TOUCH

Chapter 24

ZANDER'S JOURNAL

Dad is back in town and I have barely spoken to him.

No.

I have not spoken to him at all. What do you speak to the man who thinks he can enter his wife's room bathed in a scent of another woman and expect everyone to be okay with it.

On top of that he tries to be rude and show his arrogance to me. What for ? To show me that he is still man of the house . My old man. And everything should go his way.

I could easily leave college and work as a model full time. I have no shame in cashing on the surname Bridgewood. Sure it wouldn't be exactly getting rid of his influence but I can't do that even when I want to.

More than him I'm agitated at my mom. Doesn't she have a shred of dignity or self respect. She knows everything. Every . Fucking. Thing. And she is okay. She gets all teary faced , smiles and tries for her family to be together as much planning events. I hate her for being so damn weak. Physical strength is another thing but at least she could be mentally and emotionally strong to call out the man on his pretentious ass.

To top it all, as if the drama at my home isn't enough, Barbie decided to go batshit crazy on Aura. I mean she could have picked up Lee or Bria but no she had to put herself in the eye of the storm. And not verbally. She physically slapped and punched her. I mean the woman trains with Donna who launches at people like she just came out of a theater after watching Rocky. Called her names and claimed me but not before mentioning the tattoos. The bitch told Aura about my tattoos.

I hoped to retaliate much earlier than I did but actually my vocal cords somehow failed to voice my retort. I was too shocked by the situation. And I wasn't alone. Aura's friends in her vicinity, the entire class and students in the corridors - all of them shocked to their core.

Not that Aura needed anyone's backup. She told off Barbie just fine. And the way she spoke would keep on sending shivers to my spine for days to come. Her icy cold glare was enough to demand the pin drop silence from the room.

But that was not the highlight of the entire Barbie going bananas. Aura challenged Barbie to make her stay away from me. Me.

That's right. I, Zander Bridgewood. She, Aurelia Singh. She damn well claimed me back like she is my woman.

I am a man. And I'll be honest. When incident like that happens our hearts don't race like the movies claim. Like the novels make you believe. What actually happens is the ball in the form of ego that we carry so dear to our heart is pumped and pumped until it grows bigger and bigger and some more bigger.

Two women fighting over you is the dream of every man when you are in high-school or university may be even when you're a working professional. It's a fetish. It gives a kink. And the fight that happened in front of the entire class should have made me swell.

But when a woman like Aura does that you don't feel the ego. You feel damn honored. You feel you have entire world spinning in your palms. You feel like the happiest man alive.

And that's not exaggeration. It's the truth. Everybody knows it. The woman doesn't let any man near her. She talks to people just fine but she is just not the type to do what she did in the class today. And yet she still did it. Maybe unintentionally, unknowingly, even by chance . But who cares.

All I know is that , right now, I am the happiest man alive.

But the happiness was short lived. Aura x-rayed my whole body searching for tattoos after Barbie's accusations and she found them.

I'm aware being the son of a famous director and scriptwriter, I am somewhat the popular guy of the university. I am all too well aware that it's one of the reasons I  am able to get many girls. And yes I have been with many woman, that includes a long term relationship with one of the most famous models.

But when I say that no touch of a woman made me hungry , devasted and hard like Aura's, I am not lying. May be it's the charm of her not being comfortable with a man's touch , that when she touched my bare body I felt the nerves underneath explode.

I had to stop her from trailing her gentle fingers because either I was going to lose my mind or lose my control or both. The closed space of the car didn't help either. Silas could be a jerk but when he honked at us making Aura retrieve her fingers, I thanked the guy mentally for putting me out of my misery.

The day just got better when she casually and very willingly mentioned it to my dad that I aced the last semester. Contrary to whatever facade she tries to wear , she does care about me.

But like I said.

Short lived happiness.

Mom told me that we were going to the farmhouse. As a fucking family picnic. Me and dad together.

No way in hell I would have agreed to it but the woman came prepared dropping Aura's name casually and reminding me like the writers say in fancy Romance novels,This girl is going to be the  bane of my existence.

Aura was equally shocked to see me because true to her plan my mother wouldn't have told her that she is dragged in this happy family charade and not the girls get-together like she thought. But she didn't disappoint me when she preferred my car over the other.

Even though I was grumpy the entire ride, I was grateful. Grateful that she was with me in this trip. Grateful that even though it was a Saturday, I get to be with her.

The horse riding proved to be a clichéd movie scene when she slipped getting off of Marshall and boy!

Carrying her by her waist, I wanted the damn time to stop then and there. That's it just let me fucking relish it. But the moment passed to soon and I didn't make a big deal out of it.

She already is as guarded as they come. I'm not willing to lose that trust she has on me to allow me the brief joy of her touch, over a sly remark.

Another part of her charm is that she never fails to surprise me. Never in a million year I would have bet over the fact that she would leave mum and Jean and come up to me to ask how I was doing. It's just not her. Or may be it is and her closed self doesn't let that girl out more often . The girl who cares.

Whatever it is I'm glad she comes out from her shell around me. When she asked I didn't held back. It felt right. To tell her. To share it with her.

From the very first day she knew about mum and it has been days and there has been no talks about it. No pity faces. No news. I'm sure she never even shared it with her friends.  And so when she asked I bare everything open.

And she listened. No judgements. No advice. Nada.

She just listened and when I was done she took my hand and I followed her to sit next to my family . Next to her.

My mum's smile made me realize that Aura did what she did because of her. And in the process she did something for me as well. Something that I still can't point my fingers at.