The Trap

4. Melissa

When I wake up, the sun is streaming through the french window next to the four-poster bed. I don't need to check to know that Alex was already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for me.

 After freshening up, I enter the kitchen, and as expected, find him in there. He hums, bobbing his head from side to side. I walk closer as silently as possible and take in the play of muscles under his grey Ramond T-shirt.

It is a good look on him. I make a mental note to get him a few more when I go shopping next time. More concerned about my well-being than his, he has never been one to take care of himself, my Alex. Warmth fills me. I am transported back to simpler times. A time of carefree, naive innocence.

I sigh inwardly and tap his shoulder. 

 "Morning, sleepyhead." He says without looking at me. "Set the table, will you?" He requests. "But first taste this." He lifts the spoon and brings it to my lips but stops abruptly as our eyes meet. His bow-shaped full lips purse for a second, and I catch my reflection in his dark orbs.

He schools his features and smiles brightly before urging me to try the Lotus stem soup: his mom's specialty and my favorite.

Mrs. Lian Reed, Alex's mom, was a Chinese American. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. More often than not, I used to ditch my mom's grilled cheese toasts in favor of the exotic eastern delicacies that aunty Lian used to serve.

"Hey," I hear Alex call me, and I can't help but smile. He looks so much like her. "How come you are daydreaming first thing in the morning, hum?" He asks as I take a sip of the delectable soup and direct a thumbs up at him.

 He beams; a need to pinch his cheeks overtakes me. I proceed to do just that.

"Dude, that's totally uncool!" He cribs as he has always done. But a second later, his face darkens. He sets the soup on the table. "David asked to look at the will again. Mr. Harald had to comply."

I shrug. "Isn't it good that we changed it before I became a vegetable?"

Alex purses his lips. "Mel, don't."

I knew that my harsh words had hurt him. "I am sorry, Alex." I apologize, and he averts his gaze. "Mel, I will leave first. Take a cab to Mercy." He instructs without looking at me. I can hear his foot tapping rhythmically under the table.

I lean across and take his tightly fisted hand in mine; unclenching them, I intertwine our fingers. "Calm down. Last night you told me that you will protect me, and I know you will."

He nods and gazes at our hands. "If you feel even a little threatened, remember that I am only minutes away, alright?" He tries to reassure me. I can see that it is as much for his benefit as mine.

I nod, and we have our meal in silence. 

 Just as he is about to walk out the door, his almond eyes drift towards me, and in long strides, he closes the distance between us and pulls me in his arms. 

 "Don't hesitate to call me whenever at any time." He whispers, stroking my back.

His frame radiates heat and a musky fragrance that only belongs to him. My heart hammers in my chest as he cups my face and looks into my eyes. 

 The woman in the reflection is still unfamiliar.

"Mel...damn it." He curses softly. Pain and regret color his words; he brings his lips to my forehead, and then he is out the door, leaving me alone.

I hear the cooper pull out of the driveway and rush to the window. I watch Alex glance my way through the rolled-down windows of the steel gray vehicle and smile at me before driving out of sight. Since the past few days that I have been living here, I have noticed many things that I had previously taken for granted. For instance, the smile that he had directed at me just now was not his usual carefree, charming one. It was more: soft, almost intimate, and now that I think about it, I am the only one who has ever been at its receiving end.