LANA'S POV
PRESENT
I arrived at the location Nathan sent me; a restaurant just off Baker's Street. It wasn't exactly a five star restaurant but it was looking bad either
As much as I was pissed off seeing him after a whole month of silence from his end I was still happy seeing him after a month of not talking to someone. And as much as I hated to admit it, I needed this. Nathan was the only normal that I had in this new abnormal I've found myself in.
I could see him from afar off as I stepped inside the restaurant. The smile on his face as soon as our eyes connected was enough to break down my walls and make me miss him more but I needed to put up my defence. I can let him know that he still has that much of an effect on me
"Babe, I'm glad you made it. I was starting to think you weren't going to come" He said as soon as he got close to me, throwing his hands around my waist and pulling me closer as he leaned forward to kiss me but I shrugged away, breaking his hold on me
"What do you want?" I asked coldly avoiding eye contact
"What do you mean babe? I'm here because I missed you and I've been dying to see you again" He said with a smile on his face
"You missed me? Or you missed my body?" I responded with a hint of disgust in my voice "Thirty days. I didn't hear from you for a whole month. My whole world was crashing down on me and you disappeared like I meant nothing to you and here you are saying you missed me"
There was silence for a while as he stared at me, probably searching for the right words to say or rather the right lie to say to me
"Cat got your tongue?" I asked breaking the silence that was brewing
He sighed, running his hands through this hair "I messed up, I know. There's nothing I can say to make up for how I treated you, for leaving you alone for that long and I'm sorry"
Looking at him, he looked remorseful. I almost believed that he was genuinely sorry. Almost
"I'm here now and I want to try and make up for everything" He added, reaching out for my hand. His finger stroked over mine slowly as he stared deep into my soul with the eyes that I fell in love with
"What am I going to do with you?" I said, giving in to his words
"You could forgive me and give a chance to make things better" He said with a sheepish smile on his face
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
"Well baby steps. Right now, I'm just trying to make up for lost time. Let's talk, eat and have a good time"
"Fine"
The smile on his face was immeasurable. It reminded me of a child who just got a fancy new toy from the toy store. That little sense of joy was enough to make me smile, the first genuine smile I've been able to manage since I found my sister dead. I definitely needed this
The rest of the date went by smoothly. We talked, catching up on old times, he brought me in the loop of his plans and projects he had intended on working on amongst other things. We talked like we hadn't been apart for so long and it was a rather blissful moment, one that I didn't know we could manage, given everything that had happened so far
"So what do you plan on doing about your sister's killer?" Nathan asked before taking a sip from his drink
I don't know how smart or sensible it would be to tell him that I planned on getting revenge and killing him myself so I'll just keep that bit of information to myself "I'll let the cops handle the matter"
"Have you seen or heard from him?" He asked
"I saw him briefly at the funeral" I responded wiping at my lips with the napkin on the table
"And the cops didn't arrest him there and then? Wow, it must be nice to be rich" Nathan sighed heavily "So where are you living now?"
Again another bit of information I'll rather keep to myself. I doubt that he's going to understand me if I say I'm living with the man that killed my sister
"I'm at my sister's house" I lied
"By yourself?" He looked at me like I just said I had codes to a nuclear warhead "What if he comes back and decides to kill you too?"
"I'm fine" I said but am I really fine?
"Why don't you come live with me?" Nathan suggested
My eyebrows raised at his suggestion and the idea of us living together "You have a place here?"
"Well it's a temporary residence right now. I'm staying at motel right now but I'm looking to get someplace soon so I can be closer to you" He said with a grin on his face
"I'm fine Nathan. If he does try to do something like that I'll be sure to reach out to you for help" I said, trying to sound as reassuring as I could
"Alright then" He sighed leaning back into his seat "You think you know someone until one day they decide to just kill you and then run away"
"It's getting late. I should start heading back" I said after taking a quick glance at the time on my watch
"It's literally 3pm" He chuckled "Or are you trying to get away from me?"
That's not completely true but not entirely false as well "Not really. I'm just in my head and I kind of just want to rest up a bit"
"Well then you can come rest back at my place" He offered just as the waiter came over with the bill. He pulled out his card and gave it to the server before turning back to face me
"Going back to your place? What's the guarantee that you won't try to sleep with me?" I chuckled at the thought
"Well there's no guarantee, unless you don't want to sleep with me too" He smirked
"Let's go then"