Watching Her

chapter 39: a dreaded call

My phone rung, awakening me from my fantastic sleep. While I rubbed my eyes, trying to regain all of my senses, it continued ringing, the lousy noise being able to annoy me this early in the day. I huffed in despair, wanting to know who was deciding to wake me up at this ungodly time. 

Then, I picked up the phone and immediately regretted pressing the green cellphone button.

"Good morning darling! What took you so long to answer me? I've been leaving endless texts." The thick accent in my mother's voice was something I really never had missed as it reminded me of rainy days and undercooked Pelmeni to spice up our family dinners if we ever had any. 

"Yeah, sorry Mother, I just didn't see them." I grumbled, rubbing my eye as I still could not see straight. I was barely awake and she was already bugging me about my unfilled duties as a daughter. 

"I don't like this "Yeah", you always say. Start talking like a woman." Her sudden change of language came out harsher than expected, creating goosebumps on my arms as I held my phone to my ear. 

"I apologize, I will." I gritted out between my teeth, trying my best not to sound cranky or anything else my mother could read off of my tone. She had always been the only one criticizing my choice of language, it had never mattered to anybody else.

"Good." I small pause as she looked for another topic to talk about to her daughter. "How is it with Mr. Bane? I haven't gotten any updates yet." She was not content with Mateo's missing messages, she probably even expected phone calls about my behavior and how I had settled in. It was as if she as just down the hall all over again. 

"Mateo-" I corrected myself as soon as his first name came out of my mouth. "Mr. Bane is nice, we have gotten along well with each other." I did not dare tell her about the bathtub scene, nor the pool incident, nor any other small encounters that had been refreshing for me. I secretly hoped they had been nice for him as well. 

"Oh, so now you are on a first name basis." There was a slight shock in her voice, but more positive than expected. Did she want us to get along? Suspicion was rising inside of me, but I knew I could not simply confront her about it. "That happened sooner than I thought it would." 

"What do you mean by that?" I fully sat up in my bed, the thick blanket surrounding me as I anticipated her answer. Taking the risk and asking my mother that was not the most smart and thoughtful idea, but I did not have any since I had been here. 

"Oh well," Her tone sounded like she wanted to end the conversation. I was getting on to something I was supposed to know nothing about. "Your father wanted this to work out, so it is good to hear about you two." 

You two?

Us both? Mateo and I? I was smart enough to not keep digging. 

"That is certainly fortunate." I mumbled, trying to scramble the thoughts in my head to an ultimate decision or idea. 

"Indeed." I heard her smacking her lips together. "I have to go now, remind Mr. Bane to respond to your father's emails." She did not leave time for me to answer her, neither to say her goodbye. 

There was a wild thought rising up to my mind, that this - me being here - was meant to be more or even something different than a simple behavior correction stay. And I did not know if I liked that or not.

- 

There were not many minutes left for me to regather myself as I sat in the kitchen, before Mateo came in. He was all sweaty, his black long sleeve was clinging to his muscles as he headed towards the cabinet for a glass of water. My eyes silently followed him, how even his toned back was seen in this shirt. A shirt that made me question if I ever wanted him to take it off. 

My eyes went back to my cup of coffee, my finger scratching at the skin of the others while I thought about my mother's words. I knew I could not discuss it with Mateo either, not knowing what would await me as soon as he would find out that I knew about some kind of thing that was planned between him and my parents. Something that involved me, yet something I was supposed to know nothing about. I always despised them for keeping such important things from me - the older I got, the more the despise rose. 

"My father apparently wrote you." I mumbled, not exactly having figured out how to tell this intoxicating man that he was supposed to go on his computer and write a satisfying email to his business partner and father of who he was basically looking out for. In some way he would count as my legal guardian, a thought that haunted my mind. I knew nothing about him and yet he had so much power of me. 

"Yes, I've seen that, I just haven't had the time to answer him." He quickly answered, gulping down his glass and directly filling it with more water. He must have been working out downstairs. 

Silence filled the room once again. Uncomfortable silence. I really just wanted to vanish back up in my room, but I new it would be impolite to do so after his sudden appearance. I didn't have anything better to do today anyways and my mother's phone call had set me in a rather bad mood. 

Then, I heard Mateo set the glass down.

"Let me show you something." He turned to me.