A Touch Of Love

3| The Interview

Laura

The voice of Ariana Grande wakes me up. 

Aka my ringtone.

I let out a tired groan, refusing to open my eyes, and roll across the queen-sized bed, blindly searching for my phone with the hand that isn't holding a pillow over my head.

I hate being woken up. It's like a punishment. 

I find it very hard to actually get a good night's sleep, and the few times I do, I don't appreciate anything or anyone waking me up. 

I answer the phone without checking the caller's ID. "Hello?"

"Mio topolino!" A voice screeches in my ear, and I have to pull the phone back, making sure it isn't on speaker.

It's not. It's just my mother's voice.

As much as I love my mum, I can't say I've ever met anyone as overbearing as her.

It's funny actually. Her moods alternate from being extremely overbearing, to not caring at all. 

I blame it on the bipolar.

When she decides to be a loving and caring mother, she does it to the extreme. Checking on me every minute, calling and calling until I pick up, walking me to my room, and tucking me in. But when she decides to not care at all, it's complete indifference. I won't hear from her for months. 

Only a few situations bring out the caring, overbearing, mama goose. And one of them is fear.

"Good morning Mum," I say, my voice still grouchy from sleep deprivation. 

"How are you? How was your night? Your voice sounds off. Are you coming up with a flu? Tell mummy everything topolino. If you need my soup I'll send it... no in fact I'm flying over..."

I can hear shuffling from her end of the line and panic builds in me. She can't fly here! I just got here! 

"Mummy no, I'm alright. I just woke up" I plead, the sleep instantly clearing from my eyes with the thought of her coming here.

I know she can do it, get on her private jet and fly over here, snatching away whatever dreams I had for my life and turning it into hers.

"Okay, darling. I just called to check up on you. If there's anything call me. Say hi to your brothers for me. Don't disappoint." She cuts the call and the line goes dead.

I sigh, already knowing that a gear has shifted in her mind once more and I'm probably not going to hear from her for some time. "I love you too mum."

Checking the time, 6:23, I roll off the bed, not bothering to try and go back to sleep cause I know it won't come.

Clad in my nightie and baby blue socks, I walk out of the room feeling like a princess. This house is large! There are castle-like stairs almost everywhere and I make sure to hold the railings like I'm royalty, my imagination running wild. 

I didn't really get the chance to look around the place when I first came due to my brothers being permanently glued to my side and practically carrying me everywhere, but now that I'm looking at it, it's magnificent.

The walls are high and made of glass and some other vintage material that I can't quite grasp. It has this modern yet archaic look, like high-tech dark academia. And that's just the halls.

The fascinating thing about the penthouse is how everywhere looks cool and vintage but once you enter a room, it looks like it's from a whole different house. The rooms are modern and hotel-like, from the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms. I'm pretty sure there are more rooms to discover.