SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 1

I hit a few more keys on the piano, feeling the rhythm as I played, the sound of the song entering my ears and warming my heart. I had finally learned to play this song perfectly. Father was going to be so proud. I took in one final deep breath and replayed the song again, from beginning to end, and while I played, I felt that someone was behind me, silently listening.

I finished off and grabbed the towel on top of the piano, and I wiped my sweaty face off, before turning around to face Nathalie. Nathalie smiled gracefully at me, before walking towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "That was amazing," She spoke, and I could sense truth in her words. "You did amazing, Adrien. Your father is going to be so proud of you."

I smiled back at her, and then stood up. If Nathalie thought this was great, then Father was sure to think so as well. Days of practicing had really paid off, and I was glad I had spent time playing this song until I remembered every bit of it. I turned back to Nathalie while I walked over to my bottle of water. "Is there anything you need?"

Nathalie seemed to come to her sense then. "Oh right. Your father has requested you to come downstairs for lunch. You missed breakfast, and he wasn't quite happy about that."

"I missed breakfast practicing the song he told me to learn," I retorted back, though not meaning to. Sometimes Father could be a lot to handle, and those times were times I just wanted to be away from him. My whole life was about making him proud, whether it was the music I played, or the photoshoots he asked me to do, or even picking the school I had to go to, I always did it his way. "I mean, I'm nervous. I have to play this song at my aunt's wedding, and he's been begging me not to mess up. I don't want to mess up but he's putting pressure on me."

"Adrien, you know your father don't mean to," Nathalie walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder again. "You know just like you are with your father? Always wanting to make him proud? That's exactly how your father is with his wife's sister and her father. While Emilie was pregnant with you, Gabriel took an oath that he was going to make you as perfect as he could. He was going to teach you, make you smarter than every other little boys he knew, make you more precious and just like him. He promised he would give you a happy life, but. . .you know how that all changed when Emilie passed."

"Actually Father has always just wanted to prove to Aunt that he's better, and well, what if I don't want that kind of life?" I whispered over to her, as if afraid someone else was listening in. "I know how he must feel, but did he have to take it out on me? Did he have to punish me for my mother's death? He became so distant, unlike a proper father, he forced me into things I didn't want to do, like for instance, the piano. . . And I may like that piano now, but I never did when he asked me to play it for the first time." I backed away from her and started circling my room. "Why do I have to be perfect? Why can't I ever make a decision on my own?!"

Nathalie didn't reply back, but she started heading towards the door. "I'm sorry about all that. You may now come downstairs for lunch."

I sighed and grabbed my water bottle off my couch, before opening it and taking a swig of it. I took a seat down and stared at the door Nathalie had closed when she left, before closing the bottle and throwing it off. A lot of people outside may have seen me as a happy rich kid who got whatever he wanted, but I was just a guy who was under his father's control, had to do whatever his father told him to do, without even getting a say in it.

"Adrien!"

I heard my name being called downstairs, and with that, I rushed out of my room and started walking downstairs, because I knew it hadn't been my father who called for me, nor had it been Nathalie either. Just like I thought. Downstairs, waiting for me, was my mother's sister. Aunt Amelie walked over to me like she hadn't seen me in years, and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Oh Adrien, how much you've grown," She mumbled against my shoulder.