HER

Part Eight

"You're insane," I said with a frantic shake of my head, I picked up my purse and got up to leave.
I needed to get out of this place.

"Sit down," he said coldly "I'm not done"
And to my utter dismay, I sat down instantly.

At that moment two servers entered the room, carrying a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a basket of garlic bread.
Placing them on the table, they left after pouring the champagne and informing us our orders would arrive in a minute.

"I can't marry you, Kieran," I said breaking the silence.
"Why is that?" he asked, raising his glass to his lips as he took a sip.
I was transfixed by the movement of his adam's apple as he swallowed for a second before shaking myself out of it.

"Well for one we don't know each other well" I answered with a 'shouldn't it be obvious?' Look on my face.
"That can be rectified" he replied

"Secondly" I continued without acknowledging his reply "I'm like five years older than you"

A statement that he seemed to find Funny for some reason because he started laughing... like full-on laughter while I could only glare in annoyance.
"I don't understand what's funny about my statement," I asked after his laughter died down.

"It is funny" he replied with a smile
"How?" I asked " I only pointed out the fact that I am older than you? Which is true"
"Well..." he said musingly "does it seem that way though?"
"What do you mean?"

"You look like we could be the same age for one thing," he said as his eyes ran over my face.

I know I should feel complimented because he was saying I look younger than I am. But the way he said it did not feel like a compliment at all. I feel offended in fact.

"Look, Kieran" I sighed "I can't marry you, and that's final"
"Why do you even wanna marry me?" I asked him out of curiosity.
But his attention to the door where the servers were just talking in with our meals and we delved in. We didn't say anything else until we both finished, thank God.
Because as much as I was eager to hear his response, I was happy for the few minutes of reprieve from this madness.

'Why do you want to marry me?'I asked again after the meal.

He stared at his glass thoughtfully for a moment.

"Is there a reason for getting married?" he countered

"That's not an answer," I said in frustration.

"It's the only one you're getting for now"

"I just want you to say yes" he added

"I already said no Kieran"

"You saying no is not an option Asa" he replied "Because then, extreme measures will have to be taken to ensure your eventual acquiesce"

"Are you threatening me?" I asked with a laugh of disbelief.

'If that's what you want to call it," he replied coldly "then have at it"
The look in his eyes... This man was crazy.

I felt a chill run down my spine, and I knew instantly that I was fucked.
What have I gotten myself into?
And I could tell he knew he got his message across because his eyes had a gleam of satisfaction.

Picking up his phone, he typed out something before looking back at me "You can leave first, the car's here for you"

I can't believe he was just asking me to up leave just like that, after this insane conversation.
But I didn't object, because I wanted to leave too.
I need space to process what just happened...

I stood up and was about to exit the door when he called my name.
I didn't turn to him. I was so angry that I couldn't bear to look at him.

"Think carefully about what I said," he said softly.
But I walked out without a word.

On the drive home, I replayed our whole conversation in my mind, but it just wasn't making any sense.

Who the fuck tries to coerce a woman into marrying them?.
He wouldn't even tell me why he wants to marry me so badly...
Kieran Preston needed a thorough psych evaluation.