< Luca >
You could say, I am not a morning person. When I used to live in the de Milano Estate, maids tried to find ways to get me off my bed but failed, much to my parents’ frustration. After a lot of unsuccessful attempts, they had finally lost hope and requested me to be homeschooled instead.
All of my childhood, minus the time before reaching university, I enjoyed my morning slumbers. And if anyone dared to wake me up, it would only have awakened my wrath. Yu had his first-hand experience and not once did he attempt to give it another try.
I tried to change it, really. The secret to success has always been to start off a new day in the morning. But I could only wake up at 8 AM.
But that changed in the arrival of my little nuisance.
Today is no different. Three weeks have passed and I am now getting used to waking up at 6AM or sometimes before that.
As I wake up, the first thing I see is an unfamiliar room. It registers to me that I decided to stay in Yu’s apartment, since Heather is out of town and my friends will start asking me questions, I can sleep in Yu’s bed in peace.
I groan as I sluggishly take my phone to check the time: 3:42 AM. That’s the earliest time to wake up.
Yu is going to be proud of me.
I try to get up, realizing that my head has been throbbing in pain and I badly needed my coffee.
Only to realize yet again, that I am not at my abode you called home.
I really needed to drive back to my apartment, see that little nuisance, and as I begrudgingly sigh, keep his word by eating breakfast with her.
Then I can go back to sleep, skip work since I had everything done yesterday. Yu volunteered to take my place at the conference and a part of me was thankful for that, knowing that people will flock together on my path each time I had to attend a conference. I also needed bodyguards for that.
So Yu has been so considerate to do it for me.
That or Yu just wanted me to patch things up with my future step sister.
“You need to take care of her,” was Yu’s parting words in Italian before he handed over his keys and left.
So since then, without Heather and Yu around, I decided to stay in Yu’s apartment until he gets back. The reason why I couldn’t just stay in his apartment he called “home”? Well, it’s a no-brainer that it has something to do with her.
Nina Caulfield.
And another reason why my body was telling me to wake up early today.
Three weeks ago, each of our encounters was nothing but tense and awkward and the way her fearful eyes looked at me reminded me of three years ago.
A reminder of my mistake.
Honestly, it will be laughable if the world finds out that even if I could bring back any company from its bankruptcy, or being the most sought-after billionaire in terms of business, I don't know how to deal with a teenager.
A teenager, I am scared to hurt again due to my damn temper.
A part of me wishes one year will be done in a flash. Maybe focus all my energy at work, go on business meetings outside and well, open for a foundation, who knows?
But I know that Yu has been doing all these for me. If anything, Yu is a very diligent sidekick that I, the boss of the de Milano Inc, have nothing much to do then.
Perhaps, I should give her a chance.
It isn’t a long drive. After all, Yu lives closer to my house. I have thoughts of getting home on foot however, my head has been so excruciatingly painful that I badly need some instant dose of caffeine or some medicine, yes, I can start with that.
She must be asleep.
That girl wakes up at the darndest hour that sometimes I am obliged to wake up earlier just so I can prepare breakfast for her.
She is a guest, a reminder I often say to myself, like a mantra. Don’t be a dick and treat her like a guest and everything will be back to normal as soon as she leaves.
As I enter the door, I am greeted with an empty dark room that feels emptier, like the spark of joy left me a long time ago.
I almost turn the lights on, recalling how Nina seems to wake up to light noises, something I caught when I heard distant noise from her room as she tried to get up.
So I decided to go to the kitchen, get some painkillers, and brew the finest coffee available in the cupboard.
“Are you for real?!”
That startles me as I almost drop my finest coffee maker. Well, I can just buy another one but it surprises me when she screams like that.
I have never heard her voice that loud before. Well, not quite, the memory of her first night as she entered the apartment for the first time is still fresh on his mind.
But why was she so loud early in the morning, without care if anyone would have awakened from her voice...
...as if she knows that I haven't been here since last night.
Then her voice becomes distant and with that, I decide to continue preparing for his coffee.
“That’s still amazing, Gene! I’m happy for you!”
Gene.
I’ve heard of that name countless times from the nightly and occasionally morning calls from her. Our rooms are just right next to each other, after all.
Perhaps it is pride that stops me from asking or her fearful eyes often make me...run away.
‘You’re afraid of the kid, aren’t you?’ Yu asked me that time when we were speaking Italian in front of her. It pisses me off that he was right about this.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t just sacrifice sleep by sleeping outside my own apartment.
But perhaps, now is the right time to “talk” to her properly.
I stand up, walk at a normal pace to her bedroom, and stop myself in front of her door.
Now that I think about it. This will be the first time I will be entering her bedroom. I have been a neglectful guardian, huh?
Oh wait, she’s eighteen, she doesn’t need that.
Right before I even knock on the door, a door abruptly opens and what reveals to me—even at a moment of a millisecond—is Nina Caulfield smiling cheerfully as she comes out.
A rare sight I have never seen before.
Once again, Nina has a talent for making this CEO speechless as I stand there with my clenched hand in the air, my eyes still fixated on that smile.
It was when she noticed me and at that instant, her smile immediately replaced once again with a mortified look.
A common occurrence in our few encounters.
“Oh, g-good—” Again, she’s looking down on her own two feet. Her mood swiftly changes and she’s back to becoming a stuttering nutcase. Then she stops herself, shaking her head, and proceeds to go straight to the kitchen.
I should talk to her. It’s my damn responsibility, after all. But for some strange reason, the way she looks down on me, scurrying herself a distance away from me and avoiding talking to me, makes it harder for me to be patient.
But I had to, for our sake.
“Is there something you want to say?” I ask, coldly weariness and impertinence has overtaken me.
And I feel like an idiot for using that authoritative tone again. A terrible habit of mine each time I see some mistakes.
As expected, the teen flinches as she hesitantly peeks to look at me with those doe eyes.
Huh, now that I realized it, since when did she remove that eye pad of hers?
“Uh…” she gulps, her eyes looking somewhere else again.
“Go on,” I say, this time, calmly. My head is already throbbing with pain due to the lack of sleep and I need to solve this...now.
Her lips quiver as her eyes slowly look at mine. Then she sighs as she looks down.
Why is it that it’s harder for her to speak to me normally yet she was comfortable talking to Yu? Why is it that each time when I wanted to speak to her, she always rejected me just by looking away?
It’s frustrating, really.
I should have apologized about three years ago. Talk to her like a mature adult.
However, I am damn far from mature.
“What the hell?” I say, brows furrowed in a glare and my charge instantly pale. “Three weeks have passed and hell, it’s not even a month and I feel like I’m taking care of a quivering chihuahua.”
Again, she looks down and she mutters sorry. This only infuriates me more.
"I'm leaving," I say as I sigh. Standing up, I no longer crave for morning coffee, and head to the entryway. It will be best to leave, seeing that only I can scare her.
“Wait!” And this time Nina runs closer to me. Her face is beet red, her brown eyes staring at mine, both in confusion and of course, fear.
“W-Why are you always never at home in the evening?” Ah, apparently she knew that I don’t sleep in my own apartment for a long time.
A part of me wonders about that, too. Is it because I had a difficult time grasping that I am now living with the daughter of the mistress who looks exactly like her?
Or is it because of three years ago and seeing her is reminding me of my mistake?
“You are the daughter of the woman I despise.” It was a slip of the tongue but I am too damn tired, sleep-deprived, and angry to care. “Yet, I let you in because our damn inconsiderate parents left you in my place. Seeing you…just reminds me of that: my father and his mistress, happily living together in Spain while they left their nuisance in my care just to piss me off.”
It wasn’t intentional when I said that but as Nina stares at me with widened eyes, I just sigh. “Just seeing you… reminded me of that vixen.”
And without looking back, I leave the entryway and head to the exit. I don’t want to say anything more than I should. After all, I have said more than enough about how I felt. As I open the door and hesitantly glance back, I could have sworn that there is hate flickering in her eyes.
Well, that means there's no way we will mend the mistakes I’ve made.