< Nina >
Funny how fate works. I was hoping that we would never cross paths again. I thought that his threats were proof enough that we weren’t supposed to see eye-to-eye.
Sigh, why does he have to live eight hours away from my small town? I mean, he knew that I live in the US but then again, I’m aware that the country is vast with greener pastures. A part of me is hoping he would rather stay in Italy there for good.
But here I am, just one door away to finally reunite with the man who almost made me pee on my pants.
Yu doesn’t seem to notice my anxiety as he slowly and gently knocks on the front door.
No response.
A few knocks.
Still no response.
“Tch!” Yu grimaces, his eyes glaring towards the door. His clenched hand trembles and I stare at him with anticipation.
“Y-Yu?”
The usual cool and kind Yu won’t get mad, right?
Right?
Then he starts banging the door.
“LUCA! OPEN THE FUCK UP!”
This is the side of him that I didn’t expect. I instinctively backed away from him.
Is it normal to yell at your boss like that? Plus, what about the neighbors?
The door swings wide open before Yu probably breaks the door and comes out a lean figure as a hand grabs on Yu’s fist.
“Hey, we’re sleeping here, Yu~” A feminine voice resonates in the empty hallway, with a hint of drowsiness. A tall curvaceous woman comes out from the door and her long wavy curly hair hides her face from my view.
“What the hell are you doing here, Heather?” Yu asks, irritably. “You know that Nina Caulfield is coming here today.”
“Today?” She sounds a bit sluggish. “But Luca said it will be next week.”
“She is going to school NEXT week, now go home already.”
“She’s here now?” Her head swiftly turns to look in my direction and I visibly flinch.
She’s quite tall, with long, black, thick wavy hair that reaches her waist, tan-skinned which illuminates from the hallway lights. Her face is flushed as her light brown eyes are clearly bloodshot, most likely intoxicated from a lot of booze.
“Hey, hon,” she says as she leans to my height. Her face inches closer to me.
She’s pretty, that is the first thing that comes to my mind. However, I nearly pale when I smell alcohol oozing around her.
“If you’re uncomfortable living with a guy, why won’t I take you with me?” She says as she cups my cheek.
“H-huh?” I am not sure what’s going on.
This woman in a dress shirt that is way too big for her lean figure, looked at me with a smirk as her tan skin flushed from intoxication.
I am sure that she’s not just Luca’s “friend”.
“You’re scaring her, you fucking drunk, get off her.” Yu grabs her shoulder, his glare makes both of us flinch.
“Okay, okay.” And finally, the woman called Heather lets go of me. Then she smirks at him. “Yu, I’m just sad that this cute girl will be staying with our boss.”
“Yeah, if you know, just go home already.”
“Okaaaay, Yuuu~” Then, without warning, her head tilts and passes out as her whole body drops down. Before she even hits the floor, Yu immediately grabs her, as her head is leaning on his collarbone.
He sighs then he reverts back to his caring self when he looks at me. “Sorry, you have to see this, kid. She’s never like this when... Err… sober.”
Before I can say anything, suddenly I feel someone’s presence behind me. My body immediately tenses up, feeling goosebumps on my back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out whose presence is looming behind me.
Yu looks up after placing the woman behind his back and frowns. “Oh Luca, about time you’re here.”
I still can’t turn around as I clasp my shivering hand to stop, praying that Luca and You won’t notice my fear.
“Is this Nina?”
At that moment, my feeling of fear vanishes and is quickly replaced with a new feeling: a genuine shock. His voice...doesn’t sound what I’ve recalled.
Instead of the icy, authoritative tone that haunts me to this day, right now I’m hearing someone’s husky, soothing voice, like a lullaby that anyone can hear all day long.
Intuitively, I turn around…
…and stare.
Wow.
Before me stands a man whom I used to think as scary but instead, a perfected craft chiseled face, with long wavy blonde locks that reach on his nape. It may look messy, bed hair stands in some directions but it seems like he got a perfect messy hairstyle from the salon.
What attracts me the most is his eyes. In my memory, I visualized them to be scary but when I look at his grey eyes again, I see an overpowering gaze staring back at mine, I couldn’t help but continue to look at them.
“Was he the one who’s hot enough to melt a person but his glare could freeze someone to death?”
Suddenly Gene’s comment flashes in my mind.
Then, I realize a bit too late that I have been staring at him for a long time. I didn’t notice earlier that he was not wearing anything but his dark grey striped pajamas and I instantly turned red.
Oh crap, I’ve been gawking at him, I immediately look away.
I don’t usually stare at a person but, this man…
...my future stepbrother is beautiful.
A-and he's naked!
Well, almost.
Then Luca suddenly speaks a language that doesn’t sound English and it directly goes to Yu who later on, starts conversing in that foreign language.
I immediately know that they’re using Italian.
After a bit of their conversation, Luca throws clothes at Yu before he catches it—most likely they are from that unconscious woman.
He turns to me then automatically scowls. He mutters something under his breath then turns a heel, heading back inside.
“Well Nina, I’ll come back to give you the charger for your phone and a tour around the city tomorrow morning,” Yu says.
“Err... What were you guys talking about? In Italian?”
“You.”
I gulp, uncertain if I should ask for more or not.
“Listen, kid, Luca’s not in a good mood after... being interrupted earlier,” he says while sighing while I turn another shade of red. “Anyway, your room’s on the left side, second door. So, see you tomorrow and good night.” He hands over my baggage with one last assuring smile before he proceeds to give the woman a piggyback and walk back downstairs.
I was about to tell Yu to not leave me alone even just for tonight but it would be too selfish of me. I sigh once again and I hesitantly walk inside.
The whole place is a bit dim, minus the lights illuminating in a room that looks like a kitchen. I couldn’t see much but thanks to Yu's instructions, I keep repeating what he said earlier.
Yeah, it won’t be that hard.
“Hey.”
“Aah!” I scream, unconsciously letting go of my bag as I quickly cover my face.
The reason why I scream? I don’t know why I actually did that.
Is it because I am tired? Anxious? Worried about what will happen between me and Luca? Worried if Gene sleeps well tonight or worried if I will be dead before morning?
I felt like an idiot and slowly but hesitantly looked to peak beside me and there’s Luca—
—who is visibly surprised as me.