Irresistible Love

ALEX

The sky seemed to have cleared up after two continuous days of downpour.

Finally, the rays of the sun were able to hit the drenched leaves of trees and plants. Birds who sat in the birdbath shook their beaks and looked toward the sky before flying off to their nests.

I watched it all while standing on my balcony.

The view was quite something. It was soothing and calming compared to the commotion of the city.

There was no chaos of traffic, no skyscrapers to block the sky, no people around, and no noise. There were only trees in place of skyscrapers, birds and animals in place of traffic, and quietness in place of noise.

I loved this place. Away from everything, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Away from every single problem, but alas!

The time spent here would be soon over, and I would have to leave this soothing place to go back to that concrete jungle that we call a city.

“Master, your luggage has been packed, and the car is ready,” the butler informed me as I turned around to face him.

“Where is she?” Like every time, my voice was void of any emotions, and I expected a clear answer from him.

The old butler clasped his white-gloved hands in front of himself and bowed his head before replying.

“Miss Ungur is on the way. She would like you to meet her at the front. She said she needs to pack a little more before she is ready to leave.”

He bowed once more before turning around and vanishing inside the mansion.

I looked out again when I heard the car honking. The car was ready for us. The driver stopped the car and got out, holding a piece of cloth, and began to wipe the windscreen, oblivious to the fact that I was watching.

“Oh, you all are already leaving.”

“Grandma.” I turned around as soon as I heard her voice. There she was, walking down the stairs. She made her way toward me and engulfed me in a hug.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whined, making me smile. She was the only person who ever showed me affection and had made me realize what care truly meant.

“We shall be back soon, beautiful.” I kissed her palms and smiled at her. She tried to return the smile but failed. Her eyes watered, and she withdrew her hands and hid her face in her sleeves.

“Grandma.” I engulfed her in my arms.

“Join us. Come with us.” For the umpteenth time, I begged her to come and live with us, but then, once again, she shook her head and smiled up at me.

“It’s all right. I’m fine here. I love this place and I don’t want to leave your grandfather alone…here…” Her voice broke down at the end, and my hold around her tightened.

“I know he must be watching us from up there, and I believe he doesn’t like seeing you like this every time, Grandma.”

“Still. I can’t leave this place. I don’t want to. I feel as if your grandfather is right beside me here. I don’t really feel lonely.” She sighed and looked up at me as I took a step back, removing my arms from around her.

“It feels as if you two just visited me yesterday, but now you both are leaving.” Her eyes saddened, but before I could reply, a voice stopped me, and both of us looked toward the source.

There she was, standing on the porch as she looked toward us with a smile on her face.

Her jet-black hair flew into her face as the wind blew around her, and with a smile, she raked her hand through her hair as she made her way toward us.

“If you want, I can stay here for more days, Granny.” She ran up to us and engulfed Grandma in a hug.

“Oh, Ivona.” Grandma laughed as she put her arms around her neck.

“Is it possible?” she asked, blinking at me. Both looked back at me with a pleading look.

“She can’t, Grandma. You know we need to be present in the con—”

“Please, Alex! I don’t want to leave this place yet. At least let me stay here for a week. I promise I shall be with you on time for your conference. Please?” Ivona pleaded.

“Ivona, you have never been out without me and you—”

“She will not be alone, Alex,” Grandma huffed, vexed at me, making me instantly close my mouth.

“I will be here with her. And be honest: will you be by her side all day long?

“It’s not about her being alone out here in the middle of a forest on this island but about you not wanting to leave your fiancée alone for a second, isn’t it, Alex?”

Grandma wiggled her eyebrows at me. Wrinkles formed on the corners of her eyes, and her green eyes sparkled with mischief as she teased me.

“Grandma, it’s nothing like that—”

“Alex, please?” Ivona pleaded for the second time, and I looked back at her. Her blue eyes pleaded with me to give up on my decision to take her back to the city, back to our normal selves, family, and work.

My gaze roamed her face before I turned around and looked at my surroundings. We were in the middle of nowhere, on an island owned by Grandma. The mansion was surrounded by trees, and there were no other structures in view.

It took about twenty-five minutes to reach the nearby port by speedboat. And it was how she and Grandfather had used to live. Away from everyone.

“Fine,” I muttered as I looked back at them.

“Really?” Ivona’s eyes lit up, and she walked toward me. I nodded, and she flung her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

“Oh, thank you so much, Alex!” She beamed with happiness.

“Yes! Thank you, my baby.” Grandma engulfed both of us in a tight hug. With both of them hugging me simultaneously, it felt as if I was being choked.

“What are you two doing? L-let go of m-me!” I sputtered.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Both of them said in unison as they let go of me. I took a breath of air in relief.

“Fine! You can stay here for a week. I will send Rica to escort you back to the city. I’ll be leaving now,” I said as I took a step toward Grandma and kissed her on the temple.

“Take care. I shall come back to visit you soon, okay?”

“Hmm.” She smiled fondly at me and patted my cheek.

“If you need anything, just give me a call,” I told Ivona. When she took a step toward me to hug me, I stepped aside in an attempt at deflecting her.

I was still not comfortable with her being my fiancée. This marriage deal was getting on my nerves.

Sadness marred her face as she looked down and gave me a noncommittal “hmm” in reply. I chose to ignore it and looked at my wristwatch; it read nine in the morning.

I had two more hours to reach my office for my meeting. I decided to pick up the pace and walked over to the car, where the driver was ready to take me to the boat.

***

The clock read ten in the evening. I plopped down on the couch as I held my forehead and rubbed my temples, feeling exhaustion growing up inside me, even though I’d just returned from a week holidaying at Grandma’s.

Leaning back on the couch, I was looking out of the glass window at the building opposite the one in which I was, when I heard my phone beep.

A text message.

It was Ivona.

There were three text messages and two missed calls from her. The day had been hectic with me attending three meetings and catching up on the work that I’d left incomplete before I went on the holiday.

As a result, I hadn’t had the time to check my phone, but I’m sure that Ms. Ivona Ungur, my supposed fiancée, had been waiting to check up on me.

It was her habit to call me every day and talk to me, even though she knew I barely had any interest in what she had to say.

She wanted me to socialize with her so that she could get to know me better. And although I had hated it initially, I had grown used to it later. I would call or text her back, letting her know that I had received her messages.

“Alex. Hi.” Her voice seemed down compared to other days when she would talk breathlessly in a single go.

“You all right?” I poured the water from the jug into a glass and gulped it down, feeling thirsty.

“Yeah! I mean, yes, I am all right.”

“What happened? I remember you being the one insisting on staying in there. You sound tired from being there on your own for a single day. How peculiar.”

I chuckled and leaned back as I stared blankly at the roof, unbuttoning the first few buttons of my shirt.

“No, I’m not tired. It’s just that my head hurts.” She groaned a little.

“It must be because of your traveling. You have been traveling continuously these past months. It’s probably because of lack of sleep.”

“Hmm. I think the same,” she said. She then coughed.

“You all right?” I asked as I heard her breathe in deeply.

“Yeah! Y-yeah…”

“Ivona?”

“Oh damn it! I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since I met that woman in the mall in the morning, my head has been hurting tremendously. I can’t bear it any longer,” she groaned.

I raised an eyebrow at that before sitting up and then bending a little to get rid of my shoes.

“Who was that, and what did she do?” I asked as I removed a sock. I was just about to go for the other one when she replied.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have ever met her before. Grandma and I went to the mall today when I met that woman. She ran after me, yelling at me like a maniac!” she exclaimed and I chuckled.

“Why? Did you steal something from her shop?” I couldn’t help but joke, and she huffed in response.

“No, I didn’t! And she wasn’t a shopkeeper or a salesgirl. She looked like a customer. I don’t have any idea what she meant when she began to run after me suddenly, calling me Juliette.”

I froze.

“What do you mean?” My voice was void of any emotions.

“I don’t know. I was in the shoe shop when that woman saw me and yelled at me, saying, ‘Juliette? Wait! Juliette! I’m Kiara! Juliette, is that you? Juliette!’ I even told her that I’m Ivona, but she didn’t seem to understand.

“I think she mistook me for someone else. I don’t even know her. The saleswoman and the guards came to my rescue, and I ran away and hid in the mall’s washroom until Grandma called me.

“We came back home straight after that.” Her voice seemed low, much to my dislike.

“The woman seemed possessed. Huh, what a day!” She sighed, and it was then that my control snapped.

“Ivona.”

“Yes?”

“Pack your bags. I’ll be there in an hour to take you back.”