18 As A Decoy

Upon reaching her floor, Olivia went straight to the fire exit and relieved her aching feet from the clutches of her pumps. This was her first time using the fire exit and she took a deep breath as she estimated the number of steps on the flight of steep stairs that would lead her to her residence at the penthouse suite. In reality, the apartment on the fifty-sixth floor was her office which she used as a decoy apartment to accommodate Maxen that night.

"Twenty-five steps. I was right," she uttered under her ragged breath before blowing out the remaining air in her lungs. She counted along with every step she took up the stairs to make sure her estimation was correct.

Olivia Lin, the exiled heiress of Lin Prime Holdings, a child prodigy with an IQ of 190 had a knack of counting things as she went. Every step. Every scoop. Every stir of spoon in a cup. She glanced at the stairs and frowned at the odd total number of steps while beeping her key keycard on the reader. It's not that she hated odd numbers, but wouldn't it be better if things came in even numbers or in pairs so no one gets left behind?

Inside her penthouse, she waltzed her way to the kitchen and grabbed a mug from the rack, filling it with cold water to quench her parched throat. One. Two. Three. Four. Four gulps. She refilled her mug when her thoughts wandered off to what happened inside the lift earlier and felt the need to extinguish the spark of hope in her heart.

"Oh good Lord. What is wrong with you, Olivia?" she hissed whilst pulling her hair with one hand, berating herself that she almost fell for Maxen's crystal blue eyes which reflected nothing but her. Her reverie was cut short though when she heard her phone ringing.

Olivia's brows raised when an unknown number flashed on the screen. She had an inkling that it might be Maxen but she didn't want to pick up the phone and be disappointed if it wasn't him. She took a deep breath enough to shrink her lungs in size. Here she goes again, letting her emotions put words in her head. Of course, she's just 'irritated' with this unknown caller disturbing her in the middle of the night.

"One more ring and I will pick you up." Olivia's index finger nervously hovered over her cellphone, ready to swipe on the screen, however, the phone stopped ringing. 'Irritated' that the call had been dropped, she was furiously tapping her phone with a finger when she accidentally answered another call that came through in the process. She carefully lifted her phone to her hears that felt like a hot sweet potato in her hand.

"Good evening, Olivia," the person on the other line greeted as soon as the call was connected. She almost dropped her phone upon hearing the dip in Maxen's silvery smooth voice as he said the last syllable of her name like he was some kind of a crooner.

"Hi, Max," Olivia replied, finding her way to her bedroom. "Are you home now?"

"Yes, my lady."

"That quick?"

"About that… I live on the penthouse floor."

"Okay…" Olivia's voice tapered off, her naturally red lips curled into a sinister smile at the new information. "You should have taken the fire exit then?" she asked, which sounded more like a suggestion before she pulled the zipper tab of her gown with so much force that it made a loud zipping sound which Maxen heard on the other end of the line.

"What's that noise?" Maxen's ears turned red from a mixture of surprise and anger, replying to Olivia with his own question as he gave Jack an evil side-eye, forcing the poor guy to tiptoe farther away from him inside the penthouse elevator. Jack swore under his breath that he didn't hear the lady unzip her gown only to feel his fingers cover his agape mouth. He started to sweat pellets and his intestines twisted into a rolling knot when he felt the coldness of the elevator walls and the piercing icy stare from His Highness - the glint in his crystal blue eyes was unmistakable.

Meanwhile, Olivia looked behind her where a mirror reflected her bareback. "That's my bag. I'm looking for my… wallet. Yes, wallet," she cooked out a lie as the gown slid down from her body and pooled to her feet, walking butt-naked to her en suite.

Maxen's hand covered half of his face as he hid the smile on his lips, afraid that Olivia might turn shy if she could sense his reaction to her small lie. That's definitely a zipper, he thought to himself.

The elevator doors opened and Maxen sped to his room in long quick strides, leaving Jack scratching his head in the foyer. Jack watched as Maxen giggled like a teenager on the phone after giving him hand signals that he could only roughly guess as an 'it's up to you' order.

Before Maxen's phone call, he and Jack were talking about how to deal with one of his stalkers named Aria Kang who kept following him around, demanding for his attention, but it seemed like Maxen decided that there were far more pressing matters to deal with than a lunatic like her.

"How long are you staying here, Olivia?" Maxen asked, his free hand briefly hovered over his tie before he tugged and pulled it to give himself extra room to breathe. Just then he could hear the swooshing sound of running water that must be filling up a tub.

"Hmmm… I'm not that sure. Let's see how my business will pan out in the country first."

The two went on with their phone call until the wee hours of the morning. Maxen was already lying in bed with his head resting on his sculpted forearm when he heard Olivia grunt on the other line.

"Are you okay?" Maxen asked. He pulled his torso up and sat with his head against the tufted headboard.

"Oh it's nothing. Just my monthly thing being a pain in the... Heeey, aren't you supposed to be sleeping, your highness? Hello?"

"I'm still here…"

"Then why are you so quiet?"

"I was looking at the clock and…"

"And…?"

"It's almost sun up. Would you care for some tea?"