19 Chapter nineteen
Leonardo, once again looked towards the direction Alison excused herself to, what was taking her long?
His legs itched to walk towards the corner she hid herself pretending to answer a call.
He tried to concentrate in the environment he found himself in. Currently, he is at his restaurant, all empty not one person to be seen. When he talked about office, most people often mistook him talked about a native office with a brown desk and different coloured files packed to the side, with a computer at the middle of the desk, different colours of pen strewn on the desk in an air-conditioned office.
He would often try to change such a mentality when it comes to his case to him an office was a place, where he had different recipes from his mother cookbook, to the left was a huge cabinet housing his spices. His office probably took twice the space of a normal office, a stove, a kitchen grill beside it and on the walls were little pots and pans hanging. Just one little clatter can send echoes of the metallic sound around the room, his office is the place he cherishes most of all, a place which soothes after he makes a direct replica of his mother's chicken pie, or creates one of his famous recipes.
This office is different from the one up at his suite, in a more layman term his office is his kitchen.
He recalled how Alison was a bit surprised about his so-called office, since she never bothered to ask or question the validity of such statement, instead she roamed the place in silence observing it, and running her hands through the pans, clanging together.
She also refers to how one-third of such equipment in his office was not to be found for her kitchen.
He noticed the sound of her footsteps coming in, she stood by the side putting her phone back into her pocket.
He relaxed more on his elbow making it flat on the kitchen counter, he crossed his legs lazily. Noticing his posture, Alison came forward standing at her distance, her elbows crossed.
"Are you done?" he asked, standing more upright.
"Yes, I am here in your 'office', what do you want?"
He finally stood on his feet, removing his jacket. He smiled as she tore her eyes away from him, most ladies he had been with would surely offer to remove his jacket, with their seducing long nails making contact with his chest, their motion resembling the delicate finesse of a painter and his brush on his canvas.
She isn't doing any of that, he folded his jacket into squares and placed them on the counter.
He strolled towards where she stood, "I want you." he didn't know what was more amusing, was her shocked facial expression or her backward movement from him.
"What... What are you saying?" she stuttered trying to find another meaning of his words other than what it always imply.
"I want to have an hour with you in here, just the two of us," he leaned closer to her side whispering.
His rich low resonant voice reverberated in all the wrong ways in her body, she raised her wide green orbs meeting his.
He came closer still making the hair of her skin stand erect, goosebumps spread in a harmonical manner around her skin.
Leonardo tried not to get drowned in her green sensual orbs, it glowed bright like the stars in the night sky, it had equal strength as a magnet pulling him even faster.
She kept mute not knowing what to say, the same action took place on her legs, it felt like one movement and she buckles in front of him. Seeing him so close to her was messing with her sense, his manly smell intoxicating her senses, his features more beautiful. She stared more into his grey orbs his long lashes revealing them each time he blinked.
And his lips full and wicked, it was full of blood and had the promise of a kiss that would send any woman offering her self to him.
See Alison he is dangerous to your heart.
He was making her feel things she has never felt for any man after her divorce.
She wasn't even this attracted to Richard, she can't stop looking at Leonardo.
"What are you saying?" her voice breaking.
"Do you remember, we had a cooking date, so I decided to bring you here to my kitchen? This place holds a lot of memories for me. My mother owned this place before she handed it over to me."
Alison placed her hands on her chest sighing in relief, "A cooking date, yes, I remember. Watch the way you say things Leonardo, one could misinterpret."
He smiled mischievously, " Which other way did you interpret what I just said, Alison."
"You want me to say it out loud, not that I saw it that way... just forget about it," her annoyed streak taking over.
He stepped a bit away from her, intertwining his hands in hers, "Come, let me show you around. Today I am going to show you how to cook," he dragged her forward, she followed behind him.
Why won't he just let her go? She was trying hard to forget about him and his sweet touches, but he keeps on doing things that foil her efforts.
"Leonardo, forget about the cooking da.." she paused, she can't say the date it would suggest she was on board with him.
"I am really busy, I need to go to my suite and try to fix some things, I don't have time to learn how to cook with you," Maybe a little persuasion would work.
His grip on her only became firmer, his bicep flexing under his shirt. She was 5 inches shorter than him. She could never match his strength, she thought back to the pool incident. His strong arms were underneath her thighs.
Stop Alison. With all her might she withdrew her hands from him, stumbling backwards with her actions.
"No! I can't do this, you keep toying with my senses, teasing me. I don't want to be your friend."
Leonardo stared in shock at her, first he was surprised at the way she withdrew his hands from him. He then turned to see her blazing eyes, burning at him he has never seen Alison this angry.
Most of all she seems to be struggling with herself.
"Alison," he whispered coming close, he noticed the trail of tears falling from her eyes.
He rushed to her, to get a closer look he held her tightly at the shoulder, she slumped on the ground relying on his support.
"Alison why... are you crying?" he could not keep worrying out of his tone.
He crouched below her, holding her face to meet his, tears kept on brimming from her eyes.
Something about her tears tore him into pieces, it broke into half and burnt him to ashes, he would do anything to stop her from crying, from shedding those tears.
"You caused me to cry, Leonardo. Your actions, make me misinterpret them. Do you know what I want?" she paused, her eyes staring straight into his.
"I don't want to be your supervisor anymore."
What she said next sounded like a bombshell to his ears. If she leaves then he would never see her again.
"I want to leave her, away from you and your teasing. And all of your antics, because you are playing with me up here," she pointed at her head.
"I am not your friend, I am just the next girl on your list. You treat me nicely, pretend to care for me. I don't need that, I only came here to work, and if you want me to work for you, stop trying to lure me to you." She drew her face from his hold.
A peal of laughter reverberated around the kitchen walls, it wiped out the sadness on her face and replaced it with sheer curiosity for the reason of his laughter
"Alison, I never knew you had it in you all this while. I play with your feelings? I never knew you had a crush on me?" He said standing up from his former crouched position.
"I mean all girls do, I never thought you caught on the fever too with your uptight nature and stern face."
"I don't have any crush on you, you want me to have a crush on you," she accused equally on her feet.
"What happened to your tears?" he asked puzzled.
"Those tears, they were fake. Seriously Leonardo I don't want to be a friend that you would treat almost similar like a girlfriend," she whispered the last part.
"A girlfriend, I don't want you to be my girlfriend. Maybe my fiance, or my wife," his reply just made her widen her eyes more in shock.
"I might I have fallen for your tears because I thought they were true. Each time you cry again I would do everything to make you happy,"
She dusted her clothes, "Leonardo, don't you think you are a bit clingy around me. Fine, maybe that is the way you behave with all your female friends. But not with me, when you are my friend you don't touch me, or try to remove my hair from my face." She paused coming close to him, "Even I feel confused with all gestures, what then would others think."
Her flowery female smell lingered under his nose, she might be joking but her little acts make him drawn to her each moment, her fake tears made him realise he would die to watch her cry.
He drew her even closer, " I don't fake my emotions, my gestures. Trust me when I say, you, Alison are more than a friend," he said, it was her turn to keep mute, her eyes widening.
"Well, I don't want to be your friend anymore," he clasped his hand around her once more. Drawing her along with him, she followed willing, " Then don't be, be something else other than my friend. You choose, for now, I need someone to sit with me, and listen to my whining and complaints about how my life is more difficult and stressful drinking the hot chocolate I will make."
Somehow his words tranced her again, " There is no other person, I want to do that with except you," He said so casually bringing out a jar from the high shelves but she knew how grave such a sentence is, she gulped.
His words rang to her ears.
He wants you to be more than his friend, he wants to spend his evenings with you.
She stared warily at Leonardo. If a man is attracted to you he won't hesitate to reveal his feelings. Men are all Liars.
She thought back to his touches, his nice nature he never for once overstepped his boundary he took her different, like his friend a bit more than his friend.
She doesn't want this with him, she doesn't want to feel all content when with him, she doesn't want her walls to break down. Her defence against falling in love again. She knows this time around, she wouldn't be able to handle the heartbreak.
She can't be falling for Leonardo, no. That is one absurd idea, Alison.
Look at yourself, you are nothing compared to the ladies he once dated.
Her fake tears might be acting, seriously he is messing with her.
Her phone rang and a text of Samantha and her grandmother in a selfie with Lily popped on the screen.
Leonardo is a famous and rich man, his words don't mean anything, she has her daughter. Relationships aren't her thing. She knows very soon Leonardo would soon be tired of her even as a friend.
