''When do you have time? We need to talk. ''
Diana's heart missed a beat at his words and her throat felt dry suddenly. What did he want to talk to her about? Did he not want the friendship anymore? Obviously, that was it, there was nothing else they would talk about, except maybe he wanted to ask her why she was acting the way she was.
Her hands scratched on the table as her heart raced a little; did she not want the friendship anymore?
That question, she wasn't yet sure of the answer.
''Um, this weekend, I'll be free this weekend; we can meet at a restaurant,'' she said, breathing in. to stable her heartbeat.
''Okay, I'll text you the venue. '' Michael replied and she nodded;
''Alright then; take care. ''
''Yeah, you too ''
Michael held the phone to his ear even after he heard the beep; after a moment, he dropped the phone to the passenger's seat and turned on his ignition. He had stopped by her workplace in case she was done with work, he knew she was avoiding him so he wasn't sure if she was still avoiding him or she was telling the truth, either way, he couldn't force her.
For three days now, she had been this way and even ignoring his messages. He was not the type of person to force someone to do something they didn't want to do but with Diana, he couldn't help himself. Even when he said a thousand times that he wouldn't do it, he found himself calling her again.
He tried to let go but she was there in his thoughts clinging to him like he was just falling for a woman for the first time. He had thought about how she was acting and the only reason he could find, was she thinking he wanted to take advantage of her, given what he told her about his past; that was why he needed to talk to her, he wanted her to know that he really meant good towards her and that he was trying to be close to her because he wanted something serious, not just some one nightstand.
Michael stopped at a red light, his head falling back on the headrest.
But before he mentions this, he would tell her about himself first. The last thing he wanted to do was rope her into something she wouldn't have agreed to at first.
The red light turned green and he was kicked out of his thoughts by the honking of vehicles behind him and he drove quickly;
Now he thought about it, he never wondered if she would want to be with him after he revealed his past to her. First, he was an adopted child, with no inheritance to his name, except some properties he had gotten secretly which was no match to the status of Diana or her family.
He was rich on his own but compared to Diana, he was nothing. A thought flashed through his mind and Michael gripped the steering tightly;
Catherine had threatened to hurt Diana if he had anything to do with her. He had told her that she was just a fling and there was nothing else to it, but if she found out that he had been seeing her quite often, she might actually carry out her threat.
Knowing Catherine Wills, she didn't warn more than once, and she never took chances. He wasn't sure what the issue was between her and Nicklaus but he was sure that she would never want him to have anything to do with Diana because it meant automatically siding with the enemy, and she wouldn't want that.
A long sigh left his lips when he realized that he was in a bigger mess than he had earlier imagined.
What would he do?
Michael thought as he drove into his compound, his eyes still staring blankly. Turning off the ignition, he stepped down from the car and at that moment a thought came to his mind;
Should he tell Diana the truth and side with Nicklaus against Catherine Wills?
Michael's eyes widened when the thought seeped into his mind, how did he not think about this all these while?
That was it! The only way out of Catherine's den was siding with her enemy. If he remained silent, it was a matter of time before he would be declared dead by some strange illness or a car accident. Catherine would never keep him alive because he was a living threat to her son's inheritance.
The only way against that beast of a woman was being one step ahead of her. He knew he was under great scrutiny in case he said anything against them, so he would be extra careful. But the fact was, he was done being her dog, he wasn't going to live for them anymore.
Michael's heart filled with hope as he walked towards the building, he wished the weekend was just the next day but sadly it was still three days away.
There was a lot they needed to talk about.
….
Michelle jumped up from the bed, her whole body sweaty. She wiped her face with her hands as she looked around the room, a sigh left her lips when she saw she was still in her room. Douglas turned by her side and he creased his brows when he saw his wife sitting on the bed looking pale as though she had just seen a ghost.
''Darling, what is wrong? '' He asked and she turned to look at him; she wanted to speak but she quickly shut her lips and shook her head instead;
''Nothing, I think I had a nightmare but I can't remember what happened. ''
She rubbed her face with her both hands, her eyes looking around the room again, she was still scared;
Douglas watched her for a moment, and then he said;
''Drink some water and you'll be fine, and cut down on coffee. '' He scolded and she forced a smile and stepped down from the bed with a nod, going to the water dispenser in the room to have a drink.
As she filled her cup, her mind went back to the dream she just had.