𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒

TWELVE | THE BUILDUP

Mateo Belmonte returned to work the next day after a long, restless night.

He had stayed up almost till sunrise, worrying about the rumors that were being spread about him and his family. He had to do something. If paparazzi or spies broke into his workplace and spotted Felicity, it could make matters so much worse.

But he was also confused.

Though it was difficult for him to admit to himself, he cared about Felicity Hayes in a vastly different way now than he had when she first stepped foot into Belmonte Publishings. He had never once given a second glance to anyone more than a couple years younger than him, but he felt something towards Felicity that he couldn't explain. He had never felt this way towards anyone before.

He never struggled to keep his distance from her at first, but he was struggling with it more and more each passing day. He hadn't really given serious thought to pursuing a real relationship with her, but deep down, he didn't want to entirely rule out the possibility of it either.

And more than anything else, he just wanted to know who started the damn rumors in the first place. Why were they trying so hard to take down the Belmontes?

The man's heart jumped when he heard a gentle knock at his office door. He sighed before shouting his usual, "Come in," and watched as Felicity entered his office. Felicity smiled brightly at her boss as she stepped foot inside, and she spoke in a cheery tone, "Good morning, Mr. Belmonte."

Mr. Belmonte eyed her intensely before sliding his glasses onto his face, and shoving a pile of papers towards the edge of his desk. He shifted his attention back to his own work before stating, "I have all of your assignments ready for you now. Don't come back here until you're done with everything."

Felicity's smile faded away at his harsh tone, but she nodded her head and grabbed the stack of papers off his desk. He was acting cold towards her again, and she didn't know why.

But she didn't question it. It didn't matter why.

She just left.

But when Felicity sat back down at her desk, her body sunk into her chair with despair. She liked Mateo Belmonte so much that it hurt. But in times like these, which happened more often than not, she found herself questioning why.

He was rude. He was moody. He was cold. And he hurt her.

But he was kind. He was compassionate. He was warm. And he helped her.

Felicity was yanked out of her thoughts when her cellphone started vibrating against the wooden surface of her desk. She contemplated not answering the call when she saw that it was an unknown number, but she decided she better pick up anyway since it could be the rehabilitation center calling with updates on her mother.

"Hello?" Felicity said.

But when the caller responded, it turned out to be the very last person she would have ever expected to hear from on a random Tuesday morning.

Or on any day at all.

"Felicity, it's your father."

Felicity froze in place, nearly dropping her phone out of her grasp. She was unable to get any words out as the man continued to call her name.

"Felicity? Felicity? Are you there? It's me. It's your dad."

The girl's father had indeed vanished from her life at a very young age, but it was like her body recognized his voice. She had no actual memory of how his voice sounded, but she was having a complete physiological response to it as her body froze up.