Sometimes, the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.
by H.Jackson Brown Jr.

Her brows slightly furrowed as her arms tightened around his body. A cute smile formed on her face while her eyes remained shut. She didn't know exactly what it was, but that very position made her feel so comfortable and safe. A great sense of belonging. Eventually, she fluttered her eyes open. Her eyes lurked left and right before she lazily raised her head up. Kiana looked away from her environment and slowly descended to the person she had apparently leaned on. A part of her feared the worst, as she realised she wasn't the only one on the bed. Her eyes widened in shock as soon as her eyes landed on his face.

Enrico!?

Her breath felt hitched within her throat. She felt tempted to quickly draw away from the strange position they were in but stopped herself as she realised he was asleep. Perhaps, the safest and less embarrassing thing to do would be to quietly walk away without letting him know. Gently and carefully, Kiana withdrew her arm away from him and made sure to get off the bed without making much of a sound or getting him to wake up.

She let out a little silent sigh as she now stood beside the bed. Her eyes fell on his face once more and just like a moth drawn to a flame, she couldn't look away. For some reason, staring at Enrico sleep and look so peaceful set a different feeling within her. It was weird. She knew it was. Even while asleep, Enrico still looked as handsome as ever. The fact that she had been lying so close to him all that time made her feelings grow a lot weirder. She couldn't explain why he laid beside her in the first place. It made her wonder if he felt this was strange just as much as she did. It made her wonder if he felt a little embarrassed as she does. Could she be the only one reading everything all wrong? If so, all this needed to stop.

Stay with me.

Kiana's eyes widened in surprise as she covered her mouth with her hand, right at her gasp. She just recalled an important part of her memory and doing so didn't help matters at all. It so happens she had been the one that had told him to stay. Kiana slapped her forehead in frustration, wondering why on earth she said that. Out of all the words she could have said while being sick, she chose those exact words.

Suddenly, Enrico slightly turned on the bed and in the process pressed his glasses a bit. Kiana noticed it and felt the need to save them. He treated her nice while she was in bad shape. The best she could do was save his glasses, so she carefully walked to the other side of the bed. She bent right beside him before stretching her hand and gently taking the glasses off his face. He slightly moved and so she froze right on the spot for a second. He remained the same, so she withdrew her hands as she felt safe enough to do so. She folded and kept it on the bedside table right close to him. It would be easier for him to reach them once he was awake. Kiana's eyes shifted back to his face. Enrico was right.

Everything else changed about him except his eyesight. He still couldn't see properly without them. She had come to the understanding that he wore contacts during the day when he's out in public, but returns to the old fashioned way of putting on glasses. She recalled a memory from the past of just how much he had been bullied back then due to his glasses. He had confided in her of just how uncomfortable his glasses made him feel. She had told him not to let anyone get to him because of it. Someday, they were going to envy him. He had smiled.

Now, staring at him, her words had somehow come to pass. A strand of his hair covered his face and she couldn't resist the temptation of gently pushing it away from his face. She stared some more before suddenly looking away. She stood straight on her feet before walking right out of the room without taking a look back.

* * *

Enrico's eyes fluttered open. He laid still for a minute before sitting up on the bed. He rubbed his face with his hand before running a hand through his hair. He turned his head to the other side of the bed, but he could barely see a thing. Everything seemed so blurry and uneven, he knew he needed his glasses. Thinking of his glasses, he wondered where they might be. He couldn't recall having taken them off. As his sight was no good in helping with the search, he used his hands instead. He searched all around him and then onto the side table. His hand touched something familiar. A little excitement filled him as he realised he had found what he was looking for.

Quickly, he put his glasses back on and turned back to the side of the bed Kiana had laid on. She was nowhere to be seen. He realised she must have woken up and left the room without his knowledge. Enrico sighed as he shut his eyes for a minute before getting off the bed and all the way out of the room.

As he walked towards the living room, he caught sight of her in the kitchen. She had her back to him and seemed quite focused working on something within the sink. Enrico stared for what seemed like ages. Eventually, his brows furrowed as he recalled she was ill.

"What are you doing?" Kiana immediately turned her head in a startle at the sound of his voice.

She stared at him for a minute, a little surprise to see him up already. It hadn't been quite long since she left the room. Enrico stood still waiting for a reply.

Stay with me.

She recalled her words which made her immediately look away from him. She felt embarrassed about having said those exact words to him. It worried her so much that he might have thought wrongly of her.

"Uh, I... I'm just doing the dishes." She explained without taking a look at him and without waiting for a reply, she continued with her work.

Enrico sighed as he took several steps closer and stopped when he was in front of the counter.

"You really don't care about your health at all, do you? You're sick and yet you seem to fancy stressing yourself out." He stated and she looked up away from the plate in her hand.

"Pfff... I went through all that stress for nothing." Enrico added, feeling a little vexed with her careless attitude.

Kiana refused to accept his comments, so she pushed her thoughts aside and turned to him.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly apologised. His brows slightly furrowed. Perhaps, he wasn't expecting an apology.

"I'm sorry that I fell ill at quite an unconventional time and in that process, sort of, got you involved. I'm sorry your money had to be wasted on such an ungrateful person such as myself and..."

He raised a brow at her as he realised she was stalling the last sentence. The look on her face made it quite obvious that she had something uncomfortable to say.

"... and.... and I'm sorry I said those words to you back in the room." Finally, she said it. A little sigh escaped her lips and Enrico looked away from her for a second.

"I hope you understand that I was on medication." She stated, feeling the need to clear up any other kind of misunderstanding. He slightly furrowed his brows and a little confused expression appeared on his face. Something about the look on his face told her to go on.

"The drugs you gave me. The cough, cold... you know, sometimes they make you a little drowsy." She added, but the expression on his face grew blank. He just stared at her. It made her wonder a little about what was going on in his mind.

Suddenly, after what seemed like ages, he shrugged his shoulders as he looked away from her for a moment.

"I knew that. It's just so sad that you used me." He stated as he turned back to her. The expression on his face now softer.

Kiana raised a brow.

"What?"

Enrico let out a light chuckle as he took a seat on one of the stools.

"You took hold of my arm and said..." He gave a dramatic pause; his face like that of an actor.

"... stay with me." Enrico added, then burst into laughter.

"Alright, I think, that's enough." Kiana stated, feeling a little irritated that he would make jest of something such as that. It might be funny but she was pretty sure, it hadn't been funny at all then.

"I refused. I told you not to do this. I pleaded to you not to give into your urges. To look beyond this godlike face and let me have my honour."

"What?" She asked with furrowed brows, a little surprised this very topic was still on.

"You pushed me onto the bed and put your arm around me. You held me so tight that I grasped for air."

"Okay, now you're just exaggerating." She added, quite irritated but he laughed quite pleased with his antics.

"Am I, Kiana? Am I really exaggerating?" He suddenly asked, putting up a serious yet fake expression.

"Yes. Yes you are. I wouldn't do any of that in my senses even if you wer00e the last man on earth." She commented, feeling the need to tell him the bitter truth.

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew quiet. Enrico stared at her for what seemed like forever with a little amusement in his eyes. It made Kiana a little uncomfortable and regretful for what she had said. Perhaps, she had gone too far.

"Are you saying I'm not attractive enough to make your heart skip a beat?" Unexpectedly, he asked a strange question.

Kiana's eyes slightly widened at his question. She really wasn't expecting that from him.

"W-what?" She stuttered.

"Well, we'll have to find out, won't we?" Enrico stated as he got off the stool and walked all the way towards Kiana, who stared at him a little surprised, slashed and confused at what his agenda was.

The closer he drew, the more startled she became but she couldn't find the right words to protest. Enrico only stopped when he was right in front of her. Her eyes felt glued to his face regardless of the height difference. Just when Kiana thought this was the end, he buried a hand into the pocket of his trouser and slightly bent so his face could meet hers. Immediately, she leaned backwards, but there wasn't much of a space for her to take a step back, so she leaned close to the sink, a bit in a slant position. He drew his face closer to hers that their eyes stared right into each other. Almost into their souls. Kiana's heart raced faster. It was beating seemingly loud like never before. Her breathing felt a little hitched within her throat.

Neither was comfortable with the situation, but Enrico couldn't pull away now. He had initiated this. Earlier, it had been a joke right up to this moment; but now, staring into her eyes set something different within him. He couldn't look away in as much as he wanted to. He felt so strangely drawn to her. Seeing just how a few strands of her hair fell right on her face, he felt the urge to tuck them gently behind her ear and lightly stroke her hair. His fingers itched to do so but he held it in.

Kiana was so uncomfortable with having him this close. If it was any other guy, she probably would have kicked him where it hurt the most and make him regret ever trying such an act, but this wasn't so. This was Enrico. A man she was starting to feel so helpless by just being around him. He made her feel quite immobile. Kiana could barely bear his eyes on her, so she tried her best to look anywhere else but into his eyes. She could feel her cheeks burn.

"W-what... are you doing?" She asked, feeling the need to know if this action had some kind of point attached to it.

"You're blushing." Suddenly, he spoke up, stating the obvious after what seemed like ages. Kiana slightly furrowed her brows, quite embarrassed with this one fact.

Suddenly, he pulled away. A strange smile formed on his face.

"I think we both know what the answer is to my question." Enrico stated, still maintaining the smile on his face.

Kiana's eyes remained on him, a little curiosity as to what he had to say next.

"You like me." Enrico stated the unexpected.

Kiana's eyes widened for a moment before a light chuckle escaped her lips. All that made sense to her at the moment was laughter and so that was what she did. She gradually stood straight while she laughed some more.

"Good... good joke." She stated as she kept laughing while shaking her head at the unbelievable statement he left.

Enrico just watched while she laughed. It didn't make him angry that she laughed at his words, but it made the simple smile on his face grow broader just seeing her laugh so much. Truthfully, he hadn't seen her laugh since fate brought them together once again. It made him realise just how much he had missed her laughter. Her eyes shone the brightest when she laughed. Gradually, her laughter died down as she noticed he was staring at her.

Enrico only looked away when he felt his phone buzz a little within his pocket before he took it out. He realised he had a text message. The smile that was drawn on his face slowly died down when he realised whom the text message was from before clicking on it.

I had a chat with Cecile. She's open to giving you another chance, so I've gone ahead and set a dinner date for you two tomorrow. This time Enrico, first think of the company's well being, then try to be a gentleman.

Kiana watched as Enrico read something on his phone while the expression on his face slowly changed. Eventually, the smile on his face had totally disappeared. Her brows slightly furrowed as the act bothered her a little. Curiosity filled her as to what he might be reading.

Unexpectedly, he looked away from his phone while his arm dropped to his side. He looked anywhere else but her face. Just as Kiana debated on whether to ask him if everything was alright, suddenly, he turned and walked away without sparing her one last glance.

Her eyes remained on him while he climbed the stairs up to his room. Her brows quite seized up at his strange change of mood. She only looked away when he was out of sight.

A sigh escaped her lips while she thought but nothing quite explainable regarding his attitude came to mind and so eventually, she returned to her work.