Bianca's POV
The Clause, the Close Call, and the Keys
Sleep never came.
How could it?
With shame all over me.
No matter how tight I closed my eyes or how many times I flipped the pillow to its other side, my thoughts wouldn't stop spiraling. Kenneth's kiss, his heat, the way his hands pressed against me. Then finding out it was just for show and then the fact someone in the house saw how passionate she looked.
All of it played over and over in my mind like a video on a loop and with every replay, I felt more shame and heat.
I just needed the ground to swallow me up at this point.
It wasn't just the kiss that haunted me.
It was how much I had liked it.
How much I wanted more.
And that scared the hell out of me.
I threw the sheet off my legs and sat up straight, I slipped out of the huge bed and walked straight and grabbed the contract from the side drawer. I sat on a chair in the room and I flipped through the neat pages, stopping where I had checked multiple times since the kiss.
There it was again, it still didn't disappear.
Where intimacy is deemed necessary to preserve the authenticity of the engagement, both parties are to comply without obstruction.
I stared at the line, I needed the line to disappear. I wanted him to feel at a disadvantage, not me. I wanted to be right, not him.
But nope. It was still there. Still boldly written.
I had signed it. I had agreed to every letter of it.
And no matter how my stomach turned at the idea of being bound to act like Kenneth's lover at any time without the freedom to refuse. To act like a real lover would.
A soft sound brought me out of my deep thoughts
I glanced at the clock. It was still around 4am
Too early for anyone to move around that time.
Cautiously, I stepped out of the room, barefoot, wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt and shorts. The hallway was quiet and the mansion with the same quietness except for the ticking of the large antique clock down the hallway.
I slowly walked toward the sound and then towards the kitchen. I found the kitchen door slightly opened.
I didn't mean to look. I really didn't.
But the moment I slightly pushed it open,
"Ah!" I gasped a bit.
Kenneth stood there, wet from the shower, nothing but a small towel hanging low around his hips. Water was still dripping from his hair and his chest that felt too packed to be real.
I had only seen bodies like that on those gym posters and shampoo advertisment.
Never in person
"Do you mind?" he said, voice low and lazy.
"I….Sorry!" I turned back away so fast I nearly fell over the hallway rug. "The door was open…I wasn't trying to…ugh!"
What the hell Bianca?
I could still hear him lightly chuckle, as I ran back into the room and slammed the door shut like he wasn't going to come here any sooner.
Heat crawled up my face like I was on fire.
Great. Now I had seen him nearly naked too. As if the kiss wasn't bad enough.
A knock sounded again, this time on the room door.
"Bianca?" Kenneth's voice came through, smooth and composed like he wasn't dripping wet just seconds ago.
"What!?" I yelled into my pillow, my voice muffled.
"Get ready. I want to take you somewhere, when morning comes."
"I'm not in the mood," I snapped back at him. Rolling onto my back and staring into the ceiling.
"I think you'll want to go to this one," he replied slowly. "It's a piano tutoring gig. A private one. One of my investor's daughters, a very influential family. They requested someone...someone impressive."
I stood up from the bed almost immediately
"…Fine," I muttered as I stood and let him into his own room, completely avoiding any eye contact with him.
"I'll have someone bring your breakfast. Be ready in an hour, we leave."
The car ride was quiet.
Kenneth looked unbothered, typing on his phone while Isaac drove through the clear streets of an elite neighborhood. Meanwhile, I sat up straight, eyes straight on the road, trying not to replay this morning's horror or last night's kiss or…..anything that would make my cheeks red again.
Kenneth had explained when he checked our shower in our room wasn't working, so he had to use the general one and on his way back decided to have a drink.
After a while he finally looked over. "You okay?"
"I don't know," I said plainly.
"I figured you would be happy. You get to do what you love."
"I am happy," I finally spoke. "Just trying to keep up with your plot twists."
That earned a smile from him.
Soon, we pulled into a wide driveway that looked more like a huge private villa than a house. The place had gates, fountains, hedges shaped like different animals.
A maid welcomed us and led us through the large mansion until we reached a well decorated sitting room with a white grand piano sitting in the center of everything like a special piece.
Kenneth turned to me. "This is Olivia," he said, gesturing to a girl who looked no older than twelve, wearing a designer dress and holding a music paper.
I offered her a gentle smile. "Hi, Olivia. Ready to make some music?"
She looked at Kenneth, then at me, Kenneth stepped back before I could answer. "She's the teacher today. I'll leave you to it."
For the next thirty minutes, I forgot about everything else. There was no contract. No towel incident. No kiss that burned on my lips.
There was just music and laughter.
And a little girl looking up at me like I was special.
By the time we finished up, Olivia's mother returned and said she had never seen her daughter so focused on a tutor. I received praises throughout.
Kenneth had left, while I was still playing, something about an important meeting.
I was to wait for Isaac to come pick me. Just as I stuck my hands in the bag to pick up my phone. My hand hits a box.
I brought out the box. It was a gift box. From Kenneth according to the note attached to it.
It had sweet words written on it. Words I could never imagine Kenneth say. Words I never expected him to say.
So many questions went through my mind.
What changed?Why did he send this?
Was it that kiss? Did it change it all?