Started With a Lie – Chapter Thirteen

“Happy birthday, to you! Happy birthday, to you! Happy birthday, dear Lee! Happy birthday to you!” the entire room sings and claps as Lee blows out his candles. When the song ends, everybody claps and Lee starts cutting the cake.

            “Whom are you going to give the first bite to?” someone shouts from the crowd. “Any special lady?”

            Lee has a small smile on his face—rare for him. I watch all this happen but I’m still shaken up. Everything I saw, everything I felt—was it real? Did I just imagine it because of stress? I have been sleeping late. I’m still shaking. My palms are sweaty. Did I really just see my so-called-dead father walk around in perfect health?

            “I would like to call up here my girlfriend, Ivory Flores!” I hear Lee yell. It doesn’t make sense. We’re not supposed to blow our cover. These people will think we’re together which will give us more people who expect us to be together. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone but Madam Jin. Everyone else was supposed to think I was just a friend that Lee brought along as a date.

             I move through the crowd to where Lee is—the smack middle of the crowd. The cake is the size of the large table in my living room. “What are you doing?” I whisper to his ear.

            “Oh, so now you come to me, huh? Where’s Mark?” He sees my straightforward look and then replies, “It’s fine. Most of these people are from foreign countries. And the rest, I’ll probably never see again,” Lee reassures. “It’s totally fine.”

            “It better be.”

            Lee smirks. “Everyone, this is my girlfriend.” He gestures to me and everybody gasps. They whisper and some even congratulates Lee. I’m too busy paying attention to the crowd that I don’t see Lee going ahead and smearing cake over my face.

            “Lee!” I shout. Everybody breaks into a laughter and smile at as. I guess they approve of our relationship. I take some cake off my face and smear it over Lee’s.

            Then, I realize how soft and clear his complexion is.

            Everyone’s chuckling and I am too. I haven’t laughed this much for a long time. After everyone’s done laughing, Lee orders a servant to serve pieces of cake. Everybody separates and eats their cake—continuing what they were doing before.

            Lee is eating his cake alone on the balcony. Why is the birthday boy eating alone? I wander off to him with my own cake. There’s a table on the balcony and I leave my cake there. I go stand next to Lee, who’s just staring out, looking at New York City.

            Everything is blurry of light because the rain is slowly still falling. It’s not heavy—but it’s falling.

            “Lee, why are you out here?” I ask as I rest my hands on the railing next to him. “The birthday boy shouldn’t be moping around all by himself.” Lee doesn’t face me. “Lee?”

            I get no answer.

            Something is wrong. I turn Lee’s shoulder and gasp. He’s crying. Lee—the cold-hearted, smartass-reply, and complete jerk—was crying right there in front of me. I don’t know why or how but when I saw his face, something inside me broke, too.

            “Lee’s what’s wrong?” I ask. He doesn’t reply. I shake him. “Lee?” He just grabs me and holds me close. His arms are wrapped so tight around me, like it’s the one thing keeping him from floating off Earth. I don’t complain, though. I just wrap my arms around him tightly.

            “P-Please,” Lee stutters—another rare thing. He only speaks suavely, never stutters. “Please stay like this for a while. And please don’t ask what’s wrong.”

            I nod into his shoulder but I already know what’s going on. Under his personality and hard cold presence, he is human. He has feelings. This is real. It’s probably because his birthday reminds him of his father. When I celebrated my birthday for the first time after my father’s death, everything felt so wrong. Memories had flooded me of the past and I just couldn’t feel happy.

            Rubbing my hands in circles on his back, I kept repeating, “It’s going to be okay, Lee. I’m here. It’s okay.”

            Lee pulls back and holds my face in his hands. “I’m so glad you’re here with me, Ivory.” Is he slurring? He rubs his thumb over my cheek. He presses his forehead to mine and I just stare at his blue eyes. No wonder everyone loved blue eyes. “I think I like you,” he murmurs and before my eyes can widen, he kisses me.

            The man who hated my guts is kissing me.

            And the scariest part is that I’m enjoying it. No, I tell myself. And did I hear that right? He… likes me? I push him away and he whimpers in sadness—I feel the same.

            “Lee,” I whisper. “We can’t.” But he’s not listening to me because he passes out. Wait, what? And then I notice the bottles of alcohol behind him. I knew he wasn’t being himself. I sigh. Wait, why was I sighing? Did I actually want him to sincerely kiss me?

            Yes. I shake my head and repeat, No. No. No.

            It’s winter and it’s cold. I don’t want him to freeze. I lean down and put his head on my lap. Reaching into his pocket, I get his phone and dial up the chauffer to pick us up. Everyone else starts to leave, too, since we already cut the cake.

            When the chauffer arrives, he helps Lee get to the car and I make sure I have everything with me before leaving.

            “Ivory!” Mark calls. I turn around, a step away from the door. He catches up to me. “Hey, I had a really fun time. It’s good to have someone to talk to. I don’t really have friends.”

            “Really?” I ask, shocked. “Well, I’m your friend.” I grin as he grins back. I grab a napkin from a nearby table and jot down my number. “Hey. Here’s my number. We should hang out soon. Oh, and it’s just as friends. I’m not hitting on you.” I chuckle.

            Mark chuckles, too. “I’ll keep that in mind.” We bid goodbyes and we wave before I run outside in the rain. It’s pouring heavily now. I hop in the car and Lee’s sleeping inside there. He’s soaked as I am.

            His hair is all over his face. I move his bangs to the side away from his eyes. He looks so sweet when he’s sleeping. I trail my hands away from his hair and to his lips—his soft lips that I kissed earlier.

            I jolt away. What am I doing? Who am I anymore?

            This needs to stop. I will never get a chance with him. There’s no point in even liking him. There is no future if we ever do get together. We’re from different worlds. We’re just not meant to be.

            I chuckle to myself. I sound like such a melo-dramatic person like those whiny girls from romance movies and books.

            We reach the hotel minutes later. The chauffer calls some of the hotel staff to help Lee up. I thank them when Lee’s put inside and give them a little tip for the help. I head back inside and see Lee sleeping peacefully on the couch.

 I definitely won’t undress him so I go to my room and change into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I grab some blankets for Lee and head back to the living room and place it over him while I take a seat on the opposite couch.

I drift to sleep under the blanket.

It’s still raining the next morning. I wake up first. I throw off the covers. Usually, Lee wakes up first. It’s funny. I’m so used to Lee in my life now. I go to the bathroom and wash up before returning to the living room.

            Lee’s still asleep.

            That’s weird. He’s a morning person. I walk over and touch his face. It’s burning hot. Lee has a fever. He’s breathing hard and sweating. I shake him awake.

            “I-Ivory?” he says through his sleepy voice—which is deeper than usual. “What’re you doing here?” His breath stinks and reeks of alcohol.

            “You’re sick,” I say. This is bad. “Get up.” He moves slowly and I help him up. “Go change and wash up. I’ll make some breakfast. Do you have any painkillers or medicine for fevers?”

            “In my bedroom,” Lee answers. I place my hand on his back to help him but he pushes my hand away. It stings me on the inside. What was that? He ignores me and walks off to the bathroom. I would kick his ass for being so bipolar but seeing that he’s a sick person, I decide against it.

            I make him some porridge that Mom always makes me when I get sick. It always helped me get better. I also make sure to get the meds out of his bedroom. I finish by the time Lee is out of the bathroom. I place the porridge on the dining room table and Lee sits down. He’s in his suit.

            “Why are you wearing your suit?” I ask, crossing my arms.

            “I have work,” he simply says.

            “Um, no you don’t.” I cross my arms. “You can’t be seriously going to work while you have a raging fever.”

            Lee takes a sip of the porridge. “I appreciate you worrying and caring for me, but the hotel doesn’t run on it’s own. I have places to be and people to see.” His tie is crooked, his hair just messy, and his suit not ironed.

            “Yeah, but if you go, your fever will just grow and you won’t be able to go to work for more time,” I point out. I pass him a glass of water to drink. He sips it and nods as thanks.

            “Well, I don’t agree with that.” He pushes the empty bowl towards me. “The porridge sucked.” He’ll never say thank you, will he? “Okay, so, after I get back from work, I’ll drive you back to Brownwood. All is well.” Lee gets up and straightens his tie.

            I stand in front of him. “You’re not going to work.”

            He smirks. Only he would still be the same jerk even when he was sick. “I am going to work. You can’t stop me, Ivory.”

            “Let’s make a deal,” I plead.

            “Deals never work out with you,” he says. Good point. Too bad I’m stubborn. Lee walks past me to the door. I run and slam the door shut and stand in front of it with my arms and legs around it.

            “If your temperature is over one-hundred-and-one, then you have to stay. But, if it’s under, you can go to work. I promise,” I say. “It’s a pretty good deal.”

            “No.”

            “Well, that’s too bad then because I’m really not going to move until you follow along to my deal,” I grin. Lee debates over his choices and realizes I’m right. I wait, still holding the door with my entire body. It’s getting uncomfortable.

            Lee sighs. “Fine.”

            I take the thermometer out of my pocket. I found it in his bedroom with some medicine. Staying put in front of the door, I shove the thermometer in Lee’s mouth and he jumps back a little, trying not to choke on it. We both wait until the thermometer beeps, indicating it’s finished. I snatch the thermometer out before Lee can.

            “So aggressive,” Lee whispers to himself.

            “I am not aggressive,” I retort. “Okay, you ready?” Lee nods. I flip over the thermometer and we both lean in to see what’s there. 101.1 degrees. I jump up in glee while Lee groans. “Yes!”

            “I don’t have time for this,” Lee whines. He tries shoving me out of the way and reaches to the doorknob but I get there first.

            “Are you trying to run away, Lee?” I ask, narrowing my eyes down to his. “I can’t believe it. The youngest billionaire, and president of the hotel branches is running away from a deal? How cowardly.”

            Lee lets go of the doorknob. “I hate you.”

            “I’m so offended,” I say sarcastically, throwing my hand to my heart. “It breaks me to shreds.” Lee walks off to the living room and throws his briefcase on the couch. “All right, you go change and you better hop into bed.”

            “You sound like a mother.”

            “Well, I try,” I say, running a hand through my hair dramatically. Even though Lee complains, he listens to me and comes back in his pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt. I grab all the medicine and usher him into his room where I make sure he gets in bed, under a pile of blankets.

            Lee groans. “I have a headache.” He runs both hands through his hair as if that would stop the headache from coming on.

            I throw him a painkiller bottle. “Take two.” I also grab the fever medicine and throw that, too. “Take one of that, too.” I also grab the bowl of water and a towel. I drench the towel in the cold water and squeeze it so no water droplets fall off. Placing it on Lee’s forehead, I also start up the heater in the room.

            “What the hell is this?” Lee asks, pointing to the towel on his forehead.

            “It’s supposed to help,” I respond. “Now go to sleep. Rest is the most essential thing to getting better. If you don’t rest, you’ll never get back to work.”

            “Since when did you become a doctor?” he says as he crosses his arms under the blankets. His face is flushed—because of the fever—and the tips of his ears are red.

            I smile at the vulnerable sight of him. “Since you got sick.” I grab a single, cushioned chair and drag it to his bed. After getting comfortable, I just sit there and make sure nothing’s wrong with him.

            “What’re you doing? Are you just going to stare at me all day? As attractive as I am, I feel uncomfortable going to sleep with you just staring at me,” Lee says. 

            “Your ego is just too big,” I say. “Well, I also don’t want you to die on my watch. What if I’m in the kitchen and you’re just dying. I won’t hear you.”

            “You over exaggerate.”

            “Maybe.”

            “Maybe?” Lee chuckles. “Yeah, sure. Like maybe I’m secretly Spiderman. Or maybe I’m not handsome. Or maybe I like you.”

            My eyes widen. Did I just hear that right? I look over to Lee and see his eyes wide open too before he fixes it to a dull one. I need to change the topic. “Erm, S-Spiderman was a good movie. I heard they made a new one.”

            “I have the original Spiderman movies,” Lee says. He points across the room where his television is. “It’s under the television—where all the magazines are stacked.”

            “Oh, okay.” I get out of my chair and walk over to where he pointed. The floor is so cold and it makes me just want to go back and curl up in the chair. Sure enough, I find the movies. “You want to watch them?”

            “If you want to,” Lee says nonchalantly.

            I pop the first movie in before scurrying back to the chair. When I sit down, I hear a cracking noise. Did I break the chair? I check the chair’s legs but they’re not broken at all. I look over to Lee. “Did you hear that?”

            “Yeah. Did you fart or something?” Lee asks, narrowing his eyes down at me. “I think I smell something.”

            I smell it, too—a disgusting odor. “Shut up, Lee. It wasn’t me.” I look around and realize the heater is quiet. The heater’s only quiet when it’s off. I go check and press ‘On’, but it doesn’t work. I press again but same response. “The heater’s broken.”

            “Oh,” Lee shrugs. “I guess I’ll just buy another one later.”

            “Yeah,” I nod before racing back to the warm chair. The movie starts and since it’s raining outside—it gives the room a movie theater effect. Several minutes in, I start rubbing my arms of goose bumps. It isn’t because the movie scares me, or because the movie is really good.

            I am freezing.

            “You cold?” Lee says, staring at me. I guess he noticed. I nod slowly while I wonder what he’s up to. Is he going to go out and buy another heater just for that? “Hop in.”

            “What? Where?” I ask, confused. I would’ve thought that he meant his bed, but this is Lee we’re talking about. He doesn’t share his things with commoners like me. He isn’t nice. He doesn’t give away things for free.

            “The bed, you idiot.” And I am proved wrong.

            “B-But—”

            “I thought you were cold.” Lee tugs the blanket on the opposite side of him. “Are you going to get in or not? The offer’s not going to stand very long.”

            I nod and walk over and slip under the blankets. It’s warm—Lee’s body heat radiating off me already. I scoot over just so our shoulders are touching, but not so I’m not throwing myself in him.

            It’s a win-win situation. Watching movies with your crush while cuddling—well, if you call being under the same blanket cuddling—and getting warm instead of sitting in a freezing room.

            I smile throughout the entire movie—even the bad parts. I wasn’t even paying attention. All I cared was that Lee and I were under the same blanket, shoulders touching, and acting as if we were a couple.

I know what you're thinking. 

Another update? Wow. She's going nuts. But, I guess I'm generous. Just kidding. I'm not nice at all. This is my way of saying sorry for the stupid glitches in the last chapter like page five not working. I fixed that but if anyone has any problems, tell me. I also have a week of nothing to do. So, here's another chapter. As you can see, things are getting heated. (;

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