I Love the President's Daughter

Chapter 8: Complications

CALUM POV

I came home from hanging out with Scarlett after the movie ended and a few more kisses were exchanged. Uncle Kent was quiet the whole ride home, but I felt like he had something on his mind. 

We entered the dark house, he turned the lights on, and I kicked off my shoes, ready for bed, when Uncle Kent cleared his throat. "Calum can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, his voice solemn. "Sure. Is something wrong?" I asked nervously. Kent looked uncomfortable and started, "I've noticed that you've been spending a lot of time with Scarlett lately, and while I like that you are being respectful and not causing trouble at my work, I don't want you spending time alone with her, at least not in a way you could get in trouble." He said. 

"What do you mean?" I asked. Kent scratched the back of his head, "I mean that nothing can happen between you two. Nothing romantic. This job is important to me and she's the president's daughter, I'll be roasted if anything happens to her, whether it's heartbreak or something worse. So you two just need to cool it a bit okay?" He said, his eyes pleading. I was stuck, Uncle Kent was my uncle, he never asked much of me, I was living at his house. But then there was Scarlett, this amazing girl, who makes me feel like I've never felt before. "Please Cal." He begged. I sighed, "Okay, we'll cool it." I told him, faking a smile. "Thank you Calum, really. You're a good kid." He said, patting my shoulder. I gave him a fake, but convincing, smile and headed to bed, my mind swirling with trying to figure out what to do now. 

SCARLETT POV

The next morning I was practically skipping around the halls of school. Calum had headed into school earlier  so I hadn't seen him yet. I couldn't help but want to impress him so I got up early to put together a nice outfit. After destroying my closet, I finally settled on a black and pink striped dress with quarter sleeves, black gladiator sandals, and my blonde hair straightened. 

By lunch I had yet to see Calum, but we had the same lunch so I knew I'd see him now. 

I finally spotted his large body in line and I quickly trotted to catch up to him. "Hey Calum!" I greeted him cheerfully. His face was blank, "Uhh Hi." He mumbled quickly, not looking me in eyes. "I haven't seen you all day, have you been hiding?" I teased, hoping he would lighten up. "He turned to me, "Scarlett, you're really nice and I like talking with you but I think that's all we should do. Just talk  bit in school and on car rides to and from school." He said, breaking my heart in those two sentences. 

I didn't want to show him how embarrassed I felt, so I just gave him a fake, nonchalant expression, "Okay that's fine. We don't have to talk at all then, it seems it would just be easier. So I'll stay out of your way and you'll stay out of mine. Goodbye Calum." I said sharply, turning on my heel and heading to the bathroom trying not to cry. 

--BREAK--- 

The rest of the day dragged on and I couldn't wait to get home and be alone. I had to drive home with Calum in the car unfortunately,  but I plugged my headphones in and cranked the music up. Getting into my house, I booked it straight to my room and locked my door, staying there until I knew Kent and Calum had gone home. 

I felt stupid, humiliated, heartbroken, and angry. I was angry at Calum for dropping me, but I was also mad at myself for letting my guard down to someone I just met, giving him the power to hurt me like Calum did. 

The next few days I avoided Calum as much as I could until one day I ran into him at the water fountain. I tried backing away but his voice stopped me. "Scarlett, wait." His voice urgent but soft. I turned around to face him. "Calum, what do you want from me?" I asked him frustratedly. "To explain about the other day. Can we talk tonight at your house?" He asked, his eyes pleading. "Sure. Tonight though, that's all I'm giving you. 5 o'clock." I said firmly, turning on my heal and walking back to my class, not even taking a sip at the water fountain. 

CALUM POV

After  Scarlett agreed to talk to me, I knew I had to also talk to Uncle Kent and tell him that staying away from Scarlett just wasn't going to work for me anymore. 

---BREAK---

Later that afternoon, I had Uncle Kent pick me up from the house.

"What did you need me to come back to the house for?" He asked as he pulled up. 

"I need you to take me to see Scarlett." I demanded, his face crinkled, "Calum I thought you said you were fine with staying away from Scarlett." He said. "I tried Uncle Kent, really. But I can't, I'm drawn to Scarlett and I want to be with her. Please." I begged him.

My uncle sighed and scratched his head, "Fine, get it. Let's go get your girl." He said, pulling out onto the street. 

After passing through the security gates, we went to the front of the building and I walked, more like sprinted in, I took the marble steps to the second floor two steps at a time. I ran to her bedroom doors where Beck was standing. 

"I'm here to see Scarlett." I said, and as if knowing I was there. "Come in." She said quietly, and Beck nodded and stepped aside. 

I stepped into her huge room. The room was very organized and was a cream color with a canopy around her bed and posters filling the walls. "This room is nice." I commented as I looked around. "Thank you." She said quietly. She pointed to two plush seats, "You can sit" She offered. I took a seat and she sat beside me. "So I wanted to explain why I was so cold the other day." I started and she nodded. 

"Well Uncle Kent has been my idol and favorite person since I was a little kid. He's been awesome taking me in, and well I feel like I owe him. He loves this job and working here, and he knows how special you are, and he didn't want us to pursue something more than friendship for it to end messy and wind up hurting his job. I don't want to make him lose this job, but I can't not talk to you or be near you. I tried and I failed. I'm so sorry that I hurt you the other day, but I was so torn." I said, hoping she would forgive me.

"You really hurt me. For you to go from kissing me the night before to telling me you wanted basically to stop talking crushed me." She said her voice wobbling. I reached for her hand, rubbing my thumb in gentle circles over her knuckles. "Scarlett, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I promise it will never happen again." I told her, looking deep into her beautiful blue eyes. "Good, because I missed talking to you dummy." She said, her lips curling into a smile. "Being the daughter of the president sure can make life hard and constricting." She said. "What do you mean?" I asked her.

 "Well besides this instance, dating has always been hard, I barely get to hang out with friends, I need a constant bodyguard, I can't go out, I haven't even been able to learn how to drive or take driving lessons!" She said frowning. I leaned closer to her, tilting her chin up, "Don't frown baby, I'm going to make your dreams come true." I promised her. Scarlett smiled, "How?" She asked. 

"This weekend, I'm giving you your very first driving lesson.".