Chapter 15

I woke up, not because of the sun shining too brightly in my room or my alarm blaring off somewhere, wherever my phone was. No. I woke up because the feeling of being crushed will do that to you.My eyes opened and Seb was pretty much on top of me, his arm secured around my waist. I was laying on my back and I looked to the side to see the edges of the air mattress raised around us. The damn thing must've had a hole and deflated partially while we were sleeping.I turned to my side, but that back fired. It felt as if I was on a water bed all while trying to get out of quick sand.Those are not very good combinations.But luckily for Seb, he apparently sleeps like the dead and was unphased by the motion of the air mattress raising and and sinking every time I moved.I let a string of curse words out as I literally rolled off the damn thing and landed on the ground with a thud. I stood up and adjusted my shirt that had slightly risen up.Well that was an interesting way to wake up.I looked over at Sebastian and covered my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. He was sound asleep, laying in the middle of the almost deflated mattress. The edges were raised around him as he continued sleeping.After gathering a change of clothes from my suitcase, I walked over to my door quietly, but looked back once to more to his sleeping state. We wouldn't have moments like today or yesterday once we left myhome. Everything would go back to how it was and only the deal that brought us together would be the main focus.I closed my door behind me and went to use the bathroom across the hall so I wouldn't make too much noise to wake him. It was six am and we had to leave at eight for our flight back to New York. I wasn't ready to go back, but it was time. The time I spent here was nice and enough to carry me through until the holidaysI washed my face and brushed my teeth before putting in my makeup and putting my hair in a pony tail. I didn't feel like actually styling it, especially since the humidity of New York would frizz it out anyway.I walked out and went back in the room to see Seb still sleeping. I bent down slightly and tried to tap his shoulder to wake him. He remained unmoving.He might really be dead...I shook his shoulder with a little more firmness. "Seb," nothing."Seb, wake up." I said, my voice above a whisper at this point.Still nothing.I rolled my eyes and shook him more. "Get your ass up." I said louder and when even that didn't do the trick, I began standing on the spots that had air to move his body even more.With a loud groan, his eyes opened as he was being jostled around by the mattress of doom. "Ugh stop," he groggily demanded, his morning voice raspy and low."Come on, we have to leave in an hour." I crossed my arms over my chest.He turned to face me, his handsome face had a lazy smile while his eyes looked up at me with amusement. "I think a kiss would really motivate me to get up."The smug bastard.I jumped once more on the air pocket, sending him off the mattress and onto the floor. "Fine, no kiss." He grumbled as he lifted himself off the floor. He stood up and started stretching, every muscle flexing nearly making me drool.Snap out of it, Christiana !I shook my head slightly to snap myself out of my trance his biceps had put me in and turned to go downstairs.Debbie was awake and had coffee made which I was more than thankful for. She was so cute in her blue fluffy robe she's had since I was young. "Good morning," she greeted."Morning," I poured myself a cup of coffee and turned back to her."What time do you leave?" She asked."Whenever Sebastian finishes getting ready." I sadly answered. My face fell as I thought about leaving them all again.Debbie gave me a reassuring smile. "You'll be home soon, dear. I wasn't sure about you staying with Olivia , but I am about Sebastian . He seems like a really nice man and unlike your mother."I nodded. "He is," He is very much unlike Olivia .~>~We said our goodbyes and pulled up to the airport shortly after leaving. After boarding Sebastian went into work mode taking numerous amount of calls and writing things down. I guess these two days were a vacation for him also since I didn't see him make phone call. He continued going through paper work and talking to random people until we arrived back in the city.As we stepped off the plane the humidity hit me and it was almost suffocating."How on earth are you wearing a suit?" I asked Seb after we got into the car. He was sitting close next to me.He shrugged. "I'm used to this humidity. Besides, I don't spend much time outside.""Well that isn't good either." I said giving him a pointed look.He was about to respond, but my phone went off stopping him from continuing. I looked down to see Olivia’s name. I groaned and he gave me a look of confusion."Olivia ," I said to him before answering. "Hello?""Christiana , where have you been? Sebastian has been ignoring me for three days now." Her voice high pithed with anger.I rolled my eyes. "He's with me here, but we've been busy.""I don't care to hear about you whoring yourself out to this man. All I care about is that you'll keep your end of the bargain."I felt anger rise in me and my breathing got heavier. I was about to reply, but the phone was taken away from me. I looked over at Seb and his jaw was tight and eyebrows furrowed."I'm sorry, Olivia , I don't think you realize who you're talking to. As long as your daughter is staying with me she will not be spoken to in that way whatsoever. If you'd like me to keep up my side of our deal I think you ought to get a grip and not have any casual communication with Christiana. Any more questions? No? Goodbye." He hung up and handed the phone back to me."Thank you," I said quietly.He gave me a small smile as he reached to take my hand in his. "Don't thank me, Christiana . No one should be talked to the way that woman does."I nodded and looked out the window the rest of the car ride with my hand remaining in his.We pulled up to the apartment building and through the tinted windows of the car I saw the paparazzi standing at the entrance. I groaned and the car came to a stop.Sebastian looked back at me with a small reassuring smile. "Ready?"I shook my head. "No, but I don't think I'll ever be."The door was opened and the flashes began. I was pulled through the photographers, but came to a halt when my arm was yanked back and my hand slipped from Sebastian’s ."Smile!" One of the photographers shouted as he took a photo of me, his hand still grasping my wrist."Get off-" I said, trying to pull his grip off."Come on, princess, one smile." He coped creepily.Before I knew what was happening, Sebastian had the guy by his collar as he pushed him away from me and swung a fist that collided with the photographers face sending him straight to the ground.My eyes went wide, but I didn't have time to react before I was being pulled inside the building. I was surrounded by Seb and four other bodyguards as we went in the elevator."I want all the information on that fucker!" Sebastian growled. I'd never seen him so angry. "I'll kill him," he said to one of his men.I shook my head and slipped my hand in his, trying to calm him down. "Please, it's fine, I'm okay." I assured. I was shaken up from the whole thing. It was suffocating being surrounded by those people and when that guy grabbed on to me I didn't know what to do.The elevator doors opened and we walked out, he was leading me, his hand not letting go of mine. "It's not okay, Christiana ." He said with seriousness. "Find out who he is, now." Sebastian snapped at Diego. They all left, leaving us alone.I sighed. "Really, I'm alright-""Will you quit saying that?" He said through clenched teeth.My eyes went wide and I took a step back from him.He let out a sigh and his facial features softened. "I'm sorry—""You should be," I said firmly, my arms crossed. "I know you have a lot going on right now, Sebastian , but you can't explode on me because you get pissed off." I didn't know why, but I was suddenly feeling very emotional. Whenever I got worked up, out of anger or sadness, I cried. It's like I needed to stay on an emotional scale between 3-7. Any high I was crying, any lower I was crying. "The last thing you need to do is worry about me. I can handle myself, I'm not here to be a burden for you to carry." I did feel slightly guilty since he'd now be in charge of not only protecting his image from the press, but mine as well. Marriage was his idea, but after seeing my dad my heart softened a little more for Seb. He showed me a side I didn't think could exist. A side that was normal and kind.Though I said I could protect myself, I knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. I couldn't protect myself against anyone pretty much. I couldn't even get my arm out of some sleezeball's grip trying to take a photo of me!"What?" He asked, sounding shocked. "Christy , what are you talking about?" He asked, coming over to stand directly in front of me.I looked away from his gaze. "I don't know, I- I don't even know." I whispered out, flustered and jet lagged at this point.His hands cupped my cheeks, lifting my face up to meet his eyes. "You are not a problem, those idiots outside are. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that, but when I saw him grab you..." his jaw tightened once again but then released. "I saw red and all I could think about was not letting you get hurt."I don't know why, but I couldn't help the stray tears streak down. I was embarrassed and turned my back to him to wipe my eyes. "I'm sorry," I sniffled.His hand touched my shoulder, gently turning me back around and he brought me into his chest for a hug. "Please don't cry,"I sniffled again. "I can't help it, I'm emotional and tired." I said against his chest.He chuckled and caressed the back of my hair. "Come on, you need to rest."I shook my head and wiped away any last tears. "I can't take naps because I won't be able to sleep tonight and then I'll be late for work in the morning." I said, stressed. Naps never worked out in my favor.He smirked. "Well I know your boss and he's pretty awesome so I don't think he'll mind."I rolled my eyes and took a step back. "I'm okay,"He nodded. "Good,"I lifted my phone to see my reflection and I looked terrible. My eyes were slightly red for crying while my mascara was almost non existent on my lashes. I put my phone down to see Seb just looking at me. "What?" I asked.He had a half smile on his lips. "Nothing, you're just beautiful."I blushed and looked the other way. "Shut up," I muttered.He laughed and shook his head. "Well that's one way of accepting a compliment."