Dance of Danger and Desire

CHAPTER 10

A rustic cabin in the woods, great. I blinked, perhaps, a million times to make myself believe that I'm in a very luxurious and simple house in the woods. It's cool and amazing how silent it is here. It's cozy and warm with the trees around. Liam offered me a hand to get inside and I gladly took it. The moment he opened the door, I stopped breathing. The interior is so simple but amazing and beautiful. It's like a house that was built just now. The couches in the living room look so comfortable and tempting. The lake view outside feels so nice in the eyes. On the left side of the door is the kitchen. Everything is made of wood and metals, which is cool. Straight ahead of the kitchen and living room is Liam's office and a bathroom, also a door towards the backyard. Then there's the stairs to the second floor. According to Liam, there's two bedrooms upstairs which is good so that we don't have to share a bedroom with each other. I took three steps down towards the living room, slowly digesting everything inside the house. The dim lights, firecrackers in the furnace, and the sweet instrumental music in the background… What else can I ask for? 

"I bought the house just a month ago. It's from a friend and they're leaving the country for good so they asked me to buy the house for them. I changed most of the interior designs and furniture to make myself comfortable. You can stay here as long as you like, especially now that your house is still under investigation," Liam said. 

I crossed my arms, "this is nice. Lucky for you," I complimented while I sat on the couch. 

Liam walks over the island countertop; he leans over, "are you okay?" he unexpectedly replied. 

I looked in his direction, with my lips tightly sealed. "I said I do. How many times-"

"Inside...are you okay on the inside? You're not hurt at all?" He cut me off. 

I opened my mouth to say something but there's no word I could utter in front of him. Yes, I'm hurt deeply as a matter of fact but crying in front of Liam will only make me look pitiful. I don't want him to look at me that way just because I lost my house. I want him to see the bravery I'm trying to pull off all this time. At least that way, I look stronger than I can ever be. 

He walks towards me and stands in front of me. "You'll soon throw it all out. I'm sure you're tired, why don't you rest now?" he asked as he offered me a hand. 

I gladly take his hand and we head up through the stairs. The two bedrooms are separated with a small living room overlooking the lake. He takes me to the right room and opens the door for me. It's a nice bedroom. It's like a room in a hotel located near the beach. The queen size bed looks comfortable with a black and white sheet. There's a huge open window on the side that overlooks the trees outside and a small sala set is below the bed. A furnace lit in the front and a small side table with lanterns on the bedside. I examined the place thoroughly before I looked back at Liam who's still holding the knob in the door frame. 

"Thanks for all of this," I said. 

He snorts, "not a problem. Take some sleep. Let's see each other tomorrow," he replied. 

We stared at each other for quite a while before he decided to close the door. The moment Liam left, I collapsed on the bed. God, it's so soft. I looked at the chandelier hanging up above me while caressing the mattress. It's not that bad, really. It's like I'm still at home with the ambiance and the warmth I felt here, I can't say I'm not comfortable at all. The thought of losing a house doesn't affect me so much now. If I work harder and passionately, I might get another house in no time, besides there's still insurance and savings so it's not much of a big deal. 

Is it really not?

Suddenly a knock got me to my feet. When I opened the door, Liam was standing there with some clothes in his hand. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I bought some clothes that you can use to change, but all of these are mine. I don't have any clothes for women  so please bear with it."