My Words Are Law

Games of fate (2)

Amaryllis inhaled a breath, trying to control the turmoil raging in her stomach.

"Well... I-" She started after a long silence. "It doesn't really matter what you think of me."

His reply only consisted of an ambiguous smile as he languidly brushed back his fringe.

Amaryllis didn't return the smile. Instead, she pressed her lips together, which formed a straight line on her pale face, a sign of her silent defiance.

She wasn't about to back down now. She's not the one who's in the wrong. She shouldn't be this unnecessarily scared. Her thoughts, however, weren't enough to convince her body as it shuddered under the frightening scrutiny of his amber eyes.

The dimming sky made the orbs look as if they were glowing. It projected an image of a mischievous villain that was so tangible. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, but there was nowhere to go...

Three minutes later and Amaryllis felt like time had cursed her with eternity in the company of the world's greatest antagonist. She'd been fidgeting and biting her lips for a while now, shivering in between as the late afternoon began to blow colder winds. The sun was setting, and Chryses was still lazing in the pool. He offered her his bathroom and some dry clothes, but she turned them down. She was too scared to go in alone lest something is missing, and she finally becomes the suspect. She's not fortunate to have luck fall on her lap twice, and she's learned that good fortune doesn't come without a price. And this is just one of the many examples.  

"You've tried my telephone, and it doesn't work... Both our phones are dead, and somehow, the power source is skipping the Penthouse, so we can't charge them. Also, I don't have access to the security door in the stairwell-" 

"Because it was newly installed, and you forgot to take the access card. I know. You said that already." Amaryllis snapped. It was evident in her sharp tone that she was annoyed. She didn't know if it was because he was telling the truth or because of her cursed luck.

Maybe it's both. Or perhaps it was because of her stomach that had been churning for a while now as a result of being close to the evil personified... It isn't exactly a pleasant feeling. She felt like she was sitting with a ticking time bomb.

"My, you can still speak? I would have thought you'd be frozen by now." Chryses glanced at the shivering woman. 

She sneered at his swimming figure, wondering the same thing about him and snarkily whispering under her breath. "You'd love that, won't you?" Wait a minute- He supposedly should be sick, right? How come he's moving like an olympic swimmer?

Chryses suddenly popped out of the water very close to where she was sitting, earning a surprised shriek from her. How did he get near so fast?

"You think so low of me, Amaryllis." He muttered, feigning a hurt look that would have looked genuine if she didn't know him already.

Freaky...

He laid his hands flat on the poolside to support his body as he gracefully pulled himself up and out of the water, causing his biceps to bulge. The transparent liquid coursed down his well-formed torso as he finally stood in all his shirtless glory. And these all happened a mere meter away from Amaryllis, whose eyes had been defiled without any ounce of remorse.

How shameless!

The lack of coverage embarrassed and shocked her. Especially as his pants slid further down to reveal a glimpse of his underwear.

Is he not embarrassed?

She had not noticed it a while back when she tried to get him out of the water because of the seemingly precarious situation he was in, but now-

Oh my god...

She had directly touched the body of the evil misogynist!

As soon as she caught him looking at her, she quickly hid her hands beneath the towel. It seemed like he was looking at her arms just now. Dear god! Will I really be able to get out of here in one piece?

"I swear to god, I saw and touched nothing... Y-You mustn't do anything to my innocent hands..!"

For a while, only the rustling of leaves could be heard.

Then a sigh.

Her body went rigid with fear. Despite being aware that she has the upper hand, the unpleasant feeling continued to plague her.

She hated it so much she couldn't help clenching her teeth in frustration.

"Right... Don't you think you should be muttering my name instead of some nonexistent being?"

He started taking slow steps towards her frozen figure, the movement lax and fluid like that of a lazy cat. He thought she closely resembled a delicate water sprite as she stared up at him with her big, wary eyes... The blue jewels, brimming with dignity and innocence.

Chryses' eyes glinted mysteriously. "...Could you say it again? Properly this time." He proceeded to crouch down to level their gazes.

Her jittery mouth opened to tell him off- say something significantly disarming and blow his composure... Make him speechless with a brilliant comeback- Ugh, just anything, really!

But even as the last strings of light vanished from the sky, her tongue remained frozen.

Not until she saw a smile playing on his lips, anyway.

"Cruel..."

"...What?" Chryses didn't expect her answer.

She met his gaze square in the eyes with a mix of frustration and anger. "...You're cruel," Amaryllis repeated, this time with more diction. As soon as she said that, the penthouse brightened.

Neither was distracted by it, and the tension only grew as the seconds passed.

Chryses began to nod, seemingly accepting her answer. However, it was obvious that he wasn't humoured at all. "So that's how you see me..."

She pursed her lips. It's alright. He can't do anything to her. After all, she had already told him not to harm her.

"I see..." He added. He then grabbed her hands and pulled her up with him without much of a warning. "Pardon me. This cruel person will carry you inside."

She inhaled sharply, not expecting his skin to feel hot after all that swimming. "Wh-why are you taking me inside?" She asked, feeling frightened by his sudden actions.

"Take a guess." His response sounded strangely foreboding to Amaryllis.

She looked in the direction of his feet. They were heading to... his room.

Her eyes widened. "N-no... I don't want to go there..." She tried to retrieve her hands, but he didn't let her. She tried to put her weight on the ground, but a single pull was all it took to drag her walking behind him again. "What... What are you planning to do to me..? I don't want to go there with you!"

An unusual frown wrinkled his forehead.

"͎L͎͎e͎͎t͎ ͎m͎͎e͎ ͎g͎͎o͎!"

At her command, her wrist was instantly freed. Relief flooded her heart. However, she wasn't prepared for the abrupt release, which caused her to lose balance and fall on her butt, followed by a pained yelp.

Chryses turned around and watched her whimpering on the ground. A layer of frost coated his expression as he muttered, "Suit yourself."

With that, he left her shivering in the unforgiving cold with a possible fractured hip bone and went inside alone.

Her mouth trembled as she stared at him, full of aggravation and tears lining her eyes.

***