Darin's POV
When I reach the mansion, I see my parents are already out and are waiting for me by their SUV. I look at my watch and it is two minutes past seven. I sigh. I know all too well that my father is a very, very punctual man. Unlike me. And I am in for some damn lecture now! I park my car and get out of it. My dad has a serious expression etched on his face and I know that he is about to lash on me. But I am just two minutes late for crying out loud!!"Hey! mom, dad." I say with a sheepish smile across my lips trying my best not to be a victim of his oncoming outburst. My mom shakes her head at me."Had your mom not called you earlier to remind to come by before seven, young lad?" Asks my father in a cold tone that is enough to make me gulp. Yes, she had called me but what can I say? That it slipped my mind? No damn way happening!"Uhmm...I am going to have a seminar, dad. So, I was preparing for the same and kind of forgot to take notice of the time. Sorry?" I say sheepishly."Okay, that is enough, Ben. Now, are we not getting late?" I let out a breath of relief. My mom comes to my rescue, as always. "Come on, get into the car now, both of you." My mom hollers us to the car.My dad does not say a word again after that. He loves and respects my mom too much to go against her decision. And I admire him for that.After a good ten minutes of drive, we reach at Rossi mansion."Be in your best behavior tonight, Darin." Says my father in the same cold tone and I just nod weakly at him. What wrong have I done now? He has always been strict, but loving. But nowadays, I feel like I don't know him anymore. My mom comes up to me and hugs me from the side in a reassuring way and I pass her a small smile. I won't let her think that I am by my dad's behavior towards me, even if it is true.We are invited in by a maid. A few moments later, an elderly couple come into the big hall where we stand."Oh, hello! Mr. and Mrs. Morellis." Says the man."Hello to you too, Mr. and Mrs. Rossi." Oh! So they are the Rossis. "Please come, this way." Mrs. Rossi leads us into the big dining hall. I sneakily look the way of the dining table where so many delicious dishes are placed. I can feel my mouth water. It has been a while since I ate somewhere other than our cafeteria in the university or sometimes my mom's cooked food at our mansion.I force myself to look away as I remember my father's warning from earlier."Hello, son. How is it going?" Mr. Rossi asks me I whip my head towards him and smile tightly."I am doing good, Mr. Rossi." He nods and whispers something into his wife's ear. She nods and walks away. I wonder what they talked about!As we sit there on the lavish couch in the living room, I let my eyes wander around. I am taking in the beauty of the pictures hanging on the wall when my eyes meet those deep chocolate brown ones. My eyes widen in surprise. Is it real?I see a girl coming into the living room along with Mrs. Rossi. She has those same set of chocolate brown eyes which I had seen that night. But her hair is long and brown. Is she not D? No, she can't be!! They both just have the same eyes. It can be a coincidence, right?"Come, Ara." Mr. Rossi calls her as she comes near to where we are sitting."This is our daughter, Arabella." Her eyes settle on me and she smiles warmly at me after a moment. Though I am more than surprised right now, I return her smile coming into my right mind."Hello!" She squeaks and I frown. Her voice is nothing like D. Hers was deep, strong and dominant which I love to hear. She is definitely not her!"Hello, dear. Come, sit with us." She nods before making herself comfortable on the couch infront of us."So darling, tell us something about you, what you like and what you don't." My mom starts the conversation. She smiles."Sure. I am currently planning to pursue my graduation in zoology. I have always wanted to do something for animals. And I like painting too.""Oh, that is great. You know, our son here is also into science. You two are really connecting somewhat." My mom informs her."Really?" Arabella looks in my direction and I nod slowly. "Oh, then can we meet sometime again? I need some guidance.""Ofcourse, you can. After all you two are getting engaged soon." Says my dad. Her eyes widen and her cheeks get flushed as she smiles shyly. Is she blushing? Is she really okay with all this engagement drama? I shake my head. She has not even started her first year in graduation yet.Hormonal teenager!I scoff internally, ofcourse, I don't need my dad to get any more mad at me than he already is. So, I need to play along.I look at Arabella to find that she is already looking at me through her lashes with a shy smile. As much as I want cringe at that, I can't. So, I smile back at her and her smile gets wider showing me her perfect white pearls."Alright, so let's have dinner then. Shall we?" Asks Mr. Rossi. I look at my father while praying to God for him to say yes 'cause I am damn hungry. I can eat a man right now. And looks like my prayers are answered as he nods his head. I control the loud cheer of 'yes' that was threatening to come out of my mouth and stand up as Mr. and Mrs. Rossi lead us to the dining table containing all the delicacy waiting to be devoured.As I am making myself comfortable on the chair, I feel an intense stare on me, and as I look up, I see that it is Arabella boring her eyes into my soul, with an unknown expression. She notices that I have caught her staring me and averts her eyes. I frown thinking why she was looking at me like that but that is pushed to the back of my mind when food is served.Darin's POV "Hello, Darin!" I flinch when I heard that voice. No, not again! I slowly turn my swivel around to see Arabella standing at my room door. I force myself to smile at her."Hello, Arabella! Please come in." After all, you have taken the pain to come to my house even if you I never invited you. I stop myself from blurting that out. She smiles brightly and comes into my room. After that day when we went to have dinner at their place, my father told her that she could come to my penthouse where I live, alone, if she needs any help from me. So, here she is now, in my penthouse. I guess, she is here because she needs my help in something and not just want to pass time with me! "Hey, what are you doing?" She asks with enthusiasm, something I am lacking right now. "As you can see, I was trying to study. I have a seminar to present in less than three days from now." I inform her thinking that she will leave now. But guess I am damn wrong 'cause she goes to sit on my bed beside w
"Uh...I don't think so." I can see that his eyes are frowning as I say this. "What? I...I am so sorry, I just thought that we could be friends or something. I am so sorry I overstepped my boundaries." He starts rambling. "Darin! I mean to say that ofcourse we can be friends but the thing is...you don't seem to be too fond of me. I mean, from the day we met, you never showed any interest in talking to me or even when I talked to you. So..." I trail off not knowing what else to say. I just want to get away from here, from him, as soon as possible 'cause I don't think that I can control my emotions while talking to him like this seeing as I have almost lost control while talking about my papa. He sure has a way to get people to talk their feelings out. And I sure as hell, can't keep up with my act anymore today. I feel fed up now. The only thing I can think of is my bed, in which I will just sleep. "Hey, I am sorry if you felt that way. I know that I can be a total jerk sometimes but
Entering the huge campus, I feel a bit awkward since I am not wearing a uniform like everyone else here. I walk straight towards the cafeteria of this campus where Darin is waiting for me. He has called me some ten minutes ago that his lunch break has started, so here I am to meet him. I am wearing a mustard yellow color sundress with ankle length black boots. I usually don't wear any makeup but since I am into this act, I have to. So, I have applied some foundation, compact powder and a bit of mascara. As soon as I enter the cafeteria, my eyes found the one I was looking for. There he is, sitting at a corner table alone with one of his earplugs plugged into his ear as he surfs through his phone. I go near him and sit infront."Hey!" "Hi!" He squeals, surprised. And I laugh. "Arabella, you almost got me a heart attack there!" He complains with a cute pout. Aww..."Sorry, sorry. I saw that you were quite busy with your phone, so I did not disturb you." I say teasing him."He glares a
Darin's POV Just as my last class ends, I quickly get out of the room and go straight to where I have parked my car. Reaching there, I call back my best friend who has called me three times earlier but I could not pick his call because I was in class. So, I had just left him a message saying that I will call him later. "Hey!" I chirp as soon as he picks up."Hi, where are you now?" He asks impatiently. I know that patience is not his virtue!"In my campus, why?" "Okay. Can you come pick me up, real quick? I have been waiting here for a cab but can't find any." "Alright, but where are you right now?" I ask getting into my car."I am at my training base. Come quick." "Okay!" I say before hanging up and turn on the ignition. But then a thought comes running into my mind. Oh, no! I have told Arabella that I will come by her mansion. But now I can't, my best friend needs me. I kill the ignition and call Arabella. And after five rings, she picks up."Hey!" Her light voice comes from th
"Please, just agree with us? It will be good for our plan, don't you think so? And besides, at times like this, you would not have to fret yourself much." Says Mr. Rossi. "Yes, darling! Don't think about this much now." Now says Mrs. Rossi."And don't think that we are doing it just for the plan. You are always welcome here." She adds."Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Rossi, but..." "Please, no more buts!" She interrupts me. "You don't understand! I don't stay alone in that apartment." I tell them. "Whom do you stay with then? Your father said that you have come here alone." I shake my head at Mr. Rossi. "No, I don't stay alone. I have my Bambi with me." They frown at that. "Who?" They both ask at once. "Bambi! Oh, sorry. Bambino, my baby. He is two by the way." I inform them proudly. But this does nothing to help the creases that are formed on their foreheads. "You have a kid?""That too about two years of age?" Okay, I think they are confused!"Uh..yes! And he is an iguana.
Darin's POV "Darin! Come, let's go." Arment yells out for me to come out. Right now, I am in my bedroom. I have decided to put on a sweatpants and a black baseball cap. Lastly, I put on a hoodie. Since black is really eye catching, I decided on a plain grey one. Once I am done, I go out of my room with my wireless earplugs and phone in my hands. "Okay, let's get going." I say coming out."Finally!" He exclaims before going out with following his suit after locking my house. He settles on his beautiful blue and black sports bike which he is going to use for the match. However, it does not fail to remind of the most beautiful all midnight black street bike that belongs to her. Shaking my head slightly, I sit on the rear of his bike and he takes off to the destination. ....."DRACO, DRACO, DRACO..." The audience is screaming when the announcer introduces another participant who enters into the track with his black and green sports bike."And, the last competitor that we have here is
Darin's POV Phew...As soon as she drives away, I release a long awaited breath. Easing my hood, I look up in the direction where she went off. I don't know why but I did not wish her to see me tonight, but I am more than contented now that I have seen her again. Even if I could not face tonight as well. But her voice...I never realized that I have missed her voice so much! That same deep, dominating voice..."Arrogant bitch!" I whip my head to my left and notice that Arment is in a very bad mood.Commendable, after all, he could not win the match and now he has to face her cold attitude. I can understand his reaction. If I were in his position, I would have reacted the same way. But that is not the case here for I know her enough to be able to say that she is not bad even though her attitude can ward off other people. "Hey, man! Congrats anyway! At least you have come in the second position if not first. Don't be disheartened. You will do it the next time." I console him. He has wo
Darin's POV "Oh, and one more thing, the day after tomorrow is my mom's birthday and my dad is throwing a party. So, you will come, right?" I ask her hoping that she would say yes.Utter silence. That is what I hear from the other end in reply. "Ara? You there?" I call her. And after some five seconds, she answers. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. Anyway, yes, I will surely come to celebrate!" Smiling, as I am going to say something to her, she yawns but it comes out muffled. Maybe she is trying to press it with her palm. "Ara, I think you should go to bed now. You sound tired." And she chuckles awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess.""Go take some rest. And I am going to bed too. So, we will talk tomorrow, okay?" "Alright, goodnight!""Goodnight!" Saying that, I hang up and just stare at my phone screen which is now black. Black. Suddenly those deep enchanting chocolate brown eyes come into my mind. No, don't go there again! I scold myself. Why can't I seem to forget her? I admit that