. I won’t leave you again.” I smile at him and before I have the chance to respond he leans in and kisses me softly on my forehead. He nods to Sophie and he quickly marches out the door.

I thro
w
myself onto the bed and I let out a massive sigh. I try to process everything but somehow it is not sinking in. Sophie rushes over and flings herself down onto my bed and she lays spread out next to me. I look at her and she has an enormous smile on her fa
ce. I let out a giggle
.

“Can you believe that he is actually here?”

“I knew
that
he would come back. He loves you too much and I am so jealous right now.” Sophie gushes. I lay straight back against the bed and Sophie does the same.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him. He was a dream that I had wished would come true. I never expected it to become a reality.” I admit. I hear Sophie sigh.

“Alanna
,
the guy wanted to marry you. Did you really think that he would just leave and never come back?” Sophie protests. I sit up onto the bed and I cannot contain my smile. I play with my curls as they embrace my face.

“All I know is that he is back now and I will never let him go again.” I get up from the bed and I go over to my dressing table. I take a seat and I lift my hairbrush. I slowly begin to brush my hair as I try to ease my tangled curls. I gaze into the mirror and I notice Sophie staring over at me. I quickly turn around and I look at her.

“What’s wrong?” I ask in a soothing tone. Sophie shifts a little nervously before she responds.

“Now that Adrian is back, where does Michael fit in your life?” I feel stung by her words and I am not sure how to reply.

“I don’t know. I owe everything to Michael and I cannot really ignore him. He is with Katharine now so hopefully everything can work out.” I say almost believing my own words.

“Alanna, Katharine is our friend and we have to support her. However, it is very hard to when it is clear to see that the guy she is dating is into someone else. Michael loves you and in his eyes Katharine will never match up to you.” I set down my hairbrush on the counter and I again gaze at Sophie.