Invest In Me

Chapter 4

Bella and Thomas were in his black Mercedes, parked before her building.

“Thanks for the wonderful evening and for giving me a lift to my apartment,” Bella said, heat in her cheeks.

“Not a problem. You have nothing to thank me for.” He winked at her, but in a good, kind way. There was a soft ballad playing in the background.

Bella sensed strange words on her tongue. The moment carried her, so she said them. “Do you want to do this again?”

Thomas didn’t hesitate even for a second. “Sure. What about tomorrow, same time, but a different place? I want you to experience the best of New York, so that you fall in love with it faster.”

Bella chuckled. “Will do.”

Thomas smiled.

“Thanks again for everything,” she said and opened the door. One of her feet touched the hard sidewalk.

“Bella, wait,” he said, whispering, and she turned.

He decreased the distance between them, coming closer and closer to her. His powerful, strong cologne hit her nostrils. His breath tickled her skin as his lips kissed her cheek. They were full and unbelievably pleasant. She felt goosebumps roaming all over her body.

“Goodbye,” he whispered as if telling a top secret.

“Bye,” she managed to say before her trembling voice betrayed her. Her heart was ready to explode as it beat faster than ever.

Bella didn’t even notice the time when she climbed the stairs and entered her apartment that was eerily quiet. Sam had obviously gone to bed or was out. She checked the clock. Two o’clock in the morning. She chuckled and went to her room.

Pulling off her heels, her dress, and her make-up, she felt like her old self again. Such a liberating feeling. She lay on the bed, her mind rewinding all that it had been through that day. Finally, she sighed as the image of Thomas’ face appeared before her eyes. She knew deep down in herself that she was going to have sweet dreams.

She was in a white room, the walls and the floor all seemed to be one whole. There wasn’t a path she could walk on or some directions she could simply follow. She was panicking, but not for long, because her mother’s silhouette was coming closer.

“My lovely Bella, what are you doing here, love?” Her voice was soothing and otherworldly.

“Mom.” Bella found herself at a loss of words. “I don’t know. I am asleep. This is a dream, isn’t it?” She realized where she had come.

“It is,” her mother said and a wide smile appeared on her face. She fondled her daughter’s cheek. As if summoned by her words, another figure appeared from behind her mother’s. His face couldn’t be seen from the spot Bella was standing on, but as he was approaching her, she realized who he was. Thomas Graves, dressed just like he had been at their dinner together in the fanciest restaurant in the world.

“Thomas, what are you doing here?” she blurted out, terror shaping itself on her face. Was he –?

“No, he is not,” her mother interrupted her thoughts. Bella breathed out. “He is a good man. I trusted him and you should, too.”

With that, her dream ended and Bella sprang up from her bed drenched all in sweat. “Mom!” she shouted instinctively before she understood that everything had happened while she was asleep. Bella wiped sweat from her forehead, inhaling and exhaling. It was morning already; the sun was obscured by the dirty linen curtains, swaying in the light breeze. The alarm clock stated that it was 10. She thanked God for not oversleeping.

The floor was cold beneath her feet, so she quickly went into the bathroom. On her way there, she observed Sam in the same place as yesterday, doing the same thing.

“Doll, you awake?” she asked her.

“Mmhmm,” Bella mumbled and was gone into the bathroom. She tried desperately to heat the water, but her efforts proved fruitless. She could just imagine the hot water in these parts. However, she found that cold water was rather pleasing on hot days. Underneath the shower, covered in soap and foam, she pondered the dream. She wasn’t the person to sing while showering, so thinking was the only option that was left. Was it a sign from her mother from up above or just a product of her imagination? She guessed that she would never learn the real truth behind it all, but the instinct into her told her to trust that dream and hold onto it.

Now she was drying herself off and putting some basic make-up. Putting on a blue T-shirt that said ‘Be positive’ and green shorts, she was out. With one hand she was holding a towel and running it across her head whereas the other one was clutching the doorknob. She exited the bathroom when she saw that Sam was gone from her spot before the laptop. There was a delicious, sweet aroma spreading through the apartment.

“Breakfast is ready,” Sam shouted, and like a metal attracted to a magnet, Bella headed for the kitchen. Her eyes glanced at Sam holding a pan with bacon and eggs in it.

“Yummy! Thanks, Sammy.”

“No one has ever called me that. Did you know?” Sam said not looking at Bella.

“Really? I thought that everyone called you that!” Bella replied and chuckled.

“No. You are the first.” She chuckled as well.

“Thanks for making the breakfast. We can make a schedule, so that we can know whose turn it is for preparing a meal.”

“That sounds like a great plan, you know. It can be seen from a mile that you are a control freak.”

Bella laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

“It is.” Sam giggled. “By the way, how did last night go, hmm? You are not telling, so it was good. And plus judging by your good mood…”

“Amazing. Everything was amazing.”

“Details, girl! What happened? Something juicy, saucy? His place?”

Bella started to laugh from the top of her lungs. “No, no, no. Nothing happened. We had dinner, talked, then he dropped me off and that was it. No fuss around it,” Bella said.

“You sure, sis?” Sam teased her. “You are not withholding something, hmm?”

“Okay, a little kiss on the cheek. That was the farthest we went.”

“Oh, so sweet! At least he is not using you, you know. You are not a one-night stand and that is good,” Sam said, pointing a fork at her as she put the meal in the two plates.

“As a matter of fact, we are going out tonight again.”

“Wow, girl! You are slaying!” Sam shrieked and the two young women burst out laughing. Each of them took her own plate and the both of them found themselves in the living-room. It was the first time that Bella was having breakfast with someone who wasn’t her mother or Amy.

She put a forkful in her mouth and found it very delicious. It was proven to Bella that she shouldn’t judge the book by the cover. Sam was a bit weird yeah, but she was kind and generous as well. And that was the only thing that mattered to her.

“This is insanely good! Well done, Sam!” Bella exclaimed joyfully.

“Aw, thanks,” Sam replied.

They were eating mostly in silence; an occasional sentence or two were the only things that disrupted the tranquility. After they finished with their breakfast, Bella suggested that they start to clean.

“What? You have nothing better to do than that?”

“This is my priority now and besides I don’t have any obligations for the day.”

Bella started the cleaning on her own. She put every newspaper she could get her hands on in a huge black bag together with some nasty fast food leftovers and other garbage. Then, she started thoroughly dusting and rubbing the floors and there was the moment when Sam joined her as well. The two of them were a force to be reckoned with as they worked in perfect sync. One was cleaning the bathroom, while the other took care of the living-room. Their bedrooms were cleaned simultaneously. After the shadows grew longer and the sun hid itself in the west, the apartment was as good as new.