It's Love That Blinds Him
It’s Love That Blinds Him – Chapter 8

Malcolm suggested Lucia join him for a shower, but she declined. She knew that if she showered with him, they’d make love again and she’d probably pass out from pleasure in the bathroom. After all, they’d just made love all over the apartment. They’d done it on the couch, on the windowsill…. “Are we beasts?” she wondered.

Malcolm lowered his head to look into her eyes and kissed her on the forehead. Then he went into the bathroom alone to remove the warm smell of s*x from her body. He didn’t try to force her to join him.

Lucia didn’t take her eyes off him until he had closed the bathroom door. She then quickly got dressed and ran out of the apartment.

“What’s wrong with me? How could I have had s*x with him the two times we met? Plus, the s*x gets rougher every time. I must be crazy! Do I really want a man that badly? I really need to calm down before I do something I might regret later. I need to forget about all this and leave this place as soon as possible,” Lucia thought.

She quickly ran down the stairs and out of the building. Once outside, she hailed a cab that took her straight back to her small apartment. All this time, Lucia didn’t notice the light flickering behind her.

When he finished showering, Malcolm wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom. His hair was still wet. He was surprised to discover that Lucia had taken advantage of his being in the bathroom to gather her things and leave. He simply raised his eyebrows, feeling a little disappointed. This was the second time she’d escaped from his territory. It was also the second time a woman had left his bed while he was in the shower, because she didn’t want to spend the night with him.

Once back in his apartment, Lucia paused for a moment to catch her breath. Only then did she head for the bathroom to take a shower. Once this was done, she buried her face in her pillow, trying to sleep.

Deep down, she hoped she’d never see Malcolm again. He was far too irresistible to her, and things always got out of hand quickly when she was with him. She felt she wasn’t quite herself every time she was with him. All he had to do was smile and she’d feel her body burning with desire for him. Then they’d do crazy things all night long.

She only knew that name he gave her, and she wasn’t even sure it was his real name. It was all a bit too much for Lucia, who had lived a very simple life until now.

Very early in the morning, Lucia was already awake. Their wild night of s*x hadn’t helped her sleep well. On the contrary, she had a whole night of insomnia. She couldn’t stop thinking about their lovemaking all night long.

Finally giving up on sleep, she quickly got ready and ate breakfast before heading to the metro. She wanted to get there before rush hour. It was still quite early in the morning, so the subway wasn’t crowded yet. She was able to find a seat without too much difficulty. Once seated on the metro, Lucia closed her eyes to try and get some rest before arriving at the company.

However, the sudden sound of a bell interrupted her rest. It took her a while to realize that it was her own cell phone. “Who’s calling me this early in the morning?” she wondered. Frowning, she pulled the phone out of her pocket. When she saw the caller ID, an excited smile appeared on her lips.

“Are you awake, sweetie?” A woman’s soft voice came through the phone.

“Of course I’m awake! I’m on the subway right now. Why are you calling me so early?” Lucia asked in a cheerful voice.

The woman on the other end of the line was Sophia Young, Lucia’s best friend. They’d been best friends since high school. Sophia’s family had sent her to continue her studies abroad after she graduated from high school. However, this had no negative impact on their friendship, because even though they were in different countries, their friendship was just as strong. In fact, their friendship has only grown stronger over the years.

Although Sophia and Lucia were the same age, the two had quite different styles. Lucia seemed quite mature and charming, while Sophia looked young and vivacious, like a teenager. Sophia’s youthful appearance made people always want to protect her.

Despite their completely opposite natures, the two got on very well.

“Why do you go to work so early in the morning? Your boss must be a very cruel person to make you go to work so early!” The surprise in Sophia’s voice was obvious.

“The fact is, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to go to work early to avoid rush hour.”

“All right! Hey, guess where I am right now!” Sophia asked with an excited laugh.

“Knowing you, you could be anywhere! You’re always going around the world looking like a hippie!” Lucia was visibly helpless before her friend’s adventurous nature.

“Oh my dear Lucia, I’m in China. In fact, I’m in S City right now. How about dinner tonight?” Sophia’s voice was full of joy and excitement. It was as if she’d finally found happiness after long years of searching.

“Talk about a surprise! Okay, I’ll meet you at our usual place. It’s been almost two years since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?” Lucia shrieked with joy. Luckily for her, there weren’t many people in the subway, or she’d have been asked to get off for disturbing the peace.

“I’ll do it! I’ve got to finish fitting out now. See you tonight! I’ll be waiting outside your office when you finish work. Come on, be well.” Sophia hung up with a smile.

As for Lucia, an unexpected happiness had just entered her life, and just when she was beginning to feel that everything around her was becoming chaotic.

Sophia was a young woman who knew how to surprise. With a doll-like face and body, she had decided to specialize in archaeology, much to everyone’s surprise. She was only interested in mysterious things that science alone couldn’t explain. She had always believed in forces far superior to any scientific explanation. Above all, she loved her job. This adventurous nature led her to travel to different countries with some of the world’s best archaeologists. She was even daring enough to stay on her own in deserted places for months at a time.

Since she’d been gone for two years now, Lucia figured she must have found something pretty interesting to investigate. Sophia e-mailed her from time to time. She lived in City X for a while before moving to Nepal for a few months. Then she went to Tibet. She also made occasional trips to the UK. Even when Sophia had last been to China, they hadn’t had a chance to see each other.

Because of this, Lucia knew that the only explanation for them finally being able to see each other was that the archaeological investigation Sophia was working on had to be completed. Now they could sit down and have a good chat.

Meanwhile, the metro had arrived at the station and Lucia, who hadn’t been able to rest that much, got off. She made her way to her place of work, which was not far away. As she had planned, she was the first to arrive at the office. She headed for her desk and, after cleaning it and pouring herself a cup of coffee, turned on the computer to check all the work that had to be done that day.

Since she was anxious to join her best friend for dinner, she had to pull out all the stops and finish her work early. After a day’s work without rest, Lucia was able to finish her day’s tasks well before the usual finishing time. She quickly sorted her belongings and prepared to leave the building. She actually wanted to be at the bottom of the building long before Sophia came to pick her up.

But before she reached the door, Chester stopped her. “Lucia, do you have an appointment with the mystery man we met yesterday? This is the first time I’ve seen you leave work so early. Wow! You look like you’re having fun!”

“Screw you! I’m planning to become a lesbian. Do you want to?” Lucia giggled.

However, despite her air of self-confidence, a wave of sadness washed over her the moment he mentioned Malcolm. They hadn’t had any contact since she left his apartment the night before. They couldn’t even contact each other because they didn’t have each other’s phone numbers. They’d only met twice and made love both times. This couldn’t go on. Shaking her head, Lucia resolved to stop thinking about him or what they’d done together.

As soon as the elevator reached her floor, she said good-bye to her colleagues before heading straight for the first floor. She saw Sophia’s SUV waiting for her at the entrance as soon as she walked through the front door of the building. Sophia stuck her head out the window and greeted her friend with a smile.

Lucia smiled back and ran to the car. She was amused to see a small woman like Sophia, who was only 160 cm tall, driving such a manly car. Laughing heartily, Sophia told her that the car had high suspension and so the view from there was much better than from other cars.

In this good-natured reunion mood, they made their way to the Pastasweet restaurant.

The restaurant had a Mediterranean style and was decorated in shades of blue and white. Sailboats, lifebuoys and arched doors were an important part of the restaurant’s decor. At the entrance, a seashell-shaped bell hung from the arched doorway. When guests entered, the bell rang automatically and a waiter led them to a table.

This restaurant simply had an ambience as excellent as its food. However, it was a place that took no reservations and was only open from 12:00 to 14:00 at lunchtime and from 17:30 to 22:00 at night. Despite this, the restaurant was very popular. Every day, there was a long line of people waiting outside to get a table.

Since today was a working day and Lucia’s office was not far from the restaurant, the two women arrived early. And to their surprise, they were able to get a table by the window.

It didn’t take them long to place their orders once they were settled in. After that, they began telling each other about their lives. To see them chatting so cheerfully and unashamedly, you’d never think they hadn’t seen each other for two years. In fact, it seemed only a day ago that they had met. This proved just how close they were to each other.

“Lucia, you’re getting more beautiful every day. Are you a couple?” Sophia looked at her friend with a playful smile.

It was true that there had been a change in Lucia. She no longer seemed as depressed as she had been when she broke up with Jonah. In fact, there was a glow on her face that indicated she was happy now. She looked like she’d been blessed by the God of love, which just made her more beautiful. Her eyes were very bright and vivid.

“I’m not in love, but I met a man twice, and I slept with him both times,” Lucia said frankly because she didn’t want to hide anything from her best friend.

“Oh my God! Well, your life’s going every which way…” Sophie was stunned. She spent most of her time studying corpses, so to her, Lucia’s life seemed rather exciting.

“At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ve gone crazy. And don’t even ask me about him, because I don’t know anything about him except his name. Besides, I’m not even sure that’s his real name.” Lucia said this before Sophia could ask any questions.

They’d been good friends for so long that they could read what was on the other’s mind just by looking at each other.

“What about you? What kind of mystery are you studying this time? It’s taken you so long to get back, but you look really happy.”

“Well, the mystery I’m working on at the moment isn’t about archaeology at all. I discovered it by chance while chatting with my eldest. Apparently, there’s a family of witches in a small village in the town of HX. At first, I was just curious to find out more. You know me, there’s nothing like ghost stuff to keep me digging deeper and deeper. When I investigated it, I found something very interesting. I was so obsessed with it. However, I haven’t been able to find any solid information in the last two years.”

There was a hint of hesitation in Sophia’s voice.

“Was it magical?” Lucia asked again, Sophia having managed to pique her curiosity.

“Yes, it was. Do you want to know more? If you like, you can come and visit the site whenever you have time. It’s a nice place. You can even consider it a vacation!” Sophia’s voice was full of excitement.

“I have to admit, it is indeed a good idea. I may not be interested in witches, but I’m definitely interested in traveling. As soon as the case I’m working on at the moment is over, I’m going to take a long week off and go over there!”

“That would be great!” Sophia nodded enthusiastically.

Throughout the evening, they told each other about their lives and all the crazy things they’d experienced over the past two years. Although the time passed quickly, both young women were happy to have seen each other again. Sophia would be leaving the city S a day later to wander the world, as she always did. Lucia didn’t know when they’d see each other again.

Between true friends, they always kept a place in each other’s hearts, and even if they didn’t talk all the time, they always cared about each other.