9. The Virginity race.

Why? Why? Why?

Spirits! Why is my head blank?

"Amy?" Mia is at her impatient best today "I'm waiting"

"I....I don't know" I said when nothing came up.

"What do you mean you don't know?" she frowned.

"I'm as clueless as you are" I decided to feign innocence "I was with you on the phone when I walked in. Imagine the shock I went into when I saw him waiting here for me" I omitted the part where he was half naked. The details don't matter.

I hate lying. No, it's not a moral issue. I simply have a very poor memory so it's hard for me to keep a track of what I told whom. So even if I lie, I keep things close to the truth. Omitting things and keeping my mouth shut is usually the way I go about life.

"That still doesn't explain why he cares so much about your safety" I'm going to tell Sophie that she's my best and only friend the next time I meet her.

"How am I supposed to know?" I hissed glaring at her "You seem to hold onto that effectively forgetting that he threatened to punish me later"

"Oh!" she mellowed down "That's weird"

"Weird?"

"Yeah! His threat" she explained "It was so personal"

"Of course it's just me he holds a grudge against" I nodded.

"No" She shook her head thoughtfully. I hate it when Mia goes into her thinking-monkey mode "It was like he is so focused on what you did that he couldn't see the entire picture. His threat was personal in the sense that he wants to have a one-on-one with you when he could have easily taken the dirty routes like legal notices or give a blow to our business but he chose to come here and fix your window. How do you not find that weird?"

"Oh!" was all I could say "What do you think he's trying to do?" I asked trying to sound worried.

She plopped down on the couch near us and tapped the seat next to her for me. I warily took my seat waiting for the next bomb to drop.

"You can be so clueless sometimes Amy. You poke your nose into everyone's business but fail to notice the eyes that are on you" Sure, if you insist. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a snicker "I have learned a few tricks in the four years I have worked for our dating agency"

"Mating"

"What?"

"Ours is a mating agency not dating" I corrected her.

"Yes that" she waved it away with a swat of her hand "That man was definitely focused on you the three times I met him. That could mean two things. One, he holds a personal grudge that's older than this incident. Two, you are important to him. Which one is it?"

I shrugged "I don't know"

"You are so useless" Mia said in distaste "Let's go find out" she stood up pulling me up by my wrist.

"Wait. Find what?" I asked as she opened the door "You think he likes me?"

That stooped her. She turned to me "Why would you assume that?" she asked incredulously "He's a predator. I was thinking more in the line of 'you look like a dead relative or friend' you know. Someone he had a soft spot for"

"Like his grandmother or something like that?" I asked trying to make a joke out of the situation even though Arthur has literally thrown this at me. This is his punishment and I feel helpless against it.

I have always been scared of him not because he would hurt me physically but because he always finds ways of getting under my skin. He always has something on me to keep me in check. This time he's using my friend and the worst thing is that I don't even know where he wants to take this. Is he going to give up now that I've convinced Mia or does he really want her to know about us? What's his end goal?

"Is that a wrinkle I see on your face" she peered closer to me.

I slapped her shoulder "Stop behaving like Sophie and go home Mia. I can handle him"

She laughed "His grandmother is alive by the way" she started walking downstairs.

We could see a few more people in the darkness along with Arthur by the window. I could make out Keith's large frame. The other men were probably the ones called to fix things. That was fast. See what the name Leoline does? I bet the same people will take three days to arrive if I call them to fix my window.

"Do something" Mia whispered. Her confidence died down as soon as she was at a hearing distance from Arthur.

"Do what?"

"Call him over" she said

"He's already walking our way" I pointed out.

"Oh!"

"Done with your talks?" Arthur asked as he stopped next to me. I subtly took a step away.

"You can send us the bill Mr. Leoline" I told him pointing at the almost fixed window with an extra security of iron bars which if I may add, completely ruined the theme I based my house on.

"I should pay for it" Mia said "I broke the window after all"

"Nah you did it to save me" I told her "I'll take care of it"

"Keith will drop you off" Arthur told Mia ignoring our conversation.

"She'll stay the night" I told him.

"Fine if that's what you want. We can finish our conversation in your friend's presence" he said "Are you okay with that Amelia?" he fixed his gaze on me.

The helplessness I felt was real. He is ruining it all on purpose. He knows I lied my way out of Mia's questions and he for some reason didn't like it. Mia would catch on to my lies if I tell her to leave. Why does he want Mia to know the truth? What does he get out of it?

"I'll see you tomorrow Mia" I said without looking at my friend.

I heard her gasp "Is he harassing you Amy?" she asked.

I shook my head and walked towards the door so she would follow me.

"Amy" she held my arm as we reached the door "Is this more serious than I thought?"

"He wouldn't hurt me if that's what you are asking" I told her "But I guess I lied to you about being his dead sister"

"You are impossible" she exhaled "What do you want me to do? I don't want to be as nosey as you but it's a class one predator we are dealing with. Apart from being your best friend I also have a social responsibility. Remember we are all united against them? You want me to go to the elders about this?"

She would have continued to sprout nonsense in her state of panic had I not hugged her. "I'm fine Mia. I would have told you tonight but I don't think I'll have the time to answer your follow-up questions. But I'll be fine trust me"

"We are skipping work tomorrow" it wasn't a question from her end.

"Sure" I smiled at her as Keith walked up to us "Pick me up at seven" I told Mia.

"We are done with the window" he told me robotically "I'll drop your friend off Ma'am"

"I'm not your boss. Report to him not me" I told him coldly. I don't like him. Not after knowing what he has been putting other people through to serve a predator. "My friend will be fine as long as she stays away from people like you and your boss. You don't have to drop her off" I looked at Mia for a confirmation.

She nodded "Boy what did you do to irritate her?" she smirked at Keith felling no threat from his bull "I'll see you tomorrow" she told me with a final hug and disappeared into the night.

Keith followed her anyways. Such a loyal b*tch he is. I waited till I heard Mia's engine roar to life before walking back in and shutting the door.

"You shouldn't be so rude to him" the devil said walking up to me "He actually admires you for some strange reason"

"Should I apologize for being rude to your dog who has been making my life miserable for years?" I gritted out. I could feel the anger inside me making me want to cry. It's draining me.

"Why are you so angry" he asked calmly which made me angrier.

I smiled taking a deep breath "I'm sorry I can't be the perfect slave and take all your mind-games without complaints"

He took another step towards me "I told you I'll punish you. Why does this surprise you?"

I shook my head finding it hard to breathe "You are cruel"

"I know I am" he smiled leaning against the door next to me "But you don't even realize how cruel the things you do to me are"

"Because I brought your past lover back into the picture?" I scoffed "How's that cruel Arthur?"

"She wasn't my lover" he said closing his eyes as he exhaled deeply.

"What was she?" Why do I want to know?

When he didn't reply, I slid down to sit against the door on the floor. I will not move until he decided to leave. This is the farthest I want him inside my house even if he has visited every corner of the house before. He eventually joined me on the floor.

"She was my childhood" he said at last "She was the only lioness my age around me and the only woman I got along with" he sighed "People told us we were perfect together and that we were almost on the path to be mates. There was no other alternative. How could there be others for us?" he barked a humorless laugh "We shrugged it off saying we would know when the time comes. But when the time came, I realized their words affected me despite my best effort"

"You realized you loved her" I said softly "after she found her mate"

"I wouldn't call it love but yes I realized I had feelings for her because I let people get to me. Somewhere over the years, I started treating her as mine" he wasn't looking at me but I realized he was ashamed by how his eyes darted all over the carpet nervously.

"Why are you ashamed" I asked him "It's not like having feelings for someone is wrong. It wasn't something you could control"

"It's a sin for us. I cheated on my mate by having another woman in my heart and the spirits punished me for it" he said slowly.

"I know I feel like a punishment to you but I thought mates are paired before birth" he nodded in confirmation and I chucked "I know I believe in the spirits but really even they couldn't have predicted that you would have feelings for Rhea. How could they punish you for that by making me your mate? Admit it. You were simply born with a rotten luck"

He sighed "You have such wonderful ways of making me feel better"

"And you have wonderful ways of making me feel wanted. Do you see me complaining?" I retorted.

"A lot" he replied.

"Right so now that your lost love is all single and available, why are you throwing a fuss over it" I asked.

"I think I will sell my soul to the sirens if that means you could feel what predators feel" he said finally looking at me "I never said I loved her Amelia"

"That wasn't love?" I asked.

"No" he shook his head "That wasn't love and I am not getting together with her. I told you I'm planning on waiting out this life. I wasn't kidding"

"You mean you are a single virgin too?" I asked astounded.

His eyes snapped to me "Don't you dare make fun of me"

I bit the inside of my cheeks to hold back the laughter bubbling in my throat "The Arthur Leoline is miserably Single" I smirked making a show of staring pointedly at his hands "He is a thirty year old virgin"

"Shut up unless you want me to touch" He roared leaning threateningly towards me.

"I don't think you know how to touch a woman Mr. Leoline" I smirked widely before standing up quickly and opening the door.

I sprinted out before he could catch me. He followed me outside. I took a u-turn and ran inside the house and slammed it shut before he could enter. He started to knocked incessantly as soon as he realized what I did.

"Open the door you crazy woman" he yelled "I'll break the damn thing. Don't try my patience"

"No you wouldn't" I yelled back "You will be too afraid of burglars coming in after you"

"What did I ever do to deserve you" He roared "F*cking crazy woman"

"Go away" I yelled from my side of the door.

"How can I? My phone, car keys and shoes are in there" he replied "And I'm in my pajamas"

I guess I didn't think of that. Awesome.

"I'll give them to you if you answer my question" I told him

"What is it?" he asked impatiently.

"Why did you make me do that to Mia?"

"To punish you" he replied.

"And?"

A moment of silence followed.

"Well I might have a data of the people around you and I might have found out that Mia puts destined mates in high regards and it's getting harder to control the desperate you from outside. I need someone inside your circle to put a check on you. Now open the damn door"

"I hope you rot in hell" I yelled at the door.

"I hope you don't follow me there" he yelled back "Now. The door Amelia"

"I never said I'll open the door. I said I'll give you your stuffs" I replied "Wait here. I'll fetch you your stuffs"

I walked away from the door and collected his phone and keys from the tea table and walked up the stairs to my dreaded bed room.

It was just as I left it. Where are his clothes? Don't tell me kept them in my closet.

I walked into my closet and gasped in surprise. The nerve the man has. He has emptied a part of my closet and put, one, two, three, four, five, five of his suits and a bunch of other clothes in my closet. I found a couple of his shoes peeking from among my shoes. I walked out angrily and moved to my window.

"Here" I yelled at him and before he could walk to where I was, I dropped his phone on the hard concrete patio from the first floor. He gasped as the gadget met its end.

"Oops! I guess both our phones will have to meet in hell even if we do not" I yelled down at him.

"I swear to the spirits I have never hated anyone more" He glared, his yellow eyes flashing in the darkness before he bend down to pick the remains of his valuable property "Now give me my shoes and keys" he said once he stood back up.

"Nope" I shook my head pettily "Walk from here and remember how I'm going to spend a horrible day tomorrow all thanks to you. You deserve this don't you think?"

"I'm not going to walk but if you stoop to this" he threatened ignoring my words "I'll shift here and go home on four legs"

"I quickly dropped his car keys" He was prepared this time around and dived to catch it a foot from the ground.

Thank spirits! I don't want him to shift here and scare my entire neighbourhood.

"My clothes and shoes" he said.

"Don't stretch your luck" I replied.

He sighed and nodded before walking towards his car in his pajamas and my yellow flip-flops.

"Arthur" I called after him. He turned with a raised brow "I don't know if there's another life after this and I don't want to spend this life alone and miserable in hope of the next one"

"You don't have a choice" He gave back.

"We'll see" I yelled back

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"So where are we going?" Mia asked as I shut the door to the passenger side of her car after me the next morning.

"To the town" I replied nodding at her to start the car.

"Town? Home as in to visit our families?" she frowned.

"Not to visit our families Mia" I shook my head "To tell you a story"

"Thank you" she gave me an encouraging smile "Where to then?" she asked backing out of my driveway.

"To Cathy" I breathed "Take me to visit Catherine"

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