The Way He Lies | One

|Chapter Three|

Previously in Stockholm Syndrome: After making her decision not to notify Nick of her future boss, Demi meets the infamous Mr. Wilmer Valderrama for the first time and despite knowing better, can't help but feel mesmerised by him.

Men made me nervous. Not only because of the pain I had to endure at home, but because I felt wrong being around anyone who wasn't Nick.
I knew Nick was insecure, he fears me running off with another man, and despite me disliking what he does to me, I love him.

"So Demi... Can I call you that?" Wilmer asks me as I stock up the coffee cups behind the counter,

I smile, "Sure"

"Alright great, well, what are you interested in?" He asked me,

I chuckle, "That's not very work related"

"I need to get to know my employee's, don't I?"

I smiled, "True... Well, I enjoy singing I guess, and reading"

"Sing something for me" Wilmer smirked,

Shaking my head slightly as a blush came upon my cheeks, "I can't, I'm working" I told him, as he looked around at the empty dining room,

He shrugged, "No one's here, go ahead"

"Why are you singing me love songs? What good is a love song? A love song without the love" I sung as my face burned, notifying me that I was as red as a ripe tomato. "I don't know, I haven't warmed up today, and I don't sing a lot anymore because my husband doesn't like it, I don't know..." I rambled out of embarrasment. The last person I had sung in front of was Nick, and that didn't end well.

Wilmer scoffed, "He doesn't like it? You're amazing how can he not like that"

I shrugged, "He likes the quiet" I lied, our home was never quiet.

"How long have you been married for?" Wilmer asked me,

"Too long" I muttered under my breath before looking up to the man and giving my perfect 'trophy wife' smile, "We just had our five year wedding anniversary"

"Congratulations"

"Thank you" I smiled as a customer walked into the restaurant, "Hi, how's it going?" I asked the tan woman, as she smiled softly while looking to Wilmer,

"Demi, this is my sister, Stephanie" Wilmer told me, hugging the woman over the counter,

I smiled, "Nice to meet you" I told her. I didn't realise how anxious being around Wilmer made me until there was another girl around. It wasn't Wilmer that made me anxious though, it was the fact that he was a man. I hated that I was afraid of men, I hated that I couldn't just be scared of Nick, that I couldn't just trust every other man.

"Wil, can I talk to you?" Stephanie asked as Wilmer excused himself from me, letting his sister around the back of the store as I stood alone at the front counter.

Sometimes I hated being alone at the front counter, generally Tuesday's are quiet until the dinner rush which is why I'm somewhat glad I didn't work nights. My anxiety made everything difficult.

As the clock struck 3pm, I removed my apron from around my waist and placed it on the hook behind the door.
"My shift is over" I told Wilmer, placing my employee ID into the computer and clocking out of my shift.

Wilmer turned to me and smiled, "It was nice meeting you Demi, I hope we can work together some more" He told me.

Something about his eyes just made me feel a little less on edge. As if I could trust him. I guess I would need to learn to trust him though if he was going to be buying the company.

"Me too" I said kindly before grabbing my handbag and leaving the restaurant. Being around a man who was actually respectful of me made me smile, it made me happy, and it made me feel that maybe I was actually worth something.

...

Guilt. Do you know what happens when I feel guilty? I cook. Nick loves food, I have to cook for him and make sure that it's all perfect, that it's all okay.
I can't believe I didn't tell him about Wilmer, he's going to kill me. I wasn't even sure if I was exaggerating or not.

"Demetria" Nick whispered in my ear as his arms snaked around my waist from behind me, "I know about your work" He told me...

I shot up in a sweat as my fast breaths made my whole body tremble.
Jesus Christ, I didn't know how much something like this would scare me.
Scare me? I wasn't even sure if scared was the right word, I just didn't want to upset. I feel as if that even after just one day, I had gotten myself into a big mess that I couldn't get out of. Nick would be hurt, I would get hurt, and it would be entirely my fault because I was too damn selfish.

"Demetria?" Nick asked me groggily as he sat up next to me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay" I told him,

"Go back to sleep then" He huffed as his body landed back on the mattress with a thud, "I can't believe you woke me, stupid bitch" I heard him whisper as I positioned my body next to him.

At least he was too tired to punish me, I was stupid for thinking it was over though.

Hey guyyyyysssssss so I have a sequel planned for this story, it'll start to get ~interesting~ soon and I'm sooooo excited for where it's going to go in future

I also created a trailer for this story which is up the top

- z