Chapter 2. Neighbor

Leila was humming her favorite song as she placed the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack.

“Finally…” She smilingly clasped her both hands together while her eyes glittered while looking at it.

It was a fine sultry day and she decided to give some of her neighbors her own version of chocolate chip cookies. Her mother, Sheila, and her stepbrother, Darcel, truly loved it and she was hoping her neighbors would love it, too.

She was looking forward to selling some cookies and other pastries for her to have some extra income. She was dreaming of having her own bakeshop soon. Leila giggled at her thoughts. She rummaged through the hanging cabinet in the kitchen for possible containers, and she sweetly smiled when she found ten of it.

“Nice! I can’t believe Carina bought some of the things that I need.” She whispered to herself.

The market was an hour-drive from her house. She still needed to ride a taxi from the arc of the Sacred Place Village, and that was more or less a thirty minutes’ walk. Honestly, it was working just fine for her. She loved the greenery, and walking wasn’t a massive turnover of her decision. She immediately placed the cookies inside each of the containers, munching one in her mouth – it was chewy and delicious, like what she wanted them to be.

“Wow! I can smell something from your door. What’s that?” Cristine cheerfully asked as she went to her side.

She swiftly motioned the cooling rack to her – where the excess cookies were. Her eyes glittered and she couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Wow! This is so great!” Cristine commented.

“Really?” She loudly inquired.

Cristine just nodded her head while her mouth was full of cookies. Leila chuckled. She felt more confident now.

“You can have the two containers, okay?” She smilingly reminded her before riding her old bicycle – given to her by her grandfather. Good thing, it was still fine. She could use it to sell her pastries soon.

Leila stared at the huge mansion just beside her house. She surely wanted to give some to her nearest neighbor, and it was her chance to build rapport and friendship. She walked towards the gate and pressed the doorbell, but no one opened it. She tried pressing it again and waited for a couple of minutes, but to no avail.

“Was there anyone inside?” She lowly whispered to herself. But she was surprised by a man with a cold stoic expression pasted in his gorgeous face suddenly open the gate with a bang. She was about to wear her famous sweet smile, but it was hanging into thin air when she fully saw his face. Leila blinked her eyes as she tried to prove to herself that she wasn’t dreaming.

He was surely someone with a menacing aura yet complemented with a handsome face. One thing that was more appealing in her eyes. His perfect jaw had some stubbles on it, but it only added to his manly aura. His soulful deep ocean blue orbs were like taking her to a whole new dimension. His perfectly carved lips were lusciously pink – that she couldn’t help but bite her lower lip while staring absentmindedly at him.

Her heart was beating so hard that it ached a bit. This was the first time she had ever felt this way. Was she having a heart attack? – She mentally thought as she held her chest.

His simple black shirt hugged his perfectly toned body. And what had made him more strikingly gorgeous was his dark brown hair. He was literally a godlike man living in the human world. She bit her lower lip more to prevent herself from smiling.

“What do you want?” He harshly said those words, but his voice seemed to be music in her ears. The man pursed his lips – pure irritation was visibly written on his face.

“If you’re just going to stare at me like that, just leave.” He rudely stated and was about to walk away when she automatically held his arm to stop him. The man looked at her with a death glare.

She felt a shiver down her spine, but the volts of electricity creeping into her nerves caught her attention more. She bit her lower lip and immediately removed her hand from him – like she’s been burned or something. She gave him a forced smile.

Leila shook her head – as if dragging herself from her drifting reverie. “Uh, c-cookies?” She stupidly uttered.

The man’s forehead creased – but it didn’t even lessen his appeal. “I don’t eat something from a stranger.” He coldly replied.

Leila couldn’t help but smile at him. “I’m your new neighbor. I’m Leila. Now, we’re not strangers anymore.” She swiftly introduced herself and pointed at her bungalow house before raising her hand for a handshake.

The man just stared at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Then, his expression darkened.

All of a sudden, Leila felt the hair at her nape stand up. Her smile turned sour as she put her hand down with her lips slightly pouted. But her optimistic side was getting out of her control. She instantly got one of the plastic containers where her cookies were.

“I just want to give you these cookies that I personally baked. I hope you’ll like it.” She smilingly stated. She was loud and outgoing – not to mention nosy and optimistic. She knew that, and she was hoping she could reach for his coldness and melt it down.

Her smile grew wider when the man let out a deep sigh before receiving her cookies. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at him, opening the gate without even saying ‘thank you’ or ‘goodbye.’ At least he got her cookies. He would surely love it the moment he tasted it. – A part of her mind soothed her. Her heartbeat faster and harder this time. She was just downhearted that she didn’t even get to know his name. Well, she had a lot of time to talk to him. He was her nearest neighbor, anyway. She giggled just by thinking about it.

But before Leila could even took a step, she had heard the man talking to someone. And because she was such a nosy creature, she even moved closer to the closed gate – putting her ear on the metal to listen to their conversation more.

“Who was that?” A hoarse voice asked. It was surely from someone older than her neighbor.

“I don’t know. Some random people.” Her neighbor replied.

Leila felt offended that he didn’t even remember her name, but his next words made her blood boil.

“Just throw these cookies away. I don’t like any of them.” He ruthlessly commanded.

She gasped in horror and her eyes widened. Her cookies!

“What kind of cookies? Maybe, I can taste it. Just give it to me.” The man with the hoarse voice answered. And their voices drifted out until she couldn’t hear them anymore.

Leila’s heart was undeniably beating so hard and fast, but it wasn’t because of her fascination towards the man anymore. It was because of pure annoyance and frustration. She wanted to talk to that rude man, but she wouldn’t surely stoop that low just to prove her point. That made her day turn sour, but she tried to compose herself as she gave her other cookies to her other neighbors to build a good impression on them – and possibly market her pastries.

There was so much positive feedback, then, that they were asking for her contact number if they wanted to order something from her. It turned out just great, yet the nearest one was just so rude, distant, and cold, which was certainly bugging her mind until she had already fallen asleep.

Little did she know, someone in the darkness of the woods was already spying on her every move.

The silhouette of the man lit his cigarette in the middle of darkness. He was watching her even before she arrived at the place.

“I’ve already waited long enough, my dear Leila.” He maliciously uttered those words and wore an ominous smirk that could have sent shivers down anyone’s spine. With that, the man instantly walked away and vanished into the depths of darkness.

“What are you staring at?” Hunter was on his mansion’s balcony, staring at that particular side of the forest, when his butler named Henry appeared at his side. He didn’t bother to look at him or even to answer his question. He was more curious – more so, bothered – about the man he had seen in the forest, staring at the bungalow house just beside his mansion.

Then, the smiling face of that loud and nosy lady appeared in his mind – making him frown. Butler Henry, on the other hand, looked at him with amusement, for he rarely expressed his true emotions – not even in front of him.

He instantly wore his blank and stoic face as he turned away and marched towards his room. Whoever it was, he didn’t care. What bothered him more was the woman that really irritates the hell out of him.