Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Later that night, the girls and I were in Bradyn's room getting ready to watch a movie. This has become like tradition every night now. We'd go into one of our rooms and watch a movie whenever we didn't have anything else to do. It was very relaxing getting to lounge around and not worry about anything. Though I did kind of miss work, I wouldn't trade this in for anything.

Before we got started, I needed to go downstairs and grab a drink. At least that's what I said to the girls. Really, me going downstairs had nothing to do with the drink. It was ten just like he said. Whether we did anything or not would be decided once I got there. This was me trying to figure out what his intentions were. The moment in that room wasn't some impulsive ordeal. There was something more to it. Why else would we both react the way that we did? Little did I know this was the start of something I wouldn't be able to get out of.

"Hurry up back! You're going to miss all the good parts!" Twila screamed at me whilst I walked out the bedroom door.

This time I made sure to wear a bra and a pajama short set. Taking extra precautions this time around because we don't need another moment like that happening. Not until we figured out what was going on.

This was absurd! My mind was racing as I walked slowly down the stairs hoping that he wouldn't be there. Maybe he forgot and we could put this all behind us. Showing up was going to give him the wrong impression but at the same time I couldn't not be there. So many conflicting thoughts it was hard to know where my mind stood at this point. Feeling the touch of a man after so many years really did feel good. Great even. I didn't want to get too carried away though. That would be my downfall.

Taking a deep breath, walking into the kitchen there he was waiting for my arrival. We looked at each other not saying a word. I'm beginning to think this was just the way we would do greetings from now on. The awkward, nervous introduction was partially my fault. I didn't exactly know how to communicate properly when it came to guys.

Smiling, he stood up slowly making his way over to me. The look of disappointment apparent in his face. What did he have to be disappointed about anyway?

"You're late, A." His voice cooed throughout the kitchen.

I frowned pushing pass him to get my drink. "I didn't come for you." That was all I said while pouring myself a glass of water.

He looked surprised walking over to me again. "Oh? Then why are you here?"

"I wanted a drink." I drank from the glass I just poured; my eyes bored into him.

The look he was giving me said that he wasn't buying a word I was saying. Although I did come to get a drink, it wasn't the only reason I came down at this specific time. There was a plan behind all my moves here. The curiosity of knowing what he wanted from me was too hard to ignore. From what happened in that room left me wanting more even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. I told myself I wouldn't get caught up in this crap while being here now look at me.

Finishing off my water, I went to go back upstairs but was immediately stopped by the grasp of his hand around my wrist. His hold strong and firm yet gentle in every way. It made me miss when he was grabbing me by the waist. Nothing about this was forceful, which turned me on to him even more. It was rare for a guy of his caliber to be so soft. Making it hard to resist him.

Turning me back around towards him, he pulled me a little closer resting his hand on the midst of my back. "I've got to say, I am a little disappointed that there's no silk nightgown this time." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes removing myself from his embrace. "What do you want from me?" I came right out and asked. What was the point of dragging it on when I was so confused?

That caught him by surprise because he didn't know how to answer. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know I... Why do you seem so infatuated with me, someone like me? We barely know each other and yet-"

"We have a connection." He finished my sentence for me.

It was all so strange that two people who didn't know each other, like us, connected in this strange way. We barely said two words to each other and when we said more, I blew him off. The fact that he still wants anything to do with me after how rude I was didn't sit right. Was he trying to get revenge? Oh gosh, see Autumn, this is why you should be nice to people. There are ways to keep your guard up while still being nice. I was my own worst enemy.

Getting out of my own thoughts, Cyrus scratched the back of his neck out of nervousness. I'm sure he didn't know what to say because who would in this situation? We were acting merely off sexual attraction that wouldn't be good for neither of us in the end. Therefore, the barrier that was set wasn't supposed to be broken.

"We can't have something when we barely know each other." I remarked. "Besides, this is still essentially a competition. It would be cheating if anything were to happen between us."

He rolled his eyes not really caring about said competition. "It's not like anyone has to know. It wasn't my idea anyway." He argued. "Plus, I know half of those girls already and none of them stick out to me like you do."

My cheeks couldn't help but fluster at his compliment. He felt that I was different than the other girls and therefore took a liking to me. That explains why he wouldn't leave me alone. This all seemed unfair though. What'll happen if we continue with this, and someone finds out? There had to be some kind of repercussion and I was the one going to have to face them. My head was so conflicted I started to get a headache.

Since this wasn't going anywhere, Cyrus' hand made its way under my chin lifting my face up towards his. Looking me in the eyes that smirk forming on his face.

"It's not against the rules to get to know someone, Autumn." He wasn't giving up.

Pondering, I sighed finally concluding that this needed to happen. "Fine. Then get to know me at a distance." I gently pushed him away.

He chuckled. "So persistent. Fine, I'll get to know you at a distance, so long as you agree to meet up with me after hours."

"Deal."

We shook hands and I didn't know if I was thrilled about this or not. Part of me was excited to get to know more about him and have him learn more about me. It's been so long since I've made new connections with people. But the other part of me felt like I was going to regret this down the line. However, that's why the barrier was set to keep us at a distance. If we had that then everything should be fine. Hopefully.

"Autumn! Where are you?" I hear Bradyn yell for me.

My eyes widen in fear of one of them coming down here to get me. We didn't need that to happen otherwise I wouldn't hear the end of it. I knew this was a bad idea.

Looking back at Cyrus, he understood that I needed to go. "I should probably get back up there." I said, biting the inside of my cheek. Why didn't I want to leave?

"Wait, tomorrow night meet me by the fountain in the back. Same time." He spoke.

"Autumn! Don't make me come down there!" Bradyn yelled one more time.

I laughed and agreed to meet him tomorrow night. Rushing back upstairs to the girls who were only a good fifteen minutes into the movie. I hadn't missed much but they were mad I missed anything at all. They had to waste more time explaining to me what happened before pressing play again.

However, my mind wouldn't concentrate on the movie. It was too worried about what was going to happen tomorrow night with Cyrus. How was this thing supposed to work? We would meet up and then what? Have that awkward silence that's not doing anyone any good? Or have a staring contest seeing that's what we do best. Not knowing much about him other than his last name was making this incredibly stressful. But it was worth a shot.

********

Before meeting Cyrus at the fountain, I went to see exactly where it was so I wouldn't get lost. This place was still a maze to get through and I didn't want to get lost like what happened trying to find the kitchen. That and Cyrus would laugh at me again if that happened, so we had to be on the safe side.

After getting dressed that morning, I went out through the famous glass door searching for this fountain. The many gardens and different paths to take were a little confusing. The Hadid's owned a lot of land and they utilized it to its fullest potential. However, who has time to maintain this? Imagine if they didn't have servers and all that. There's no way I'd be dealing with all of this. Even if I had the means too. I wouldn't make others do it for me either. That's wrong despite the hefty amount of money they're paid.

Still, the house, the yard, everything was exquisite. I was even impressed by the fountain once I finally found it. The stone path leading up to it was well kept and the way the water spouted out was so calming in a weird way. It was a huge fountain that almost looked like a very shallow pool. You should expect nothing less from these people. Go big or go home am I right?

Though it was beautiful, my eyes brightened once I saw the little girl sitting in front of it. She had on this beautiful bright yellow dress. Her hair in French braids going to the back. There was paper and all sorts of writing utensils in front of her as my presence wasn't known. She was drawing and that piqued my interest.

Walking over to her, I sat down next to her on my knees as to not have my legs wide open. I was wearing a dress as well. Not as fancy as hers but a dress anyhow. Yes, I know shocker.

Saida, her name was, glanced over at me before returning her attention to her drawing. A small smile forming upon her face as if she were glad to have the company. Unexpectedly of course. She reminded me so much of my sister that I couldn't help but come over and speak with her. I missed Summer a lot. The spoiled brat.

Clearing my throat, I decided to initiate conversation first. "So, you draw?" I asked her although it was obvious.

"Yeah, when I have the free time of course." She shrugged, not sounding so happy about that.

I raised a brow looking down at her carefully adding things to her already spectacular picture. "Free time? You're fourteen, shouldn't you always have free time?"

She nodded. "I usually only get about fifteen minutes a day. Other than that, I'm busy following in my mother's footsteps."

That sounds like fun to me. I know their family was top tier, but Saida is fourteen. She shouldn't have to worry about being like her mother. Summer would hate it if she never had time for herself. Time to be a kid. This girl seemed like she didn't even know what being a kid was about. It made me feel...sad. We're they pushing their children too hard. Too hard to be perfect.

I chuckled not believing what she was saying. Maybe she was exaggerating. There's no way her mom only gave her fifteen minutes a day to breathe. That's absurd.

Her facial expression never changed which told me she was dead serious. This poor child. I couldn't even imagine what her day-to-day routine is wondering if she ever would be able to come and at least draw. These years are some of the most important in our lives. Finding who we are and learning to express ourselves. Following her mother around isn't exactly expressing oneself. It's just being a copy.

It wasn't my business to pry, and I wouldn't. Instead, I opted to be nice to her. Possibly be like a friend. "Even for fifteen minutes, these drawings are amazing. What's your inspiration?" I asked intrigued by how talented she was.

That brightened her day as I could feel the joy radiating off her. "Well, I really like Robert Williams for his oil paintings. The comic like feel he brings to them is also so fascinating." She gawked. "I also like Helen Frankenthaler 'cause well, abstract art is always a pleasure to look at."

"Wow, that's awesome. You really have something good here, Saida. Maybe when you have enough time you could teach me a thing or two." I suggested brightening her day even more.

Her bold, brown eyes lit up when I said that. "Really?!" The excitement laced in her voice made me feel good inside.

I nodded sticking out my pinky. "Absolutely." She grabbed my pinky sealing the deal and I was excited just as much as she was.

Before we knew it, the sound of an alarm went off and out of nowhere came her mom. Farah was surprised to see me sitting with her daughter. Disgusted even. The look she gave me told me she wasn't quite fond of me like she was with Jenna. Was it because I didn't have any money?

Saida quickly gathered up her things neatly holding on to them. The excitement that was once on her face was drained the instant that alarm went off. Confirming even more that this fifteen-minute thing was not a lie and very unethical. Still, I was going to keep my promise to her even if her mom didn't like it. I'll find a way.

"Saida, your violin teacher is waiting for you. Please, greet her and put all this art stuff away. We talked about this." Farah scolded her a little bit.

Saida nodded. "Yes ma'am." She turned back towards me and smiled. "Don't forget." That was all she said as I smiled back at her.

With that she ran off not sparing me another glance. It was sad knowing that the only other free time she'd get was a food break and bed. What kind of life was that? Farah, on the other hand, didn't seem to care and wasn't pleased by me talking to her daughter.

She stepped in front of me crossing her arms with this stern look on her face. "Don't forget what?" Farah asked me about what her daughter said to me.

I wasn't sure what to do in this situation, so I just lied. Well partially. "Oh, she was just telling me about some painters she liked." I said, not wanting to give away our little plan.

"Right, right." Farah didn't believe me. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice young lady and everything but don't get too comfortable with my daughter. She's not allowed to talk to people of your kind."

I was taken back by her words. This was the first time she outright said anything like that to me. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that after the discussion of my wealth some people wouldn't exactly be ok with it. However, she was the host of this shit show of a competition. Professionalism was lacking on all fronts.

"Excuse me?" I questioned not really knowing what to say to that.

She chuckled. "Don't take it personally dear. It's just...you don't have anything worthwhile. You're mainly here to fill a role and after that you can go back to living whatever hell whole of a life you were living before." Her tone of voice never changes.

I was stunned by what she said. To fill a role. What role in her eyes was I filling? The cheap, desperate role? Like what the fuck did she mean by that. More importantly why would she even say that?

From this moment on, it was clear she and I weren't going to like each other. Let's just pray I don't have to fight someone's mother.