Alexander Martinez pov;
After five days, Isabella returned from her study camp. She looked tired and ran out of energy while dragging her bag into the house. Doesn't she know how to ask for help from others? She slowly walked to the staircase quietly, Butlers offered their help but she refused them and took her bag up the stairs by herself. While she was dragging the bag, it looked kinda heavy by looking how she pulled it. She should have accepted their offer.
"Did you see the stock values of Rodriguez corporation, Sir?" Mr Johnson asked me while I was eating my breakfast at the dining table.
"Why?"
"It's been going down these days. I wonder why you haven't done anything yet."
"I'm not interested."
"Well, tomorrow you have a meeting with Mr Miller at noon. Do you want me to reschedule it, Sir?"
"Why?"
"Did you forget that? You have to meet Ms Olivia Rodriguez tomorrow at her office, Sir."
I let out a sigh and said, "Reschedule the meeting to the day after tomorrow with Mr Miller then."
"Yes, Sir."
After some time, Isabella came downstairs. She walked straight to the kitchen and sat at the dining table. I thought she's going to rest by staying in bed but she came downstairs. Was she that hungry?
"I made arrangements, Sir." Mr Johnson said to me and walked to the dining table and sat along with her and asked, "How was the trip?"
She asked him back, "Do you want the entire story or the outline of it?"
"The outline. You take half a day for the outline. If I asked you for the entirety, I bet we'll be sitting at this table for one whole day."
I know she's a talker but I didn't know that Mr Johnson felt annoyed towards her. Isabella looked at me while I was working on my laptop sitting on the couch. Why is she looking at me? Does she want something to ask me? She took a look and turned to him and continued talking with him.
She asked Mr Johnson, "Do you really want to hear it?"
He said, "Even if I said 'no', you're still going to say it anyway, right?"
"Right! Okay. On the first day, we went hiking. It was pretty fun going along with friends but it was tiring as well. To get extra meat on my plate for dinner, I competed with others up the mountain."
"Did you win?"
"Hahaha. Yes! I'll do anything for meat. It tasted more delicious when I won the competition. The next day, we went for a scavenger hunt. They put everyone in pairs. Do you know who I got paired up with? The person who I wished not to get paired with. Harry."
A bully?
"The bully?"
"Yeah. I got paired with him."
"Did he bully you on the trip too?"
"No. It was pretty opposite to bullying but it was still bullying to me."
She's been bullied by someone in her school? Is bullying still done in schools? I didn't want to eavesdrop but I wanted to know how her trip was and wanted to know about this 'bully'. Everytime, when she mentions someone, Mr Johnson happens to know them. It looks like Mr Johnson knows every friend of Isabella. They seemed so close. Do Mr Johnson and Isabella talk about everything to each other?
"What did he do?"
"He started flirting with me."
He smiled and said, "Really?"
"Yeah, when we got paired up with each other, he did whatever I said to him so I did things to make him hate me but it didn't work. While we're scavenging for food, I put everything in his bag to make him walk slower so that he won't follow me by walking closer to me but still he put up with that weight and walked behind me. Did he know what happened because of that? He hurt his leg. It made me feel guilty so I treated him and helped him get to the camping site. Even though he hurt his leg, he still flirts with me all the way to the camping site. Argh!"
It looks like that bully likes Isabella.
"He's so persistent."
"After scavenging, everyone had lunch together and played games. On the third day, we had a campfire. Noah suddenly brought a guitar from a tourist in the camping site and made me play it infront of everyone."
Isabella knows guitar? Why does she amaze me every time that I don't know about her completely yet?
"You play Guitar?"
"Why are you so surprised? Don't I look like one who plays, huh. And, Yeah! I play guitar, but only a little since I learnt it on my own. Actually, I was keeping it a secret from my classmates but he exposed me."
He smiled and said, "What happened after that?"
"While everyone was enjoying the campfire, dancing around it and singing along with others. Harry sat beside me and flirted like usual. What happened after that was... really unexpected!"
What happened after that? While I was waiting for her answer, I got a call. Who's calling me now? I ended the call without even looking at the name and put it into my pocket.
"Why are leaving pauses?"
"To make you more interested."
He let out a chuckle and said, "You sound like yuyang a lot. Okay, continue with your trip story. What did he do?"
She took a look at me and whispered to Mr Johnson. What did she whisper into his ears?
"He kissed you???" Mr Johnson shouted.
Kissed? They kissed? Why am I feeling annoyed?
She shushed him and said, "Yeah, he did. On my cheeks. Liam saw him kissing me and got mad and started fighting with him. We all separated them somehow and they got punished by Ms Devlin."
"Liam? The friend who liked you?"
She continued, "Yeah. I get scared whenever Liam reacts like this. This makes me worry about him a lot."
Who's Liam? How many guys are after her?
"Can I ask you something?"
He continued, "Aren't you interested?"
"No, he's my friend. How can I..."
"I didn't ask about him. I asked generally. This is the age where people get boyfriends and girlfriends. Aren't you interested in those things?"
"If you asked me what's important to me right now, I'll answer as 'my mom' . I've never given a thought of dating since mom was the one all I can think about. The reason I took many jobs is because of mom. I should take care of her and I want her to be healthy. Big brother, you did a background check on me, right? Do you know anything about my father?"
Isabella may seem like childish but sometimes she sounds so matured.
"Not much. But I've heard that he left you and your mother when you were five."
Isabella's father left her and her mother alone? What kind of a person was he to leave his wife and child behind?
"Yes, it's true but... he didn't leave by himself. My mom sent him out of the house. One day, when I came from the school, they had a big fight. I didn't understand what they're fighting for but I could see that the love between them was lost. All they had was anger and hatred for each other. Suddenly, my father slapped my mom and the fight got even bigger. I was locked in my room by my mom. When I came out after a while, I saw mom asking father to leave the house and he left. He just left. Never turned and looked at me. It looked like he was waiting to leave the house. After that, my mom worked hard to take care of me. Let's leave it aside, what's for dinner?"
"Do you hate your father?"
Does she hate her father?
"How can I hate someone whom I never knew." And made a fake smile.
"What if you meet him again?"
"I don't know. Big brother, where is Ethan? I didn't see him when I arrived and I can't see him around now either. Where is he?"
Am I invisible? She's been asking about everyone except me.
"He's having issues in his company."
"Can it be solved?"
"It will if he works on it."
"But he doesn't like business then why is he struggling to maintain one?"
"His mom is making him do it."
"His mom? Do you mean Olivia Rodriguez?"
"Yes."
"Can mom be like that? My mom never forced me to do anything even though we are poor as rats."
"Come here." I called Isabella.
She walked to me and asked, "What was it, Mr Martinez?"
"Do you really have to go to school tomorrow?"
"Mmm... Not really. Why, Mr Martinez?"
"Take an absence tomorrow."
"What was it, Mr Martinez?"
"Go to sleep." And left with my laptop.
While I was working on my laptop, the power went down. Mr Collins didn't return from his hometown yet. Who should I call now to turn on the generator?
Since I had no other choice, I knocked on Isabella's door. Did she fall asleep? Should I go back? Let's try again. After some knocks, she opened the door. I was surprised to see Isabella standing with a candlestand in her hand like she's going to hit me using that. Why is she holding on to that tightly? Did she get scared when I knocked at her door? But who else is in the house except us to get scared of?
"Mr Martinez?"
When she opened her lips and said my name, I remember the time when I kissed her so I avoided her eyes and asked, "Are you going to hit me with that?"
She let out a nervous laugh and placed the candle on the table and said, "What are you doing here at this hour, Mr Martinez?"
"The power's out."
"Yeah, I came to know that some minutes ago. What was it?"
"Turn on the generator."
"You want me to turn on the generator?"
I gave a nod and stood still.
"Okay, I don't know where it is? Can you show me the place?"
I showed her the room and pointed into the room to enter.
She asked me, "Is it inside?"
I gave a nod as a 'yes'.
She walked in saying, "I thought it'll be somewhere in the basement like how they show in the movies." After she got in, she asked me, "Mr Martinez, I couldn't see anything in here. Can you bring that torchlight which you're holding in your hand inside the room?"
Go inside the room?
She came out and asked, "Didn't you hear me? I asked for the torchlight."
I took the phone and turned on the flashlight and gave it to her. She took the phone from me and walked into the room again. The lights came back. When she came out of the room, she looked like she was searching for something. What is she looking for?
"Go to your room." And walked to the stairs.
"Mr Martinez?"
I stopped from stepping on the stairs and looked at her.
She asked, "Where is Jack?"
(Jack Collins - one of the security guard who lives here)
"Mr Collins left for his hometown two days before."
"Ohhhh. Is it only you and me in the house?"
I gave a nod.
"Aren't you scared of being alone? When you knocked on my door, for a moment, I got scared that it might be a ghost or a thief."
"That explains the candle stand."
"Aren't you scared of being alone in this big house?"
I shook my head and started walking up the stairs.
"Mr Martinez, why did you ask me to take a leave tomorrow? What are you going to do? Did you plan something? Or are we going to clean the garden again? Did the dried leaves become more in number?"
"We're going out."
"Really? You're taking me out? Where did you plan to take me? It's new to me since you never asked me to. Do you have some place in your mind?"
"Was it really because of your mother that you aren't interested in relationships?"
"Yeah, she put a lot of effort in raising me so I want to take care of her in return. And there's another reason too, my parents fell in love and got married. I have never seen a couple like my parents used to. They were in love and liked each other. They fought here and there. I thought fights were also a common thing among loving couples but whenever the fight got bigger, the love in them faded as well. One day, I saw my father leaving the house and mom stood without doing anything. He didn't even take a look at my mom and me. He just left like that. I still remember it like yesterday. When I saw him leaving us, I wondered where the love he had for us was. He left my mom to suffer alone. If I like a guy, and if he leaves like my father, I'm afraid that I'll end up like my mom. That's why I'm scared of being in a relationship. As days pass by, I'm losing confidence in myself."
"You play basketball and get a scholarship for your school, you take many part-time jobs to earn for your mother's surgery, I don't think you lack confidence."
"When you say it like that, it makes me feel proud of myself, Mr Martinez. Can I ask you something?"
I gave a nod.
"Why don't you turn on the generator by yourself? It's not that difficult though."
"I have nyctophobia."
"What does that phobia mean?"
"Fear of darkness." And headed to my room.