Resisting The Billionaire

24. Nothing To Lose

Soon the elevator stopped at the seventh floor and just as the door of the lift opened up, Diana and Adrian’s eyes bulged out as huge number of staff members standing by the entrance and without a single warning they all rushed inside the elevator, not wanting to miss the ride.

“I just got off my shift and I don’t want to receive another call while I am still here. I need to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.”

Said one of the staff members, jumping in to the elevator, just like everyone else.

Diana felt being pushed back as she began moving towards the posterior end of the elevator and noticing that she was being hurdled to a corner, Adrian immediately stepped forward and turned his face towards Diana, shielding her from the rest of the crowd.

Diana’s back hit the wall of the elevator and she gasped, noticing two strong arms encircling her in a corner.

She shifted her gaze up and found Adrian’s face hovering only a few inches away from her.

His soft breath, somehow felt piercing for her skin, as it touched her, feeling at a temperature closer to somewhere hundred degree Celsius, that immediately turned Diana’s face bright red.

She felt locked up and caged against his tall and shrouding figure that completely hid her away from the crowd. She tried to breathe but that only made her rib cage expand and her soft breast touch against Adrian’s hardened chest, that pushed against her neck.

She immediately pulled herself back and brought her bag to the front, creating a shield between her body and Adrian’s.

At the same time, as the crowd tried to adjust in the elevator, a push startled Adrian making him fall further in to Diana, making the cavity between his chest and abdomen hit up against her breast, which hick his own breath in his pharynx.

His Adam’s apple grew harder, as he found it hard to swallow the lump of l**t that had devoured his mind. His height difference with Diana made his chest reach up to her chin and Diana also lifted her head up and the first thing she saw was Adrian’s neck and his hardened Adam’s apple, that felt to be stuck as it only oscillated on a fixated position, instead of moving either up or down.

She felt something churn up inside her own body and she only lifted her eyes slightly and they flittered right on to Adrian who was already looking down at her.

There was something about the way his eyes scanned her face. it was adventurous and explorative.

The way he looked down at her face, it felt to Diana that he was trying to unfold all those layers of her and trying to study her, which made Diana shook up on the inside.

She immediately looked away, still feeling her face burning with Adrian’s eyes digging hole in to her face. she gulped hard as she felt rattled on the inside, realizing that Adrian was trying to study her face.

And she didn’t enjoy it. she never liked when someone tried to unfold her wounds or see the hurt that was hidden deep within her heart and may reflect any moment in her eyes.

She never felt enticed by the idea of someone trying to study her and dig deep in to her soul. She felt shaken and threatened. She never found the idea of someone trying to explore her wounds, to be exciting.

Soon the elevator stopped at the thirteenth floor and everyone, who had gotten on it to get out stood still, looking at each other and Adrian immediately snapped his neck to look at the floor number and cleared his throat, turning towards the crowd.

“That would be my floor.”

He told them and a number of staff members groaned in frustration that they would have to get out of the elevator.

One person held the door of the elevator open by placing his hand in the way and the rest got out of the elevator and Adrian only simply stepped aside and allowed Diana to go first, who did just so and got out of the elevator with Adrian keeping his hands on each of her side and protecting her from anybody who would try and touch her on the side.

She felt a little cumbersome over the protective care that Adrian was trying to provide for her that she wasn’t used to of.

As the two got out of the elevator and the doors of the elevator finally closed behind them, Adrian still kept his hands encircled around Diana, who felt awkward at his continuous gesture.

She cleared her throat and startled Adrian out of his thoughts but he still remained static, holding his hands around Diana.

She turned towards him and pointed towards his hands and he immediately pulled them down.

“Oh! Umm… I just thought that it was better so that you could get out of the elevator easily.”

He told her and she simply nodded and turned to walk towards her Aunt’s designated room and Adrian walked right behind her.

Inside her room, Emily only cooed looking at the grand and luxurious VIP room that she was given. She refused to be taken inside and only minutes ago, she made a whole scene on the floor, where she placed her hands on the door of the room and hung on it, while still sitting on the bed and refusing to get inside.

Two other nurses came in and tried to push the bed inside the room but Emily only held on to the door.

“No! I will not go in there and pay for even a single penny.”

She shouted and screamed, attracting a number of audience members, who all rushed to see what the short woman was screaming about, with many believing her to the be the victim of the complex medical p*****t system and her own daughter Polly hid behind a wall, far and away from her mother, ashamed and embarrassed of her mother’s cheap and miser behavior, where she didn’t care about creating a scene over her own humility.

“You don’t have to pay for anything.” Said one of the nurses, realizing that Emily was being a nuisance not just to them but to the whole of the hospitals and other patients on that floor who paid for their own VIP and private rooms.

“No! this is just what you guys say and then when I would be about to check in, you would hold me down and make me pay. I will not go in there… no!” she vigorously shook her head, simply being adamant about not wanting to go inside the private room.

“Is there somebody who came with her, who might be sensible and make her get inside the room.” Said one of the nurses, exhausted and tired of dealing with Emily.

“Wait! There was this girl in a cheerleader outfit. I think she was his daughter.” Said the tall nurse, who had brought Emily up stairs.

“Okay! Where is she?”

Some of the nurses disappeared around to find the girl in the cheerleading outfit and afraid that they would spot her quickly due to her clothes and attire, Polly immediately rushed away and began running around the corridors to find the washrooms, so that she wouldn’t have to confront her mother or make her comprehend anything in front of the huge crowd, which would be very humiliating and embarrassing for Polly and her self dignified dignity.

As some nurses went to find Polly, an older nurse, who seemed to be the head of the staffing nurse, entered the floor and walked towards the designated spot of commotion.

“What is going on here?” she asked the tall nurse, who was the one to bring Emily upstairs.

“She is refusing to get inside her private room and I need to take this bed back to the emergency ward. I don’t have time to deal with her.”

She stated in her tired and thick African accent and the nurse only shook her head and checked Emily’s name and went back towards the nursing station to check for something and then came back within few seconds.

“Why are you refusing to go inside the private room? What is wrong with you?” the nurse daunted Emily, who felt belittled that a woman only a few years older was scolding her in such a malicious manner.

“Bceuase I know how these hospitals work! They forcefully give you a private room and then at the end they make you pay, that also forcefully. There is no way, I am paying and…”

“The room is already paid for. Do you think, we are that absurd or the hospital is that stupid that they would care to give you, out of all the people a private VIP room?” the nurse c****d at Emily, making her eyes go wide.

Polly, who had encircled all the way from the wall and back towards her Mom’s room also paused and took a breather before she could’ve sprinted again, as she heard the nurse’s words that her mother’s room was paid for.

She immediately walked up towards her mother and joined her.

“What is going on?” she asked and the head nurse looked Polly head to toe.

“Now do we have an injured cheerleader in here or has the hospital turned in to a circus?” the nurse commented, making Polly gasp at the rude comment.

“I am her daughter…” she stated, pushing past the nurse and perched down on the bed, hugging her mother, who also embraced her practically spoiled daughter.

“Now… what were you saying about the room being paid for?” Polly c****d and the head nurse simply shrugged.

“Your room was paid for by one of the hospital’s caregivers. His name fall under the Sarmiento Corporation.”

Polly gasped, with her eyes slightly bulging but all of the reaction that came out of her was because she felt excited and understood immediately who had paid for her mother’s hospital room.

She turned towards her mother and smiled in excitement.

“Mom! Adrian paid for your room.” She told her and Emily also let go off the door of the room, as she went in to a state of complete shook.

The nurse took advantage of Emily’s moment of vulnerability and immediately sprinted the bed inside the spacious room, that had two large leather couches at one end and another single recliner placed next to a soft hospital bed.

Seeing that bed, Emily immediately jumped over on it and the nurse simply shook her head and took the bed back and out of the room.

Polly also gawked looking at the large room, that was even more luxurious than her own bedroom.

She immediately removed the curtains off the large walls and gasped looking at the beautiful city scape in front of her.

She then turned back and around and gasped, as her eyes landed on the brown leather couches placed in an L shape.

Emily looked at her daughter in surprise wondering what made her scream in such an abrupt manner and then immediately followed her gaze, only to be surprised by the large bouquet placed on the glass coffee table placed in front of the couch.

“What is this?”

Polly asked, running towards the flowers, that were kept erect and were so abundant that they didn’t even require a vase to hold them down and in fact, stood straight on their own.

Polly noticed that there were variety of flowers present in the bouquet and most of them were exquisite and looked wild and expensive.

She picked out the small card placed in the transparent holder and read it out and loud.

“I am sorry for the inconvenience and the injuries you suffered from due to my lack of competence. Please accept this little gratitude from my side and give me the honor of taking care of you through this little gesture. Adrian Sarmiento.”

Polly turned towards her mother and walked up to her, handing out the card to her.

“Oh! He didn’t have to do all of this.”

Emily stated, in obvious awestruck but tried to make it sound like a no big deal.

“Why not? He is the reason why you are here in the hospital. So, it is a good thing that feels responsible and is owning up to his mistakes.” She stated.

“Yes! That is a good thing but I don’t think your cousin would be able to return his gratitude. She seemed to be quite poised and hellbent at chasing him away.”

Emily cooed, remembering that the perks that they had just started to benefit from would be soon gone, since Diana was persistent at not taking Adrian back in to her life.

Polly bit the insides of her cheeks, feeling anxious that she needed to act fast and make Diana see through the fact that having Adrian around would only benefit them and not hurt them or cost them anything at all and if she was late in making Diana understand that simple and basic thing that they would lose Adrian and he might not want Diana back.

The door to the room slid open and Diana walked inside, with quite the bland and pale expressions and right behind her walked in Adrian and seeing the man himself, filled both the mother and daughter’s heart with joy and hope that Diana had not been to stupid and had not entirely chased him away.

Diana stepped aside and Adrian walked up towards Emily, bowing down to her in respect and regret.

“I am sorry for what happened earlier. I didn’t mean to hurt you or injure you. kindly forgive my incompetence as an honest mistake.”

He apologized in a monotone, sounding grave and quite regretful of his mistakes and Emily only shrugged her hands at him.

“Owh! You don’t have to apologize for anything at all.” She stated, making Diana roll her eyes in sheer disappointment over how quickly her aunt changed her stance, “It wasn’t your mistake anyways. Diana is the one who should be apologizing to you, since she pushed you down the stairs and if I wasn’t there you might have gotten hurt.”

Diana gasped slightly, shaking her head over how quickly her Aunt changed her stance and wenty from blaming Adrian for her injuries when she was in the emergency ward under her insurance to being in a private room.

She knew that there could only be one plausible explanation that could’ve made her Aunt change her mind.

She turned towards her cousin and mouthed lowly.

‘She knows’ she first pointed at her aunt and then towards Adrian – ‘he paid!’ and at the end she kept her hand low and only rubbed her forefinger and thumb together, to make a monetary sign and Polly simply nodded back.

“No! Diana should not be the one to apologize.” Adrian added in Diana’s defense, making her look up at him in confusion.

“I had startled her with my bold moves. If anything, I should be the one to apologize to her.” he added, making Diana blush hard.

She looked towards her cousin and found her smirking back at her.

Diana shrugged at Polly, who dragged her cousin with her and took her out of the room.

“Excuse us.”

She told everyone, leaving Emily and Adrian behind.

Adrian felt stuck with Emily, since she wasn’t his prime target and wished that he could have spent more time with Diana, whom he knew that he could find his way to make her come around.

On the other hand, Polly took Diana out, who was flabbergasted with her cousin’s sudden moves.

“What happened? Why did you bring me out like this?”

Diana asked and Polly remained calm as she tried to transmit her true feelings to her cousin.

“What are you going to do about Adrian?” she asked to begin with and Diana remained indifferent.

“What is there to do about him? he told me that he only paid for the hospital because he felt guilty and he clarified that I didn’t owe him anything at all and I actually don’t. because he is right that it is his fault that Aunt is hurt. So, he’ll just get going and…”

“Are you really going to let him go?” Polly asked, cutting Diana off and acting extremely flabbergasted by her cousin’s choice.

Diana simply nodded back at Polly.

“What else am I supposed to do? By any chance, you didn’t think that I would accept his advances only because he was spending on us?”

Diana asked from her cousin, whose silence was enough for an answer.

“Gosh!” Diana huffed at her cousin’s sheer atrocious thoughts. “How could you even think like that? I am not going to date him or say yes to his advances only because…”

“No guys does that, okay?” Polly cut Diana off, not willing to listen to what she had to say in her defense.

“What do you mean no guy does that? he has surplus money and for him paying for a private room for one night is equivalent of you buying a Starbucks coffee.”

“And I wouldn’t buy it for anyone that I don’t care about. All I am saying is that, the guy cares about you. or else why would he be here? what possibly could he benefit from you, Diana? Come on! I don’t see anything else but the fact that he truly cares about you and besides, what harm would he cause to you or to us?”

“You don’t know these rich people, they are dangerous to even hang around, unless and until you don’t match their level and status. I had seen my father and his wife, dwelling in complexes and being made feel inferior…”

“That was because they worked for him and I can tell that Adrian doesn’t see you that way and even if he does. Aren’t you really curious Diana, why he is being like this? Why is he going through all this trouble? Booking out entire coffee shops just to sit down and talk to you in private and coming all the way here, paying for Mom’s room and not just that, he even apologized. Aren’t you even slightly curious?”

“Why would I be? He said that he would leave, which means that he is tired and…”

“Don’t let him leave. Don’t be stupid. Don’t you think how good Mom will turn towards you, if you keep him. Come on! And while Mom’s behavior will turn good towards you, why don’t you in the mean time find out what he truly wants and even if he truly likes you and is interested in you, if you don’t feel the same way for him, you can just him to leave you and he would. Like come on! The guy might just be enticed by you right now and you should always give him a chance and if you told him that you don’t want him, I don’t think he is going to become a psycho or something. Like come on! You know him from the past, don’t you know the kind of the person that he is.”

Polly begged her cousin, to be a bit more pragmatic and use Adrian to her own advantage and make Emily turn soft towards her, so that her previous behavior would return back.

“Come on! Didi, I am really tired of always seeing Mom act rude towards you and this is your only chance maybe to make her turn nice towards you and who knows that maybe he is a nice guy actually and really interested in you. the way, I see it there is less danger and more benefits in this situation. Don’t you want those benefits?”

Diana couldn’t help but be silent and ponder on everything that Polly had presented in argument.

“Yeah well I don’t remember Adrian being compulsive and obsessive like this over anything but his dream and he is already achieving that… so…”

“Exactly! If you have any doubts, why not be with him and try and find out what he is up to and once you do find out then kick his a*s or if he is genuine towards you as he claims to be then try and give him a chance.”

Diana remained tacit, remembering the last time she trusted Adrian, she was completely broken.

The mere thought of the horrible incident, made her quiver and at the same time, the door to the room slid open, making both Diana and Polly turn around and find Adrian walking out of the room.

Polly immediately leaned forward and grabbed Diana’s hand, squeezing it slightly.

“I know you will make the right decision.”

With that she left Diana alone and walked back inside the room, where Emily was waiting for her daughter impatiently.

“What did you say to Diana? What did she say back? Is she going to keep seeing Adrian or chase him off?” she asked, getting edgy and Polly simply shook her head at her mother, silent, as even she didn’t know what would be her cousin’s decision and only wished that Diana would make a sensible and curable decision that would lessen the tension between Emily and her, since Polly just wanted Diana and her mother to get on good terms with each other.

As Poly fidgeted with anxiety, right outside the room Diana stood right in front of Adrian, where the two faced excruciatingly cumbersome silence.

Adrian was waiting for Diana to make the first move but seeing how she decided to remain completely lost and silent, he decided to break the ice and spoke first.

“So, I guess… this is it then.” He stated with quite the hesitation and Diana pressed her lips tightly together and nodded slightly.

“I guess…” she stated in a low mumble.

Adrian sighed in defeat, understanding that he had lost ground and Diana would not give in to his mind games like he had assumed she would.

He turned around to leave, with his heart heavy but then Diana called him back, taking him by surprise.

“Wait!”

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Do you think Adrain has won the first battle or would Diana reject him for once and for all?

Thank you for always reading and supporting my work <3