Chapter Forty-Eight

"What is it?" 

She asked, but Sharlene remained frozen as if she did not hear her.

"Sharlene, are you okay?"

Helena pressed, her heart racing when she saw she was holding her breath. 

"Shar..."

"It is Mr...I mean Nick."

Sharlene, who had seemed to regain her voice, interjected her mother's worry.

With pointed eyebrows, Helena breathed a sigh of relief before glaring at her. Sternly, she spoke while lightly hitting her with the pillow.

"Do not scare me like that again, you hear me? I thought you were suffering from a heart attack."

"Sorry, mom. His call was so sudden that it took my breath away."

"Of course, it would."

Sarcastic, while rolling her eyes, Helena was not a happy person when she got rudely wakened. 

"It is 3 in the morning. Who calls at that time? Why could he not call you later or earlier in the day? You have work tomorrow. And knowing you, a hurricane and earthquake can pass, but you would not wake up. What about...?"

Sending a look in her mother's direction, Sharlene interjected with a roll of her eyes. 

"Stop being a worrywart, Mom. I installed an alarm for that purpose. Besides, Nick is a busy man. Taking the time to call me makes me..."

With a smile splitting across her face, she shrieked while bouncing from left to right.

"It makes me feel special."

Shaking her head from her childish theatrics, Helena lifted her body into a sitting position.

"Then are you not going to answer it?"

Sharlene hurriedly stood and began to walk towards the door. 

"Where are you going?" 

Helena asked with raised eyebrows.

"To the bathroom. Go back to sleep, Mom. I will be back soon."

Helena frowned as she watched Sharlene skip out of the room. With a heavy sigh, she laid back down on the bed.

Glancing up at the dark ceiling, she made a mental note to speak privately to Nicholas Ross about his odd moments of contacting her daughter.

She did not appreciate his lack of promptness. Incoherently mumbling, she was too tired to think more on the matter and summoned sleep.

-----

Meanwhile, Sharlene bounced around.

With her eyesight dangerously poor at night, she hissed when she stumped her toe on the edge of the door while closing it. 

Voicelessly screaming, she shook her foot in the air. 

With tears in her eyes, she leaned against the wall and allowed time to pass for the pain to subside. As soon as it did, she turned on the flashlight.

Her mother's room was next to the bathroom, which she was thankful about because walking through the dark was dangerous downstairs, especially with her inability to see correctly in the dark. 

Her fear of facing a similar incident was so great that she tip-toed to the bathroom.

The phone in her hand had stopped ringing when she stepped out of the room, but she did not feel dejected because Nick would call again.

She blamed her lack of answer on the joy she felt.

Half a minute later, she arrived in front of the bathroom. 

Putting on the light, she closed the door behind her.

Five seconds after sitting on the toilet, her phone rang. Without wasting time, she quickly answered.

"Hello."

But she blocked her mouth with a giant blush staining her cheeks when her voice came out croaky. 

Pulling the phone from her mouth, she cleared her throat twice. Quickly, she placed it back on her ear, where she heard Nick's concerned voice.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yes. You did."

Nervously giggling, with her blush intensifying because he had heard her croaky morning voice, Sharlene twisted a strand of hair with her index finger.

Nick, on the other hand, was feeling apologetic. 

Glancing at his watch, he lowly hissed because though it was 11 a.m. here in Italy, there was an eight-hour difference between the two countries.

'It probably just turned 3 a.m. there.'

Thinking this to himself, he sighed while passing a hand through his hair. That was also the only hour he had free in the day before another set of work would come his way. He had called without any given thought. When he had not gotten a reply from his first two calls, he should have stopped, but the differences in countries had not come to mind. 

He was too excited to speak with her again. 

"I am sorry for calling you so early." 

With a hand underneath her chin and half-closed eyes, Sharlene hummed. Without her knowledge, she had closed her eyes during the short delay of his reply.

Not an early riser, she was dead tired, and to make matters worse, the soothing voice of Nick was making her even more relaxed. Excitement and fatigue were clouding her brain.

"Sharlene," Nick called when he heard silence on the other end. Smiling as her soft snore came through the speakers, he proposed, "Maybe I can call back when you are fully awake or another day."

Absentmindedly humming at his words, Sharlene suddenly jerked awake when they registered in her muddled brain. All her fatigue left her as she fervently refused. 

"What? No, no. I am fine. I am wide awake. Besides..."

Shyly, she added as she gazed at her bare feet while rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn.

"I was looking forward to your call."

Placing a hand over her eyes, she bowed with rosy cheeks as if someone was watching her.

Grinning, Nick imagined her blushing face. 

Standing, he walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the bustling city.

"I was also looking forward to hearing your beautiful voice again."

Giggling, Sharlene sank her blushing face in her lap when she heard this. 

Nick's heart palpated in his chest as he heard her gentle and uplifting giggle. 

His smile broadened. 

He felt like he was on cloud nine.

The same could be said for Sharlene because her smile was unmovable on her lips. 

'Really?' 

Giggling like a crazy person in her head, she lightly kicked her legs in the air.

"So...why did you call?"

Thoughtlessly blurting out, she wanted the earth to swallow her whole after her words registered in her brain. 

Hearing his throaty chuckle, she groaned. 

Teasingly, he asked.

"Is calling my soon-to-be wife a problem?"

"No, no. What I mean is...oh, man...What I wanted to say is your reason for calling...oh, no, that came out wrong. Can we start the conversation again? I..."

Lost for words, Sharlene glanced at every corner of the room for answers, but Nick readily saved her the trouble, for he interjected with another chuckle.

"I understand."

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Sharlene sheepishly murmured.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. And to answer your question, I called because I promised to. Considering how short our conversation was last time, I wanted to make up for it today."

"Oh. Then are you busy?"

"Not for another hour or so."

"Is that the reason you called so early?"

"Yes. Later, I'd be buried in work and have no time to call you. So I said why not call you now that I am, but I did not calculate the time difference."

"Thank you."

Raising an eyebrow, for her appreciation had puzzled him, Nick inquisitively asked.

"Whatever for?"

Sharlene began to distract herself by playing with the edge of her nightgown.

"For calling me as you promised."

Relaxing his eyebrows when he heard her shy reply, Nick lowly chuckled. After a few seconds, he became serious. 

Swallowing his nervousness, he boldly spoke. 

"Of course, I should. It was a promise and because you are someone special to me."

As she heard the confession, her heart began to race, and she felt immensely moved. 

In a mellow tone of voice, she replied. 

"You are someone special to me too."

Her cheeks rosy and her eyes shining, she looked lovely, something Nick would have loved to gaze upon.

If AJ were in front of her, he would have teased by saying, 'You look love-struck,' and she would have readily agreed. There was no need to deny the feelings that were clear as day. She had feelings for Nicholas Ross, and it was not baseless.

Nick's breath hitched when he heard this. He had not expected her brave reply, and yet he felt elated. The doubt that clouded his heart stripped away with that thought. He smiled.

A brief silence spread across the phone until she finally broke it. 

Her voice was still mellow.

"When will you return?"

Returning to reality, Nick quickly replied after clearing his throat.

"In one week. It could be two. It depends."

"Two weeks?"

Loudly murmuring, her heart sank, for she had been counting the days for his return. 

Hearing the disappointment in her tone, Nick hurriedly explained further.

"That's because something unexpected happened."

"Was it something drastic?"

Closing his eyes, for he hated how sad her voice suddenly became, Nick wished, at that very moment, that he was not an influential businessman but someone ordinary.

"Yes. If things go according to plan, it might take me a shorter time to complete, or it could take longer."

"I see."

Murmuring, Sharlene felt downtrodden by the news, but she quickly added with conviction.

"Then I hope it takes a shorter time."

Smirking as he heard this, he blatantly teased. 

"Are you missing me that much, Ms. Cunning-ham?"

"Yes, I am."

In a heartbeat, Sharlene answered without blushing. 

Taken aback, Nick slowly regained his composure. 

With a chuckle, he continued to tease her. 

"Then I will work extra hard to tie up loose ends here."

"Please do."

Snuffing his laughter with the back of his hands, for she sounded resolved yet cute, Nick cleared his throat as he increased his teasing.

"Will I get a reward for my hard work?"

A brief silence passed before she spoke. 

"Will a kiss suffice?"

Her words left him speechless and caused his eyes to widen.

Choking on air, he rapidly began to cough. 

With furrowed eyebrows, Sharlene became worried. 

'Was my suggestion too sudden?' 

She thought with her heart racing with trepidation. 

"Are you okay?" 

Hearing the worry in her shaky voice, Nick forced himself to catch his breath, but the shock was too great. 

Walking over to the table, he was thankful Cordelia had brought a jug of water earlier. Placing the phone in the crook of his neck, he quickly poured himself a glass and quickly gulped it down, which brought another wave of coughing. 

Sharlene's frown broadened, for his coughing had increased.

"Nick, are you okay?" 

She repeated, but her voice was sterner.

"I am fine. My saliva went down the wrong hole. Just give me a few seconds."

Managing to speak between coughing, Nick turned red. 

It was from both coughing and blushing from embarrassment. 

Sharlene nodded in understanding before she froze when her words registered in her mind.

'Did I shock him that much?' 

Feeling the heat of her blush taking over her body, she stuttered.

"P_please e_erase what I said. I_I was not thinking straight. I_I might be too tired."

Fortunately, Nick hadn't heard the words she uttered because a loud commotion beyond his office doors had garnered his attention.