Forbidden Romance

Chapter 9

"Really, do you think your fragile arms can make people believe that you are a gym freak?" Noah's eyes were not even moving from her body. Her sharp collar bones that were moving with her every breath and slender fingers were too weak to pick any weight more than 10 kg. She was not physically strong as she was mentally. She was sharp, intelligent and suspicious but her body was sculpted to be a model. Yet she challenged him without being aware of gym equipment.

"Oh! Do you think I cannot do that? It’s not rocket science." Gloria gestured at the dumbbell with a thin steel road and two black plates at corners. She stared at it as if it was a piece of cake and that triggered Noah.

"Oh! Not rocket science. Show me then! Let me see if you are really interested in going to the gym." He wrapped his hands. Gloria nodded, she had no idea and she laid on the bench. Noah was smirking as if he already knew what was going to happen after that. Instead of warning her, he provoked her even more and stood there as if he needed a popcorn tub to enjoy the show.

Gloria went and gripped her fingers around that cold, thin steel pipe of that dumbbell. She pressed her lips and took a deep breath. She knew it was difficult as she had never used a dumbbell before. She didn't even know how to hold it.

"I hope Sandy comes with that guy. I am stuck with this f*****g nonsense." She muttered and pushed the dumbbell up. Her eyes turned bigger as if it would pop out at any moment. The dumbbell was hell out of heavy, it didn't look this heavy at all.

As soon as Gloria lifted the heavy dumbbell off its stand, she began screaming in pain. Her arm started twisting backward. Her wrist started aching like hundreds of bones breaking at once and her scream turned louder.

"Ah... Someone help me. Please!" She couldn't place the dumbbell back on the stand or even hold it. Noah, initially amused by her struggle, was having fun teasing her. but then he quickly grabbed the dumbbell when he saw Gloria's wrists turning the wrong way. He stood behind her,

"Stop! Don't move your hand." He shouted at her. Gloria stared at him while she was lying on the bench. Noah kept grabbing the dumbbell for her, and the weight on her wrist lessened. She saw how panicked Noah was holding it, his brows knitted in the middle. His tensed face was just above her. The gym trainer and other men gathered for help.

"Release the pipe and take your hand back, slowly." He instructed her. Gloria slowly moved her hand down and Noah placed that dumbell back on its stand.

Gloria was drenched in sweat. As the weight on her hands lessened, she caught her breath.

Gloria started leaving. But Noah grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"You didn't come here for gymming? Why did you come here?" He asked her. She was flabbergasted, she couldn't answer it.

"You are following me, right? Are you coming for me?" He said. Gloria shook her head, but Noah's grip was getting tighter around her wrist.

"I was not following you. You seemed so self-obsessed." Gloria told him, and that irritated Noah even more. "There are plenty of handsome men here. Why would I look for you."

Noah burst into laughter as soon as he heard it. His irritating face changed into a funnier one as if he heard some joke. Even people around him started staring at him with shock.

"Do you think I would buy your words? Out of hundreds of gyms in the city, you find handsome men from the same I was a member of." He laughed again. Gloria rolled her eyes, it was just a coincidence and she came for something else. She considered it unfortunate to bump into him again.

Before she could say anything, Sandy approached her.

"Gloria, he did not come today. His gym trainer said he has been out of town for two days." Sandy told this and Noah's eyes again turned darker.

The grip around her wrist loosened and Sandy pulled Gloria out of the gym. She just watched Noah's upset face, as if he was upset after knowing that Gloria didn't follow him but came there for someone else. His face turned blank.

"Then.. We have to wait until he gets back?" Gloria asked her with an upset face. It was really difficult for her to wait, she just wanted to give justice to her younger sister by confronting that person. Justice delayed is justice denied. and the second thing was Noah. The way Noah acted towards her was not just hatred, it was something else. It was more like an obsession.

Just a while ago, if he hated her, he could have let her arm fracture. But Noah didn't wait and ran to help her before anyone else did. Every time he touched her, Gloria's hormones were surging high. Even though she was trying to act strong she was a young female of course and he was way too handsome to the boys she met before.

"Hey, look at this." Sandy showed her the contact details. Gloria was surprisingly looking at her.

"Where did you get that boy's contact number?" Gloria asked her. If Sandy had his contact number, she would have given it to her before.

"I stole it from the gym information catalog," Sandy winked at her. Sandy looked like a decent girl but she was sharp. She perched that number in her purse. She went to Sandy's room to discuss some more important things about Rachel.

Noah arrived back home. He took a warm bath and wore his pajamas and white v-neck t-shirt. He just saw her in gym clothes and now he wants to masturbate crazily. He was breathing heavily.

Opening his wardrobe, he searched for her pink-laced bra and her underwear. He never turned on this much even after watching a threesome porn but her lingerie was enough to make him crazy. Now it's become a ritual for him to use her innerwear for his arousal.

He looked in between his clothes but it was missing. He went even more crazy and checked. He tapered his eyes when he didn't find it.

"What if she took it back? I have kept it here." He said and went to her room. Luckily she was not in her room. He opened her wardrobe and started finding her bra and panties. "Where the f**k she kept her innerwears." He took her stuff and smashed it on the floor. Her clothes, her kinds of stuff.

He found her sanitary pads and threw them too. He opened the bottom drawer and found her lingerie in it. He picked one pair, a black bra and paired underwear in it. He hid in his pocket and was about to leave.

Suddenly the door opened, and Gloria came inside. She was surprised when she found her room was messed up, her clothes and everything from the wardrobe shattered. Noah was standing in front of the wardrobe.

"What is this? What were you doing in my room?" Gloria asked him, she was scared that he found her diary where she kept all her important contacts and stuff related to Rachel. "Noah, what is this?" She inquired, panickly. Noah was caught off guard, he tapered his eyes.

"When does this become your room? This is my house. I can go wherever I want." He said, in an arrogant tone. Gloria pressed her lips and stared at the mess he made.

"Of course, this is your house, but why did you ruin everything?" She asked him.

"Because my precious thing was missing and I know you stole it." Noah accused her. Her brows furrowed upon listening to that accusation.

"I stole it. But what?" She shook her head. "And how could you say I stole it."

"You are acting suspicious that's why. Midnight roaming around. I knew you stole my thing." He accused her again. Gloria rubbed her forehead.

"So have you found it?" She asked him, Noah gritted his teeth.

"No, but I will," Noah said and left the room. As soon as Noah went, Gloria opened her locker and found her diary, Rachel's slambook and some photos untouched. She breathed a sigh of relief. That's what she was so scared about. Gloria patted her forehead.

While coming back from the evening walk, she found mail that was kept at the door. She held one and moved to her stepfather, Oliver’s study room. She stood there out of her room and found her stepdad was engrossed in his thoughts. Gloria knocked on the door and his eyes shifted to the door.

“Come in,” he said, surprised to see Gloria there. Gloria showed him the mail envelope and slowly placed it on the table. It was her first time to be in his study room, she was everywhere in the mansion but never here.

“You can sit here.” He moved down and grabbed the drawer knob. He slowly pulled the drawer out and grabbed a blue file from it. Gloria watched him doing it.

Even though he was aged enough to have a twenty-year-old son, he maintained himself too well. His arms were filled with all green nerves. He was not an ordinary middle aged man in his forties, but a gray haired young man.

“How was your internship going on? I talked to the principal and he was praising you.” He gestured, Gloria was glad to hear it.

“It's going well.” She nodded.

“I was about to open a school in california, can you check its administration?” He passed that file to her. She held it and started checking it. She was reading and checking the raw copy of the infrastructure.

Suddenly she felt so uncomfortable. She turned her head up and found her stepfather Oliver staring at her. She felt a little awkward. Noah watched her too but his eyes were never uncomfortable for her, even that forceful kiss, it was all not uncomfortable. When last night he told her that he wanted to kiss her, it never made her feel weird but right now her step father’s eyes were not

“It’s alright, Dad.” She said, emphasizing the word dad. Suddenly Oliver placed his hands on her shoulder. He was just behind her. Her eyes went again on that blue topaz ring he was wearing. He always wears them. She got an unusual feeling, not a wanted one.

“Dad sounds a little weird, right? What about Mr. Oliver?” he said and Gloria’s eyes widened in surprise. The atmosphere turned weird, and Gloria thought she was just overthinking.