Trapped

That day, she was happy. Because she didn't know that the world she has set her foot in; was full of traps, lies and betrayal.

...Six years ago....

When Lucy woke up, she found herself in an unfamiliar room.

From pillows to sofa and Chandelier to decorative arts pieces, everything was luxurious compared to her modest room.

And the bed on which she was lying, was way too comfortable.

'Where am I?' she thought

And then the scenes from the club hit her with a bang!

She recalled the picture when she drank alcohol for the first time because her friend Jennifer insisted her to. Then the scenario in which she danced on the dance floor.

And... and the scene where that creepy dude was attempting to do something nasty to her! The very thought of this made her Shiver.

Then Li Xuan came to the picture and..."I am safe." she uttered as she carefully examined herself.

What a relief...

And once again she was at the same point 'Where am I?'

Soon, she got her answer when the door to the room opened and a certain someone walked in.

Li Xuan looked at Lucy "Oh, you are up!" then he added, "Sorry, I didn't knock on the door because I thought you were sleeping."

Lucy nodded "It's okay," she looked around the room as she said, "This is..."

"Yes, this is my humble home. And..." he offered her a reassuring smile as he added, "and you are unharmed."

He, for some reason, wanted her to know that back then in the club, nothing happened to her.

And she was thankful for that.

Lucy was having a slight headache and she concluded it must be because of whatever she drank in the club.

But she needed to shake away her headache because there were some formalities which she must do.

Lucy got up from the bed and stood in front of him. All this while his eyes were glued to her, catching her every moves in brief.

She looked right into his eyes "Yesterday when all my hopes were on the verge of vanishing," She said, "You appeared like only one ray of sunshine."

She deeply bowed down to him,

"H-hey! what are you doing? there is no need of it!" Li Xuan said, "Any person in his right mind would have done the same."

However, Lucy continued with whatever she was saying as if she didn't hear him at all "Thank you, is a very small word for what you have done to me." then she added, "But, perhaps this is the only word I know right now." She said, "Thank you."

Her each and every ordinary words were laced with a very unique sense of sincerity.

He felt a pang in his chest. A sense of guilt was making its way to his heart.

She was thanking him, for what?

It was his plan to get her drunk. The man who tried to molest her was also hired by him. Why? Just so he could get the chance to play Hero and win her trust?

He shook his head to get rid of this weird sense of guilt. 'focus on the goal!' he reminded himself.

He smiled at her "As I said, there is no need of it." then he added, "However, if this makes you feel at ease, then alright..." he added further, "Gratitude accepted!"

He had no idea that these few sentences of his were this powerful to make her smile genuinely.

And holy lord this was the first time she offered him a smile!

Her smile was like.... breathtaking? No. it was something entirely different.

It was like the warmth of a blanket in chilly winter nights,

The first drop of rain in monsoon season,

His favourite cup of coffee in exhausting days.

'What on earth am I thinking?!' Li Xuan cringed internally at his own poetic crap.

Anyways, that's how he felt.

"Uhm.." he cleared his throat as he said, "The other day... I asked you out for coffee," he added, "My offer still stands." He looked at her smiling face as added further "But of course, I'm not going to take you to some cafe." He inched one step closer to her and said "If you allow me, I'll make you one myself."

Lucy had already started to see him in a new light.

"I can't possibly say no to such a tempting offer now, can I Mr. Li?" Lucy said

Li Xuan grinned "There is the washroom in case you want to wash up." he said "After that please come down. In the meantime, I'll prepare us coffee."

Lucy politely smiled and said, "Sure, just give me a few minutes." with that she headed to the washroom and Li Xuan to the kitchen.

When Lucy came down, she was welcomed by the pleasent aroma of coffee.

Coffee's aroma always gave her a homy kind of feeling.

She glanced in the kitchen and found Li Xuan.

He was decorating the dessert. His long and dark eyelashes were fixed on it.

He looked exactly how everyone claimed him to be... sexy!

"So, what do you find most admirable? Me or the dessert?" Li Xuan casually asked her without looking away from the dessert. The teasing tone was evident in his voice

Lucy, who was caught red-handed by him, wasn't scared or embarrassed at all.

She calmly replied, "Both are worthy of appreciation."

He chuckled,

"Here," he handed her the coffee and dessert

She took it gladly as she said "Thank you, Mr. Li"

"Mr. Li sounds so distant, don't you think so?" Li Xuan said, "You can call me Xuan like my friends does."

Lucy shook her head "We are graduates of the same University. I hope you will have no objection if I call you Senior."

He laughed as he said, "Well anything is better than Mr. Li, right Junior?"

Lucy, in response, smiled sheepishly.

Afterwards, they continued with their coffee.

"Oh, by the way, do not drink too much alcohol," Li Xuan said "You were total clueless about your surrounding, last night."

Li Xuan felt awkward in his heart as he said those things to her.

Lucy didn't say anything to him and just nodded.

'Jenny, just be ready for the consequences of your deeds.' Lucy was determined to confront the girl who seemed to have backstabbed her.

"Alright, Senior, I'll be gone now," Lucy said after finishing the coffee and dessert.

He nodded as he walked her out, "Stay in touch, Junior."

"Sure," Lucy said then bowed down to him as a form of goodbye and walked away.

He kept starring at her retreating back then he smirked and said "You are finally trapped in the illusion created by me, Lucy Carl."

An illusion of beauty that is full of heartbreaks.

Lucy who was unaware of his motives, took out her phone and hit the call button. After a few rings, the call was received.

And came out a familiar voice from the other end of the phone. "Thank god you finally called! babe, do you know how worried I was?!"

Lucy wasn't up for it.

'Yeah, that's why you disappeared from the club, without any hint. And that's why you didn't bother to give a call or drop a single message.' Lucy caught Jennifer's lies but remained calm.

That's how she was, always calm and collected.

"Jennifer Wang, I'll ask you a question and you will answer me truthfully." Lucy asked in a firm voice which she never used on Jennifer "What was in drink?"

.....

Author's note:- In case anyone forgot about Jennifer, She is a friend of Lucy who took her to the club.

and also, don't get confused between Jenny and Jennifer, they are same.