At the theatre (2)

Athena looked around in amazement. So this is what is theatre looks like. It was a huge building, consisting of a stage where the actors and actresses perform on. There were several rows of seats. There were already many people seated and the show had not yet started.

"Come on. Let's sit there," Darren said as he pointed at the seats that were not occupied. Athena nodded and they went to sit down. Athena's ecstasy was written all over her face. She kept on babbling in a low tone. She could hardly wait for the show to begin!

Soon the show began. Athena focused on the show. She would flinch from time to time when the female lead was hit by her evil stepmother. Sometimes she would smile and then her lips would curl down. On the other hand, Darren's attention was on the cute little creature beside him.

He watched her actions in amusement. He slowly slid his hands towards hers and clasped it tightly. Athena did not notice his actions since all her attention was on the stage. Athena blushed when the female lead and male lead kissed.

By the end of the show, Athena was crying.

Darren was puzzled. "Why are you crying?"

"That female lead was so pitiful," Athena murmured as she sniffed. She then noticed that he was holding her hand.

She awkwardly pulled her hand away. Darren gave her a handkerchief and she wiped away her tears and even blew her nose. Darren looked speechlessly at her. "I promised that I will never ever let you cry but why are you crying over something that is not real?"

"It's real to me! Sigh. It's a good thing that she married the handsome male lead at the end," she remarked carelessly.

"Handsome? Do you think that he is very handsome?" Darren's voice became low but she did not notice and nodded absent-mindedly.

"Is he very handsome than me?"

Athena still nodded absent-mindedly. She was thinking about the show. Darren's eyes darkened and a look of jealousy flashed in his eyes and disappeared as soon as it came.

"Stand up. We are going." Darren stood up and began to drag her out of the building. Athena talked ceaselessly about the show and Darren did not say a word.

He walked faster and Athena could not keep up. "Hey, slow down! You are walking too fast."

However he did not slow down. Instead he increased his pace.

"Please slow down!" What's wrong with him? Why did he seem to be pissed off about something? Athena was puzzled. She did not do anything wrong, did she?

"These heels are killing me!" Athena said exasperatedly. " I can't keep up!" He suddenly turned and picked her up, catching her off guard. He carried her in a bridal style.

"What are you doing? Put me down immediately!" Athena shouted and hit him with her little fist.

"You said that the heels are killing you so I decided to carry you," he said with a poker face. Knowing that he won't let her down no matter what, she only sighed.

Her face turned crimson and she did not say another word. Darren also did not say anything. She buried her face in his chest. This was so embarrassing. It was rather inappropriate for him to carry her like this.

Fortunately the walk back home was not too long. They soon arrived and he kicked the door open before kicking it close. He went straight to the bedroom and threw her on the bed. He then sat down. Athena did not dare to look at him.

Instead she sat up and began to remove the heels and threw away them one by one carelessly. She rubbed her sore feet as she grunted. Those damn heels! Darren was staring at her all this time. He opened his mouth and said, "We won't be buying any heels for you next time. We will buy sandals."

Athena looked up in surprise. There will be a next time?

"So now tell me is that actor more handsome than me?"

She stared at him in confusion. What was he talking about? Darren's eyes narrowed slightly when he met her confused gaze.

"Don't act like you don't know what I am talking about."

Athena scratched her head. Something suddenly clicked in her mind. "Oh, you mean that handsome male lead from that show?" She stared at his face closely. "Both you are very handsome."

"So if you were to choose who to marry between the two of us, who would you choose? That actor or me?"

Athena's eyebrows furrowed. What's all this about? Still she answered honestly, "Mmm. I would choose the actor. He is handsome and very romantic." She had a dreamy look on her face when she said this.

Darren's face darkened by every passing second. So she would choose that good for nothing actor over him? Athena was quite unaware of the danger in front of her.

"So will we go back there again?" Athena asked anticipatingly.

"I mean if there is another time," she added.

Silence. Athena looked up and saw him staring at her like a predator staring at his prey. "Darren?"

"You won't be going anywhere near that theatre ever again!" He said slowly. " Do you understand?"

Athena frowned. "Why can't go I go there again?" Darren used his finger to raise her chin, forcing her to look up. "So that you can see that useless actor again? You won't be going there again," he said slowly, his voice cold and his gaze frosty, sending shivers down her spine.

She cowered away. It seemed like he was beginning to show his true colours now.

"Some people are fake so don't get too carried away by the little kindness they show you." Belinda's previous words rang in her mind. Could what Belinda had said before be really true?

"You will never ever think of another man or admire any other man in front of me," he said in an authoritative voice. " Do you hear me?"

Intimidated, she bobbed her head vigorously. Fear danced in her big round doe eyes.

A smile stretched on his face. This time it was not his usual lively smile but it was a cold smile. "Good girl." He patted her head. Athena softly gulped and did not dare to say a word. What was really going on? She did not say anything wrong!

Darren stood up and walked out of the room without uttering another word. Athena patted her chest. She will try by all means to not provoke him again! She quickly climbed out of the bed and changed into night clothes. She threw herself on the bed and covered herself with the blanket.

She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. After sometime, she eventually fell asleep. She snored lightly and her lips were slightly parted. When Darren entered the room, he saw her laying on the edge of the bed.

Darren sighed and climbed on the bed. He got under the blankets and looked at the dumb and timid little creature that laid far away from him. He wondered if she won't fall from the bed. She acted brave and intelligent but in reality she was quite the opposite. She was just a stupid and naive little girl.

He must have scared her. He stretched out his hand to touch her but then retracted his hand. Darren did not want her to be afraid of him just like how afraid and hateful she was towards the king. He ran a hand through his hair. What can he do?

He could not bear the thought of her leaving him. He was used to having her by his side, laughing, eating very unladylike, acting stupid. Darren felt astonished by his own weird emotions. What was going on with him? These emotions were so foreign to him.

"What have you done to me Athena?" He mumbled with an unfathomable look.

Athena was woken up by a sweet melody. She quickly sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. As usual, Darren had already left. Her ears perked up and she listened earnestly to the beautiful sound of a flute. Who was playing a flute in the cool of the morning.

She yawned and climbed out of the bed. Feeling curious, she did not bother to fix her unkempt appearance and walked out of the house on bare feet.

She stretched herself and looked around. Small beautiful birds were perched on the branches of the trees and a soft breeze blew gently through her unkempt hair. Athena smiled subconsciously. She never thought a morning could be this peaceful and beautiful out here.

She began to look for the person who was playing the flute. She liked the melody. It was quite a beautiful and soothing melody. She felt drawn by it. She moved through the bushes and looked around.

Athena did not see anyone and walked deeper into the woods. The beautiful sound seemed to be coming from there. She walked carefully so that she could not tread on anything that can harm her little feet.

She continued her search. However she did not see anyone after searching a while. She looked right and then left. She did not where exactly the beautiful melody was coming from. Athena did not give up and continued to move forward stubbornly.

"Fluter?!" Athena shouted. "Where are you? I am looking for you. There's something that I want to ask you..."

She was getting closer and closer to the beautiful sound. She moved briskly through the bushes to see a man sitting on a stone. His broad back was facing her.

He looked a bit familiar... Athena walked closer to the man, her heart was beating wildly. "Umm, hello?" She said in a soft voice. The man did not respond and kept on playing his flute.

Athena did not notice the trap set in front of her since her eyes were fixated on the man's back. She stepped into it. She raised her foot to take a step forward...

Everything happened so fast and she could not comprehend what exactly happened. She suddenly found herself hanging upside down. Athena screamed, startled. The man turned to look at her when he heard her scream.

Athena was surprised to see that it was Darren. "Hey. I need a little help here," she said awkwardly. Her face was beetroot and her eyes looked everywhere but did not dare to look at him. This was very embarrassing.

Darren stopped playing his flute and looked at her in surprise. "Why are you here?"

"Can you please help me get down first?" Her dress was now slightly above her waist, revealing her cute black knickers. She felt exposed. How she wished for the ground to open and swallow her up at this moment!

Darren laughed hard at her discomfort, making her feel annoyed. His eyes travelled from her milky legs to her knickers.

"Don't look, you shameless pervert!" she cried out. This was humiliating! She was going to teach him a lesson after she got down from there!

Darren turned and resumed back to playing his flute.

Athena, "..." What the hell?

"Hey! Get me down right now!," she commanded.

" Get down by yourself," he answered nonchalantly. Athena looked speechlessly at him. Just how can she get herself down?

Athena looked at the rope tied tightly on her right foot in annoyance. She did not have anything sharp to use to cut the rope. She huffed and tried to reach out to the rope tied on her foot but her could not reach it. She tried again but failed.

She kept on trying in vain but to no avail. She glared at Darren who was enjoying himself while she was racking her brains to find a way to get down. After trying so many times, she stopped and watched the man.

Time passed and her head began to feel heavy. Blood rushed into her small head, making her feel dizzy.

"Get me down, Darren." Athena said weakly.

This time Darren stopped playing his flute and stood up with a scowl on his face. "You failed to do such a simple little thing!"

He unsheathed his sword and cut the rope. She fell with a loud thud and groaned. "Couldn't you be a bit gentle?" She sat up and rubbed her forehead.

"You are welcome," he said as he sheathed his sword. Athena rolled her eyes. Sometimes she did not understand how his mind worked.

"You never told me that you are so good at playing a flute," Athena said.

"I am good at doing almost everything," he said boastfully. "I can cook. I can hunt. I am good at sword fighting. I am also very good in bed."

Athena choked on her own saliva. Darren patted her back. " There there. Are you okay?" Athena swatted his hand away. " Why are you so shameless?"

"I am only shameless for my little princess," he grinned. "I like the colour of your knickers. It looks good on you."

Her ears turned red and she averted her gaze from him. What a weird compliment!

He suddenly flicked her forehead. "Why are you not wearing any shoes?"

Athena rubbed her forehead. It seemed to be becoming a habit of him flicking her forehead like that. He suddenly picked her up, catching her off guard. He threw her over his shoulder effortlessly like she was only a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down!" She cried and punched him with her little fists.

"Be a good girl. You are not wearing any shoes. What if you get hurt? Let's go home."

Knowing that he won't let her down, Athena stopped punching him and resigned to her fate.