Chapter Thirty-seven

Athena's POV

''Wake up, rise and shine, princess!'' I hear Alex shouting loudly into my ear, making me groan in annoyance before pulling the comforter closer toward me.

''Shut up.'' I mumble as I cover my face with my hand, not wanting the light to disturb me sleeping. Nope, not going to happen. Once I stop hearing noises, I continue to keep my eyes closed and just in time when I was about to drift back into sleep; Alex pats on my butt. Twice.

Lifting my head up before turning around to see him looking at me with an innocent smile plastered on his face. Glaring, I lift the comforter higher before slamming my face down on the bed again, ''Disturb me again and I'll cut your dick.'' I say, loud enough for him to hear.

I hear and feel him slowly getting off the bed and I just stay on my position; my front body on pressed against the bed. Within seconds, I feel something heavy hovering on top of me from behind before the body slowly stay put on me. Then I feel him running his hand to touch mine, ''Come on baby, wake up.'' He whispers softly into my ear, brushing his lips on my earlobe, making me shiver.

''Alex, go away.'' I mumble more, pressing my face harder into the pillow. My voice may sound like a man right now because it always does whenever I wake up, but for once, I don't care. I need to scare him off.

Eh wait, did he just call me baby?

My eyes open wide before pushing him off of me. I move further away from him until I find myself falling onto the ground with a loud thud. Groaning, I mutter curses under my breath before slowly grabbing hard onto the mattress.

''What did you just call me?'' I ask, glaring.

''Baby.'' He shrugs, as if he is used to calling me baby. I slowly lift myself up before throwing one of the pillows straight to his face which hits directly on his forehead; making him stumble back slightly.

I laugh unknowingly before climbing up the bed and continue to throw pillows toward his direction. Once in awhile, he would avoid but most of the pillows I've thrown, hits him in the face. I glance at his direction, seeing that his hair is now messier. I hear him groan as he starts to pick all of the pillows on the ground.

Alex starts to throw the pillow and I avoid by facing the other way but he continues to throw the pillow roughly which hits my body all the time. My laughter keeps on raging as he continues to steal my pillows just to shove it at my face. My back meets with the soft mattress as he throws another pillow.

I look down and see him standing right near my legs. To my surprise, he starts to pull me by the ankle and I scream loudly before grabbing onto the mattress and kicking my legs out. He let go of my ankle and I quickly slide to the other side before dropping down onto the ground; taking two pillows with me.

I run out of the room; my shoulder hitting the wall but I continue, without glancing back. I hear him following behind me but I continue to run until I reach downstairs, still holding the pillows tightly. Moving backwards as I see him walking down the stairs slowly, holding onto one pillow near his chest.

''You can't run.'' He says, teasingly with a smirk plastered on his face. One of his hand rubs the pillow slowly, trying his best to scare me but I only move backwards so that he won't be able to hit me.

''I can but I didn't try for tryouts in school.'' I reply, sarcastically and I see him trying to control his laughter. He charges toward me and I almost fall by hitting the sofa but I run to the back, avoiding myself from any obstacles.

I accidentally drop one of the pillow and when I turn around, I see Alex standing inches away from the pillow; making me widen my eyes in an instant. I let out a sound snd Alex looks at me, confused. I take my chance to run pass him, hitting him by the shoulder.

Alex grabs me by the hand but as soon as he does, I pull hard, making him stumble forward; and with him being smart enough, he let go of me so that he won't have the risk of falling down.

Running toward the front door, I twist the doorknob in a hurry with Alex almost reaching behind me. My legs jumping up and down as I push the door roughly and running out of the house, barefoot.

I wince as I step hard on a big rock, making me jump on one foot. Turning around, I stop walking and see that Alex is right now standing near the door, raising an eyebrow, ''Come on Alex, be a man and finish this.'' I say, completely out of breath.

Alex chuckles, walking out and as soon as he was about to pull me, I accidentally push him which causes him to fall down on the ground; pulling me with him. His hand moves down to my waist. Luckily for him, he manage to hold his head up just in time.

He breathes out, closing his eyes. I think fast and take the pillow before putting down his chin, pressing his chest, not letting him sit up. He looks up at me, our eyes meeting.

''Why did you wake me up? That is some tough shit you got there for waking me up. Do you know what people get when they wake me up?'' I say, and when he was about to answer, I continue, ''They rot in hell.''

Alex raises both of his hands up, surrendering but the look on his face shows how he's enjoying.

''What happens when they rot in hell?'' He asks, faking a questioning face, ''Enlighten me.''

My eyebrows furrow, what happens when they rot? They die, obviously. ''It means that there's nothing left for you in the future, babe.'' I purposely say the word babe louder.

''How... catchy.'' He mutters, chuckling.

I pick up the pillow before slamming it right at his face, making him groan. Pulling the pillow away, I see him rolling his eyes at me. ''Why.'' Hit. ''Did.'' Hit. ''You.'' Hit. ''Wake.'' Hit. ''Me.'' Hit. ''Up.'' Hit. Alex holds the pillow away from his face, stopping me from hitting him.

''Wow, calm down.'' He coughs, throwing the pillow away before laying his head on the ground; breathing heavily. ''I can't tell you.'' He shakes his head violently before grabbing onto my wrists, stopping me from taking the second pillow.

I look down at his face, seeing him narrowing his eyes at me as the sun shines brightly; hurting his eyes. I give the sun a better expose so that the light would hit directly to his eyes and he groans, letting go of my wrists, covering his eyes with his hands.

''Tell me.'' I say.

''Nope, get off me.'' He says, trying to push me away by holding my waist but I keep my body heavier, not letting him. He sighs, giving up.

''Tell me first or I'll scratch your car.'' I point out at his car just metres away from me and I show him my nails. His eyes widen in surprise, ''Oh boy, would I love damaging your stuff.''

''You wouldn't.'' Alex shakes his head.

''I would.'' I nod, faking sympathy. ''I'll count to three and tell me why or I'll damage your car. Oh hey, when I think about it, maybe using a sledgehammer could work too.'' My lips curve up into a sinister smile.

''One.'' I start counting and I see him glancing toward his car.

''Two.'' I mutter low, this time.

''Wait!''

''Three!'' I say and just in time as I was about to stand up and run, he pulls my hand, stopping me from doing so.

He holds my hand tightly, maybe leaving a red mark afterwards. Both of his eyes are focusing at me, ''It's because we're going to India.'' He says, fast. My hands fall beside me as I look at him in confusion.

''What do you mean we're going to India?'' I raise an eyebrow.

''Well...'' He shrugs, shaking his head. I stand up and he sits up, watching my every move as I continue to walk toward the front door.

Holding the door, I turn around, ''Oh by the way, I'm not your baby and I'm not going.'' I wink at him before walking inside. I swear I saw him seem a bit taken aback but I continue my way up the stairs.

Unfortunately for him, it took him exactly two hours to persuade me on going. When I say persuade, it's more like pulling me and tying me so that I won't fight back.

''I'm not going!'' I shout as loud as I can before grabbing onto the door, ''Alex let go of me!'' My hands are starting to becoming red as I continue to hold tightly, groaning in the process

Alex let go of my waist but to only wrap his arm around me and pull me harder. My hands couldn't bare the pain so I let go of the door, reaching out for it again but I find myself being pulled by Alex further away from the door. I kick my legs out as he lift me up on his shoulder. ''I'm not going, oi, do you even hear me?!''

''Shut up, you're going.'' He pats on my thigh.

''No uh.'' I glare at him even though I know he can't see me. I continue to slap on his back but he just walk like he's holding a piece of paper. When I lift my head, I see him picking up my luggage. ''I said no uh!''

''Yeah uh, now shush.'' He sighs.

What he does next makes me want to slam his face into the concrete wall. He ties me on the chair, not letting me move around or try to run away. He takes out my clothes from the walk-in closet and I just watch him choose. Once in awhile, he would glance up my way before continuing to shove my clothes in.

He opens up a drawer which has my undergarments. I narrow my eyes at him as he casually take out a few that would last up for a few days. Keeping quiet, I continue to watch him choose out a black one, an orange one, a beige one, etc. He closes my luggage before zipping it and putting it down on the ground.

Alex picks up my luggage before disappearing out of the room, leaving me alone. Once he's out of my sight, I move my hand around, trying to escape. It sounds like I've been kidnapped but hey, this is not legal! Or so I think it's not.

Moving my hand to the right and to the left, I fail miserably and I just wanted to cry my eyes out for disappointing my parents in case I get kidnapped, and that I wasn't able to escape. I should have watched more action movies, so I would know how they escaped.

Alex appears in the room once more and he picks up his luggage before disappearing again. I glare at him but he ignores me, without even glancing my way. ''Dickhead.'' I mutter to myself before shaking the chair; hoping that it would break and set me free.

I scream as loud as I can when I realise that this is hopeless and that I have to go to India with him. Why are we going to India, anyway? What does he want to do in India? If we're going for work, then fine, don't bother bringing me. I'm not his pen drive, he doesn't need me for information. Leave me here in New York.

Turning around, I see Alex untying my hand and just like that, I set my hands free but I was too lazy to even. I know he won't let me stay. He could do something worst such as leaving me in an anaesthesia state.

I obey him and look where we are now. Yes ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it correctly, we're in India. A huge applause to all of you because now you can see me suffering.

Our hotel is near the Taj Mahal. At The Oberoi Amarvilas. A part of me doesn't regret coming here with him because you know, I rarely get to travel anywhere and being here, seeing the Taj Mahal, is an amazing opportunity.

Seen from the wall to wall window in the living room, or from the privacy of the terrace, the Taj Mahal seems so close that one could almost touch it. Inside, the suite walls are hung with ink sketches of Agra's famous monuments; Jama Masjid, Agra Fort and of course, its testimony to eternal love; the Taj Mahal.

The luxury suite comes with a personal butler but Alex didn't want that so he said he would list that out. Including a pantry with a separate entrance, a living room, dining room, master bedroom and bathroom. There are two 40" LED televisions, dual telephone lines and a walk-in wardrobe with a large luggage space.

I walk ahead toward the bathroom and my jaw drops to the ground, eyes wide, a spectacular octagonal glass panelled rain shower is the centrepiece of this bathroom. From this and the standalone bathtub, I can enjoy uninterrupted views of the Taj Mahal while bathing. Step onto the terrace and I can soak up the sun while admiring the views of Agra's monument to love.

I walk ahead to the balcony, looking at the Taj Mahal. Beautiful. I've read a story about the Taj Mahal once;

Taj Mahal, the magnificent monument that stands at the heart of India has a story that has been melting the hearts of millions of listeners since the time Taj has been visible. A story, that although ended back in 1631, continues to live on in the form of Taj and is considered a living example of eternal love. It's the love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, two people from the course of history who set an example for the people living in present and the future to come.

An English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold best describes it as ''Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passion of an emperor's love wrought in living stones."

Shah Jahan, initially named Prince Khurram, was born in the year 1592. He was the son of Jehangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India and the grandson of Akbar the Great. In 1607 when strolling down the Meena Bazaar, accompanied by a string of fawning courtiers, Shah Jahan caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads.

It was love at first sight and the girl was Mumtaz Mahal, who was known as Arjumand Banu Begum at that time. At that time, he was 14 years old and she, a Muslim Persian princess, was 15. After meeting her, Shah Jahan went back to his father and declared that he wanted to marry her. The match got solemnized after five years in the year 1612.

It was in the year 1628 that Shah Jahan became the Emperor and entrusted Arjumand Banu with the royal seal. He also bestowed her with the title of Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the 'Jewel of the Palace'. Though Shah Jahan had other wives also, but, Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite and accompanied him everywhere, even on military campaigns.

In the year 1631, when Mumtaz Mahal was giving birth to their 14th child, she died due to some complications. While Mumtaz was on her deathbed, Shah Jahan promised her that he would never remarry and will build the richest mausoleum over her grave.

It is said that Shah Jahan was so heartbroken after her death that he ordered the court into mourning for two years. Sometime after her death, Shah Jahan undertook the task of erecting the world's most beautiful monument in the memory of his beloved. It took 22 years and the labor of 22,000 workers to construct the monument.

When Shah Jahan died in 1666, his body was placed in a tomb next to the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. This magnificent monument came to be known as 'Taj Mahal' and now counts amongst the Seven Wonders of the World. This is the true story of the Taj Mahal of India, which has mesmerized many people with its bewitching beauty.

How someone can love someone so much that it hurts when they left. It could scar deeply inside. It's the true fact.

''Athena?'' I hear Alex calling out my name and I turn around, seeing him leaning his side against the door, as he look at me.

Turning around, ''Yeah?'' I ask him. Alex walks toward me, slowly and when he reaches closer, I smell his breathtaking cologne. ''What?'' I ask again as he stands close beside me, almost blocking the space between us.

He leans in and I look up, confused. Then he tilts his head to the side, brushing his lips slightly near my cheekbone, ''Get out.'' He says and I back away a little.

''Excuse me?''

I walk straight ahead to the sofa, laying my back comfortably. Once I've find the correct spot, I close my eyes and let out my breath—as if I have been holding my breath in for a long time. It took me awhile to actually realise that I have been fighting over my fatigue so as I stop moving around, I finally fall asleep; blocking every single noise out.

The cold wind touches my cheeks, making me shiver. Open my eyes slowly, I see the room dark. Breathing in, I sit up to see the curtains blowing from the balcony, all the wind coming in. My eyes wandering around to search for Alex but he's nowhere to be found. I head toward the balcony, trying to close the sliding doors.

As soon as I push the curtains away, my heart stops.