Empty feeling

Chapter one hundred and twenty-nine

This sly man. He was using her words against her. Very smart move. The look on his face told her that he was enjoying the toll the conversation was taking, she however wouldn't let this slide so easily.

"I'm making an exception tonight. You do like the sound of that, don't you, Mr Williams?" 

"Ah! An ex-ception," Xander enunciated, nodding his head repeatedly as though he was trying to assimilate her words. 

"Hmm. So- what do you say, Mr Williams?" Anna asked impatiently. 

A smile curved around his lips and Anna beamed at him in anticipation of his reply, and her shoulders went slightly up.

"Miss Houston, my decision still stands." Anna's shoulders drooped in disappointment and she rolled her eyes away. In the next moment, she was slouched on the sofa and she heard a soft distant chuckle from Xander, who was already at the door. 

"I'll be back soon enough." She heard his faint voice and she sighed in frustration. What would she do while he was away?

She heard very quick footsteps instantly and Xander appeared almost immediately in her front, scaring her a little. A leery look was on his beautiful face and he leaned forward, placing both hands of his on either side of her. Anna's heart pounded heavily in her chest, as she anticipated his next move. His dark eyes were narrowing hers, which flickered in perplexion.

"You are not allowed to go to that room, Anna. Don't you dare set your foot in there. It's forbidden. Do I make myself clear?" His voice was deep and authoritative, Anna felt shivers down her spine and the hair on her skin bristled. His foreboding eyes told her that he wasn't bluffing. He rarely called her "Anna". He always called her by her last name. She knew that he intentionally called her Anna to make her know that this was serious.

Anna's voice caught in her throat, so she couldn't answer him with words, she nodded instead. 

"Good girl." She felt his long fingers on her firm chin, and his light touch caused a tingling sensation in her. Couldn't he just leave without having to make any form of contact with her? No matter how little or fleeting his touch was, it always sent waves of pleasure through her, and she hated that he wouldn't stop torturing her despite knowing the kind of effect that he had on her. She saw a smirk on his face which disappeared almost as soon as it came before he released his grip on her chin, leaving her yearning for more of his touches. 

He disappeared out of sight and Anna felt empty on the inside the moment she saw him leave the house. This time, he left for real because she didn't hear his quick footsteps nor did she hear his deep sultry voice. The emptiness of the house matched the one on her inside. It portrayed how she was feeling. It was becoming harder for her to live without him. He was slowly starting to mean the world to her, she felt herself falling even deeper for him, despite all the red flags staring and screaming at her to snap out of it. She knew that it was already too late. There was no way she could stop what she was feeling.

Anna felt tears escape from her eyes and she immediately dabbed her soft cheeks with the back of her palm. It was no use crying, yet she found herself crying every single time she remembered that her love for Mr Williams was one-sided. She sniffed and tried to blink away the fresh tears already forming around the corner of the whites of her eyes which were gradually becoming pink. 

She decided that a soothing bath was what she needed to clear her hazy head. She rose from the sofa and tried finding her way to the room she found herself in when she woke up. She didn't want to disturb any of the maids, especially because it was already late. They would probably be sleeping. 

Anna followed the way she and Xander came from and in no time, she found herself in front of the door. She entered the room and found her way to the bathroom. She was glad when she spotted a white robe hung in the bathroom. She immediately slipped out of her clothes and heaped them in a corner. She filled the bathtub and entered, lying inside naked. As expected, the water from the bathtub was soothing and relaxing. Anna shut her eyes, relishing the moment and in fleeting seconds, she drifted off to sleep.