Chapter 42 THE DEVIL UPSTAIRS
~ Elara ~
As soon as I got back from school I had changed into my work uniform. I take the list of everything I had to finish for my shift tonight in my hand while I walk out, my hair already tied into a low ponytail.
I felt drained, empty.
I don't remember any thoughts even running through my head as I walked to the cleaning closet, grabbing everything to clean the rooms.
Mrs. Carmen gave me the bad news that I'd have to continue cleaning the bedrooms until the other maid had gotten better.
I only hoped that none of them would be in there rooms.
" Hey, you." A deep voice rings through my ear and I look up, feeling my body completely freeze when I see Ace walking up to me.
He looked like he was dressed to go hang out with friends. His thick hair was pushed back and he wore a cream colored Burberry hoodie with black pants.
"Um.h. hi Mr.Wayne ." I say nervously. I probably looked insane with my messy ponytail and pile of cleaning supplies stuffed in my arms.
" You keep avoiding me, why?" He asks, his hands were in his pockets now as he stood a couple of feet away from me, and I furrow my brows together. Why did it matter if I was avoiding him or not? It's not like we'd known each other.
"I..I only work here, w..why does it matter if I'm avoiding you." I say, noticing the small smirk that makes his way over his face.
He had the type of smile that'd make anyones day, the type of smile that you couldn't help but smile back at.
Except for me, I don't really remember how many times I've smiled before, but I don't think it's even reached ten in all the years I've lived.
"I think you're interesting, just being friendly." He shrugs, glancing down at my arms struggling to hold all the cleaning supplies in place.
"Do you need help with that?" He asks, taking his hands out of his pockets as he moves closer to me, but I quickly move back, shaking my head no as I readjust the stuff in my arms.
"II'm fine. Thank you." I mutter, looking at the marble ground.
Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? I shouldn't be talking to him, someone so different from me. I was just the dirty girl from a dirty town with no importance behind her name. I was just another waste of space, there was nothing I could give to this world.
It's silent for a bit, and for the slightest moment I thought he'd left, gotten bored of me or something. But when I look up, and those ocean eyes look back at me with the same curious gaze he'd looked at me since I first ran into him, I felt something.
And I don't usually feel anything, everything always felt empty to me.
Why did he make me feel like my presence was actually wanted? Like I wasn't just another bother?
" You can barely hold onto those, I really don't mind helping you," He starts, and my eyes widen when he suddenly takes a handful of supplies into his arms.
" Have you never had a friend before?" He chuckles, looking down at my shocked expression. His dirty blonde hair moved to the side as his head followed. I try to avoid his gaze, but it was hard considering no one, no guy, had ever looked at me that way.
I was confused.
I swallow the lump in my throat, my eyes glancing at the supplies now held in his arms.
"W..why do you want to be my friend? T. there's nothing interesting about me." I say, trying to grab the stuff from his arms but he quickly dodges me, a laugh leaving his mouth at my failed attempt.
I frown at him, feeling my confusion only grow larger.
" No one ever avoids me. Everyone is usually dying to talk to me, but you, you're always running away from me." He says, a curious look in his eyes as he searches my face.
Did he not see the ugly bruise on my eye? My dirty clothes? My nails that had never been manicured? My messy hair? What did it matter to him if I was avoiding him?
But why was I itching to talk to him more? Maybe I could be friends with Wayne ...
I almost laugh out loud at my insane thoughts.
"I..I apologize Mr. Wayne but I really think I should get back to work." I say, reaching for the supplies again. I don't even have time to think when my breath gets pulled from my lungs as I trip over myself, all of the supplies sprawled on the ground now as I land in a pair of strong arms around my own.
My eyes are wide as I look up at Wayne who had looked just as shocked at our position.
For a moment I felt a slight increase in the beat of my heart, my cheeks tinted red as more blood flowed to my face.
My body couldn't help but get flustered, I had never gotten the attention of a guy, a guy this attractive looking.
A loud bang causes our attention to go towards the devil himself who had aggressively opened the front door, a black motorcycle helmet tightly gripped in his bruised up hand as he walked in with a bloody face.
His grey eyes glance over at our position, and I notice the slight tick of his jaw as he looks over at Wayne before walking up the large staircase.
Wayne hadn't even look shocked at his brother’s condition, almost like it was a daily sight.
I clear my throat, looking down at Wayne’s hands which were tightly gripped around my arm. He quickly lets go of me, and I move back into a normal position before kneeling down to pick up the fallen supplies.
"I'm sorry. For interrupting you at work. I'll see you tomorrow at school though, alright?" He says, helping me pick up the stuff.
He sounded different, more quiet. It didn't exactly seem like Calvin and Wayne were close, and after Wayne saw Calvin it's like his entire mood changed.
I could only wonder what happened between them to cause so much tension.
"Sure." I nod my head. A small smile covers his face, and his eyes move towards the stairs Calvin had just walked up before moving in the opposite direction.
My gaze follows his back as I watch him walk out of the door towards an expensive car booming with loud music, filled with his friends who had been waiting patiently outside.
I tilt my head to the side, and for a moment my thoughts were around Wayne . Wondering how a guy like him could be interested in me, but then I remember I'd have to clean Calvin’s room soon, the same one he had just walked into a moment ago.
And just that realization alone ruined my night.
I remember his furious grey eyes blazing into me at the cafeteria after I'd spilled my lunch all over his clothes.
I was dead.
I couldn't even focus on cleaning as I was finishing the other rooms. I had gone as slow as possible, hoping the clock ticking closer and closer to midnight would mean he'd gone to sleep, or left to whatever gang he seemed to be a part of.
But my hopes were all meaningless, because as soon as I'd opened the door his dark brooding eyes were on me.
I only stand in the doorway, confused on what I'd had to do. Mrs. Carmen never told me what to do if they were in the room.
Was I supposed to continue cleaning?
I hated the way he looked at me compared to Wayne .
The way he looked at me as If i was an open book, as if he could read my every emotion, tell if I was lying through my teeth or not. I hated his mocking gaze, and the way he knew I was scared of his presence alone.
"Aren't you going to work?" He more like orders then asks, his dark gaze not on me anymore as he puts his attention on the latest iPhone held in his cut up hand.
I feel my face scrunch up at his bloody, beat up appearance. Had his parents not known about the most likely illegal activities he took part in?
" Yes. I apologize Mr. Calvin." I mumble, hesitantly walking into the space I feared most as I set my stuff down.
I start cleaning, trying to ignore his presence as I focus on making the floor as polished as it could get.
After a while I couldn't handle his eyes on my every move any longer, and I feel myself taking in a deep breath as I try not thinking too much about it.
I was afraid that if I'd turn my head around to face him he'd shoot me right there, like he'd been waiting for me to look up at him before making the shot. Or beat me up out of nowhere, like Roger would do when he'd get bored with me.
The scenarios running through my head only continue to get worse, so much so that I hadn't realized I was even cleaning anymore until I felt Calvin’s tall figure towering over my crouched down body that had been cleaning the same spot for who knows how long.
My eyes look up at his own, and I feel my heart racing in fear as my hands completely freeze from its grip on the cleaning rag.
"D..do you need anything?" I ask, slowly moving the rag in front of my chest as a barrier between us when he suddenly kneels down in front of me.
I swallow a lump in my throat as he scans my face, his eyes settling on my bruised up eye that had managed to only get uglier as the days went by.
"I never took you as the type to get into fights." Calvin says, his voice husky. His eyes don't leave my own, not even for a split second.
I could barely even make out words as I try to comprehend what was going on. He only looked angrier up close, his dark hair messy and his jaw clenched as he looked down at me.
"I didn't...it wasn't.." I don't even get to finish talking when his hand suddenly grazes over my bruise, a quiet gasp leaving my mouth at the sudden contact.
I hiss in pain when he applies pressure to the bruise, moving away from his large hand. He wouldn't torture me would he?
" Who did this to you." He orders, no emotion laced in his voice.
"N..no one." I whisper, noticing the slight squint in his eyes from my hesitant answer.
He knew I was lying, but didn't bother to get an answer from me as he stood up, walking back over to grab his phone before leaving the room.
I let out a relieved sigh, trying to understand his confusing actions. I couldn't understand him, yet it seemed like he could see right through me.