Arabella stood there as if she had just seen a ghost. She could not believe that Everly had just caught her and her son sneaking back into the house at such an hour."Mom, what are you doing there?" Kieran asked. Everly stood up and walked to them. "Oh I could not sleep so I came out" Everly spoke with a smile but the sadness in her eyes was unmistakable."Are you good?" Arabella asked. The words flowed from her mouth so easily which shocked her because she had not yet gotten over the shock from seeing Everly out there."Of course, it's just one of those days" Everly knew it was not just one of those days. She was afraid of staying in the same room with Ethan. She feared that he would jump on her suddenly. "I better go to bed then, it would be a long day tomorrow" Arabella rambled. She was sure that what she was saying was nonsense but she just needed to get out of that place as soon as she could."Okay Good night" Everly said as Arabella hurried out. "I better get to bed as well" Ev
As much as Kieran wanted to know if his mom was fine he wanted to respect her decision. His father who was always domineering and had a word or two to put out there about every matter suddenly became so quiet about it.Kieran was confused and he decided to ask Arabella if maybe she noticed something about the whole situation."I will give you a ride to work, come on" Kieran said coldly walking by Arabella who was giving Everly travelling tips and what to expect in there."A ride?" Arabella asked in between her conversation with Everly."Oh my silly me, I must have kept you too long asking unnecessary questions when you are supposed to be getting to work" Everly clapped her hands in the air as she nudged Arabella's hands."They are not unnecessary questions, they are essential and might help your stay there" Arabella said as she continued to walk out. "I will tell you all you need to know as soon as I am back from work" she added.She stopped in her tracks and turned to Everly with a so
Kieran did not know how to bring it up and Arabella sat there like a doll who was dressed to not say anything but look pretty. She had put in extra effort today and she did not know why. She had on a bit of mascara and eyeliner, she added powder as well.These were the kinds of things she usually did not have in her to do but she had done it anyway. She thought Kieran on the other hand could not tell the difference because he had not said anything about it."Hmm," he cleared his throat making her glance at him. "I want to seek your opinion on something" he finally let out while she drilled holes into his head from her eyes."Oh," she said shifting in the seat. "What do you want to know?" she would take any opportunity to stripe herself of the deafening silence in the car."It's about mom, don't you think she is too strange?" "Strange what do you mean by strange?" Arabella asked. Maybe she was not as attentive as she should have been but she did not notice anything out of the ordinary
Kieran and Arabella were left in the office because Arabella had told him in the morning that they should not draw suspicion by going together even though everyone already knew about their living conditions.Arabella stood from her desk and glanced at Kieran's office door, for some reason she was nervous about the situation. "It's just a friendly dinner like between friends" she muttered to herself.She took gentle walks to the door trying to stabilize herself. "When did you become friends," she said with a sigh. No matter how much she wanted to deceive herself she knew it was not possible to do so. Kieran was the one to blame for everything going on. If he had just kept his feelings to himself then she would not be having this torn back and forth of emotions.She knocked on the door and then pushed it open. She stood at the door frame using her hand to support it open. "Everyone left already so we can go too," she said pointing to the door."Oh" he said shuffling the papers in his ha
"Are you sure this is okay? I could have afforded something more expensive" Arabella said as they brought out their pizza."This is fine, I thought you were going to treat me to a meal I liked?" he asked and she nodded."Yeah but you know considering your status, I would have thought that you would like something maybe more fancy and expensive" "Considering my status?" Kieran blinked at her in confusion. "What is my status?" "Come on you can't tell me you don't know what is being said about you" Arabella said and his eyes widened."Well, you aren't as popular as one of those rich young masters but a lot of people praise you for your ability to invest in various kinds of works around the world" she explained."I know that but what has that got to do with my status?" he asked taking a pizza and biting from it."Well, you are not on the same level as me, I see you from a different scope, I am like this daily nine-to-five worker where I depend on a salary" she started.He gestured for he
"I said I was going to pay, why did you pay?" "Because I don't want you to pay me back with just pizza" Kieran said in a tone that said how was that not obvious to her. "I asked you countless times if you were okay with the meal of choice and you said yes and you were the one who even chose the meal," Arabella said with a facepalm. She could not believe he was making such a move on her. Now that he had paid she had to still repay him even though she thought she would do it in one go and get it over with."Now I have to do this again," she said in a groan."You say it like it's a bad thing," Kierans said with his head tilted as they walked out of the restaurant."Not like it's a bad thing, it's just that I thought I would do this and get it over with" she said and he nodded."Just treat me to something better next time" he said and she nodded."There is no way I am letting you be the one to pick the place. I will do proper research and let you know what I came up with" he sounded so
Arabella was not a fan of being called a nerd, she had a kind of trauma from hearing the word. Although her reaction was always physical and not anything mentally or psychological she did not like being associated with the word because she always had a bad experience being called that.The people who called her nerds always turned out to be bullies who wanted nothing much with her aside from bullying her for being smart. "I am sorry" Kieran went straight into defence.He could tell from her face that she was not pleased with being called a nerd. "I did not mean it in any way you took it, I just meant that you have always been smart and a fan of books," he said quickly. He watched her his eyes never wavering from her face as her tensed expression lightened up a bit and her mouth which was in a straight line turned into a curve."I did not know that the word was a bad thing now," he said and she shook her head."It's not a bad thing I just do not like being addressed by that word" she
"What?" Arabella felt her mouth hang open as her face turned into a shocked expression. "What?" he said back as if he did not understand what she was saying."What did you say?" she mustered her courage to ask."What did I say?" he asked as he tried to keep his eyes off her and on the road."You just asked me..." "I don't know why I said that" he said quickly cutting her off before she could complete her statement. "I don't know why I said it and I cannot justify the reason, I am sorry," he said in haste like he could not wait for the situation he created to be over. "Oh" she said biting a corner of her lips. She knew that if she remained a minute more she would be feeling more than embarrassed so she grabbed the handle of the hand and pushed it open. "I better go now," she said as she dropped down from the car and walked away as swiftly as her legs could take her."What was that?" Kieran asked himself when he saw her enter the house."You were already having a great rapport with h