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"Yet if a woman never lets herself go, how will she ever know how far she might have got?"
Germaine Greer
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Jules

"Jules!"

I hear Terrence yell from behind me.

Just why does he love yelling my name?

"I've got nothing to say to you!" I yell back and keep on walking towards the parking lot. And that is when I remember that I didn't  collect the car key from Nikita.

Darn it!

"You've got nothing to say to me or you won't say anything to me?" he asks and I hear his footsteps get closer.

Damn those long legs of his!

"Make out of that statement whatever you want!"

"I told you I love you. Don't you have anything to say to that?"

This utterance makes me stop short and veer around to face him.

"You told the crowd you love me."

"What!" His eyebrows shoot up. Geez! He actually has the gut to feign oblivion.

"Listen, I'm not going to accept your feelings for me." I tell him matter-of-factly. "Maybe, just maybe I could have considered it before. But that shit you pulled in there just ruined whatever chance you might have had with me."

"What else can I do?" He asks after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Neither will you accept my feelings privately nor publicly. So, I'm asking you, what will it take for you to, if not love me, then accept what I feel for you." He continues to talk as he takes leisure paces towards me. When I say nothing in response, he stops walking and folds his arm across his chest. Then rubs his thumb across his lower lip like I've seen him do before when he was deeply in thought. "Tell me this one thing, Jules. Will you accept my love if I become a star?"

I scoff at his odd question. "Are you crazy?"

"Yes, I am, damn it! You drive me so crazy I feel like I would die if I can't have you!" Even though he sounds angry, I could detect a hint of helplessness in his voice as he roughly tugs at his shiny black mane of a hair.

"So what do you want me to do? Leave everything behind and fly into the moon with my very own Prince Charming?" I ask, somewhat exhausted.

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you have to leave everything behind?"

I smile without humour at his question. Is he even supposed to ask me something like that?

"Okay. Let's say I were to date you, do you think the media will be silent about this? I just barely sorted one scandal out, now you want me to create another one by being with you?"

"Ah." He gives a slow nod like he had just realized something. "So you accepting my feelings for you isn't the problem, my status is. Shoulda known a person with a status like yours wouldn't date a lowlife like me."

For goodness sake, why is he always bringing that up!

"You know what, you need a serious and quick brain reset. So you think your status is the problem?" I ask him, getting closer. "How about this: "JULES LEE GETS HERSELF A SUGARBOY. or "CEO OF LEE CORPORATION NOW GOING OUT WITH SOMEONE A DECADE YOUNGER."

"Oh."

I let out an exaggerated sigh. "Finally, he gets it."

"So you really care about what people say that much?"

"Of course I care about what people say that much!"

"If I could make you happy, would you still care about what people say?"

"I am happy."

"Then let me add to your happiness."

I remain silent.

"Well.."

"Sorry to interrupt but we gotta go now," Nikita announces.

Just when did she get here?

Grateful for the much needed intervention, I follow Nikita to her car without so much as a backward glance.

I open the car door but before I could hop in, Terrence pulls me back and shuts the door.

I slowly turn my face towards him with a murderous look. "Do you want to die?"

"We're not done talking. You can leave ma'am," he tells Nikita, who just sits in the car, mouth agape. "I'll take her home when we're done."

Nikita's surprised look turns into a skeptical one.

"It's okay. You can leave."

She responds with a nod and quickly drives off like as if she can't bear to spend another minute in our presence.

It's not her fault though. Terrence and I are already shooting daggers at each other before she could even leave.

For minutes unending, we only stare at each other.

"You're crazy," I tell him, putting an end to the silent gaze battle.

"I know," he says with an annoyingly smug look which makes me even angrier.

"I'm not gonna apologize for anything I said."

"Of course."

"You're one of the most frustrating humans I've ever met."

"Kiss me."

What!

"I'm sorry, what?!" I ask, unable to believe my ears.

"You said I frustrate you, so why don't you vent all that anger on my lips."

"You don't know what..."

The rest of my speech dies on my lips as I get swept off my feet, Terrence's lips firmly on mine.

My brain becomes foggy as the sharp taste of brandy hits my tongue and I find myself losing control, seeking for more of the intoxication I had just tasted on Terrence's tongue.

I feel my butt gently hit a hard but cold surface. Now more comfortable, I tug at his lower lip and bite down on it. I keep biting until I feel the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Not anywhere near done, I go in for another bite but stop when he lets out a deep groan. My eyes snap open and I quickly let go, all thewhile avoiding his gaze.

"Wow. You really must be very angry. I can hardly feel my lips."

I gather the courage to look up and see what I've done to the poor boy and..

Holy shark in a bikini!

With the deep puncture in his lower lip, he might as well have been kissed by a vampire!

"Take me home."

"Really Jules? You just turned his lips into a pin cushion and all you can say is 'Take me home'?"

I half-expect him to protest but he only nods. He places his hand around my waist and for a second, I think he is going to kiss me again. Instead, he only carries me off the motorcycle I am seated on.

I mutter my appreciation as he hops on the sexy-looking bike.

"This yours?" I ask when he passes me a black helmet.

"No," he answers on a humourless laugh.

"You stole it?" I jokingly ask but realize my mistake as he gives me a look I can't understand.

"Ouch. That hurts," he says coldly, his voice in contrast with his casual words.

"What? You're angry at what I said.. again?"

He takes his lower lip between his teeth but releases it almost immediately, reminding me of our intense moment seconds ago.

"Hop on, Jules. It's getting late," he finally says, the earlier wrath gone from his voice.

I smile at this. Maybe I could be his "Anger Management" teacher after all.

After thirty minutes of a silent ride, we get to my house. Without a single word, I hop off, still sorta angry at him. Probably angry at me too, he zooms off without as much as a "Goodnight".

I walk towards the large gate that leads into my building but before I could get the key out of my clutch, the roar of a bike has me turning around only to see no other person but Terrence. I give him a questioning look but what he does next flabbergasts me. Grabbing me by the waist, he pulls me close and gives me a brief but passionate kiss.

"Sweet dreams," he whispers against my lips and lets go while I do nothing but watch him zoom off in the direction he came from.

As I watch him go farther and farther into the distance, I find myself wishing I could call him back and ask him to stay the night with me. And this is when a thought I've been trying so hard to ignore takes residence in my mind.

I am falling for Terrence Anderson.

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Whoa! Never knew Jules was a biter😁😄😄😃

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