In Love with That Guy | HUANG ZI TAO

II

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Desiree woke up from the loud banging on her bedroom door. She unconsciously called out, 'Dad?'

Her head was throbbing yet rose, still half asleep. She was yawning when she opened the door and asked why but his dead-serious expression truly woke her up. Her braids somehow helped her hair be in place but the fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth nor drank some water bothered her.

Lucio sure was annoyed as he was standing and knocking at the door for five minutes. He clicked his tongue and dragged her downstairs while saying, 'I told you to wake up early.'

She whispered sorry and obediently followed his steps.

'Eat up,' he ordered.

She looked at him, at the table, then back at him. There were cute fluffy pancakes and a cup of hot chocolate in front of her. She slowly sat down while looking outside the window. The gray sky didn't match the time on the stencil clock in the living room. It didn't look like it was nine in the morning, more like the dawn.

She then peeked at him before checking the pancakes once more as it was well-served, not something that you would imagine to get from him. Desiree scanned his features one more time.

'He has a handsome face but you would need to add a scary and mysterious aura,' she thought.

The kitchen and the living room were in one open space, she could see that he was playing something with his tablet as he laid down on the sofa bed with his feet dangling on the armrest, which she concluded that he was that tall.

'Thanks for the food,' she muttered before taking a bite. When she was finished eating, she washed the plates and went up to get her stuff. Lucio was still playing.

It didn't take her long to pack her things back as she hadn't used any of it except for her pajamas last night.

She wanted to call him out but she wasn't able to remember his name. 'What was it again?' she asked herself but gave up. 'Goodbye,' she said before getting out of the house but he was still busy playing, preoccupied to see or hear her.

As soon as she opened the door the whole scene flashed at her. Waters rushing down the hill. The gray sky grew, even more, darker than earlier. The trees were, instead of gently swooshing, aggressively fighting to stand tall over this harsh storm. The gnome where she got her keys looked like asking for help with its hand pointing up high.

Maybe it was bravery, or plain stupidity, that made her race to get to the road. Without her phone, she would need to wait for taxis, or walk, while the rain was pouring down. She would also need to check each hostel for its availability.

'What a great idea of leaving your phone when you need it for everything,' she pondered.

Thinking about what would happen later, and later after that, made her head throb again yet she took another step forward and pulled her bag while holding her umbrella on the other hand. Step by step, she cursed on how things were annoyingly difficult.

Unknown to her, Lucio was behind her. Amused, but was also irritated, by her actions. He was keeping his distance, just to ease his conscience that she safely made it, yet just like what he thought would happen, she slipped. She held tightly on her umbrella while leaning to the fence but had forgotten her bags so she panicked when she saw it being wet.

Unsure if it was because of his mother's endless nagging that he should help girls and treat them with care, even though he used to tell her that being nice shouldn't favor gender, he helped this struggling idiot. He already monologued in his mind that it was because she needed his help, not because she is a girl.

'Stupid,' he called her that made her eyes widened and face flushed.

Desiree was dying in embarrassment. She thanked him and asked, 'Would you please help me carry it to the waiting shed?'

He didn't say anything but walked with her luggage on hand. No one spoke even after they reached the shed where they were able to drip some rain off. She absentmindedly compared up until where the water reached his body as she was wet.

'Stared enough?' he asked so she instantly removed her gaze.

They were standing there for over an hour and Lucio didn't bring his phone to check or book her any ride. No cars were passing by. 'Of course,' he thought, 'no one would in this kind of weather.'

Suddenly an old man talked to them and asked if they needed any ride because from what he heard that it was already flooded downhill. 'You should check what's the weather like before traveling,' he said while chuckling that panged through Desiree's chest.

She started to mumble things like, 'What? Flooded? It just rained overnight! Where should I stay?'

Looking at Lucio, she thought, 'I don't want to stay with him. It would be really awkward.'

'I don't want to stay with you either,' he told her as if reading her mind. She faced the old man but saw that he was already making his way while pushing a cart full of vegetables. Lucio sighed, 'Let's go. There's no point waiting here.'

They rushed back to the cottage. Lucio threw Desiree's bag in her room that made her ran for her stuff. She said, 'Don't do that! I have fragile things in!'

'Where was the thank you for bringing that here?' he asked himself. He smirked and teased her a bit, 'You don't. It's just plain clothes and food.'

Her face turned red as she tried to recall what were the things she packed inside. 'You're lying!'

'I'm not,' he said and added putting both of his hands in the air for effect. 'No problem if you don't want to believe me, though.' He was about to leave but turned back, 'Do you know how to cook?'

'No,' she quickly answered, which made it suspicious.

He fueled her embarrassment more and pointed, 'Then why do you have vegetables in there? You liar.'

He wasn't sure, he just bluffed but she screamed, 'You opened my bag?' and that fed his ego nicely.

'Cook for me and I'll let you stay,' he ordered. He inched closer and said in a low voice, 'Let's play 'house' for a while.'

She wasn't able to utter any after that. He winked and laughed as he walked away. 'What the hell?' she internally screamed.