Filed to story: Loving You In My Final Days
Further to the right, she saw a couple of doors which she presumed would probably be the bathroom and closet but she didn’t investigate those. There would be plenty of time to do that later on.
As she looked around, she noticed that her luggage was already in the room! She looked at the butler in surprise. She didn’t see anyone pass them by as they were climbing up the grand staircase so how come her luggage was already here?!
The butler seemed to have understood the questions and surprise in her eyes and he smiled.
“I forgot to tell you, Miss, but there is an elevator. If you get tired of using the stairs, you can always use it.”
Whoa!! This house even had an elevator?
Abi’s mouth could only form an ‘O’ before she nodded at him.
“Well then, Miss. You have a rest now, too. You must be tired. Please just call me if you need anything.” He smiled politely before he slightly bowed to her and headed towards the door.
Abi followed him to the door and as the old butler stepped out, he spoke as he pointed to the next room.
“Miss Chen, that’s the master’s bedroom,” he said. The doors of the room he pointed out were even bigger than hers! It was the biggest of all the rooms inside this house and it was located in the center. If this was a palace, his room would be the King’s! She was glad that at least, it was easy to tell which room was his so she wouldn’t just wander off into it by accident.
When the old man was gone, Abi just stood there, staring at the huge door of Alexander Qin’s room. She was somehow surprised that he actually gave her her own room. She really didn’t understand what went on his mind at all. He kept on trying to scare her ever since the very start so she had already thought of every possible scenario that was waiting for her in his house but what was waiting for her was actually this?
While she was in the taxi cab, she kept thinking about his words and how he told her that he lived in a hellish world. She had imagined all kinds of things, from the kind of house he had and the kinds of people who were around him and that he might be living in a cold, dark, chaotic and dangerous place. However, to her surprise, this was where she ended up, which was the furthest thing from her imagination as it could be. In fact, it was the complete opposite of what she had imagined! This place could be called a paradise.
Abigail shook her head as she entered her room. She knew this was too good to be true. She knew there had to be some reasons why Alexander Qin kept telling her that he was dangerous but right now Abi wanted to believe that everything was alright.
Looking around again, Abigail couldn’t help but think of how many girlfriends Alexander Qin had brought here before her. Why did he need his girlfriends to live with him? What was that all about? Alexander Qin, who was he and what was he hiding?
Too many questions flooded in Abi’s head but she decided to stop thinking about those matters. She didn’t come here just to gather more questions and bug herself about them. She came here today because of her limited timeframe. Yes, this was the first day of their one-month deal, and she wasn’t going to waste the very first day just asking questions that might never be answered.
Sitting on the bed, Abi brought out her small notebook. She had listed a number of things she wanted to do with him within 31 days.
She was smiling as she read the lists in her mind. These were like the daily wishes she wanted to experience and surprisingly, she didn’t find it hard to imagine doing all these things with Alexander Qin.
However, how would she make him agree to do all these things with her? That was the dilemma she was currently having.
Remembering his ice cold gazes and the smirk on his lips, Abigail couldn’t help but heave a long sigh. She could already tell that this won’t be easy but after a moment, she lifted her hand and her fighting spirit blazed in her eyes again. She was going to do this! Hell or high water – bring it on!
Abi grabbed her luggage and unpacked her things. She opened one of the doors to the far left and was right when she thought that it was a wardrobe. However, what she hadn’t expected when she turned the lights on, to see a humongous room! It was the size of her lounge back at home! One wall was covered with lots of square shelves – for shoes, she presumed – and another wall with rectangular shelves for bags and other accessories? There was a big island table in the middle with plenty of drawers on either side and the mirror and there was a rectangular mirror situated in the middle. This made her think that this was probably where women kept their hair and makeup accessories. The other two walls had large rectangular shelves built for hanging dresses and jackets and scarves and all sorts of different clothing and there were drawers galore! It almost felt like it could be a small clothing and accessories store if the shelves were filled with clothes and shoes and belts and hats and such. This was beyond crazy! Imagine if all those empty spaces were actually filled up with clothes! Who could afford that luxury? This then made her wonder if Alexander’s closet looked the same, without the makeup area and if his one was filled to the brim with clothes.
She opened her luggage and started to put away her things and was dismayed by the fact that it didn’t even take up a meter of the shelves. Never mind! She wasn’t going to be staying here long, anyway.
After unpacking her things, she grabbed her phone and gave Kelly a call to give her an update.
Kelly picked up on the third ring. “Abi! Are you okay? How are things?”
“Hi Kelly. Yeah, I am totally fine and things are, uh, a bit overwhelming to be honest…” Abi said honestly.
“Oh? How come?”
“Well, first off, his house is not even a house, it’s like a mansion but better?”
“Can I have a look Abi?”
Abigail hesitated since she and Alexander still didn’t talk about this – if she was allowed to do this. But in the end, she agreed because she didn’t want her friend to worry if she refuse.
“Whoah! Oh my god, that’s HUGE!” Kelly yelled and as Abi continued showing her the room. Kelly started to worry. She knew that Alexander Qin was ultra, mega rich but this was a whole other level of rich and she knew what rich looked like, after all, her family was pretty well off as well. She somehow felt like when someone was as rich as this guy, he could very well get away with everything. After all, with money comes power and if you had a lot of money, you also had a lot of power.
“This place is just… out of this world.” Abi mumbled after she finished showing Kelly the room.
“Exactly! Are you sure you’re not in Europe?!”
“Kelly, you know I’m not.”
“Ugh, that Alexander Qin, Who the hell is he? Abi… just remember that you don’t have to do everything he asks of you. If it doesn’t feel right or comfortable, don’t do it, okay? You have the right to say no and he can’t force you to do anything against your will. If he tries, just come back, you understand?” Kelly ran on like a worried mother hen but she couldn’t help it. This was her innocent best friend that was taking some pretty big leaps and she just wanted her to be safe. Who knew what Alexander Qin was capable of? She just wanted to remind her friend that she had the right to refuse anything at all that she didn’t want to do!
“Kelly, I’m really okay. I promise I won’t do anything that I am not willing with. You don’t have to worry so much. It’s only for one month and I promise I will leave if things don’t work out.”
Somehow, Kelly was relieved. She knew that once Abi promised something, she would keep it so her words brought some relief to her mind. In the end, she rooted for her friend. She even ended up advising Abi to make the most of it and follow her heart and most of all, to enjoy the new experiences. This made Abi smile and made her feel relieved as well. Kelly’s words helped her feel more comfortable with this whole thing knowing that she had her friend’s support and blessing.
Once the call had ended, Abi laid down on the fluffy, comfortable bed. She stared at the ceiling and repeated Kelly’s words of encouragement to herself before she stood up and walked towards the bookshelves.
As she looked at the books, Abi’s brows started to knot. The first time she entered, she had a feeling that no one seemed to have settled in here for not just a while but a very long period of time. She had shrugged the feeling away but now that she flipped through some books, she started to believe her gut instincts. These books were obviously hundred-year-old classics but the strangest thing was that no one seemed to have opened them for a very long time. It wasn’t like they were dusty or covered in cobwebs – they were very well maintained – but the book cover and pages stuck to each other the way they would do if they hadn’t been opened for some time. Could it be that Alexander Qin’s past girlfriends never once bothered to open the books? That was the only thing she could think of and she thought that it was such a waste that they ignored these treasures. In saying that, judging from his last girlfriend, she didn’t really seem like the bookworm type so maybe his other past girlfriends were the same.
She ran her fingers softly along the spine of the books and sighed with great longing. If only she had the time, she would have loved to read all of these. But sadly, she didn’t have it; the luxury of time.
