Once Alex stepped out, the girl was wearing her robe, drying her hair with a hair dryer.
Alex moved towards her, his hair was still dripping wet. He was half naked with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
Suddenly, Alex took the hair dryer away from her hand and then, out of the blue, he kissed her neck, causing Abi to freeze.
“You said that you’re going to be going back home during the weekends, right?” he asked, his lips still on her skin. Abi didn’t know why but Alex seemed a little strange tonight. She couldn’t help but imagine him as a pet that had been parted from his owner for a long time and now that they were together again, all he wanted was to cuddle, touch and kiss his owner every single second.
But then, she was fully aware that Alex wasn’t a pet. He was a beast. A magnificently beautiful beast!
Abi nodded. “Mm. I did say that.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday…” he stated, still nibbling on her skin.
Abi was so distracted with what he was doing but the next words he said immediately woke her up as if ice had been poured to the fire that Alex was fanning within her body.
“I’ll be away again. I’ll be away for a week this time,” he uttered and Abi’s body stiffened.
Alex pulled away and looked into her eyes.
“W-where are you going?” she stammered as their eyes met.
“Somewhere, Abigail. I have work to do” was all he said. Abi realized that she was naïve to think that she could make him stay right here beside her in all these thirty-one days. She had forgotten that this man wasn’t like her. He had all the time in the world, unlike her.
He had to work too and of course he had his business to take care of – whatever it was that he did – and she couldn’t possibly tie him down to stay with her everyday.
This realization made Abi’s heart feel like it was being squeezed tight so hard. How was she going to fulfill her wishes at this rate? Seven days was too long for her. How would she spend those days without him? She had just experienced how it felt to miss him and wait for him for one day and it was awful. Now, he was going to be gone for seven days. When he came back, she’d only have 19 days left.
“Are you sad?” Alex’s voice rang in her ears but she couldn’t respond. Sad? Sad was an understatement. What she was feeling at that moment was worse than sadness. She wanted him not to go. Could she stop him? Could she ask him to stay?
Suddenly, the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her embrace, as if she was silently chaining him with her two fragile arms, as if she didn’t want to let go of him, no matter what happened.
Alex was surprised with what his little lamb did. His brows knitted and he was about to speak but the girl spoke first.
“Alex… can I come?” she asked. Her voice cracked.
Alex stayed still for a moment before the decisive words came out of his mouth. “No, Abigail. You can’t.” he answered and Abi felt like tearing up.
“Why?” her voice was now barely a whisper.
Alex finally moved and he attempted to pull away to look at her face but the girl didn’t let go. Her actions at this moment were making him feel strange. He predicted that she might not be happy with him leaving but why did he feel like there was something off with her?
He didn’t force himself away from her and just answered.
“Because it’s a dangerous place, especially for a little fruit like you.”
“I’ll be fine, Alex. I –”
“Shh… When I say no, it means no,” he told her and Abi’s moment of despair made her let go of him.
Seeing the look in her eyes at that moment made Alex squint his eyes. He didn’t think that she would act like this when she heard the news.
“If… if you leave, h-how about my daily requests?” she forced herself to speak and Alex chuckled. So this little lamb was this sad because of her silly requests. This girl…
Alex didn’t know why but he started coaxing her.
“If you’re worried about your requests, then don’t be. You can ask me all the requests you want me to fulfill during those days, once I’m back. I can grant all your requests in just one day or two, Abigail, so that’s not a problem,” he told her, grabbing her chin. “As long as your request won’t be as outrageous as going to Antarctica or climbing Mt. Everest with me, I can fulfill seven wishes in a day,” he continued and the heartbroken little lamb’s eyes became a little better.
“R-really? You’re not kidding, right?” was all she asked. His suggestion wasn’t bad at all. Accumulating the requests and doing it all at once was actually not a bad idea. She could monopolize him for one or two whole days instead of just a few hours every night!
“I’m serious, Abigail. Ah, I still have to collect your remaining debts, too. As of now, you have sixteen sessions of debt from me. Wait, it’s 13 now and since I am the one who is leaving, I’m not going to ask for sessions during those seven days.”
Abi blinked at him.
“Do you think you can pay for the 13 debts tonight?” he asked and Abi’s eyes slowly turned wide.
There’s no way she could do that. 13 times throughout the night? She might die!
“I can’t Alex… how about you collect the debts, too, once you’re back?”
“Fine, I’ll collect in one go as well, shall I?” He grinned like a devil and Abi was about to heave a sigh of relief when Alex suddenly pinned her down.
“Okay… Well, I think we should lessen your debt one more time tonight, Abigail,” he whispered and before she knew it, he was kissing her neck again.
