Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 116: Who Fell First?

Chapter 116: Who Fell First?

"I mean what I say, Iris. All these games will be over soon and you’ll be safe then. As for that woman, no one matters to me more than you. It’s a promise," Arthur said.

Talia heard Arthur’s voice in her ear brimming with confidence and honesty, and felt assured.

" Fred..." Talia took a deep breath.

" Hmm? "

" You belong to me too " Talia said softly.

" Okay...? " Arthur was a bit confused why she suddenly stated the obvious. But then he remembered her precious demands that the other woman is not allowed to touch her jewels or furnitures even and his lips curved up and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

How adorable my jealous flower is!

" Are you adding me to the list of your clothes, jewels and furnitures?"

"No..." Talia pouted hearing his chuckle turning to laugh, "I know how perverted you are! You don’t know how to behave with women! That day you... you did... th- things with me and if you do with other women they will mark you as a pervert and send you to jail! And you cannot lift women’s skirt to see what colour their underwear is or say unsavoury words to women in the phone. It’s sexual harassment and you’d be jailed for that! Not only that you have the reputation of the Northern Star to uphold. My grandfather is well known as the perfect gentleman in the business circles and now that you are succeeding him, you’d be expected to be..."

Talia went on a rant for about ten minutes to hide her embarrassment that he figured out her intended meaning. He should be thinking she is green with jealousy. Even though she was extremely jealous, she didn’t want him to know that. He wanted him to think of what she said as a statement of fact not as a blatant display of jealousy.

She didn’t want to be the jealous woman! She wanted to be the strong, understanding woman.

Arthur closed his mouth to hold back his laughter. This woman is obviously jealous which he figured out by the excessive demands she put forth and only now she realised I might have figured her out?

What a vain woman!

He could imagine her with her entire face red with embarrassment, but trying to cover it up with fake anger, covering her embarrassment with a stern face.

Oh, I want to be near her so badly! She haven’t changed one bit!

"Yes, Ma’am!" Arthur let her finish speaking and answered firmly.

I won’t call her out. I’ll give her face... That hypocritical woman! I love her so much!

"I’m not jealous, you know!" Talia added and she could smell the thick stench of hypocrisy in her words herself.

"I know... I believe you..." Arthur said holding back his laughter. This is why he loved her. She pretends at times with others perfectly but she could not do it perfectly in front of him and will expose herself. At those times, he will pretend he believes her act. It doesn’t hurt him.

"Okay, full disclosure!"

Talia decided to prove she was not jealous. Her throat was dry and she walked to the kitchen counter and picked up the ice cream tub and sat cross legged on the couch with a spoon.

"What?" Arthur wondered now what "truth" she is going to spill now or is she asking for truths from him?

"Do you remember Sophia from high school?"

"No," Arthur replied immediately. He heard those nobles talking about her trying to persuade him, but he had no idea! Iris knows her too? And she went to our school? He was genuinely unaware of her. Even if she was introduced to him, he might have blocked her from his memory.

Really, who’d have the time to think about anyone else when there is such an adorable, jealous ball in his mind?

Talia was pleased by his immediate ’no’. He is not pretending to not know her.

" She is a year junior to us in high school. When we were in sophomore year, she used to write letters, buy you gifts and wait around in corners for chance meetings..."

"Oh?" Arthur still didn’t remember. Second year? Second year he was filled with thoughts about his Iris! He didn’t even remember other boys around him much less boys.

"And... I used to stop her from approaching you..." Talia’s voice got so low it almost became a whisper.

Admitting your past transgression is hard!

"Stop her!?" Arthur was surprised. His Iris did that? That too in second year? Was it because she already had feelings towards me?

"I didn’t hurt her or bully her or anything!" Talia explained immediately. " Whenever she was waiting for you, I’d just distract you and keep you from meeting her..." Talia stuffed an entire spoonful of ice cream inside her mouth.

She really wouldn’t do anything. Whenever she noticed Sophia out in the corridor, she’d pretend she needs something or would just silently go to the attic she frequents and like clockwork, Arthur would follow her and would ignore everyone else.

Maybe I was a bully? Talia wondered.

"Well to tell the truth, I only stopped her from meeting you after you rejected her! You rejected her first and since she still stalked you, I... "

"That’s it?" Arthur was disappointed. He expected cat fights in the girls restroom with girls pulling each others hair. That would have been better.

How disappointing!

"Hey Iris...!"

"What?"

"Why did you stop her?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you stop her from meeting me?"

"I told you! She was stalking you after you rejected her..."

"Reeeaaally?"

"God’s honest truth!" Talia swore. It’s not like she believed God. God didn’t save her mother!

"Don’t bring up God!" Arthur chided her. He knew she lies. You can’t bring up the Lord’s name in vain.

"Iris... When did you fall for me?" he asked. He wanted to know the specific moment she fell for him.

"When?" Talia’s hand froze as she was spooning the ice cream. And soon her eyes turned soft and a pretty smile bloomed in her face, "I don’t know... Maybe it was a slow process... Around the end of first year maybe? I could feel my heart racing whenever you were near me... I’d be searching for you if you’re not near me... I’d find you wherever you are with just a glance... And... I didn’t know what it was then... Enough about me! When did you fall for me? "

Those feelings... Even though it was more than ten years, was fresh in her memories and even now her heart was palpitating.

"Me?" Arthur smiled, "Remember that day before going to the garden party in the Palace, you sneaked to my room?"

"Yeah," Talia remembered it too. She was displeased he always saw her as a boy in a skirt and so she purposefully dressed like a girl, showing her thighs and she even had extensions since her hair was short.

"That was the first day you wore red lipstick and you were wearing a short pale pink skirt and heels. Your hair was long and since it was a formal party you were wearing a hat... When you knocked on my door... I don’t know... I knew it was you, but I felt different... " Arthur reminisced.

" Yeah, I knew my grandpa will scold me for wearing red lipstick, so I hid from him and took another car with Cyrus to just show you that I am a girl! Remember you used to tell me I don’t ’feel’ like a girl to you? " Talia snorted, "So I proved you wrong, huh?" she laughed. She felt light and relieved.

"I remember losing my hand cream in your place that day ..." Talia ate another spoonful of ice cream. She brought her makeup with her to change the lipstick in his place and misplaced her hand cream.

It’s funny how she remembered all the details. It was because there was a thick stench of Fred’s smell filled in his room. And his sheets... She was sitting on it and she felt his thick scent around her and felt like he was hugging her closely. She felt weird, like a electric current surging through her lower abdomen. A feeling so unfamiliar to her, yet addicting... Maybe she was aroused that day!

She didn’t know that then and she used her hand cream to reduce the scent of Fred.

It didn’t work anyway!

"Ehem!" Arthur cleared his throat. He found it on his bed that day and it reminded him of her and he couldn’t sleep peacefully that night. "I had dreams about you that night," he added.

It seemed like a lot of time has passed since he was a teenager. Man! Those days were terrible.

"Aww!What did you dream about me?" Talia was so delighted hearing what he said.

He dreamt about me? How romantic!

"Yeah! Dreams that made me change my underpants three times!"

"Wh-"

Talia ended up in a coughing fit as she swallowed in the wrong path.

"Careful! Don’t eat and speak!" Arthur felt bad for her.

"You are a pervert!" Talia said after her coughing subsided.

"I was a teenager! What did you expect?" Arthur said shamelessly.

That was not the only day he dreamt about her. He even has dreams about her these days and has to deal with morning wood every day.

Who will understand his plight?

Talia decided not to speak to him further. He is such a lecherous pervert.

But he dreamt about me!

Talia bit her lips and smiled fixing her stray hair behind her ears.

I had dreamt about him these days to be fair! One day I even kissed Rebecca thinking it was Fred... Almost kissed!

Talia leaned comfortably on the couch placing one of the throw pillows on her lap. The window curtain was open and she could see small specks of snow descending like cotton.

Will Rebecca able to fly today?

Talia wondered as her thoughts wandered about Rebecca. But there is only a slight snowfall so she might be able to make it.

"You went silent..." Arthur’s voice brought back Talia from worrying for her friend.

"Nothing... Where are you?" Talia asked. She could hear a slight echo as he spoke. She wondered if it was bad connection or this guy really locked himself in a cupboard.

"In the green bathroom..." Arthur leaned leisurely in the bathtub closing his eyes, "This bathtub is really comfortable and it has a nice scent to it..."

"You’ve never used it before? The view through the window is really pretty. I always forget the time soaking there,"Talia smiled sweetly remembering the days she almost fell asleep inside the tub. Ms. Grey will always be sitting beside her watching over to stop her from falling asleep inside the bathtub.

" I wish you are here with me now... "Arthur’s fingers traced through the edge of the bathtub. He couldn’t help but imagine Talia with her glowy skin soaking with him.

These past few years he could only reminisce from a distant memory of the past or imagine how she’d feel when he touched her. A lot of times he beat his meat imagining it was her doing it. That’s all he could do.

But just days back, he was able to touch her, hear her moan and she helped him finish in person. That feeling...

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