Beneath the Façade (Lila Rossi x OC)

Prologue

It was a gloomy day in the large city of London, England. Despite the fact that the sky was a deep, dingy gray, it was only 8:45am. Light rain fell from the clouds as the citizens rushed towards their destinations, doing their best not to trip over the light snow and hidden ice on the ground. Even though the weather wasn't pleasant, that didn't stop the citizens from doing what they needed to do; they couldn't afford to stay inside.

For Calligan "Cal" O'Reilly, he was one of the people rushing to board the Startrain at the St. Pancras International terminal. This was his first time traveling abroad on his own, so he arrived early at the terminal so that he wouldn't have to worry about missing his train. Unfortunately, he was held up at the ticket gate; due to him being under the age of 16, his mother had to sign an "Unaccompanied Minor" form to allow him to travel on his own. Due to the rarity of this situation, it caused some confusion at the gate, pushing him closer and closer to missing the train.

"Yes, I understand that Startrain cannot guarantee that the Startrain team will escort me to and from the train, nor can they guarantee that I will be supervised during this trip," Cal repeated, addressing a staff member, "And my mom signed the form in your presence."

"How much longer is this going to take?" asked Caroline: Cal's mother, "We don't have a lot of time left."

"Just one more thing," the staff member answered before looking down at his checklist, "Are you aware that it is the responsibility of the parent-"

"-Or guardian to make sure the unaccompanied child has the necessary approvals to pass border controls," Cal interrupted, recalling the line printed on the form, "Yes. I have my ticket, my passport and my Unaccompanied Minor form. Right here."

"Alright, then everything should be fine," the staff member assured, "You are free to go."

"Thank you," Cal thanked before turning to face his mom, "Well, I guess this is it."

"Remember, Facetime me or your sister every single day," Caroline replied, doing her best to hold back tears, "And be careful; don't get into any trouble."

"I know mom, don't worry," Cal assured before giving his mom a hug, "You raised me well."

"You're right..." Caroline confirmed, chuckling as she reciprocated the hug, "I love you..."

"I love you too, mom," Cal replied before getting a kiss on the head from his mom, "Please don't cry; I'll be fine."

"I know you will..." Caroline agreed, letting go of the hug before wiping away her tears, "Go on..."

"I'll see you soon!" Cal assured before grabbing his luggage and running towards the station, looking back periodically at his mom, "I love you!"

Cal didn't turn away from his mom until he turned the corner, leaving him alone on the biggest journey of his life. It was daunting task for him to take a major trip on his own, but he knew that this was the way that it had to be. After assuring himself that he could handle this, he focused on his next objectives, wanting to make sure that he knew where he was supposed to be.

"And....this is platform 6, which is where I'm supposed to board my train..." Cal noted, looking at the sign above the sliding glass doors of the terminal, "And my train isn't here yet."

Although Cal was happy that he wasn't late, he didn't enjoy the notion of having to wait either. All he wanted to do was board the Startrain so that he could get some rest. Being from Ireland, he had to get up at 2am in order to be ready in time for his 5am flight to London. He managed to nap for a little bit on the flight, but he was still tired. And after spotting the Business Premier Lounge near his platform, he knew exactly what he wanted to do while he waited for his train.