Capture Me

What is he doing here? I wondered.

“No, we just bumped into each other on the street today,” I said, feeling queasy. I could tell by the looks on their faces that it had been foolish of me to talk back to him the way I did.

“He probably just sent the drink to remind me that we bumped into each other, that’s all,” I tried to reassure them.

“Okay, let’s just hope it will stay that way,” Isa said.

We turned back to our food, but I just couldn’t get rid of the bad feeling that had crept up inside me.

After finishing our meal, we were drinking wine and chatting about our jobs when somebody approached our table.

The girls’ faces turned white as if they had just seen a ghost.

Puzzled, I looked up as well, and my heart stuttered to a stop.

There he was. Xavier Lexington stood next to me, his hands in his pockets. He was smiling, and belatedly, I realized that he was also saying something.

“I am sorry, what did you say?” I shocked myself with my firm, unwavering tone.

He looked taken aback as well. “I asked whether you’d like to have dinner with me this week. We met in a bad setting, and I’d like to change that.”

Dinner? He was possibly a criminal, and he wanted to have dinner with me? I think not.

I looked around the table. The girls were looking at me in shock, their mouths hanging open.

“Dinner,” I stated, my shock evident in my voice. “You want to have dinner with me?” I had to confirm because I couldn’t possibly have heard that right.

“Yes, that is what I just asked you.” He laughed, the beautiful sound ringing through the restaurant, causing all the women to turn their heads and look at him in lust while the men glared at him in envy.

“I am sorry, but I am not interested. But I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding somebody to have dinner with,” I said before turning my attention back to the table.

I couldn’t believe I had just spoken to him like that. The wine had helped.

“No?” he asked. He looked shocked at first but soon turned angry.

“Do you know who I am, sweetheart? I am the man who is in charge of everything and everyone. Nobody says no to me,” he stated.

“Well, I might be the first one then.” I looked up at him again, and what I saw made me fear for my life.

I had thought that he would be mad at me for talking back to him, but he just smiled and took my hand.

“Darling, nobody ever talks to me that way. If somebody does, they don’t live long after that. I am a very wealthy man, so people often do what I say.

“And if I say that I want to have dinner with you, you will smile and nod your head. Got it?” His grip on my hand tightened.

I tried to pull my hand back, but he wouldn’t let me. I was starting to get really scared.

“So is that a yes, Katherine?” he asked.

“How do you know my name? And I don’t care who you are, but I won’t allow you to patronize me into going out with you.

“I am sorry for bumping into you if that’s why you’re so angry, but you need to learn what it means when someone says no.”

I got up and signaled for the waitress so we could pay and leave this place—because this man clearly didn’t know when to stop.

“We are ready to leave. Could we get the bill, please?” I asked the waitress as she approached our table.

She nodded and turned to leave, but the man stopped her. “Put it on my tab.”

The girl replied with another nod and left before I could argue.

“Dinner is on the house tonight, ladies,” he said to everyone at the table. He then turned his gaze on me. “I will pick you up tomorrow at seven. Be ready or else.”

He wanted to threaten me now? Oh really!

“Thank you for dinner, but we could have paid ourselves. As for dinner tomorrow, my answer is still a hard no. I don’t care who you are or what you do, but if I don’t want to go out with you, I won’t,” I replied.

I looked at the girls, and we all got up. As I turned to leave, I realized that the man still had my hand in a death grip.

“Please let go of my hand.” I looked up and met his eyes, trying to understand what he was thinking. They must have been the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.

They were the purest blue, like the Caribbean Sea. I was staring at him so intently that I didn’t realize that he had let me go and that Arabella was calling my name.

“Yeah, coming.” I turned around and left without a backward glance at that captivating man.

As soon as I stepped outside the restaurant, I was bombarded with questions. Isa was the only one who remained silent. The others all started yelling at me in unison.

“What were you thinking? Saying no to Xavier Lexington.”

“You really must be crazy!”

“Do you want to die so hard?”

I didn’t know what to say. My head hurt, and I was angry as hell. How dare he talk to me like that? As if I were a dog he could just command.

“Listen, I am tired of all this drama, and I just can’t deal with this today. I will talk to you all tomorrow, and we will clear this mess out.”

And I left. Fuck this shit.

***

The next day, I stayed away from Arabella as much as I could. I just didn’t want to answer her questions because I didn’t understand what had happened myself.

I hadn’t been able to sleep last night, wondering what it was that I was getting myself involved in. I couldn’t believe that this was happening right now.

First, my mother, and now this. My life was fucked up.

I left work at five on the dot. I still hadn’t talked to any of the girls, and I wasn’t planning on it either. Maybe tomorrow, but first, I had to get through the rest of the day.

I had refused to have dinner with him, but would he just let it go? I hoped he would, but I had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen.

After I got home, I watched some TV and took a long shower, trying to get time to pass more quickly.

It was six o’clock, and because I didn’t have anything better to do, I decided to bake a cake and make dinner.

Once the cake was in the oven, I brought out a bottle of white wine and filled a glass to the brim. God knows I might need it for what was to come.

Then I cooked some rice and chicken with a special sauce that my mother used to make. I had always loved my mother’s cooking. The time passed so quickly that it was already seven before I knew it.

When the clock struck seven, the doorbell rang.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing a satin pajama set. It was sexy but not too revealing, so I opened the door.

And I felt as if I had been hit in the face.