Arranged to Love

Chapter 7: Hello New York City

The windows were huge that the made up a wall on one side of the room. I had to say that the apartment had a good view of New York City. The big windows brought much sunlight into the room. I could see roofs of different buildings in the distance.

I took a step forward to have a better look of the place. I saw a huge swimming pool outside. The view from my new home was very beautiful. Surprisingly, the place was very quiet even though the city was noisy outside.

At least I would sleep well tonight.

I turned my head to see stairs that led to the second floor. Wonder what's up there.

"Okay. Let me lay down the rules."

I turned around to look at him. He looked very serious. "First, do not bother me when I am working. I'm a busy man. Second, do not ever come into my office. Third, do not talk unless you are spoken to or answer a question. When you are talking to me, look at my face. Lastly, leave me alone. The last thing I need is someone to ruin my reputation," he said to me.

I somewhat expected this much from him. We may be husband and wife, but we weren't married couple emotionally and mentally. We had no feelings for each other. The last thing he said hurt me a little bit. In a way, I already messed his life up.

He walked towards the stairs. "Follow me," he said as he walked up the stairs. I followed him up the stairs and down a hallway. We passed by many different rooms. If he is not going to give me a tour, then I guess I'll have to look around myself.

Soon, we stopped in front of a room that was next to a bigger room. He opened the door to reveal a room that was filled with my stuff from my home in San Francisco. "This is your room. My room is next door. Remember, don't bother me," he said to me. I gave him a nod.

He looked at his watch to see the time. "I'm going to go in my office," he said to me and walked away. I closed the door behind me and sat on the bed. Here I was in New York. In a city that was very foreign to me. My new life was already a disaster.

I took a deep breath. You can get through this Vera. You don't need to tell you what to do. I took another deep breath and got to unpacking my stuff. While I unpacked my stuff, I fell upon my old photo album.

I walked to the bed with the album in my hands and opened to the first page. Already, I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. The first page revealed my baby picture when I was at the hospital. I was wrapped in a pink blanket and a pink hat.

In the picture, my grandmother held me with a gentle smile. My grandfather had a smile on his face and looked over my grandmother in order to see me. My parents weren't in the picture at all. Underneath the picture, there were words.

Valeria Laurenti

August 29

12:08 am

5 pounds and 7 ounces

I turned the page to see pictures of my grandparents caring for me. Of course, I didn't have pictures of my parents and my brother with me. My parents never wanted to be near me. It made sense for me to have pictures of my grandparents and I.

I flipped through the pages. Each page showed my years from youth to now. Each page, I could see the changes of myself. Each page gave me flashbacks of that moment. Each page reminded me the emotions that were felt at the time.