A Secret Love

Chapter Twelve

When I got into the living room, I saw Caiden standing with his arm around a woman while he talked to our father. I stopped for a second, taking a deep breath to ease my nerves and then I walked into the room fully.

"You must be Zaylin. Your brother has missed you a lot," the woman said as she got out of Caiden's grip and started to walk over to me.

"You must be Claire," I smiled. "I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet you before. You are very pretty," I said as I let her hug me.

"Thank you," she laughed. She had a sweet voice, and it was a little quite, which made it cute. I noticed that my voice wasn't quite as high pitched and lovely as hers and it bothered my a little bit. "I want to get to know you more so that we can be friends."

"I would love that," I smiled and I was about to take her into my room when I remembered Xavier is in there. I had the urge to tell her I was hiding my fiance in my room, but I wasn't sure how she would take the news. I couldn't risk her telling Caiden, who would definitely tell father.

"Zaylin? Did you here me?" Claire asked, looking a little concerned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't. What did you ask?" I didn't want to seem rude.

"I asked if we could hang out in your room."

"No." I said a little too quickly.

"Why not?"

"It's terribly messy and I don't think you'd want to go in there."

"I'm fine with a little mess," she laughed and started to walk up the stairs. I knew that if I yelled loud enough, Xavier would here me and hide.

"Father, Claire and I are going up to my room!" I called to him, hoping I was loud enough for Xavier to hear. When I turned around to go up the stairs, I saw that Claire was almost to my door. "No, wait, Claire!" I called up to her and ran up the stairs to catch up to her.

"Zaylin, you are acting a little odd. What's wrong with your room?"

"It's dirty. Can you let me go in first and clean it for a few seconds? It really bothers me when guests see my room untidy," I told her.

"Oh, I can understand that. Sure, you can in first and quickly clean it"

I smiled and slipped in the door. I looked around and saw no sign of Xavier. I went to my closet and checked for him in there. I found him and whispered, "Xavier, it might be best if you went to your father's house while my brother and his wife are here."

"I think so too, but can I leave tomorrow morning?" he pleaded.

I thought for a moment before I answered, "I don't see why not."

He grinned and kissed me quickly. I stepped out of the closet, shut the door, and fixed my hair again and let Claire into my room. She looked around slowly. I eyed my closet, hoping that she would stay away from there. My breath caught in my throat when she started to walk to my closet door.

"I want to see what lovely dressed you have." Claire said as she opened the door. I knew that Xavier was right there and he quickly put his hand over her mouth when she was about to scream.

"Listen, we would really appreciate it if you did not yell. You can ask us any questions and we will answer them, if and only if you do not scream and promise not to say a word about this to anyone."

Claire gave a faint nod and Xavier released her mouth. "Zaylin, would you care to explain why there is a man in your closet?" Claire asked calm and collected.

"He is my fiance, but my dad doesn't approve of him because he is a Turner. I will show you the engagement ring if you would like. He was kicked out of his house because he chose to stay engaged to me. He has been living here ever since he was kicked out. My father knows nothing of this and neither does my brother." I told her as I walked to my dresser and grabbed the engagement ring. I handed it to Claire and she looked at it before handing it back.

"You do realize that you are not supposed to sleep in the same bed with a man unless you are married? Not only that but what if your father found him here? What would happen to the both of you?" Claire asked, sounding rather concerned.

"Well I had a plan to only stay in this town until we are married. Then we can move into the town that you and my brother live in and I won't ever have to deal with my father again. The only problem is money."

"Why don't you two live with Caiden and me until you have enough money for your own place? You could move in right after the ball."

"That is a brilliant idea," I smiled. "I can get my things packed rather quickly, especially if I skip the ball. You and Caiden can have fun while Xavier and I pack for the leave."

"I would still need to make this is okay with Caiden." Claire said.

"Don't worry, I think I have a way to persuade him," I reassured her. "Wait to ask him about it until you are alone in your room, please? And don't mention that Xavier is here and in my room. Caiden will say no then, and that would be bad."

"Alright," Claire nodded and left the room to go downstairs. As she was about to walk out the door, she turned to us and said, "You two are the cutest couple. I don't understand why anyone would try to keep you two apart."

I smiled and jumped into Xavier's arms, ecstatic that we may be able to leave this town sooner than planned. "You would have to find another job, but that is fine. And we can sneak into your house and get your clothes and your savings that you already had."

"I love how you think of everything," he grinned and kissed me quickly before going back to hiding.

I composed myself and fixed my hair once again, and then descended the stairs.