CH4

After three long hours of riding I finally pull into a rough driveway. I take my helmet off and pull one earbud out. I turn into the drive taking it slow as I ride up the winding path. I really need to get this driveway paved. I think to myself as I slowly creep up the driveway. After what seems like forever, the driveway opens up to a Tudor style manor. This was always a summer house for my family and me before they all died. I was at a boarding/finishing school, but a lot of good that did me. I shake my head of all the nasty thoughts and park my bike on the paved porch. I walk up the steps and smile as I look at my beautiful rose bushes. Unlocking the door I walk inside across the marble foyer and look around. It's been a little while since I was last here. A medium sized crystal chandelier is above me and two French doors before me. As I walk through a spacious living room I open them, letting in the cool clean air. Mom really had taste, why I didn't get any of that I don't know. I toss my back pack on the couch and walk over to the ceiling to floor windows that overlook the vast back yard. The sun is high up in the sky and it is such a beautiful day. I stand there and just stare, forgetting about everything else and just letting my body relax. I take my phone out of my pocket and check my messages, of course there's one from Mary, and one from Antony. I check Mary's message first, she wants me and Antony to join her and John for another double date to the movies. I roll my eyes and text her back that I have disappeared for a few days, and for her not to tell anyone.

Next up Mr. Antony's message. I walk over to the armchair and sit down taking a deep breath. Hello Miss Lili, I hope your night went well. We are still on the job at the moment, but I thought I'd let you know that I was thinking about you. I hope to hear from you soon. Laters."

I smile at the message and try to figure out if I should tell him where I am or if I should tell him that I have disappeared, or not answer him at all? I sit there for a while thinking it over and after about ten minutes I text back "Hello to you too Mister. I am staying just north of the city at my family's retreat in the country. I will be back in a few days. I just needed some space. I'll call you later. Right now I must get some much needed sleep." I press send and stuff my phone in my pocket as I grab my back pack and head upstairs. I walk a across the marble floors, and oriental rugs. The dark wood stairs make a harsh yet beautiful contrast to all the marble and rugs. As I ascend the stair case I look back over the beautiful house. I really do love it up here. So quiet and peaceful. I start walking back up the stair case and heading for my room. Up here it's all hardwoods floors and rich earth tones. I go to the end of the hall to what was my parents' room but I have claimed it as my own. I toss my pack on the small gilded 16th century daybed as I walk into the bathroom.

Walking into the beautiful white marble bathroom, with gray veins winding through the stone I feel the cool stone beneath my feet. I hit the light switch and the black chandelier above the large rectangle marble tub comes to life. The tub sits between two vanities. Nine candles of varying heights line the front of the tub. Red and black candles that give off the scent of roses, but the melted wax as made a type of cascade to the floor. To me it's absolutely beautiful; though I'm sure the grounds and house keeper can't stand it. A large glass and marble stand up shower is tucked up in the corner with a glass wall facing the back yard, it has a glass tint to where you can see out but no one can see in.

Sitting on the edge of the tub I take off my boots placing up on the vanity counter and stand to undress. To start a nice hot bath. I turn the water on and grab a fluffy black towel from the linen closet to wrap around myself as I let the tub fill. I grab a lighter out of my jeans and light the candles; letting their beautiful scent fill the space. I shut the water off after about 20 minutes of letting the tub fill up. I slowly step in tossing the towel on the other vanity as I sink into the tub. I can feel my muscles relaxing as I sit there and let the water cover my body. "This is nice" I say to myself. I sit there relaxing until the water starts to cool which to me seems to not last long enough. I quickly bath before the water gets to cold, and after submerging myself to rinse off and stand up. I grab my big fluffy towel and dry myself off. "Ah now I feel so much better." I say to myself as I carefully walk back into the bedroom and dress in a large college shirt and cotton panties. I quickly go back to the bathroom and grab my phone and flop down on the bed.

I wake up to the sun shining ever so slightly through the trees. The soft orange and red tones seeping across the sky as I sit up, pull my knees up my chest, and just stare out at the beautiful sunrise. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and look at my phone. "hmm 8 messages. Great I slept through all of them, and I'm sure Mary has called." I say as I unlock my phone and see that in fact Mary has called and has left me 2 messages. I look through them.

"Lili what the hell." One says and I delete it. Another one says "Lili you better answer me or so help me I'm gonna come out there and drag the reasoning of why you left out of you. Don't make me come up there".

I roll my eyes at her and smile. Mary does get overprotective of me sometimes and frankly who can blame her. She knows that she is all I have left. Though I do hope a brown haired, amber eyed man might join me in this life I have. I sigh to myself and text her back. "Mary I'm fine I promise. I just wanted to get away from work and the city for a little bit. Please don't worry. I'm fine. I love you. I'll be home in a few days. I do have to go back to work ya know. And we have a double date to go on. I just want to be alone for a little bit, but I promise I will be home soon. You know where I am if you absolutely need me. Love you sister." I press send and look through the rest of my messages. Hmm another one from Antony let's see what he has to say today.

"Good morning beautiful lady. I hope you had a good rest and are doing well. I'll talk to you soon I hope."

I of course, text him back "Good morning yourself, yes I slept well." I press send and almost instantly there's a response.

"Well I'm glad to see all is well with you. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a double date with Mary and John. Mary hasn't given me a date yet but I'm sure she will once you two sort out the details."

Oh my goodness he can be so sweet. "Yes, Mary already asked me about it and I told her we would go. I want to see you. I wish you were here." I hesitate to press send. Maybe it's too much too soon. Maybe I shouldn't have sent it. Do I miss him? Yes, yes I do. I press send and wait. Five minutes go by and nothing. I decide to get up and get dressed. I pull on a pair of faded blue jean, trade my oversize shirt for a bra, and a green and blue plaid button up shirt. I stretch again and grab my phone stuffing it in my back pocket. All of a sudden my phone rings as I walk down the stairs. I look at my phone and it's Antony. "Hello"

"Hey back. So you miss me huh?" he asks and I can hear him smiling.

"Yes, and I'm not usually like this with a guy. I'm usually a bit more reserved and quiet." I say as I continue to descend the stairs headed for the kitchen in search of food.

"Is that so? Well you really want me to be with you? Cause not to sound to forward, but I've missed you too. You looked great at the bar the other night. I couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful you look." He says and somehow I can hear the uncertainty in his voice, but I can hear something else that I just can't put my finger on

"Yes, it is so. Yes….I…I really would like to see you and thank you. You looked…ah…good as well" I say as I stumble over my words a bit. I go into the kitchen and as usual, Mrs. Bowers has breakfast waiting for me like she always does when I come up here. "If you want I can give you the address to come up here. I mean you don't have to come up here if you don't want to. I could always meet up with you when I get back." I say nervously as I make my plate. I head over to the table next to the big bay windows that overlook the pool just off to the side. I go and grab a cup of coffee as well. And go sit down to enjoy my lovely breakfast.

"I would like to come see you. I'm sure we would both enjoy ourselves." He says to me as I can hear some kind of noise in the background. "What's the address and I'll get up to you as soon as I can."

"Ok the address is…. 5649 Rose Private drive. It's a gravel driveway there's a gate but the code is 3580. Just follow the drive up and park next to the house. I'll hear you coming up the drive and I'll be waiting outside." I say hesitantly as I give him the address. Inside I'm jumping up and down for joy knowing that this man is coming to see me. In the back of my mind I am hoping that this isn't a mistake and this may turn into something more perhaps.

"Ok sounds good…baby. I'll be up there as soon as I can." He says and we say our good byes.

I stand up real quick and do a little happy dance. It's just so hard for me to contain my joy. I haven't felt this good in a long time, and frankly it feels good.

I go back upstairs to my bedroom and open the closet. I walk inside and lights automatically come on. I look around and smile. All gowns in plastic bags, all the shoes a girl could want, a large safe to the left full of jewels fit for a queen, and of course regular clothes for everyday things around the house. And of course, all types of furs for every occasion. I walk over to the furs and select a waist length silver fox fur. It may be a beautiful day, but it is still cold. Its not to fluffy like the other furs, it seems to be more form fitting as I look at myself in the mirror. "Mom you always had good taste." I say to myself as I smooth my hands over the soft lush fur. I go back to the hallway and head to the room that was my room. I walk in and go into my old closet and grab a pair of suede leather boots with fur linings. I smile as I sit on my white and gold gilded Queen Anne bench. I tuck my jeans into the boots and lace them up. I head back out into the hall and head for the back yard. I walk outside and enjoy the beauty of the land while I wait.

As I sit outside on the patio I pull my phone back out to read the remaining five messages. I look and who else could they be from but Eirik. "Lilianna please come back and talk. I apologize for my outburst." I delete it, and open the next. "Please answer me" I delete that one as well. "Lili please." "Lili please answer me and quit ignoring me." Hmmm I think I'll make him sweat it out a bit more. I leave the last one unread and just delete the rest. I can contact him later say right before I go into work. I think to myself with a big grin plastered on my face. I relax again as I place my phone on the table, grab my coffee cup and take a sip pulling my legs up.

After some time I hear someone pulling in. There's only one person it could be and I can't hide my stupid girly grin that spreads across my face. I head back inside and go straight to the front door. Opening it there stands my 6'1", chocolate haired, amber eyed man. I can't help myself, and I throw my arms around him hugging him tightly. As I do I feel his arms snake around my waist and hug me back, pulling me closer to him.

"Is that what you drive?" I say looking past him and gap as I see a blacked out Porsche Ceyhan. I unwrap myself and walk around Antony and walk up to his beautiful ride. The windows are tinted black; the wheels are custom 20" alloy powder coated black rims. *beep beep* I jump back as the car's doors unlock. I turn back to Antony who is holding the keys and motions for me to peek inside. As I open the door I can smell his wonderful cologne envelope me. It's all crisp and clean suede colored leather with black piping. Minus the suede seats it's all black inside as well. Man this car looks absolutely beautiful. I step back out of the car and turn towards Antony. "Are you hungry? I'm sure Mrs. Bowers has lunch already ready." I say as I walk back up to him.

"Sure, what are we having?" He asks holding the front door open for me to walk in.

I walk in and go straight for the kitchen unbuttoning my jacket as I walk through the house. Once in the kitchen I turn around and find Antony isn't behind me. So I peek my head through the kitchen's swinging door and find Antony just standing in the middle of the living room looking all around himself. "Nice isn't it? My mother decorated the place. Daddy let her do whatever she wanted." I say positioning myself just outside the kitchen.

"Yeah she did a great job. It's….homey feeling. I like it." He says turning to face me. He walks over to stand in front of me and pushes the kitchen door open, again waiting for me to walk back through. "Come on let's eat." He says.

I turn on my heel and walk through the open door. I hear swing as he walks through the door and lets it go. I shake my head and walk up to the black pearl granite island where, of course, Mrs. Bowers has two sandwiches waiting for us. "I didn't know what kind you like so Mrs. Bowers made you a roast beef with Colby jack." I say meekly as I grab two goblet style glasses from the cupboard. "What would you like to drink. I have beer, sweet tea, soda….and juice." I say opening the fridge to grab the tea jug.

"A beer would be fine." He says as he grabs our lunch and heads for the table at the bay windows. He sits down ever so gracefully and waits for me to join him.

All I can do is smile as I stare at this wonderful man sitting at my kitchen table. I grab a beer, and shut the door with a swing of my hips. I sashay over to the table and set down his beer in front of him as I take my seat across from him. I look down nervously and think why am I so nervous around this man? You'd think this was the first man to ever talk to me. "So what do you want to do?" I ask as I take a bite of my sandwich.

"I don't know. We could watch a movie, go sit under the stars with some hot tea, or hot coco. Really I don't care. We could always just sit and talk. Maybe have the "date" we talked about." He says as we sit there eating our lunch. We chit chat about this and that, nothing special; just two people enjoying one another's company.

"There are horse stables on the property. That is if you want to go riding maybe. I have a 70" flat screen in the living room, and 50" TVs in the bedrooms. If you want to stay the night you can choose a room either down stairs or upstairs. Mine is upstairs at the end of the hall." I blurt all out and cover my mouth as I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I pick up the plates placing them in the sink and turn around wiping my hands with a dish towel. I walk over place it on the counter and watch this man stare back at me.

Antony smiles and stands as he finishes his beer. He walks over to me stand on the other side of the counter. He smiles a dazzling white Hollywood smile. "I actually have to go back tonight. I….ah…promised some friends we would hang out tonight. But, I promise I will be back tomorrow and we can go riding and have a picnic Ok?" He says walking around the island and pulling me into his arms.

I take a deep breath and inhale his woodsy, earthy scent. I look up at him, smile, then lay my head on his chest. "Well if you must you must. You know where I am and you are welcome to come here anytime I am here." I wrapping my arms around him. "It's just starting into the evening won't you stay and watch one movie on the couch with me?" I ask pleadingly and innocently

"I wish I could, but I do have to go. I wanted to see you today cause I missed you. I'm sorry I promise I will be back in the morning. Get some rest and I'll be back before you know it." He says kissing the top of my head. I nod in acknowledgement and take his hand in mine and intertwine our fingers. I lead him back to the front door. We walk through the living room, and into the foyer. I continue to walk to the front door but Antony stops me and pulls me back into his strong arms and presses another kiss to my head. "I promise I will be back." He whispers in my hair.

He and I walk out onto the porch and he continues down the stairs and gets into the Porsche. The engine roars to life and he's off. I pull my jacket closed and watch as he leaves. I turn back and head inside as soon as his car is out of sight. This is going to be a long night. I think to myself as I walk upstairs shred my coat and then my boots and my clothes. I climb into bed and watch TV for the rest of the night until I finally fall asleep