Chapter 24

A month before the accident:

Bartholomew didn't seem so set on taking me or Bonnie with him on his outings anymore and he did leave the mansion a few times without taking anyone with him. I did find it weird and even asked him once. I had just walked down from my room to have breakfast and spotted him at the door:

"Good morning kitten."

I looked around and seeing me do so made Bartholomew tilt his head:

"What is it? Are you ignoring me, kitten?

-I am looking for something to throw at you."

Bartholomew laughed:

"I could wait a few minutes for you, but I am in quite a rush. I am so sorry, but I won't be able to have breakfast with you. But we could put the rest on hold. What about we push it back to when I come back? I can keep count if you want. You owe me two throws."

I frowned, disgusted. It was way too early in the morning for his jokes:

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you into BDSM?"

Bartholomew winked at me:

"If it's with you I'm open for anything."

Gardenia behind him almost choked and she looked at her feet, not daring to say anything.

"You are so weird.

-Do you like it?

-No."

Bartholomew shook his head:

"Wrong answer, kitten. I will ask again once I'm home. It will give me more motivation to get this over with as soon as possible."

I looked at Bartholomew up and down and noticed that him and his friends were dressed very nicely:

"Where are you going?

-Is my little kitten getting curious about me?

-You are pushing your luck with the nickname. I could rip a button off and throw it at you."

Bartholomew's eyes started shining:

"You only have seven buttons. Kitten. Kitten. Kitten. Kitten."

He was making me angry:

"What are you doing?

-You must rip all the buttons off now.

-I'm going to rip your mouth off.

-Wait for the end of the meeting and then you can do whatever you want to my mouth."

I was so tired and hungry that I didn't care about anything anymore.

"Let's get this over with. I just need a second to get changed.

-You are not coming, kitten.

-Of course, I am. Bonnie-

-Bonnie isn't coming either."

I frowned:

"What?

-The two of you are staying here for today."

I was so surprised that I didn't listen to anything he said after that, and he left without me adding another word. Why wasn't Bonnie following them? Bartholomew took her everywhere with him in the original. Seeing me confused made Gardenia smirk and after Bartholomew left, she walked up to me to whisper:

"It was only a question of time before he abandoned you. In the end, he will always come back to his friends."

I waved my hand in front of her face:

"Sure, sure. Good for you I guess."

Gardenia didn't like my answer, but she didn't have time to add anything because Bartholomew called her name. She immediately straightened up and ran out of the room not without glaring at me one last time.

The mansion felt way cozier without them, and Bonnie and I had a relaxing day just the two of us. I had no idea what was going on, but I wasn't going to complain. I really needed a break. If I stayed with that guy for way longer, I was going to kill him. Unfortunately, he didn't stay away for long enough and a few hours later he rushed into my room with a bright smile:

"Don't you know how to knock?"

He didn't answer because he noticed Bonnie on my bed and started frowning:

"What is she doing here?"

I rolled my eyes:

"Sitting?

-I thought I was the only one who could sit on your bed, kitten.

-Who the hell told you that?"

Having regained my energy, I immediately threw a pillow at him, and Bartholomew didn't avoid it, laughing for some reason:

"There are seven other missing, kitten."

That was more than enough, I jumped up, pillow in hand and started hitting Bartholomew with all my strength.

"Stop calling me kitten for God's sake!"

The more I was hitting him the more Bartholomew was laughing and that made me angrier. I didn't know how many times I hit him, but I had to stop, out of breath. However, seeing his cheeky smile immediately made my blood boil and I had one more hit in me:

"I want to carve your stupid eyes out!"

Bartholomew continued smiling:

"You are finally paying attention to me."

I was speechless. This guy was crazy, and I couldn't help laughing too. Wait. What did I do? Laughing? I was so surprised that I hit him again. No he wasn't funny. He was an asshole and he was pissing me off. I didn't find him crying for my attention funny. He was acting like a child and people needed to put him back in his place:

"Get out of my room."

Bartholomew pouted:

"But I just came home.

-I don't care.

-Then Bonnie is coming out too.

-No, she is staying here with me. We are having a nice chat."

I didn't need to add the last part but I knew that would anger Bartholomew. And it did:

"I want a nice chat too.

-Then go talk to a lamp.

-But the lamp doesn't hit me when I call it kitten.

-Too bad for you I guess.

-Come on, kitten."

I hit his shoulder.

"See? A lamp can't do that.

-Then find something else and leave us alone."

Bartholomew finally looked at Bonnie and the way he glared at her made it obvious that he didn't want her there. Bonnie however straightened up with a smirk. Bartholomew didn't expect her to be so stubborn because he started frowning:

"I shouldn't have left you two alone so much."

I rolled my eyes:

"You are the one who didn't want us to tag along today."

Bartholomew shook his head:

"And you won't in the future.

-Why?"

He smirked:

"I am not answering for free, darling. One honest answer for one date.

-Then I prefer not to know."

He started pouting again.

"You are so mean.

-I know. But you still like me.

-A lot."

My heart froze. Why was he being so obvious? Or had he been since the beginning? No, I felt that he became way braver after I forgave him. I knew that I should have been firmer. There was no second of peace next to this guy.

Bartholomew bent closer to my face with his annoying smile:

"Did I make my kitten flustered?"

I heatbutted him so hard that I fell backwards. Bartholomew started massaging his forehead but he still didn't lose his smile:

"Did I push my luck? I am sorry I didn't want you to get hurt too. But I really liked our faces being so close."

He extended me a hand to help me up but I ignored it:

"I hate us getting closer.

-Give it some time, kitten."

I slapped him:

"And do you like my hand getting close to your face?"

He quickly nodded:

"Very much."

I sighed. He was really too much.