The Billionaire's Authentic Daughter ▶️

8 2 | J U L I A

"You are distracted today."

I was startled out of a trance I  realized I was in–at Mr. Bennett's voice.

I stopped singing. "I'm sorry."

"Your voice breaks on high notes. It's happened after a long time. This is the third time today," he informed.

"I'm really sorry. I'll start again."

"Don't bother. You will make the same mistakes again as you've done with the previous songs."

I looked at him sheepishly, beyond embarrassed for having done so bad that day. "Then what should I do?"

"If you don't mind-you can share what is troubling you-with me. I've heard talking about things can help and it might finally allow you to focus."

"It's nothing. It's silly. I'm sorry I'm not focused today."

"Whatever it is, I don't think we're going to get much done today. I'll let you leave early. When I see you next time, I don't want you thinking about anything else other than what you're here for."

"Yes, I promise this won't happen again."

I packed my things and was about to leave when Mr. Bennett–who was at the piano practicing one of Beethoven's Sonatas–stopped me when he spoke. "A piece of advice, in the career path you've chosen you'll find a lot of things in the future which will distract you from what is really important but you must learn to never let it affect your work. No matter what."

I nodded. "I won't. Thank you."

He returned his attention to the piano and I took t as my cue to leave. I could still hear the resonating crescendos in the hallways long after I'd put considerable distance between us.

Between the sounds of the piano and the chirping of the birds outside, I heard another sound-like the click-clack of a pair of heels.

I reached the spiral staircase and the sound only amplified. I looked down to see a women's hand on the handrail as she climbed up. When she came into view, I instantly recognized her as the girl Jade bumped into that day in the library.

She smiled. "Hey, Julia. You're one of Mr. Bennett's student?"

She remembered my name but I struggled to remember hers. "Hi, yes I'm his student." I mumbled, hoping she wouldn't notice me trying to jog my memory.

She gave me a knowing smile. "You don't remember my name, do you?"

Apparently I had failed. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she waved it off. "My name is Thwayya Borg."

"Right. You have a beautiful name. I don't know how I can forget it."

"Happens to me all the time. And it's not that people forget my name that makes me mad. It's how some of them completely butcher it up. Twaya, Tayya, Theyya." She shook her head.

"That must be awful. What're you doing here?"

"I work here. Started a few days ago. I look after Mr. Bennett's mother."

"Oh, that's nice. What a coincidence for us to meet here."

"Yeah, I'm actually done here for the day and going back to my dorm. Are you going to the library?"

"Yes, my shift starts in an hour."

"You want to get coffee with me before that? I don't want to go back just yet. I know we've just met two times now but you seem cool and I'm really craving some caffeine right now and could use some company. You okay with that?"