My Bully, My Neighbour

Chapter 9 (Edited)

I woke up at seven when my alarm rang. I brushed and brought my laptop out from my bag. It was around two in the afternoon back home, so Kaitlyn would be able to answer my call. I braided a small set of my hair as I waited for her to pick up. Sure enough, after a few rings, Kaitlyn answered. "Hi!" Kaitlyn screamed and I too left my hair to greet her. "How are you Kait?" I asked. "I'm good! How are you? And New York!" Kaitlyn asked me. "It's so amazing, I wish you were here. I didn't get time to do any sightseeing because of the crazy amount of shopping I've had to do for the house, but the atmosphere is so crazy!" I said and Kaitlyn laughed. 

"So, what big news did you want to tell me?" I asked. "Can you spot it?" Kaitlyn asked as she raised a hand to brush her hair away from her face. I spotted a sparkle in her finger and let out a ear-piercing scream. Kaitlyn laughed as I began to go mad with happiness. "He proposed! Marcus proposed!" I screamed and I threw a pillow in my excitement. "Yeah!" Kaitlyn said excitedly. "Oh my god! When did this happen? How? You have to tell me EVERYTHING!" I demanded. Kaitlyn was grinning as she told me how Marcus had invited both their families to dinner and then proposed to her in front of everyone. "Kait I'm so happy for you!" I squealed and hugged my pillow. "Thanks Aria. I wanted to know, will you be my maid of honour?" Kaitlyn asked and I screamed again. "Of course I will!" I said. 

My eyes were beginning to blur with tears. I was so happy for my sister, it felt like my heart would burst. "Oh, are you crying?" Kaitlyn asked me and I wiped my tears away. "I'm just so happy for you. And I'm so excited!" I grinned. I could see my image in the corner. My cheeks were red and my eyes were starting to show signs of puffiness. In the background, I heard someone calling Kaitlyn. "Yeah, I'll be there. Come say hi to Aria first! Marcus is coming." Kaitlyn said. She handed the phone to Marcus and he popped his head into the camera's view and waved to me goofily. "Hey Aria, how are you?" He asked. "I'm great. Congratulations, big guy! You got her!" I teased. "Aww, thanks. Look, I'm sorry, there are some people here to meet me and Kaitlyn. We have to go." Marcus said apologetically. I waved of his apologies. "No! It's okay, even I need to get ready to face the day. Have fun you two!" I said. After saying bye, I shut my laptop and sighed. 

I checked the time, it was half past seven. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured that I might as well as get out of bed and do something productive. I made myself some toast and coffee and gobbled it in fifteen minutes. I noticed that I had no food at all, so I decided to go shopping. I showered and left for the grocery shop a few streets away. I purchased a new loaf of bread, milk, cheese, Cheerios, broccoli, bell peppers, chocolate sauce, a slab of chocolate, salt, ground pepper and (as a whim) a large jar of nutella. I browsed through their store and added other basic necessities like toothpaste, towels and shampoo to my cart. I paid and carried the bags home myself. 

This was one reason I moved to New York, the fact that I had to do most of my work on my own. I was pampered till fourth grade. When I shifted to my second school, I lived in their hostel because it was quite far from home. Papa would always bring me home for the holidays, but I became accustomed to working for myself. Once I returned home, I found being waited on slightly uncomfortable. 

I walked slowly. I had two bags of groceries in my hands, but I paid attention to the small things about early-morning New York. I stopped to buy flowers from a lady on the sidewalk. I also stopped at a store to buy today's newspaper. When I reached my building, the doorman, Alberto, rushed forward to help me with my groceries. "Thank you Alberto." I said. I handed him one bag and kept the other with me. "I would have brought you the newspaper ma'am. I was under the impression that you were Mr.Rivera, so I didn't get it to you." Alberto said. "Mr.Rivera...you mean Leo. He's not at home?" I asked. "No, he went somewhere about two hours ago." Alberto told me. He called for the lift and I kept my bag down on the floor. My phone began to ring, and I saw that Leo was calling me.

"Hey Aria! You up yet?" Leo asked once I answered. "Yes. I called my cousin and went out to shop for groceries." I told him. "So you're not at home right now?" Leo asked. "No, I'm waiting for the elevator." I said. "No no no! Don't get in. I'm I'll be there in two minutes, so wait for me." Leo said and hung up. Confused, asked Alberto to drop my groceries at home. He agreed and I waited for Leo at the entrance of the lobby. True to his word, he was driving into the building. I smiled in greeting as he got out of the car. The other doorman stepped out and began to remove luggage from the back of Leo's car. "Whose luggage is that?" I asked.

Leo grinned. "Aria, remember I told you that I had someone you needed to meet? Well, I want you meet Prudence White, my girlfriend."