102 CROSSROADS OF EMOTIONS ARIEL’S POV “And what are you doing here?” I aksed Luke, raising an eyebrow. “I just came to help you out,” he answered, looking around. “I thought you might need a hand.” “Thanks, but I’m good. You can leave now.” I turned back to the ingredients, to focus on the preparation of the food. “If I can remember, this is my house.” “Fine. Stay then.” I said nonchalantly. As I was about to chop, Luke moved closer to me and grabbed a tomato from the table, observing it. “What are you doing?” I asked. He didn’t give me a reply. Instead, he took a carrot from the table as well. “Luke….” He hushed me, placing his fingers on my lips, looking into my eyes. And as he stirred closer, I began to move backward, all these done in silence, until I found myself leaning against the wall. “You love complaining.” Luke said softly. “Why?” I didn’t say a thing as I kept staring at him. I didn’t know if my lips were sealed at the moment, but the power to speak, was not there. After a gaze that seemed like eternity, Luke moved backwards, laughing silently. He budged nigher to the ingredients, and started doing only God knows what. “Luke!” I shrieked at him. At this point, my voice came back. “What?!” He yelled back. But kept on carrying out his nonsense. “I’m trying to cook here. Stop doing shit with those ingredients!” I bawled at him He shook his head, with a grin. “But Ariel, you know I’m just enhancing the flavor with my expert tossing skills.” “Tossing skills? This isn’t a salad, Luke! Get your hands off that tomato!” “What’s the worst that can happen? A little veggie rain never hurt anyone.” Luke threw a carrot at me. I quickly dodged the carrot, and gaped at him immediately. “What the…Have you gone nuts?” “You don’t have to be so rude now, Ariel.” He smirked, and threw a tomato in my direction. I dodged it as well, and it landed on the wall, messing it up. “What the heck!” I uttered, staring at the part of the wall which had been messed up. I turned to Luke and moved closer to him. “What are you doing?” “What does it look like I’m doing?” “You’re turning my kitchen into a war zone. Can we please save the food fight for another time?” “Your kitchen?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “And since when did this place become your kitchen.” “Well, I cook most of the times around here. So yeah, it’s my kitchen.” “You cook so many times, and you can’t even bother to let me have a taste of your food.” I gave him a weird face. “Don’t start now.” “Okay then.” Luke took his eyes downward, and I found his fingers reaching for more ingredients. I snatched the ingredients from his hands promptly. “Like I’ve said, save this food fight for another time. Not now Mr.” Luke grabbed a handful of flour. “But where’s the fun in that? Let’s make this a cooking show like no other!” “Cooking show?” I gave him a bewildered face. Like seriously, what had gotten into this guy these past few minutes? Luke wanted to do shit with the flour, but I stopped him. I narrowed my eyes down. “Luke, if you throw that flour, I swear…” He cut me off, throwing the flour all over the air. And here I was, covered in flour. “Now we have a magical, flour–filled kitchen. Isn’t it beautiful?” Luke smirked. I slowly cleaned the flour, covering my face. “Oh, it’s beautiful, all right. But guess what? You’re cleaning this up.” He grinned. “I wish.” “Say what now?” “Let me clean you up.” Luke moved extremely close to me. I treaded backwards, “Don’t worry, sir. I’m good.” “No, you look like a mess.” “That’s because you made me a mess!” ean “Then let me clean up this mess, alright?” I shook my head. “No, you don’t have to….” I felt a jolt of electricity course through my body the moment Luke’s hand firmly grasped mine, tugging me towards him. Before I knew it, I was pressed against his chest, the sticky flour from my body coating both of us. His strong hands encircled my waist, pulling me even closer to him. And at this point, I felt a surge of butterflies in my stomach as our bodies were intertwined. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and I had no idea what was wrong with this man. He was definitely confused with his thinking. And he had no idea where he stood. On one hand, he would claim to possess bitterness for me, that the feeling he had for me was nothing but hatred. Then on another hand, he would begin these actions, making it look like there was some passion for me right within him. And which one was I going to consider real? Yes, the days went by, and times had passed. All these, had the lines between his words and actions blurring even further, leaving me in a state of perpetual uncertainty. It was as though I was standing at a crossroads, unsure of which path to take. His inconsistency was a puzzle I couldn’t solve, and it left me questioning the authenticity of every interaction we shared. I couldn’t actually tell what was going on in his mind. I couldn’t read his thoughts, I couldn’t go deep in his head. I wasn’t able to have knowledge of his thinking, and the actions he was planning to take. But observing the scenes between us very well. It was somehow clear. Following his exploits and moves, there seemed to be a higher percentage of the devotedness right within him. Although I couldn’t tell. I had no idea if I was precise on this one. I might have to repeat this again; one moment he said he hated me like seriously, but on a different ocassion, his actions showed a love that glowed. Yes, his words cut deep, like a sharp knife, stabbing me vigorously, leaving my heart in a state of strife. And I couldn’t comprehend his thoughts, for they 32 CROSSROADS OF PMOT seemed to change, like the passing days. He said he hated me, but his eyes betrayed the harsh words. His actions spoke a different thing, had me confused. But I had the feeling that he was already into me. And I could tell he was trying his very best to conceal and not bring out the thoughts. Well, in these few days to come, I was going to make that feeling aggrandize. So the mission could be accomplished. And I would have to discipline myself, because sometimes I got a mix of thoughts. Just like in this situation. I didn’t want to be washed away by his love and drown in the sea of passion. I wanted to be strong, firm on this, making my heart hard, to not let me fall into the concavity I used to be in before. “Sir,” Luke’s gateman walked into the kitchen, and he quickly turned his face away the moment his eyes caught us. “I’m sorry for any disturbance,” he spoke, still not looking at us. Luke had to let go of me. “It’s okay. There’s nothing going on around here.” “Yeah,” I agreed with him, my tone inaudible. “So, what do you have to say to me? Do I have any visitor?” Luke asked Marcus. “Yes,” he answered. “And who is that?” “I don’t know. But he has a mask on, and he’s putting on a hoodie.” Luke sighed immediately, installing his hands on his waist, with his eyes narrowing down. It seemed like he knew who his gateman was talking about. Act Fast: Free Bonus Time is Running Out!
