The whole day rolled down quickly. Gael had some business to take care of, so he had been making phone calls the whole morning. Angela ate lunch by herself because he was still on the phone at noon.
After her yoga at 2 p.m, she headed out the back of the house. It had an open yard—vast grass stretching out several hundreds of meters with trees surrounding it. If Angela had to guess, the main house could be more or less 800sqm, and the backyard space was nearly twice as much as the house.
The yard was a blank canvas. The first time she saw it the morning after her first night here, she was stoked. She was no designer, but she visualized a landscape that would look really good in the backyard. A patio on the left, a fire pit on the right with a semi-circle seating, a grill or an outdoor kitchen next to it, and a salad garden could be on the left. Though she wasn't much of a pool person, aqua blue waters would look good on the space too—the whole area would be filled with shrubs, bushes, and pretty flowers. When she realized what she was thinking about, she shook her head and turned away. The owner simply had no taste. The house was empty, and so was the yard. Such a waste.
Today, Angela thought it would be a nice change of scenery to sit on the grass. She hadn't written in a few days and she wanted to catch up with her work. Laying a picnic blanket that she found in the kitchen on the slightly damp ground, she sat down and scribbled some notes on her notebook. Fortunately, the weather today was rather comfy. Although it was cool, the sun was up and the hoodie and jeans she wore were enough.
Angela got lost in her own little world while she concentrated on her notes. She had been working on it for the past couple of hours, shifting from her paper notebook and her tablet from time to time. Though she could write on her tablet using a stylus, she still loved using the old school method of writing on paper—nothing beats the feel of paper and pencil or pen on the hand, even if it's a high-tech gadget.
So engrossed in character mapping and getting to know her characters by writing a detailed description, she didn't notice the crunching of leaves a few feet away.
"What are you doing out here?" a male's voice gave her a start. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."
"Sorry, I must have been so consumed, I didn't notice you coming over." She watched Gael hesitate for a bit before bending down and sitting on the blanket a foot away from her. He was still wearing the same shirt from this morning, his biceps bulging and his thick thighs strained when he brought his knees up and rested his arms on them lazily. She tore her gaze away and looked at the tree near the kitchen. "You have a really spacious yard. It's nice out here. I like it… It's quiet—made me think I was alone and had my head focused on some writing."
He looked around his backyard as if he was studying it—as if he was taking it in for the first time. "I haven't been out here that much. I guess I didn't think it was useful."
"Are you kidding? The house is already decent—though you need more furniture to fill the space. But this yard…" She sighed, briefly closing her eyes and opening them again with a smile on her face. "I could live in a place like this. I wanted a house on my own that's away from the city but near enough to get there whenever I need to. This yard could use some landscaping and it would surely complete the whole thing."
Angela turned her head to look at Gael and caught him staring at her. She raised a brow in question, wondering what he was thinking about.
"You want to live in a place like this?" he asked.
"Why not?" She looked down on her notes and gadgets and softly chuckled. "I haven't been this lost in writing for a while. My home office, where I write most of the time faces the ocean and while I love the view from the window, there are times when I'm just in a slump. In this place, however, there are trees, and friggin' birds are chirping. And if you really listen closely, I think there's even running water—like a river or a fall or something—I don't know, it just might be my imagination. It can't be that perfect, right?"
"Actually...there's a river not far from here. I've only been to the nearest lake when I run, but I was told the river is pretty close."
Her jaw dropped and there was a glint in her eyes. "Oh, you have got to know where that is. I'd love to see it! Ever consider selling this place? I'd be more than happy to take it from your hands." She was half-joking, though finally getting her dream house in a place like this would be incredible.
Gael's gaze was intense. He looked like he wanted to say something when he opened his mouth but closed it. Then he cleared his throat and averted his eyes to the notebook next to him. He picked it up and a smirk ghosted his face when he read the first few things written under a guy's name that had "tentative" next to it.
He read the notes. "Straight nose, sharp jaw, piercing blue eyes, smells like sea breeze—what the fûck does that smell like, salty water and coconutty?"
Angela slapped her thigh as she laughed heartily. Sometimes she forgets how Gael enjoyed giving remarks about her choice of words or writing. She wasn't the least bit offended—if anything, she found it hilarious. The guy was a natural.
"Gimme that!" Trying to grab the notebook away from him, she leaned in and reached, but he effortlessly raised it above and away from her—while he continuously read.
"Oh, we're getting to the good parts. Tight ass, endless legs—man, this dude must be Kamala's brother—you know the Marvel girl whose limbs stretch? Let's see… loves to do it standing or on the wall—I guess this guy knows his stuff. Is that one of your fantasies, Angel? Doing it on the wall?"
His grin was so wide it should have annoyed the hell out of her, but instead, she just ended up laughing some more while struggling to take the notebook away from him. This was embarrassing, but a part of her liked what he was doing. She gave up trying to snatch the notebook and rolled her eyes as she folded her arms and let him read the rest of the pages out loud.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and heat crept up her neck when the image of Gael pressing her against the wall invaded her thoughts. This adonis next to her was casually flipping pages on some of her fantasies, and all she could think about was his nakedness flush against hers. Damn it. Her dry spell had been running for so long, she wouldn't mind being fully clothed and just have a quickie under this tree.
"Here." He tossed the book back to her, interrupting her lewd thoughts.
She lifted her chin nonchalantly. "You finished invading my notes?"
"Nah, I left some for next time." He winked, and she shook her head.
The alarm on her phone made her jump. "Oh, shoot. I have to get ready." Angela began to grab her things and hesitated when she got up, and he was still sitting on the blanket, his face was now unreadable. Earlier, she asked for the house's address because Vincent was going to pick her up. She saw his reluctance before giving it, but she thought it would be better than him driving her towards the party.
…
An hour later, Angela was all dolled up.
A knock on the door to the bedroom made her turn around, seeing Gael freeze as his eyes raked her body from head to foot and then back.
"Uh…" He cleared his throat. "I didn't know this was a formal party."
"Y-Yeah. It's a black-tie charity event." She looked down on her one-shoulder black form-fitting evening dress. She chose a simple style, but it had shimmers that sparkled when it catches the light. Looking up, he was still staring at her, making her feel conscious. "Is it too much? I tried to make it clean. I don't want to draw attention."
"No. It's...perfect." He swallowed, taking unsure steps towards her. "You're beautiful."
"Thank you." He was a foot away, but she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. "This...this isn't a date, date. I mean, I'm going with him but only because I also need to meet—"
"Excuse me, Boss. There's a guy in a suit waiting out front," said one of his men at the door.
"You should go or you'd get stuck in the traffic." Gael's lips curled into a half-smile before guiding her out of the bedroom. When they reached the stairs and Vincent was waiting at the bottom, he gave her a cool kiss on the cheek. "Enjoy your evening, Angel."
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