The Devoted

3: Cars, Cafés, Castellano

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I stared blankly at the vast surroundings of the estate, making myself comfortable while sitting on a bench in the veranda.

The warm breeze rippled through my clothes as I took a sip of my brewed coffee. At 4 a.m., with the cool clear sky and the warm 'woosh' of the wind, I felt, for the first time in years, at peace.

I let my tensed muscles relax and freed my mind of worries and uneasy thoughts about my life. For a minute, I'd let my mind forget what my current situation is and conjured up an image of my father smiling. The smile he had, brought a beautiful lively shade of blue in his eyes and placed wrinkles in his handsome face as evidence that he had spent his forty-five years of existence happily smiling and content. I could only sigh at how my father's kind face brought calmness in me.

The faint sound of footsteps coming close snatched away the little bit of peace I've managed to have from me and when I turned to look at who it was, my eyes were met with deep green ones. My heart flipped at the sudden eye contact and my body that was once relaxed, felt tight and strained again, remembering how he acted last night. Mr. Castellano sat down beside me, making the bench slightly creak.

"What are you doing up so early, Sage?" He calmly said, his deep, low voice rumbling. I sheepishly lowered my gaze to my coffee and drank half of it, just to muster up some strength to talk.

"I was waiting for you." I murmured right after I swallowed my drink. It was true, I wanted to talk to him and tell him that I needed a job so I could afford to rent a small apartment to stay in until I found the courage to go to my mother. I thought all of this out thoroughly last night when sleep wouldn't pay me a visit.

Moments of silence passed until finally, he spoke.

"Why were you waiting for me?" He questioningly arched a brow at me and I fought the urge to touch a scar that marred his face, just above his raised thick eyebrow. From afar, you could only see perfection, not a scar could be seen. But when you got closer, a fraction of an inch closer, you could see all of him. All of his scars that flawed his face and somehow revealed a deeper side of him. These were flaws that made him beautiful.

"I was thinking about finding a new job. I thought about needing money so that I can rent a small apartment to stay in." I managed to say with my heart beating unusually fast. I didn't understand why I was always like this, why I was acting out of the norm. Maybe because he was staring down at me with such intensity. Maybe because his green eyes began to darken as he focuses on my lips. I felt them slightly quiver under his gaze.

I looked away and pushed the center of my glasses above my nose. Remembering that I still had my cup of coffee, I brought the cup to my lips and greedily gulp down the rest of the drink just because my throat felt dry all of a sudden.

Strained silence filled us once again and I was beginning to think that he was very fond of silence since it always seems to consume us whenever he was around.

Just a few moments later and I decided to timidly look up at Mr. Castellano under my lashes. His gaze was straight to where the lush green environment was and it somehow mirrored his eyes, eyes that held the colors of leaves and lets you be lost in its own forest of green. His lips on the other hand, came to form a thin line that showed his disapproval. 

I couldn't help but fiddle with the hem of my shirt, noticing his tall and menacing frame, a great contrast to my much smaller one.

"You know pequeña, I can always lend you money if you need it." His thick, rich accent was evident when he spoke the foreign word that I've heard once from him before. I wanted to ask what it means but now was not the time, especially when what he had just said began processing in my mind.