Chapter 9: Him

Freya’s POV

Dinner without Oliver was peaceful, I was relieved that I didn’t need to face Oliver that night. However, it was weird not having him at the table also eating alone–Grandma had gone on a vacation, leaving me to watch over the affairs of this house..

I heard the familiar sound of Oliver’s car moving into the compound as I was washing the dishes. My heart started to beat fast as I heard footsteps echo in the house. They were loud because the house was as silent as the graveyard. It seemed as if two people just walked into the house. Soon, I heard someone’s footsteps sounding louder each second. I hoped that it wasn’t Oliver.

To my surprise, Ethan walked into the kitchen. He went straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water before noticing me.

“Oh well hello, Freya. What are you doing here?” He asked, smiling at me.

“I’m washing dishes obviously. Where is Oliver?”

“You really care about him, don’t you? You didn’t even bother to give me a call, I gave you my card.” His smile turned into a smirk. He must have noticed the way I stared at his shoes in nervousness. He kept a straight face as he continued. “He went upstairs to refresh.”

“Oh. Can you tell him his dinner is in the fridge since he couldn’t meet up with dinner..” I said focusing more on the dishes, anything to make me seem unbothered.

“Look Freya, Oliver might seem like an arrogant and unapproachable person but trust me, he’s a good guy. The problem is that he doesn’t like the form in which you were created.” He sighed.

“Humanity? What do you mean?” I was confused.

“Don’t worry about it.” He chuckled. “I’m his best friend. I’ve been his best friend for so long. I’m the only one that gets him. He is damaged.”

“Damaged?” I turned off the faucet and faced him folding my arms. “What do you mean damaged?”

“So many experiences shaped him into who he is. He can’t show vulnerability. He can’t show emotions. He detests weakness. He is a leader so that’s why he feels like he is meant to be that way. He feels it’s normal.”

“That’s really crazy. I’ve never even seen him share a real smile or laughter. He always seems like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

Ethan laughed heartily. “Yeah, he’s like that. But if you really get to know him, you’d like him, trust me.”

Before Ethan could say anything else, Oliver stormed in walking straight to where I stood. He grabbed my hands all of a sudden which frightened me.

“Oliver, what’s wrong?” Ethan stepped forward to stop him but Oliver frowned at him, making him stop in his tracks.

“What are you still doing here? Tell me, didn’t I tell you to leave since You are no longer needed here.?”

“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Let me go, please. I was asked to watch over this house.”I glared at him.

“I don’t care, just leave!” He hollered.

“If you have a problem, take it up with her. It was not by choice that I am here.” I said, my anger increasing standing her with him. I looked straight into his eyes and remembered the dream I had the other day. It kept flashing back to my memory as I had a feeling of deja vu coming over me. I began to wonder if it really happened.

He let go of me slowly. “No one even needs you here. I didn’t tell anyone that I needed a maid or a mate. You’re just a burden to me. You irritate me, I feel so angry around you I don’t know why. Look at you, you little thing.”

“I am not a maid” I stare at him head-on, not backing down.

“Yes, you are. A low-life one at that.”

“Oliver!” Ethan called out to him shaking his head vigorously in a warning. I wondered why he did that. I noticed as his eyes grew darker before he stormed out.

I could barely hear Ethan’s voice as I sat on the kitchen floor weeping. I didn’t even know when he left as my eyes were already blurred with my tears.

I wondered why his words hurt me so much. I wondered why he acted like this. I thought about Celine, I missed her. I wished she was right beside me, making me laugh despite my tears.

As if on cue, I heard my phone ring. It was Celine calling.

“Girl, this place is so big! I think I made a mistake. Did you say I should turn left or right when coming?”

I chuckled, cleaning off my tears. “Turn right.”

As soon as she hung up, I heard the doorbell ring. I sprinted to open the door. I didn’t want Oliver to see her, I didn’t know what problem that would cause for me.

“Babe!” She shouted before I could even say anything. “Why are your eyes red? What’s wrong?”

“Celine,” I whispered. “Don’t shout. I don’t want them to hear us. Did you bring my clothes?” I asked as I looked around for anyone coming. It seemed like everyone else was already fast asleep.

“Oh, I forgot it in the cab.” She stared at me in horror. “

“Celine?” I whined.

She chuckled and brought out my clothes from behind her. “Kidding. I bought lingerie for you as well. You never know when you'll need it.” She winked.

“Seriously Celine? He doesn’t even want anything to do with me.” I sighed as we walked into the house. “I’m leaving here first thing tomorrow anyways.”

“Why what’s wrong? Is he ugly? You said he was hot.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Oh trust me. He is. Things are just awkward between us now especially after I met him jerking off. I don’t think I can stay here, he hates me.”

“Does he hate you? Or he’s using that to defend himself?”

I didn’t reply, I just stared at her.

“Look.” She continued. “You’re irresistible. No man can’t avoid being attracted to you especially when you both are living in the same house. He’s just frustrated that he can’t stop obsessing over you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really Celine? It doesn’t matter anyway, I want to leave. I can’t stay here. I feel like there are so many things about this house I don’t even know about. They’re so many things about him and his family I don’t know about. Do you know that I had the weirdest dream?”

“What was the dream about?”

“I encountered a werewolf. A werewolf Celine, and now I don’t think it was a dream anymore. Werewolves don’t even exist but here I am thinking they do.”

“Well then find out what’s so weird about this place. I don’t even like this place. They’re too many trees and gardens. So if you said that is the reason for leaving, I can understand. So don’t leave. Leave for the weekend, but come back to do your work. You know, this is a really good opportunity.” She held my shoulders. “I might not say it often but I’m really proud of you. Try to get to know the guy, try to read his good books.”

I hugged her. “Thanks, babe.” I let go of her. “Now tell me about that guy you were talking about that day.”

“Well, would you look at the time? It’s really late. I have to go now.” She said and stared at a watch that wasn’t on her wrist. She left the house hurriedly leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I went to my room to check the clothes I was given. They were nothing compared to what Grandma bought for me as those clothes were designers. Mine were just normal clothes, some were worn out already.

As I brought out the clothes from the bag, something slipped out of it. It was a note. “We’re coming for you.” The note said. A feeling of nausea came over me as I wondered what it meant.

“Is my best friend in danger?” I thought. “What could be happening in her life?”

I wondered if that was why she had been acting so strange lately. She wasn’t the type to keep things from me as we told each other everything. Something was definitely wrong.

I decided to walk around the house to take my mind off what happened today. I went to the large and beautiful living room. The place was painted pure gold and had historical paintings hung on the walls.

There was one man who looked just like Oliver. He also had the same silver eyes which sent chills down my spine. It looked like those eyes were piercing right into my soul. The man looked quite old but not as old as Grandma. I wondered if this man was related to them or even Oliver’s father. Grandma or Oliver never said anything about his parents, so I wondered why his picture would be here–he looked like the other version of the man I had seen the last time called Oliver’s father yet so different.

I moved on to the next picture, this one looked a little bit recent. It wasn’t painted though. It looked like the younger Oliver. The child was smiling and beaming with joy. It was obvious that it was Oliver, it was the same boy from the picture I had seen my first days in this house, though it wasn’t a picture of him right now, I still loved his smile. A pair of dimples formed on his face and his eyes were half closed.

I wondered what made the change. I never really took in the details of these paintings so I never noticed that they said a lot of things about Oliver’s life. I wanted to know more.

Even the things I’ve heard about the billionaire Oliver are capable of sending chills down my spine. But here I was, looking at young Oliver grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Is it the cold?” I heard Ethan’s voice making me gasp in shock.

“Is that why you can’t sleep? Because that’s my reason.” He said and walked over to the chair to sit. “Cat got your tongue?”

I smiled at him. He was the epitome of kindness.

“I’m sorry for Oliver’s behavior. Please don’t take him seriously .” He chuckled as if he was remembering something. “Your presence in this house makes it less pathetic for him.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugged “I know him too well by now, even though he doesn’t admit it”

I didn’t say anything, I just stared at the painting I was looking at earlier.

“That is Oliver’s father. So many things happened, and Oliver doesn’t even want to breathe the same air as his father. You haven’t seen the real Oliver yet. Check how he acts when he clashes with his father.” He smiled in pain. “But they weren’t always like this. They were so close when Oliver was young. But now, he cut all ties with him.”

“Do you still talk to him?”

“I don’t want to see him too, especially after what he did He’s a bastard. But he is Oliver’s father after all. Oliver doesn’t have to be like this.”

All of a sudden, his phone started ringing. “I’m coming. Give me a sec” he walked out, me following him after some minutes.

I went into the kitchen meeting Oliver sitting on the fridge. “How did you get there?” I said in shock. I stared at his nails and wondered how they got long all of a sudden.

“What do you want? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping now?”

“Well... I hope you know that I am not a child anymore. So stop treating me like one. I don’t care about what you think. Keep treating people badly and making them feel bad, I don’t care.” I didn’t know how that came out but I couldn’t take back the words I said anyways.

“Go away. Now.” He ordered. I took my time to take the water and left. All night I kept thinking about what really happened to his father and why I’d never heard of him. Ethan’s words hung in the air, enveloping me like a blanket.