Chapter 11

Athena couldn t believe all that she heard but still, she went into the bathroom to take the shower. When she was done, TB helped her dress into a nice silky navy blue gown. He applied a light makeup on her and smiled at his handwork. "Sean is already downstairs, you would find him in the living room," he said to her. She looked at him in shock, "um TB, how can I find there?" "You will have to girl, I need to clear this up," he answered, pointing to his makeup bag and immediately got to work. "Then can you give me a direction?" "Sure, go out, down the hall, take the second door, go downstairs, take the left door and then you take another right door. You will go down another stairs, take the first right door and then another right and you will find yourself in the living room." Athena was frozen with her jaw on the floor, "so many doors to get to the living room?" "Girl, you should get use to it, this house is made of doors. Blame it on Sean for buying a three hundred years old mansion," he answered in a matter of fact tone, "I kept getting lost for two months before I got used to it." "Oh," Athena didn t know what else to say and at the end, she asked, "can you give me the directions again?" TB looked at her but rather than make a comment, he just blurted out the direction again and she sighed and left the room, talking to herself on how to find her way, but even though she was that careful, she still met dead ends thrice before she finally found the living room. She froze when she saw how massive it was, it was almost as big as the ballroom last night. It had white walls and white couches, with white drapes and white marble floors, in her mind, she called it the white room and was still taking in the beauty of the place when she heard, "one would starve waiting for you to join for breakfast." She almost gasped when she saw the man quietly eating in a room with a long table that was surrounded by chairs that could contain fifteen people. She followed the open door and entered the room. She walked slowly and steadily to the man sitting at the end of the table. When she got closer, she stopped and sighed, "good morning." "Sleep well?" He asked, spreading the butter on his bread in such sexy and gracefully manner that she was lost watching how his hand works. "Mm hmm," she answered. "Athena, if you go around this place, you will notice that I have enough securities to do the standing, and I don t think I would like to add a woman to it," he looked up at her and seeing that she didn t understand his meaning, he sighed, "sit down, Athena." "Oh," she whispered and pulled out a chair closest to him, mostly because that was where the food was served. "Bread?" He asked and she nodded, he placed the one he had already spread butter on, on the plate in front of her and then picked another and resumed his graceful movement. Athena was once again lost in the way he carries himself, even his fingers, how could a man be so graceful? "You know, when one stares so much, the other might assume another thing, so why are you staring at me like that, Athena?" Athena blushed that she had been caught in the act, "nothing, I was just watching the way you spread the butter, in such dignified and graceful way, almost like you are afraid of crushing the slice of bread." "There is no need handling things in a rough way when you know it would be better and beautiful when taken gently, want more?" He referred to the bread he had finished buttering. Athena looked down at the uneaten slice on her plate, even if she doesn t eat much, she knew she would love to eat a lot, considered he was the one that spread the butter. She was even reluctant to take a bite because of how smooth the butter was on the bread, "yes." Sean smiled and placed the slice on the plate again, "you can start eating, I have taken a few slices while waiting for you," he poured tea for her and pushed it gently towards her, then he picked another slice and started buttering it. Athena picked a slice and took a bite, she knew she sound stupid but she believed that buttered bread has never tasted better; she took another bite, enjoying the creamy taste. "You look beautiful this morning," Sean complimented. She glanced at him, "I had to dress up just to have breakfast." "Do you know that back in the eighties and down, ladies are being bathed and dressed by handmaidens before they could come down to share a meal with their families?" "That was then." "But it s how it should be, back then was when women portrays their elegance more, it would be amazing if civilization would go back to that time." Athena chuckled, "I don t know." Sean said nothing but he was smiling, he placed the buttered slice on her plate and picked another, "last night, why did you react like that to Frank s presence." Athena stopped chewing when she heard the question, she didn t know what to answer and she had to swallow what she had in her mouth just so that she would sigh but the bite was too big and it choked her. She picked up her mug and took a long sip of the tea. "Better?" Sean asked, as gently as ever and she nodded, "you know, Athena, if you continue in that manner, you are going to give yourself away. At the moment, I don t want him to know that you are you; I would prefer him thinking you to be someone else like he did last night. It s not that he won t know at the end, but at least, not until I am done with you. I want him to see the woman you can become if only he could just be patient with you, last night was just a little of what I want you to be. So, I wouldn t want you ruining everything by trembling when he is near, studying your feet when he is close or refusing to speak. I would prefer you look at him in the eye and answer to every question or compliment of his with a gentle smile," he looked at her then, his hazel eyes speaking of great wisdom. Athena gulped and nodded softly to what he said, she heaved a sigh, asking the one question in her mind, "but, do you think after everything we could get back together again?" "Do you want to get back together with him?" His voice portrayed his surprise and she nodded softly, "why, if I may ask?" She bit her lower lip and focused her gaze on the beautiful buttered bread before her, "because I love him," she whispered. "Oh," Sean was perplexed, "oh," he whispered again, "I see," he stopped what he was doing and was lost in thought, after a while, he spoke up, "I was thinking that you are going to get back at him for dumping you and exploiting you, I never considered getting back an option." "I m sorry, I just…" she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, "I can t think of being with another but him." "Hmm," Sean breathed, he tapped his fingertips on the table and pouted his lips, he said a while later, "well, first we would start by making you the type of woman he believes belongs with him and that also means you have to listen to me and do everything I say. It s possible you would meet someone else along the line and forget the piece of trash anyways," he rolled his eyes and continued buttering the bread. Athena said nothing and only took another long sip of her tea. "First of all, you would start by sipping gently, that tea is not running away and it s yours," he said and she froze, then gently place the mug back on the table, "second, you don t need to act like a robot. Third, don t slouch when sitting, sit upright, raise your head, and chew gently." Athena was embarrassed at all the things he pointed out, she glanced at him and all his attention was on the slice he was buttering, "you know, it almost sounds like I am taking lectures." "You are taking lectures," he said, placing the slice on her plate, he looked at her and their eyes met, "and I am the tutor."