Spellbound

24

BRICE

My heart is still racing. The blood roaring through my ears begins to slow down when I find myself in Soleil's room. I'm fueled with adrenaline from the fight but the red haze I was in has cleared.

I don't usually fly into a rage unless provoked. Jacques disrespected me and thought he could call my girl out of her name.

If I'm a dog and she's a bitch then I guess we make the perfect pair.

Our coming together may have been unconventional but she's mine now. Any insult to her is an insult to me.

The rustling behind the bathroom door pulls me out of my reverie. A fragrant cinnamon fills the room and I note a candle she's left burning in the corner. It's calming effect turns my bad mood down a notch.

"What the hell? WHY?!" Soleil hisses when she emerges from the other side looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

That is not the reception I was expecting. I don't know what I was expecting but it isn't the irritable scowl written all over her face. Can't she look happy to see me for once?

For someone who supposedly likes me she has a funny way of showing it. If she's feigning hard to get, she has another thing coming because I'm in no mood for games.

"Don't play dumb. You blocked me," I call her out.

If it was any other person, I wouldn't even have cared enough to notice. But, fate brought us together. The same force that drove her to that wish is the same force that draws me to her. A force stronger than anything I've felt before.

I want to tell her, explain my thoughts, but I've never been good at words when my actions speak louder. I prefer confrontatons over conversations.

However, she makes me reconsider. She has me acting out of character. Even now, when I'm set to put her in place, I'm distracted. I rake over her smooth, brown skin that pops against the peach pajamas.

"I had to. For my mental health," she counters. "How are you able to get in here anyway?"

"Consider it a gift bequeathed at birth. That's not why I'm here though. We had a deal."

I can't be vulnerable wth her when she's clearly hostile. It didn't matter anyway. The power lay in my court. She owed me her life and she needed to say her vows. Irrespective of how I felt, I had to use my big head and set some boundaries. As long as I held reign, they all bowed to me. She would be no different.

"Well, about that deal..." Her gaffaw lets me know I won't like what's coming. I just don't expect her to say, "I'm calling it off."

"Excuse me?!"

What does she mean she's calling it off? I'm paying her good money for her time. Technically, I shouldn't even have to pay a dime since she's in my service.

I would have been open to a change in our relationship - from one of to tutor to maybe a... companion. Yes, that's it. I enjoyed her company and I'm sure we could be beneficial to each other in many ways.

"I quit. Now, you may be excused," she dismisses.

As she walks around me, I have to ball my hands into fists to stop myself from grabbing her.

"Come again?"

"What? Didn't you hear me the first time? I'm calling it quits. We're done."

That's all I hear. Her lips are moving, but I'm not registering any sound.

We're done? How when we haven't even begun?

This girl even has the nerve to give me the peace sign before pulling the corner of her duvet. She's getting ready for bed and I'm about to lose my head. My heartbeat escalates to the point I feel it throbbing against my temples.