Trying To Heal

Chapter Thirty-Five

Derek

If the air conditioning was not turned on, it would have been boiling-hot and thick of humid moisture. Since the black duvets clings to a sweet body, her back stapled to my chest, no weather could affect me, let alone stir me. Being in a bed, waking up next to her, skin on skin, was so remarkably intimate, serene and normal. I want this normality. Every day. It feels so right.

"April," I whispered into her ear, my face buried in her neck. "Wake up, love."

The skies are bluer than normal, clearer than normal, and brighter than normal. The late-night showers leave behind a scent of saturated soil. The glass environs are speckled of dried tears, beams of sunlight coruscating onto the dried rose petals.

I lightly tap her belly. "April."

She gyrates in my arms, blinking the sand out of the corner of her eyes. I watch the exhaustion deteriorate two minutes later, wide-awake. She first focuses on me, and the recall of last night instantly adorned her cheeks and nose.

"Good morning."

Her blush deepened at the lazy rasps in my voice. "Morning."

"As much as I want to be like this, we have the trial this afternoon."

"What time is that?"

"One PM. It is currently nine in the morning." I flick a thick strand off her face. "How are you feeling?"

She reluctantly removes the sheets. No marks. She alters to me, registering one or two hickeys she left on my neck. Suddenly, her stomach rumbles loudly.

"My secretary reserved a table for us at a restaurant. We should head there. We will not get caught."

At the last statement, she nibbles her bruised lip. "Do you want us to be public?"

Yes. So desperately. "Do you?"

"I don't mind. I was warned to stay away from you. By Jasmine, actually."

"I would advise the same warning. But—" I tug her closer into me, our mouths caressing. She giggles softly as my hand glides to her ass and grasp it tenderly. "I quite like this. We can figure that out later. Luke's penthouse is right there—" She follows my finger pointing to the right, at the closest skyscraper twenty floors smaller than this one. "We can have a nice bath and head to the restaurant."

The penthouse is minimalistic and simplistic. Vintage walls, vintage furniture, and delightfully chilly. Tanner and I resided here when April was in coma. She changes in a room as I wait for the bathtub to be fill with hot water. I call my secretary to request for new sets of clothes, to be delivered in the next hour. April limps to the bathroom.

"Are you okay?"

She shot me a glare. I lazily smirked in response.

"I don't think I can walk. Happy now?"

"Hey, you asked for it."

She grumbled a track of vulgarity.

I continued to brush my teeth, my phone pressed to my ear, "What do you want?"

April asks for trousers, a blouse shirt, and a blazer. She was about to tell me her underwear sizes, but I asked Jason Burke to hand it to a woman nearby, and April told her instead.

Jason Burke is twenty-four. "I will get that to you in an hour, Sir."

"Derek," I correct. "Stop with that nonsense."

"I — Er — Alright. From Bonheur, yes?"

"Yes. Tell me who buys the clothes so I can pay them back. Give the bags to Simko downstairs and tell Simko to leave them outside the main door of the penthouse. I need a full escort to Wimborne Court and —" I glance at April nudging into the water, releasing a stretched sigh. "—increase the Security. Is that all? Any notices from your end?"