Chapter 24: Kidnapped?

Sarah reached classroom for her morning class and was surprised to see that Philip was sitting at her usual spot. She felt a headache coming.

'Why is he in my spot? Considering his behavior last week, he can't be up to anything good... If I sit far away from him, he will see that he is impacting me!'

Sarah decided to take a seat in front row, several seats away from Philip. 'This is perfect! Still front row, but five seats away, so he can't bother me.'

As she was going through her backpack, Philip moved and took a seat right next to her.

Sarah was speechless.

"Good morning", he greeted her cheerfully ignoring her scowl.

Sarah felt suffocated by his strong perfume. She held her breath as long as she could and ignored him.

"You are not even exchanging pleasantries?" Philip looked offended.

She glanced at him with a frown and mumbled: "Morning".

"That is better." He chuckled. "Why are you not sitting at your usual seat?"

"I felt like sitting here", her headache was increasing. 'Didn't you sit at my spot, idiot?'

He was observing her with a smirk on his face. "I saw you yesterday having lunch with Aiden, again!"

Sarah was surprised that he would bring this up. She did her best to sound indifferent. "So?"

"Are you still just friends, or …?"

"Why is that your concern?", Sarah cut him off.

He was just looking at her without saying a word.

She was not sure what to think of his intentions. "I thought you want to talk, but it seems I was wrong."

He took a deep breath and said: "You are so pretty that I forgot what I wanted to say."

Sarah was speechless. 'Is he hitting on me? Didn't he get the message that I'm not interested?'

To Sarah's relief, the professor came in, and the lesson started.

Philip was shamelessly staring at Sarah most of the lesson. She wanted to tell him to face forward, but she didn't want to cause a commotion during class. Sarah thought of leaving, but the classroom was quiet, everyone was seated, and only voice of the lecturer could be heard. If she stands up now to get out, it will cause a stir.

'I can do this. Just ignore him, and lesson will be done in no time', she told herself. 'Yes, once the lesson is done, I will get away from him.'

Lesson was finally over.

Sarah packed her things and headed out.

Philip was one step behind her. "Why are you in such a rush? I want to talk to you."

"I have nothing to say to you, go away." Sarah was irritated with his behavior and decided not to entertain him as she walked down the hallway.

Philip grabbed her wrist. "When I see you, the only place I want to be is closer to you."

Sarah stopped in her tracks and looked at Philip in disbelief.

Few minutes earlier, outside classroom…

Aiden is waiting for Sarah in front of the classroom. He checked the time. 'Class should be done any minute.'

Not long after, door opened, and some students got out and walked past Aiden. He saw Sarah walk out in hurried steps.

Sarah didn't notice Aiden. Probably because her desire to escape Philip's persistence mixed-in with her not expecting that he will wait for her after the class.

Aiden saw that Sarah glanced backward and said: "I have nothing to say to you, go away!" It took him a moment to realize that she said that to Philip who was right behind her.

At the sight of Philip holding onto Sarah's wrist, rage swelled inside Aiden. 'How dare you lay your filthy hands on her!??' He saw Philip look at Sarah lecherously, and the only thing Aiden wanted to do is to beat him into a pulp. He grabbed Philip's wrist and forced him to let go of Sarah.

Philip's whole body contorted in pain, but Aiden didn't care. The only thing on his mind was that he needs to hit that smug face. Aiden's left hand clenched into a fist and was rising to deliver a punch, when he felt a warm hand holding him.

"Don't. Let's go." Sarah's voice rang in his ears, and he faced her concerned expression.

As per command, Aiden let go of Philip's wrist. His hand wrapped around Sarah's shoulders and they walked out without looking back.

Philip fell on the floor and rubbed his aching hand while watching two of them leave.

Sarah and Aiden went into his car, and he started driving. Except for soft music coming from the radio, there was no other sound in the car.

Both of them were thinking about the incident that just occurred and what it means to them.

Sarah was grateful that he came to her rescue, but also upset that she didn't do something herself. She is not the type that needs rescuing, she can take care of herself.

Aiden was analyzing why he got so upset. Aiden is aware that he is attracted to Sarah, but is it that much that he can't stand the thought of someone else touching her? Or is it just because it's Philip?

After more than half an hour, the car stopped at a sightseeing stop. The view is beautiful: mountains in the back, evergreen trees spread around crystal clear lake which reflects the mountains. But neither of them enjoyed the view.

After some time, Sarah broke the silence: "Thank you."

He didn't respond.

'He looks angry. Is he angry at me?'

She turned to face him. Her right hand reached to his face, touching his chin and making him face her. He was still frowning. She lifted her hand, and with her index finger gently pressed between his eyebrows, while saying with a smile: "You should not frown so much. You will end up with wrinkles, and then I will not think of you as handsome."

'This girl. Full of surprises. Always says unexpected things.' He relaxed his face, put his arms around her and embraced her. His head was on her shoulder, and he took few deep breaths.

Sarah was not sure what to do. So, she let him hold her. She had to admit that it feels nice. Being in his arms, feels nice.

When Aiden started moving away from her, she wrapped her hands around him, and pulled him closer. "It's not enough", she whispered.

His hug tightened.

After some time, they moved away, and their eyes met. She could see that he calmed down and returned to his usual self. Sarah didn't know what triggered him to be so upset, but she knew that it was not a good time to ask.

She looked at his handsome face and decided to address one pressing topic: "You made me miss lunch, how are you going to make it up to me?"

Aiden smiled and started the car.

Sarah can tell that they are going up the mountain by observing the changing scenery: the trees were replaced the rocks, and traces of snow could be seen on the side of the road. After about half an hour, they reached in front of a ski resort.

"Good afternoon, Mr. White", the staff greeted as they stepped into large entry, bustling with people.

Sarah glanced at Aiden, wondering how come staff recognized him and concluded that it's not his first time at this resort.

Aiden spoke with a receptionist for a minute, and Sarah's attention was drawn to the fountain in the middle of an artificial pond inhabited with koi fish. He stood behind her and watched silently while she tried to touch the fish without dipping her whole hand in the water.

They headed upstairs to the top floor. Private room has a 360-degree view of the ski resort, with breathtaking views of the mountains in the background. Aiden took Sarah's hand and guided her to the dining table.

"I hope this will make up for the missed lunch", he said in a deep voice while pulling the chair for her to sit at the table.

'Oh, how I love his voice.' She nodded with a smile and took a seat.

During the meal they didn't talk much.

Sarah was thinking how it's unusual for her to rely on someone to rescue her. She was always capable of taking care of herself, proud that she does not need anyone for protection. She remembered his furious expression in the hallway, and his troubled face during the ride, and his warm and firm embrace at the sightseeing spot, and how he patiently waited until she had her fill of playing with the fish… and how right now he is looking at her with his dark eyes which are so deep that she feels like she could drown inside them, and she would not mind, as long as it's his eyes… Sarah is aware that this is different than anything she ever experienced, and something changed. She changed. Because of him. She enjoys the thought that he takes care of her. Two of them being together… feels just right.

Aiden was reflecting on his emotions. He knows that he was raging. He is not unfamiliar with that feeling. The only thing he wanted was to hurt Philip. And it took one touch from her accompanied by few soft words to calm him down. He held Sarah close to him as they left University building, stole glances at her during the ride, embraced her at the sightseeing spot, enjoyed watching her play with koi fish, and now she is right next to him, looking at him with her deep green eyes, and smiling… Aiden realized that something changed. He changed. She has the power to change him… and this is much more than just an attraction. This realization excites him and scares him at the same time.

After lunch, Sarah was looking down at ski tracks of the resort.

"Do you want to ski?", he asked.

Her eyes lit up. "Yes."

He called the attendant, and shortly after, two of them were in full skiing gear, on top of the highest peak in the resort. As they descended, both showed matching skills in speed and agility. Whoever saw them could not help but stop and admire the sight of two people gracefully conquering the slopes with ease. Sarah was silently admiring Aiden's skiing skills, and he admired hers.

When they got back at the resort, Aiden and Sarah warmed up with hot cocoa.

Sarah heard her phone beep, and she saw number of missed messages from Vivian:

[Vivian]: "I hear you were in an incident after morning class"

[Vivian]: "Why are you not in AI?"

[Vivian]: "Text me or call me?"

[Vivian]: "I hear someone harassed you and took you away..."

[Vivian]: "Did you get kidnapped???"

[Vivian]: "If you don't respond in 10 minutes, I'm calling the police"

...that was the last message that Sarah just received. Sarah checked the time and saw that afternoon lesson finished.

"I need to text Vivian", Sarah said with a complex expression, and started texting. Aiden leaned closer to see her phone.

[Sarah]: "I'm OK. "

...at this time Aiden read all the recent texts and had an amused expression on his face.

[Vivian]: "Is it true that someone harassed you and took you away?"

[Sarah]: "Yes and no."

[Vivian]: "??? Explain!!!"

Sarah didn't want to go into details, thinking that it might get Aiden upset again.

[Sarah]: "Long story. But no one kidnapped me. And I am fine. "

[Vivian]: "How do I know you are telling the truth, and that kidnapper is not making you say this?"

Sarah thought for a moment, then turned on her phone camera, leaned towards Aiden and took a photo of two of them. She sent the photo to Vivian.

[Vivian]: "!!!"

[Sarah]: "I'm OK. I will explain later"

[Vivian]: "Do you know how worried I was when I heard that you got into trouble, and then you don't show up to class??? No matter if you are maiden in love or not, you should not just leave with him without a word."

Sarah froze as she read 'maiden in love'. Aiden is right there, and he read it, for sure. Sarah's face flushed and even her ears got red. 'This is so embarrassing!'

[Sarah]: "Later"

Sarah didn't move for a while.

"Send me that picture also. I like it.", she heard Aiden say. He was very close, and she could feel his breath on her cheek.

She forwarded him the photo, kept her phone away, and hesitated before facing him. And, of course, Aiden was looking at her with a mischievous smile. She took few deep breaths to compose herself and smiled, "Let's go back".

...

While driving back they agreed to have dinner in the city.

"Any preferences?", he asked.

"No. You pick", she responded.

It was not very late, but since winter days are short, it was dark when they arrived. They had a dinner on the top floor restaurant. The atmosphere in the restaurant combined with the view of the city night lights made everything very romantic.

Sarah does not remember what she ate. She was staring at him, painfully aware that she is falling for him deeper by the minute.

...

After dinner, Aiden drove to his apartment. Sarah was reluctant to exit the car. 'It's not that I don't want to come to his place, but he didn't even ask me. He just brought me here, like it's normal.'

He was looking at her, as if he can read her mind. "It's still early. If I take you to your dorm, you will just miss me for the rest of the evening", he said with a straight face.

Sarah was speechless. She wanted to tell him that he is wrong, but she would be lying. She gave up on the idea to retaliate and got out of the car.

They spent the rest of the evening working on their project, while enjoying herbal tea and each other's company.

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