𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

1: "he will stay here"

{Beverly}

"Mumma?" I sit outside her room, waiting for her to answer but nobody replies.

"What are you doing here Beverly?" Ms. Moore asks as she bends down to my level.

"It's mum. She's not answering. I've been sitting her for the past twenty m-minutes" she gives me a sad smile and forwards her hand for me to take.

I gently lock my hands with hers and she pulls me up. She helps me straighten my dress and soothes my hair.

"She isn't here my dear. She went out with your dad" I frown at her. Mumma doesn't leave without telling me .

I nod slightly and walk back to my room. I fiddle with the corners of my dress and sit by the window. Gracy makes her way through the door and rushes towards me.

I giggle and pull her into my lap. Gracy is my 3 weeks old chartreux. I picked her up from streets when she was shivering in the cold. Ofcourse , dad wasn't happy about it.

Mumma convinced him that she won't be causing any trouble. I made sure that she stayed away from dad at all times. After a few days , dad warmed up to her and now they are besties!! Okay, not besties but yes, friends?

After mama's death, papa engrossed himself in so much work that he did not have any time for me. That's when I tried to convince him to go on a picnic with me .

It took me a whole week to convince him for that. And that's where he met mumma. Hanna, that's my stepmom's name. She insisted me on calling her mumma, at first it was very awkward but now it's a habit.

Gracy shifts in my lap and snuggles deeper into me. I continue stroking her hair and soon her eyes shut and she goes to sleep.

"BEVERLY" I hear dad yell downstairs. Meaning they are back. I carefully place Gracy on my bed and cover her with a warm blanket.

I rush downstairs and find papa on a call with someone. Mumma looks at me and opens her arms. I smile and give her a tight hug.

"Y-you didn't tell me that you would be gone. I waited for you outside your door" I tell her.

"I know ,my love. Ms. Moore told me that you stayed there for such a long time. You should gone back to your room when you got no answer. And I'm sorry for not leaving a note. I wanted to tell you but you were sleeping " she explained.

"It's fine. I just wanted to ask the recipe for the cake you made that day" she laughs and pats my head.

"We'll make it together. Yes?" She looks at me and I nod excitedly.

"Beverly" dad calls. I turn to him.

"Yes dad?" Dad gestures towards the couch and I sit. He sat opposite to me while mumma sat besides him.

"You remember the time we went to Russia?" He asked me . Ofcourse I do, I was fifteen at that time. We stayed at one of his friends house.

"Well, the friend at whose place we stayed will come to Italy and he'll be staying here." He informed me . It wouldn't bother me but I do feel uncomfortable infront of any new person . That's why I have such a hard time socialising.

"H-here?" He nods and mumma smiles at me.

"It's okay Beverly. He's a nice man. And you will not have to talk to him much as I've heard he doesn't talk much" she looks at dad and he agrees.

"Also, we'll be gone for most of the day so it's only during dinner and breakfast you'll meet him" I simply agree with them as I don't want to cause any more trouble for them.

"Dad can I go to Maya's house after classes tomorrow?" I asked. Dad looks at me with a blank expression.

"Yes ofcourse. But be back by 8. I want to atleast introduce you to nikolai" that name sounds so familiar.

Nikolai petrov, dad's friend. The first time I met him, he didn't speak much. He just patted my head and asked my name. That too when I asked why he wasn't asking my name.

Mr. petrov might be a good man but to me he doesn't look less than any Don, one in the movies and books. He seems very rude and mean. But everyone says not to judge anyone so quickly, so....I'll just stick to that

I will just maintain my distance. Yes.

A/n: hey, pretty people. So here's the first chapter. Hope you like it!