Key To My Heart

3. "Ana, he's so into you. I can tell."

(930 words)

He was the CEO of AB Enterprises. He was way out of my league. But still why couldn't I stop thinking about him? Maybe because of how attractive he was. I had honestly never seen a more gorgeous and perfect-looking human being. I really was repeating the same mistake that I made before. I was slowly falling, I knew it. And I knew that it wasn't possible to stop myself from doing so. Like I said before, we can't force ourselves to love or not love someone.

So there I was in my room. I had just returned from college and was standing in front of my mirror, fixing my appearance. I tied my hair in a sleek and high ponytail, wore small earrings, a delicate ring and made sure to spray an adequate amount of perfume on myself as well as putting on some lipgloss. I didn't want to admit it, but yeah, I was aiming to impress Ethan.

After I was done, I grabbed my car keys and headed downstairs only to be stopped by my mother. "Where are you going, Anastasia? You just came back from college." She said, frowning.

"I'm going to pick up Ariana." I didn't know why my tone had morphed into a scared one.

"Again? Is everything alright?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, seeming suspicious. Oh yeah, I guess so, mom. Or maybe not. Your daughter is maybe falling in love again. Maybe. Yeah, just maybe....

Okay, stop, Ana.

"Yeah, mom. You know how close we are, so I thought about picking her up from college daily so we could spend a little time together."

Mom let out a sigh. "Fine. Go." She said and turned to go to her bedroom. I let out a sigh that I didn't know I was holding before rushing to my car. What if he doesn't show up today? Was all I kept thinking the entire time I drove. When I finally arrived and parked my car, I felt scared and extremely nervous. Suddenly, I didn't wanna go. I don't think I can handle being in his breathtaking presence. I took a deep breath and quickly got out of my car. Here goes nothing.

I walked slowly to the main gate, my heart beating fast, my palms becoming sweaty and breathing becoming rapid. Just like last time, the moment I entered, my eyes met his. It was as if his eyes had been waiting for me. Yeah, right. As if, Anastasia. You're just delusional.

My heartbeat picked up even more pace when I saw Ariana standing behind Ethan, exactly where she was supposed to be. I swallowed nervously as I remembered her little plan to tease him the way he had teased me the other day.

I grasped some courage and looked straight into his eyes. He looked back, his eyes never leaving mine. I started walking slowly towards him, never breaking eye contact. He straightened as if he thought that I was walking to him. Ha. You thought. Truth is, I can't possibly walk up to you. I would receive a cardiac arrest. Plus, I'm actually getting back at you for teasing me the other day. When I was close enough, I extended both my arms forward as if I was going to hug him and he looked like he was expecting it, but I watched as a wave of disappointment washed over him when I hugged Ariana instead. A frown formed on his beautiful face. Aye, you did the same to me.

"Anastasia! How are you?" Ariana chirped loudly and I knew she did that so Ethan could hear my name. She almost never called me by my full name.

"I'm fine." I whispered, giving her a small smile before taking her hand and walking out of that place with her.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. What the hell did we just do?" I started panting the moment we sat in my car, feeling a strange rush of adrenaline as if I had done something too thrilling.

"Dude that was amazing!" Ariana exclaimed excitedly. I tried to bring my breathing to a normal rate and started the engine before driving towards Ariana's home.

"He's really dreamy, isn't he?" Ariana asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah." I breathed out, a smile creeping to my lips.

"He's perfect for you." She said and I let out a sigh.

"There's no guarantee that—"

"You should've seen his face! He so wanted you to hug him or something." Ariana said, cutting me off like what I was going to say didn't matter.

"Yeah but—"

"Anastasia, I know you're thinking about Aaron. What he put you through was awful, but not every guy is going to be like him."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Ana, this is THE Ethan Woods we're talking about. He's nothing like that Aaron. Ethan is a great, well-off, mature, intelligent person who belongs to a reputed family. Whereas you know what kind of pathetic reputation Aaron's family had but you loved him nevertheless. But he treated you terribly and he was a horrible person. Who can blame him? It's just how he was raised." Ariana gave me a long-ass speech.

I let out another sigh. "You're right, but please stop thinking that Ethan likes me or something. That's hilarious."

"Ana, he's so into you. I can tell." She said matter-of-factly. I shook my head but decided not to argue with her. She was a stubborn and persuasive person.

God knows what tomorrow would bring.