Amanda's POV

They sang the birthday song once again. I slashed the chocolate cake carefully without spoiling my fingers much. I gave the biggest piece to Francis, he always demanded one. I, then distributed the rest of the pieces to everyone.

Only Gina was formal enough to feed me with a piece too. Sonia took her piece and smashed it on my face, I did the same. Everyone joined in. We laughed hysterically whilst looking at each other's faces. This moment could stop forever and I wouldn't complain at all.

"I definitely should take a shower", I climbed out of the bed, collected my floral knee length shift dress and rushed towards the bathroom. I was the birthday girl. I should at least look presentable as I knew I was going to be on everyone's social media account's stories. On exiting the bathroom, I saw huge heap of pizzas and coke placed on the bed.

"I'm the birthday girl, treats should be on me", I pouted as it didn't feel right. I should be the one paying for their food.

"Where did all the formalities come from?", Gina watched me with cornered eyes.

"Through Mr Aaron, oops Mr Reynolds", Francis laughed whilst mimicking me. He did actually spoke in a female's accent and voice.

I slapped him playfully, took possession of my slice of pizza and gulped the whole bottle of coke. "So, how are you Amanda ", Dan interrupted.

"Better now ". I smiled.

Slowly and steadily, the door flew open. We watched the shadow appear silently, without a doubt anyone could guess that it was Mr. Reynolds. He arched his brows, examined us for a while and then broke the silence ,"So, a birthday party is going on, who is the one?"

I pinched Gina, and warned Francis and Sonia by widening my eyes, Dan didn't look towards me, he also was quite distant in terms of spaces. "It's Da---", Dan cut my sentence the moment I was going to fake his birthday.

"Amanda's birthday, don't you have a clue about it, buddy ", Dan pointed towards me. I pouted looking at him and then replaced my expression with a fake smile. I didn't want him to know that it was my birthday. He already did his part of spoiling it anyway.

"Oh ", he sighed, looked at me one last time. "Have fun everyone", closed the door silently and exited the room.

I sighed, made sure that he exited the room first and focused my attention towards everyone. "He didn't even care to wish", Gina's face was plastered with annoyance. She knew what I felt for him, though it was in past tense. Maybe, a part of me denied but even presently the feelings weren't completely vanished.

"Dan Attrey , If you weren't Sonia's boyfriend then maybe I would've punch your nose by now", I looked at Dan angrily.

He shrugged and replied, "Did I do something wrong?"

"She didn't want him to know about her birthday ", Gina explained.

"He didn't wish either, doesn't makes a difference", Dan sorted his point of view.

The rest of the hour, I had small fights with Dan. Don't blame me, I was annoyed. We ate pizzas and fought for the last piece and Francis shared his hilarious experiences which I missed. After every 10 minutes, Sonia and Dan would begin with their little make-out session and to be honest they looked cute, really cute.

Now I knew, why he was in my birthday party. Not that I dislike him, he's a nice man and most importantly took care of Sonia and loved her tenderly.

"Time for gifts", Gina propelled a huge box in my direction. I, carefully opened it, I side-hugged Gina thanking her for such a beautiful gift. The box included makeup from all the top brands including Mac, Kyliecosmetics, HudaBeauty, Nars etc. I could even open a small retail shop with the help of it.

"My turn", Francis placed a small box on my palms which was neatly packed and decorated with a ribbon.

"A titan", I wasn't much surprised, it was a beautiful watch which had diamonds studded on its belt.

"So that you're on time", he winked and I punched his stomach playfully.

"I hope you like it, It's from Dan and me", Sonia passed a Vero Moda bag in my way. I grabbed it from her and opened it. It was a beautiful off-shouldered black shift dress.

"I love it, thank you", I thanked her.

Gina looked at the watch , "2 am. Maybe we should leave. I hope you have a great day Amanda. We love you", Gina hugged me and later everyone joined in. I wanted them to stay but I couldn't force them to. I was well aware of the fact that Gina had strict parents and a group meet was pointless without the presence of even one member.

I watched them leave the room. I took a closer view of the gifts once again. It's so strange that some people who we name as friends can make us forget about every ongoing drama in our lives.

I rested my back on the bed, closed my eyes but I couldn't sleep so I decided to try out the stuff they gifted me. I unzipped my dress quickly and then covered my body with the off-shouldered black dress Sonia gifted me. It wasn't much long. It was 4 inches above my knees.

I twisted Francis's watch around my wrists and pinched my cheeks with pink blusher. I decided to go for a bold shade, so I coloured my lips red. I messed my hairs a bit, I opened my front camera to upload a birthday selfie because I knew that I was not getting any chance to leave this mansion.

That person came in , inquired, arched a brow and left. He didn't even care to wish me. Heartless would be an understatement for him. A part of me expected his wish.

"Can I come in?"

"Speak of the devil ", I murmured under my breadth "Come in "

"I heard that", he shrugged. He was dressed in a black vest which showed off his muscles, he wore loose track pants. He had a balloon in his hand and his other hand was occupied with a small carry bag. His hair were properly gathered into a spike, some of them rested on his forehead which made his appearance a bit more alluring.

He sauntered towards me, stared me from head to toe but didn't compliment. His eyes were settled on my body.  I shouldn't have dressed up at first place, I tried moving away as I collected my bathrobe from my wardrobe.

"Wait ", he alarmed me so I turned behind slowly.

"Yes?" I questioned.

"I have something for you", he marched a step closer and so did I, till our steps collided. I tucked away the hair which rested on my face behind my ears. I swallowed as I was scared yet excited.

He propelled the balloon in my direction. I instinctively took a grip of the string, his skin's touch ran butterflies in my belly. Spotting him with the balloon was amusing, hilarious and funny. Those words have the same meaning but I just couldn't keep it till myself.

I tightened my lips, and bit my lower lip so as to prevent myself from laughing hard. I couldn't control so I ended up chortling, he had an –I-don't-know-what-this-girl-is-doing kind of look. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

I raised the balloon in the air, made sure that I don't let go of the string, "A balloon?" I interrogated.

"Yeah, how's it? ", his eyes shined as he questioned me. Was he really a pedo or did he act like one, I wasn't even this shocked when Augustus Waters died before Hazel Grace in the fault in the stars.

"You definitely didn't like it ", his blue eyes now were a bit dark, like his eyes showed the emotions he was feeling "I was driving the streets, when I halted at the traffic signal, I saw a father gifting a heart shaped balloon to her daughter. She couldn't control her emotions, her eyes beamed when she took charge of the string from her father's hand. She hugged him as she loved the gift. I thought, maybe all girls think alike so I bought the balloon from the same vendor and decided to gift you on your birthday. I know, Flopshow ", he shrugged turning away, facing his back, he marched towards the exit.

"Mr Reynolds ", he turned around facing me "The heart shaped balloon is really pretty, I loved it, Thank you ", gifts are gifts, you don't look at their worth, you look at the heart of the person who gives it. Considering the fact that I was gifted a heart, I knotted the string at the end of my bed where there was a small hole.

"You don't have to lie. It's just I haven't gifted any woman earlier", he looked at me straight in my eyes. I knew he was saying the truth, he may have slept with many but never once would have date any.

"But why are you gifting me?" I acted unaware.

"Because, it's your birthday ", he answered.

"Then wish me", I furrowed my brows waiting for a wish but what concealed the atmosphere was silence. He did spoil my mood earlier, he did lock me up but the efforts he was taking up for me was melting the ice which was formed against him around my heart.

He then held me by my wrists softly and pulled me closer, closer to the bed. I widened my eyes at his unanticipated move. He helped me take a seat through my shoulders and opened the small box in the carry bag. It was a small slice of cake.

"Only thing I could manage at this hour of night. It'll be definitely bigger the following morning", he took the piece in his hands and fed me with his hands. Was the taste of the cake sweet or the emotions I was encountering?

I half smiled as I looked at him, one thing I realized that very moment was that this human wasn't bad. He was just, uh, I don't know, I can't give it a word but he definitely wasn't bad. I took possession of the pastry and offered him a piece of cake, he opened his mouth and took a small bite.

I couldn't eat more, I was full already. He looked at me, straightforwardly in my eyes. He didn't come closer, just gawked at me from afar. "You're beautiful", okay, was I daydreaming? , he with his fingers tucked away the small strands of my hair from my forehead. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply and sighed. The man I knew would use different, rather than beautiful.

"You mean different?" I teased winking.

"Mmhmm" , he nodded smiling. This was one of those nights of mine in his mansion in which I didn't debate or fight with him. It was simple, sweet and most importantly it had only me and him.

We kept silent for a while. We didn't have anything to speak about too. Yeah, he didn't wish me yet and neither did I expect any wish from him. He surprised me with unexpected things already. It would be unfair if I start expecting too much. He was an introvert and a pessimist whose small efforts surprised me and ceased my brain-cells to work appropriately.

I looked down, he tilted my chin up. His touched passed sensations across every nerve in my body making me weak in my knees. If this wasn't hate or love then I had no idea what it was. They say lust is stronger than hate and love but what I felt was pure affection. It was such a pure feeling, I was afraid that it was ruling my heart, body and mind.

The moment my eyes interlocked with his, he pushed himself a bit closer to me. He cupped my cheeks, making me go red, didn't obstructed his view away my face even for once. I could feel him breath, I could feel the amazing smell of his aftershave gel, his ethereal face.

When we were inches away from each other, he slowly whispered "Happy Birthday Amanda", he smiled showing off his dimples on either side of his cheek. I was falling again and maybe this time it had no way out.

******

5 or more chapters and then the epilogue. I just have to cover some important parts before I end this book.

Thankyou for supporting me.

Much love,
Aafryn!