Questions and answers (1)

The morning sun had already begun to peek through the curtains, casting a warm golden glow across the room. Outside, the birds were singing their morning songs, and the streets were already getting busy with people jogging and warming up their bodies for the day ahead.

Leah, however, was still in bed, rolling lazily from one side to the other. She groaned, feeling the weight of the day already bearing down on her. She couldn't sleep, but she also didn't feel like getting out of bed. She was caught in a limbo of laziness, unable to muster the energy to do anything.

She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and let out a deep sigh. It was already late, and she knew she had things to do, but she just couldn't bring herself to move. Her mind was foggy, and her body felt heavy, as if weighed down by an invisible force. And she couldn't get last night's incident out of her head.

For some reason, she could still smell him, like he was right there with her. The spicy, coconut scent was all over her house after he left last night. Maybe she was losing it, that was the only explanation she could come up with for her sudden weirdness.

She reached for her phone, scrolling through social media mindlessly, trying to distract herself from the overwhelming scent. But even that didn't help. She felt trapped, unable to shake off the that had settled over her like a thick blanket.

As the minutes ticked by, Leah knew that she couldn't stay in bed forever. She needed to get up and start her day — even though it would be another boring episode. But the thought of leaving the warm cocoon of her bed and that sweet spicy, coconut scent was too much to bear.

She was still thinking if she should get up or not when her alarm clock blared loudly, filling the room with its incessant ringing. She groaned, glaring at it with bleary eyes.

"Shut up, stupid alarm," she muttered, her voice thick with sleep. "I'm awake, can't you see that I'm awake?"

With a scowl, she rolled towards the alarm clock and fumbled for the off button, stopping it before it blew her brains out. She fell back onto the bed, her face pressed against the soft sheets.

"Arhhhg," she groaned, feeling the weight of the day already bearing down on her. She knew she had to get up and exercise, but the thought of it made her want to crawl back under the covers and sleep the day away.

But she couldn't let herself give in to the temptation of laziness. With a deep breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. The act of getting up seemed like a monumental task.

"Come on, girl," she said to herself, shaking her body to shake off the remnant of sleep from her body. She took a deep breath and stretched her arms and legs, feeling the stiffness of sleep slowly dissipate. "It's time for exercise. You can do it."

She walked over to her closet and pulled out her gym suit, slipping it on with practiced ease. She took a look at herself in the mirror, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline that came with the anticipation of a good workout.

She grabbed her gym bag and headed out the door, feeling the cool morning air hit her face as she stepped outside. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a warm glow over the world around her.

"Good morning, Mrs pats." She greeted one of her neighbor with a sweet smile on her face.

"Morning, Leah. How was your night?" The old woman who was just taking her dog out for a stroll asked.

"It was great. Thanks for asking." She replied the old woman and happily jogged to the gym.

Leah finished her gym workout feeling energized and invigorated. As she walked back to her apartment, she couldn't help but smile at the beautiful day outside. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and she wasn't thinking about that man again— oh, now she had just thought about him.

Once she arrived home, Leah headed straight to the shower to freshen up. The warm water cascaded over her body, washing away the sweat and grime from her workout. She put on a comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Leah decided to make pancakes, her favorite breakfast food. As she mixed the batter, the aroma of vanilla and cinnamon filled the room. She poured the batter onto the hot griddle and watched as the pancakes began to rise and bubble.

She flipped them over and watched as the other side turned golden brown. Finally, she stacked them on a plate and poured a generous amount of maple syrup over them.

Leah took a bite of her pancakes and closed her eyes in pleasure. The fluffy texture and sweet taste were the perfect combination. She savored every bite, feeling grateful for this moment of peace and contentment.

Leah finished her breakfast and decided to call her Ami since she had forgotten to call her last night when she got home. She dialed her number.

As she waited for Ami to answer the call, she contemplated whether to tell her about Lucius but decided not to since she didn't think it was important.

"Hey there. How are you feeling?" Ami asked from the other side of the phone immediately the call connected.

"I'm feeling good now, thanks. I'm sorry I couldn't call you yesterday. I was just so pissed off," Leah apologized.

"No worries, girl. I just hope you're feeling better now," Ami replied, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking," Leah said, feeling grateful for her friend's concern.

"Okay, so can you come over? I have this long photos of wedding gowns and I need your help in making a choice," Ami said excitedly.

Leah smiled at the thought of helping her friend choose the a wedding dress.

"No problem. I'll be there by one," Leah said.

"Awesome!" Ami exclaimed. "I can't wait to see you and show you all the dresses,"

"I'll see you in a few hours." Leah hung up the phone feeling excited about spending the afternoon with Ami and helping her in picking her wedding gown.

She couldn't help but feel cheesy about how lucky she was to have such an amazing friend.

Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to tidy up her apartment and do her laundries.

Time flew very fast and before she knew it, it was already past 12.

Leah wore a flowy white crop top that showed off her toned midriff, paired with a vibrant floral-printed short skirt that twirled around her legs as she walked. On her feet were a pair of strappy sandals that matched the colors of her skirt.

She grabbed her favorite brown leather handbag, making sure she had everything she needed, and locked her apartment before heading to her car. With a quick turn of the key, the engine roared to life and Leah zoomed off towards Ami's place, the wind blew through her hair as she drove.

***

In one of the secret basements of the Valdez mansion, Lucius could be seen squatting in front of an unconscioud Samara, critically observing her face with his intense blue eyes while Alexander stood by the dark corner of the room with his hands crossed, carrying a rather bored expression on his face.

He glanced at Priscilla who stood there quitely then between Lucius and the unconscious Samara who didn't seem like she was waking up anytime soon.

Lucius tapped her cheek repeatedly in an attempt to wake her up but she didn't budge. She was sleeping peaceful like someone casted a sleeping spell on her. Lucius grabbed her chin, shaking her head to wake her up. He stood up from his squatting position and sighed tiredly when she didn't wake up.

"Priscilla," Lucius called to get her attention and she immediately moved closer to him waiting for his order. "Get me a bucket of cold freezing water."

Priscilla nodded and left immediately to get the water.

He cracked his knuckles and neck as he waited for Priscilla to return with the water. Priscilla returned shortly with the water and handed over the bucket to Lucius who took it from her and dipped his hands inside the bucket to feel the temperature. He nodded his head in approval as the water was to his liking.

Lucius moved closer to Samara and started pouring the cold water on her head in a very slow and steady motion.

The cold water jolted her awake from her sleep but Lucius kept pouring the water on her head even when he noticed that she was already awake. He emptied the entire bucket on her and threw the empty bucket to the ground.

By the time he was done, he had a pleased smirk on his face.

"You're finally awake, you gave me quite a scare there. I thought you fell into a real coma," he turned to Alexander.

"Even Alex was worried. Weren't you Alex?" He asked Alexander who raised a brow at him before nodding his head in reply.

"Don't ever do that again." He moved to the chair nearby and dragged it towards Samara. The legs of the chair made a very irritating, screeching sound as he dragged it on the ground.

Lucius positioned the chair in front of Samara and sat down on it. "Priscilla..." He called Priscilla. "Why don't you excuse us. I don't think Samara would like to play this game I have in mind with me if your standing there like that. You know Samara can be very shy around you." Lucius said to Priscilla who nodded and immediately left the basement.

Lucius was silent after Priscilla left with a calculative expression on his face before it was replaced by a grin. "So, we are going to play a game of questions and answers and the rules are simple."