CARMELO
No words were big enough to express the happiness in my heart. She agreed to stay with me and gave me a chance to prove myself to her. I could never disappoint her.
Chiara said she didn't want dinner and retired to her room early, leaving me with nothing to do but think of her. What was she doing all alone? What was she thinking about? Was she sleeping? Was she still awake? Should I go to her? No, you can't! You idiot, you can't just go to her room.
But I missed her. My shoulders dropped, I sighed and lay on my back on the bed. All I knew how to do was deal with money and papers. I was not used to sitting alone and doing nothing.
I wished to sit down with her and talk about her life or anything. But I didn't even know where to begin. And I didn't want to appear desperate to her, even though I was extremely desperate to have her near me. Even to hear her scent.
To touch her. Or to hear her firm voice that never faltered in saying what she wanted. Or to kiss her tempting lips that clouded my mind whenever she talked. God, I'm fucked. A smile tugged at my lips. I wanted to get lost in her eyes that were so cold, but I'd weirdly found warmth in them. I wanted it so bad.
There were only two stupid walls separating us, but it felt like miles away. My eyes shut, and I placed my forearm over them, sighing again when I should be formulating a way to get her to feel comfortable around me. I wanted her to be herself, again.
A firm knock had me up on my feet and rushing to the door. She was here! My heart cartwheeled if that was even possible. I guess I was becoming pathetic like Storm said, and being one felt so fucking right.
I adjusted myself, let out a deep silent breath before turning the knob. My eyes traveled up her bare legs up to where my white shirt began, just above her knees. I swallowed, turning away, before I could go any further, and looked at her face instead. "Yes? Do you need anything?" I asked, standing straight. She had her hair up in a messy bun. God, she was so beautiful. Especially now that she was standing by the dim corridor and between my doors.
"Actually, I wanted to shower and remembered I had nothing else to change into, so…" she said, her eyes watching past my shoulder. How could I forget about that? I needed to be more careful in the future. "Please come in." I walked back inside, leaving the door open for her. "Come with me." I added, heading to my walk-in closet. She followed silently.
"Pick anything here. I'll talk to Viva to bring you something tomorrow," I explained. "Viva? And what if she asked who it was for?" she asked, her eyes going through the closets. "Then I'll tell her they're for you," I said. "Wouldn't that endanger your secret? You kidnapped me, and people are looking for me." She asked, fully facing me. I shook my head. "You are not a secret. I'm just waiting for your consent to announce to everyone who you are to me." I said. Her cheeks reddened, and I blinked, not able to believe it. She quickly turned back to the racks of clothes, giving me her back.
"Are you alright?" I asked, my hand slowly tracing the air near her hair. I wonder how it would feel tangled in my fingers. "I'll take these, thank you." She turned abruptly, and I retracted my hand quickly; my heart was racing. She almost caught me. She dashed to the door with two of my designer sweatpants. "Wait," I called out. She halted and turned to me. "Please wait a moment," I said and strutted to the safe.
Punching the codes, it opened, and I took out the cards. "Tell me what you would prefer? Would you rather I give you a card, or leave my name on the bill, wherever you go in Portofino, and you'll get any service you want?" I asked. She looked at me with a slight frown on her face before taking the card from my hand and leaving. Leaving me dumbfounded to be specific. What have I done this time? Was she angry at me? But why? God! What should I do to change it?
I took out my phone and dialed Jr.
"Big bro, bad timing," he uttered once the call went through.
"I don't care. Just listen."
"By the sound of it, you've messed up. How did it go?" I could hear the sound of punches and then groans followed.
"But I didn't do anything wrong. I just—I did everything right and I made sure not to anger her, Junior. Seems like I just did."
"What happened?" He grunted. The voice of someone begging for their lives echoed on his end. He was probably busy killing someone, and I was calling him with my nonsense. I couldn't help it. We were of the same blood.
"She came to me, and I let her have a choice like you said. She took the cards and walked out without saying a word to me. I think she is angry at me, Junior," I explained, feeling the temperature rising, so I undid the two top buttons of my shirt. What should I do?
"Jesus, bro, you're a lost cause. You know nothing about women, nothing at all. Women are like a maze, you need to be smart while exploring them." Another round of cries came. "And she's probably not mad at you, it's called mood swings."
"Mood swings?"
"Yes, man. You need to learn her patterns and avoid triggering them in the future." Sounds of gunshots followed, and the cries died down instantly.
"Alright, but what should I do now?"
He groaned, "Fuck. How about going to pee, then going to bed and never calling me again?" Then he hung up the call.
I glared at the phone in my hand, "Junior, you bastard." I helped him whenever he needed me. The moron just hung up on me. I huffed. But I'd rather him than calling Willem. That idiot would publish our entire conversation first thing in the morning in the daily news. The title would be how pathetic I was at handling a woman. I was surrounded by useless pigs. I sighed, "Mood swings," I uttered, and jumped on my browser instead of willowing, searching for what the hell it was.