"She'd never agree to whatever your thinking ", Ben said with a shake of his head.
Nick looked at Ben with his brows raised in question.
"What do you think I'm thinking Ben?".
"I don't know. But I guess whatever it is your thinking would cause trouble. Hell, your presence alone screams trouble."
"Well we both know that it ain't my fault", Nick looked at Anna once more. He took his time to study her. She was too engrossed in her work to even bother herself with whatever it was they were doing. He watched as she gentle moved her hair away from her face so she could concentrate more. She was beautiful indeed.
He knew Annabel has been Ben's friend for a very long time now. Even before he knew Ben. He met her a couple of times, but they've never said anything beyond the polite greetings they shared, which was not always there. He had never bothered to try to know her even though they both had a mutual friend.
"I want her." He said before his brain could even think of it. He didn't even know where that came from. Apparently, his tongue seemed to be faster than his brain at the moment.
"No no no", Ben said shaking his head. He looked at Nick like he had gone mad and Nick barely shrugged his shoulders. "Are you out of your mind?! You've never even given her a little attention before now and all of a sudden, you want her?"
"I want her", he simply said. He didn't care what Ben thought of his sudden desire to have his friend. All he knew was that he wanted her to be the girl he'd show to his Nana. She was someone Nana would like. He was sure of that.
"No. Things could go down south and have you thought about the fact that any of your family member might know her. Maybe your grandmother?"
"I doubt they do. She has a very low profile for someone with her status."
Nick immediately stood up from the stool he was sitting on and walked over to the lady sitting on the couch. He heard Ben groan out loud, followed by the close footsteps behind him. He knew Ben was following him.
"Annabel", Nick said as he stood in front of the table she was working on.
Her dark brown eyes looked up at him. She was surprised that he called her. He had never called her name before. Now she was curious as to why he seemed to want to start a conversation.
" Nicholas." She said diverting her eyes from him to concentrate back on her work.
He looked at her. She didn't even look at him. He looked down at what she was doing. He was surprised to see her sketching a dress in her sketch pad.
Before he could stop himself he asked, "You work for your mom?" His surprise evident in his voice.
"Of course not, I merely design for her when I can." She said without looking up from her drawing.
He knew her mother, Elizabeth Williams, was a fashion designer. The woman owned her own clothing line, Zabel. So why was he surprised that she could design?. He asked himself. He shouldn't be surprised.
"Your staring Nicholas", she looked at him through her eyelashes without raising her head.
She had long lashes. She pouted her lips at him and her brows started to form a frown. She slowly lifted her head up to look at him. She was indeed a very beautiful woman.
He heard a throat clear behind him and he remembered that they were not alone. He turned his head to look at Ben who gave him a questioning look. He noticed that Ben had already taken a sit on a settee.
He moved over to the settee and sat down beside Ben.
"Well, I'm just going to go straight to the point. I need a stable relationship for a period and I need you to be that girl."
She gave him a confused look as she sat up straight on the couch. Good. Now I have her attention. He said to himself.
"I don't understand."
He merely remained silent and looked at her. He wanted his words to sink in well for he didn't have it in him to repeat himself. He sat quietly, staring at her all along.
When she realized that he was not going to repeat himself, she turned to Ben with a questioning look.
"I don't know what Nick has planned in his head. But I guess what he's trying to say is that he needs a lady to act like his girlfriend for a while", Ben said to her giving her a weary look and she glared at him. "Hey but who am I to say, he may have other ideas in his head."
"I don't need just any lady", Nick said looking at her straight in the eyes, he could see her struggle for control over her anger. "I need you." He finally said.
She took a deep breathe and said, "You must be out of your mind. You should see a doctor." She said shaking her head.
"Oh but I'm not. I know what I want", he said with a smirk. "And I get what I want", he said the last part under his breath.
"What's the meaning of this?", she said frowning. "What am I to you? If you really need a damn girl to flaunt as your girlfriend, I'm sure you have a lot of them throwing themselves at your feet. Go pick one of them and leave me out of this."
"Annabel, I believe I don't have to say this again", he said slowly like he was talking to a child. "It is you I want. Not some bimbo. And I also want to believe that you're smart enough to understand."
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She shouted on the top of her lungs. "Oh my days! Your soo rude! Who do you think you are to tal--"
"Annabel please calm down", Ben said to her. He knew this was not going to work. Nick has never said anything to her other than the greetings they share and basic conversations, like 'where's Ben?', 'have you seen Ben?'. And now that he finally decided to have a conversation with her, it had to be this one. He wondered what was going through Nick's head.
"Don't tell me to calm down!", she snapped at Ben.
"You getting yourself all worked up is not going to help." Nick said with a smirk. Who knew she had this much fire in her? She looked really hot shouting. For one, he knew she'd be fun. The woman had the guts to shout at him. The thought made him chuckle.
"What's soo funny?" She asked Nick with a frown.
"Nothing." Nick said with laughter in his voice.
"Benjamin I think your friend is going insane."
"I really doubt that. I'm sure he finds the scenario of you shouting at him funny." He said with a smile of his own.
"You know me too well Ben." He said with a low tsking sound. The laughter dancing in his eyes.
Annabelle couldn't help but stare at him. How would one find amusement in being shouted at. Nicholas would always be a mystery to her.
"Annabelle, I know you probably don't want to do this but he needs your help. He's just being too proud to ask for it." Ben said giving her a pleading look.
They both heard Nicholas scoff at what Ben said and they both gave him a glare. He merely gave a nonchalant shrug.
"Besides, it'd stop your mom from matchmaking you with men."
Nick looked at her as she groaned out loud. She seemed frustrated at the moment. She turned to him with a glare that could make anyone cower away but not him. The words that came out of her mouth next shocked him.
"Fine. I'll do it", she said lowly, but loud enough for her to be heard. She agreed for only one reason, and that was to know who Nicholas Roxton was. He had always intrigued her, and she was curious to find out why Ben thinks he's a really great man and those were her own selfish reasons. Besides she'd really wanted to know the man more and this just seemed like the best solution. She closed her eyes tight and leaned her head on the back of the couch, pretending to be frustrated as she tried hard to hide her smile. "This is going to be the longest period of my life."
