< Yu’s POV >
“You kids are doing well there?” I continue to tease, trying to hide my laughter. Glancing on my side, my best friend slash boss is adjusting his seat, uncomfortably as he decides to let Nina sit in the small space between them.
The drive back to Luca’s place is not an issue, thank goodness. Usually, there should be some traffic jams but the Thursday evening drive is going smoothly so far.
“Stop moving,” she mutters, irritably. Apparently, it makes it worse since Nina insists on sitting comfortably on his lap as her head leans on his shoulder.
“Don’t move her a lot, Luca. She might become nauseous. Just hold her waist or something.” Hopefully, she won’t vomit. The last thing I need for tomorrow’s birthday is to clean the puke and replace the seats.
“This is getting uncomfortable,” he mutters, finding the experience torturous.
Nina, on the other hand, slowly closes her eyes as she presses her face on Luca’s neck. Her hand is gripping on his clothed dress shirt as she
“Seems like the kid is used to physical touches,” I comment, observing the way her face seems serene even though she is in close intimacy with another person.
“And defenseless,” Luca adds, sighing. “Remind me to lock the fridge with all the alcohol there.”
“No way, I couldn’t get the stash inside anymore,” I give a witty remark.
“Ah, so it was you who took most of my beer,” and at that Luca finally smiles.
“Well, it will be a miracle for Nina to take your beer…” I could have chuckled at that thought but my smile slowly fades and is replaced with mild curiosity. “Which reminds me, how did Nina get to the restaurant?”
“I don’t know. It might be a coincidence when she came there to eat and it so happened Heather decided to throw you a surprise birthday party.”
“It makes sense,” my voice falters.
“S-school…” she mumbles and her head lifts up a bit as her eyes open. Still, a bit dazed, her cheeks still flushed. “I have school tomorrow.”
“Well, I doubt you will be looking forward to school tomorrow, kid.”
“B-but…”
Funny thing, earlier her words were sluggish and now her speaking is almost the same as she normally does. Maybe, it won’t harm me if I interrogate her a bit.
Besides, we are almost there.
“How did you get to Oda’s Japanese Restaurant, kid?”
She leans her head back to Luca’s neck to which he flinches again as she tries to think. “I got hungry and decided to visit that restaurant.”
“That’s far from your school, kid. Did you walk there on foot?”
“Nah, I run,” she says. “It’s faster that way.”
So when she’s drunk, she doesn’t stutter that much and tells honestly what she thinks. I don’t usually take advantage of drunks but if the kid doesn’t tell me anything while she’s her usual self, it’s the best chance then.
But when I heard some soft snores, I knew that right now is not the time to interrogate her. I can tell. Her problem with Luca, with her sudden transfer living in a new place, it all makes sense: Nina is having a tough time adjusting here.
But as to why she suddenly drank alcohol even though the kid should be well-aware of the consequence, something probably triggered her to do so.
And I doubt she will tell me the truth when sober.
…………
< Yu’s POV >
We finally arrived at the apartment. The sky is getting darker, I am still wondering whether or not to come back and get wasted, seeing that I just arrived from a 12-hour flight and I should be completely exhausted.
They did prepare this party for me, after all.
But after hearing Luca’s story about the events when I wasn’t around, I sigh as I rub my temples.
Now that the kid is in her bedroom, we were relaxing in the living room and I pestered Luca to tell me what really happened. But thanks to that, I’ve regretted asking because that means I have to cancel my plans of going back.
“Luca, I have known you since we were kids. And I understand that taking care of a minor isn’t something you were trained to do.”
“I know you’re trying,” I continue, slowly yet calmly. “You were kind-hearted, misunderstood, yeah, but benevolent. You helped so many people when you decided to stick to buying and selling companies.” Like Oda’s case. Something I wouldn’t forget when Oda cried in front of Luca, tears of joy streaming in his eyes when Luca decided to help his restaurant flourish.
“But with Nina,” I say, sternly. Trying to choose the right words to say it. “She needs your guidance. You are her guardian, after all. If you give her a chance, you will like her.”
“But haven’t I done enough?” Luca says, a neutral tone yet his expression shows that he’s getting tired of my lecture. “And I’ve told you this before, Nina hates me now. Just because our families will become one, doesn’t mean we need to get along.”
Well, you have to. I thought to myself as I observed the lack of sleep in his eyes. The weariness and the stress he faced dealing with his so-called “nuisance” reminded me back when he had this problem years ago. Back when he experienced an unfamiliar territory when he first started taking over as the CEO: failure.
He is failing and Luca won’t fucking do anything this time: because it’s Marina’s daughter.
But they really need to patch things up...now.
“Luca,” I say as I sigh. “She will be your sister in your future and if you don’t do anything about it: it will become a bad habit of yours, ignoring her all throughout your lives.”
And I doubt Nina will take action as well.
“How can I talk to her when she can’t even look me in the eye, obviously scared as if I was trying to kill her?” Luca sighs.
“Well, maybe if you start smiling at me more instead of treating me like crap, none of this would have happened."
Both Luca and I freeze, letting the silence take over this tense atmosphere. We slowly turn our heads, not realizing that her bedroom door creaked open earlier because we are deep in our conversation, in ENGLISH even, that Nina has been listening to our conversation with her arms crossing on her chest.
She looks mad, no, pissed, as her body is leaning against the door. She is glaring directly towards Luca.
Fuck.