The Gentleman's Club

Giovanni's POV 3

"Are you insane?" I hissed at Grandfather when we're far enough away from the woman that I can't be heard.

Already, these actions are strange to me. Since my blindness, people have never seemed to care about my feeling and that turned me cold, unable to care about anyone else's feelings or anyone else's opinion. Typically, I would have told my grandfather off in front of anyone. I would have told him I didn't want that person following me around right in front of them with no regard for how they perceived me.

So, why was I suddenly caring about the feelings of a woman I'd only been in the presence of for five minutes?

"No, I'm not insane," Grandfather murmured patiently, as he leads me forward. "She has medical training. She'd be able to care for you just as well as the other doctors and nurses we've found. Besides, it's nothing definite. When she comes in for the interview tomorrow and the private interview with you after, it'll be your decision. If you don't want her, you don't have to pick her."

I said nothing. There was nothing to say. Something about that woman set off alarms in me. Everything that had protected me, all the ice that had kept me sane until this point, warned me that this woman was no good for me. At that moment, I promised myself that no matter what, I would not give her the job as my caretaker.

My sanity counted on it.

***

The next morning, after we all ate breakfast, I found myself back in my study, going through papers with Nancy who read them for me. Despite the fact that I was CEO, I rarely worked in the building itself. Mainly because of those very same whispers I'd gotten at the party, the whispers that I got whenever I stepped foot out of this house. The pity, the jokes and then the occasional, "Well, he might be blind but he's rich. That's one thing he's got going for him."

Yes, it was definitely better to work here at home when I could. I made sure to get all my work done efficiently and made sure Grandfather delivered it and oversaw that things got done the way I saw them in my mind's eye, but I couldn't find it in me to leave this house and really explore the outside world.

Not that it mattered if I couldn't even see it, anyway.

I heard the doorbell ring and Nancy and I paused in the middle of her reading one of the papers that hadn't been translated into braille yet.

"The people vying for the job must be here. I should go get the door. I'll be back soon, okay?"

I nodded once, not saying anything. I felt Nancy reach out, and then I felt the softness of her hand as she patted my cheek affectionately. The action felt so much like Mom, something twisted tightly inside of my chest and I struggled to breathe. Luckily, Nancy didn't seem to notice and she was gone, hurrying quickly down the stairs.

I reached over and pulled out one of the papers that was already translated into braille. When I had first become blind, Grandfather and Nancy had pushed me to learn braille. At first, I hadn't wanted to. That was at the time when I believed this blindness would go away. That was at the time I believed I had a best friend and a woman who loved me despite this curse.

After that illusion shattered, I decided Grandfather and Nancy had been right all along. Learning braille was my best bet. If I had to be stuck this way and run a multi-billion dollar company, I should at least learn to read braille, so that I wasn't a complete burden on those around me.

However, it took a while to get things translated into braille. With some documents, like the one I was currently running my hand over, it was done quickly. With others, it could take days, sometimes weeks. When you ran a company, days or weeks were the difference between keeping your business afloat and watching it drown, that was what my father had always told me.