ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO

ANISHA'S POV

Some of the rooms were decorated in colour themes, for example a room could have all white and gold furniture; or turquoise and brown all over the room. White, it seemed to me, was Mrs de Milo's favourite colour, because it was the colour that dominated the whole place. There was a huge lounge decorated in vintage theme. In it, chairs of raw wood were aligned, with a table in rough wood. Unpolished, and yet very classy. There were some traditional furniture pieces…it took my breath away. I could not tell which room was more beautiful than the other; for each room stood out in its own beauty, and each room was extremely beautiful. I wondered how much money the de Milos spent in making their home look that beautiful. We went from one floor to the other, from one wing to the other, until we got to the rooftop. We entered in the lounges which were up there.

"It's night already," I gasped, for I had not thought that time would move that fast.

"Yes it is," Dylan spoke as he made me lean on to the walls and he came very close to me.

I started feeling extremely uncomfortable and fidgeted a bit. "I guess your parents are now wondering where we are," I whispered.

"They're not yet here," he smiled.

"How do you know?" I struggled to free myself.

"I won't bite you," he teased, and I relaxed a bit, although I would have really wished for him to free me.

Dylan continue to come close. I could not tell whether I wanted him to do so or not; but I guess I did. I had never been kissed in my entire life, and seeing him this close to me, and predicting that he meant to kiss me, I felt chills and I wished to disappear into thin air. What should I do? I asked myself and my stomach almost sold me off. I felt a rumble building up and although it could have been because I was slightly hungry, I believed it was more because of fear and anxiety.

His face, which I had always described as beautiful, both to him and in my mind, inched closer and closer to me and I drew more and more into the wall behind me. The wall, unfortunately, could not move, thus I continued to squeeze myself and wished for something to disturb us. Arianna! Where was Arianna? Couldn't she just appear and call out our names, like she always did? Or a phone call…or yes, a phone call could come in very handy at such a moment. Val, oh Val, where are you! I cried in my heart. Call me now, Val!! I pleaded in my own heart. Or even Ms Meyerton…I suddenly realised there were not many people who were likely to call me. I wanted that surprise call at that moment. Or Dylan himself..why wouldn't his phone start ringing? Why wasn't Pete calling him? Or the hospital? Was there nothing that they wanted at the hospital? Call…call… someone please make that call!

No phone call came. I closed my eyes and did not know how else to escape. I faced the ground and saw his feet and mine so close together, and I quickly closed my eyes again. And he held me, and I slowly raised my face to look at him. Oh no!! I could not! I could not face him! I wanted to run away! I wanted to receive a phone call….or someone should have appeared…Arianna!! Arianna where are you….and it happened. He kissed me. Oh! I could not even explain how I felt; in a good way. The sweetness of his lips; the hotness of his breath on my skin…I wanted more of it. I did not respond, I was too scared and almost frozen. But I wished he could kiss me some more. It was too short, I guess. Ok; so what was I supposed to do? My eyes were still shut; and I slowly opened them. Oh no! He was still facing me right in my eyes, with his very beautiful eyes smiling at me. I quickly evaded his stare and looked away. He laughed.

"No please don't laugh at me," I said in a small voice and tried to walk away; but he did not let me.

"Why are you so shy??" he asked me.

"I'm not shy" I answered as I felt even more shy. "Please Dylan, let's go inside now. I'm sure they are all waiting for us inside." I spoke without looking at him.

"Look at me Anisha. Look at me. You're talking to me, aren't you?" he teased.

"Of course I am," I responded.

"So then look at me."

I raised my eyes to look at him, but as soon as our eyes met, I quickly faced the floor and refused to raise my eyes any more.

Thank God for Iris. Thank God for Iris; the elevator clicked open and her voice called out, "sir Dylan! Sir and ma'am will be here in ten minutes. You may want to come to the central lounge, if it's ok with you."

I struggled to get free of Dylan's hug...or whatever it was; for I stood between him and the wall, and the last thing I wanted was for Iris to see me in such a position. Iris, as soon as she spotted us, looked aside to hide a smile, and she quickly disappeared back into the elevator. I swore I heard her giggling to herself as she left.

"Iris saw us! It's all your fault!" I pushed Dylan away.

"It's not like she saw us making love," he laughed.

"Stop!" I could not handle the embarrassment.

"It's the truth," Dylan seemed to be enjoying seeing me so embarrassed. When he let me go, I ran out of his embrace and stood near the elevator.

"Let's go, then. Why are you still standing there?" I asked him.

"Let's use the stairs. It's more fun," he replied.

"No Dylan please. Let's just use the elevator; it'll be faster."

"The stairs it is." He said and pulled me by the wrist into one of the rooftop lounges.

That lounge was the one which connected us to seventh floor, and from there we started descending the stairs down to the central lounge. Honestly speaking, I was enjoying every moment of it. There was just a lot of fun in doing that. And down the staircase we went. The stairs were winding down in a circular pattern, and as I later on understood; they led to the central lounge, which was in the fifth floor. What I had not known was that should anyone happen to be in the central lounge, they would see clearly the winding stairs, and could see whoever was coming down, when they were still a long way off. I cannot explain the panic and fear I felt, when I was merrily running down those stairs, with my dress folded up and held in my palm somewhere near my knees; for I had feared that if I let it flow, it might triple me and cause me to fall. The so-called central lounge was lit with dim orange ceiling lights. In the midst of the huge room whose centre was sunken, was a set of ivory sofas, with white and ivory cushions thrown all around. The most horrifying fact was that all those sofas; or rather almost all of them, were occupied. The first person my eyes landed on was Arianna; who waved happily and urged me to come down quickly. Dylan's father was there too, he looked up and gave me a very warm smile. Pete, of course, was also there. When I had seen them all, I knew there was one more person I had not seen, and I dreaded seeing her.

I took one step backwards, and bumped into Dylan who was right behind me.

"Let's go," he encouraged me.

"Why…why did we have to….to come this way? I wasn't aware everyone would be staring at us." I whispered.

"I wasn't aware they're now here; but let's go. It's ok."

He circled around me and took my trembling hand. He led the way and slowly I ascended. My knees almost gave way, for with each step I took, my jelly knees trembled greatly, and I became very scared. I clenched onto Dylan's hand with all my might; as if my whole life depended on it. He; sensing my fear and anxiety, squeezed my hand and said, "it's Ok, Anisha."

Slowly we headed towards where the family was. My eyes had not yet braved enough to face Mrs de Milo; although of course from the corner of my eyes I had spotted where she sat.

"How are you Mr and Mrs de Milo? Hello Pete and Arianna."

"Good day child. It's good to have you here again," Dylan's dad beamed happily.

"You guys made a grand entrance; it's a pity I didn't have my camera ready. That should have been captured." Oh no! Arianna! Did you really have to mention that? Of all things?

I faced the floor and did not know what to say or do. Realising that Mrs de Milo had not responded to my greeting, I felt highly uneasy; and I wanted to just disappear.

"Feel free.", Mrs de Milo finally addressed me. "You're too tense. I've invited you because I just want to get to know you better. Come with me; let's get the cake first, then we can join the family. Follow me."