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Paris did as she was told by the Mafia Leader, and went back home for one week to think things through. Her mind was in a mess right now, and taking this small break was going to help her clear things up. Did she really wanted to quit being Kai's head bodyguard or not?
It was afternoon when Paris reached the white gates of her house. She spotted Parker sitting outside in a chair, practicing his old guitar. It was strange, but it actually sounded harmonious compared to the other times that he had played guitar in the past. She smiled softly, seeing him working so hard by himself.
Parker turned his head to glance back at the gates that were slowly opening, and he was filled with glee when he noticed that it was actually Paris! She had returned!
He immediately put his guitar to a side and threw himself in her arms. They embraced each other tightly for a long time, smiling, laughing, and crying together with joy. When two siblings really love each other, then, things like these are normal. They had missed each other.
They spend the rest of the day conversing with each other, eating spaghetti, and watching movies. And at night, Paris stayed by Parker's side until he fell asleep. These little things brought life back to Paris' amber eyes. She was finally able to show that bright smile of hers again.
And just like this, two days passed in a blink of an eye. Kai was not aware of where Paris had gone to because she was occupied with paper work of the family these days. However, she did realize that it was bizarre not seeing her around at all.
Without hesitating, Kai decided to enter Paris' dorm, not bothering to even knock on the door. When she went inside, the only person she saw was Pearl who was currently getting dressed in her uniform. She was only wearing the long white button shirt, her legs were still bare, and her pink underwear was exposed.
"AAAHH! MS. KAI!" Pearl yelled taken aback, her soul almost getting out of her body when she turned around, seeing Kai inside the room with crossed arms.
This was already the second time that Pearl gets frightened while being almost naked. The first time, it was Paris who had scared her off when she got out of the shower in a towel. That was also the day that she met Paris for the first time.
Poor Pearl, that she has to go through all of this. "What brings you here, Ms. Kai?" She tried composing herself back to normal while covering her bare legs with the black skirt that she was holding.
"Where is Paris?" Kai asked, almost immediately.
"Um, she has left the mansion since the day before yesterday." Pearl explained, her voice sounding a little nervous.
"Who told her she could leave?!" Kai shouted angrily.
Pearl tightened her lips together into a thin line, before responding, "The Leader told her to leave."
Hearing that it was her own father the one who let go of Paris, made her let out a sigh of disappointment, calming down a bit. "How long is she going to be gone for?"
"I heard that she was allowed to go back home and have a week off." Pearl continued to explain.
"And do you know why she was sent home?" Kai asked next.
Pearl thought about it for a moment and replied, "I'm not sure, but she seems to have been sad lately. Her expression shows pain, just like if she has been heartbroken."
Kai stayed quiet listening to this. She pondered for a while before turning back around to exit the room. However, she was halted by Pearl who called for her.
"Wait, Ms. Kai. Please, don't think that I don't know my place. I really don't know what's going on between you and Paris lately. But I want you to know that even though Paris seems to be tough in the outside, she's actually very sensitive in the inside." There was a pause here before Pearl continued to explain, "If you would like to have a smooth conversation with Paris, you must be patient and calm with her, so that you can understand her better."
There was a dead silence inside the room after this, and Kai was the one to break it first, "Pearl!"
Pearl flinched slightly as she heard her name being call out in a stern manner. "Y-Yes, Ms. Kai?"
"Thank you." Was the last thing Kai told her before rushing out the door.
Pearl was left dumbfounded by this, and she let out a deep sigh of relief when Kai left her alone inside the room. She literally thought she was going to die today, but fortunately she survived! She hoped for Kai to take her words to consideration. It would safe her from causing more misunderstandings.
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It was already evening, and Paris was currently outside in the backyard of her house. She invited two of her friends that she hasn't seen in such a long time while Parker left to do his guitar practices with KL.
They were having a barbecue in the backyard as they all chatted together for a long time, enjoying the delicious pork meat and beer on the table. It felt nice to be out of Kai's mansion for a while. She realized how much she needed this break, and she wanted for time to stop to enjoy these little moments as much as possible.
While they were conversing, the door bell abruptly rang, interrupting their conversation. Paris excused herself and went to open the gates. The person that was at the white gates was the person she wanted to see the least at the moment.
"What are you doing here?" Paris asked Kai, who had come all the way over here to bother her as it seems.
Kai ignored her question, and told her instead, "Is that how you are going to welcome your Boss to your home?"
"I didn't invite you." Paris rolled her eyes.
"Are you going to let me in or not?" Kai perked a brow, placing both of her hands on the sides of her hips.
Without having much of a choice, Paris opened the gates for Kai and let her in. She could've left her outside and ignore her. However, she knew that Kai wouldn't leave her alone until she gets what she wanted. Therefore, Paris didn't even try, and just let her get what she wanted.
They both headed to the backyard again, and sat down at the table with the two friends of Paris. There was an awkward silence between the four of them as they glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. They were not expecting for another person to join their small barbecue tonight.
Paris decided to break the silence first, "This is Kai, uh...A friend of mine, from my work place." She lied while aiming at Kai who was sitting next to her at the table. Kai was definitely not her friend. But Paris didn't want to tell her friends that she was her Boss because the least thing she wanted to show Kai right now is respect.
"Nice to meet you, Kai." One of the friends said.
Kai assented her head at this, "Nice to meet you too." It felt strange to be called by name without adding the, 'Ms,' in the front of it. It sounded disrespectful, but Kai wasn't home anymore, and thus, she had to get used to be called differently here.
"Let's clink the beers then." The other friend added, raising her beer.
After clinking their beers together, they continued eating the pork while conversing with each other again, as if the awkwardness wasn't even there anymore.
Paris' friends seemed sympathetic but nosy at the same time. Both of them were female, and they both dressed in too revealing clothing. One of them told Kai, "When I saw you at first, I thought that you were Paris' Boss from her work place because you dress up quite nice. I even thought for a moment that you were a Mafia or something."
There was an awkward silence again after this and the other friend added, "Right, but Kai doesn't seemed like a crappy person, like Paris has described her boss to be. So, I'm glad that you are actually her friend and not her boss."
Hearing this, both Kai and Paris stared at each other quietly. They definitely had to do some explanation after this. Paris was so upset with Kai that she had already talked crap about her with her friends behind her back.
Paris licked her own lips, not believing that she had actually been exposed by her friends indirectly. She cleared her throat before speaking, "I mean, I didn't say too much about my Boss."
One of the friends answered, "What do you mean? You actually did say a lot. You said that she's very oppressive, ungrateful, and cruel."
Kai kept eating silently while listening to all of this. She glanced at Paris from time to time as the friends continued to babble negatively about her. Kai couldn't judge Paris though, it was true that she had all of those bad qualities, but hearing it this straightforwardly was actually quite painful. But this couldn't compare to the things that Kai had done to her, and therefore she couldn't be angered by it. She accepted it all.
Paris noticed the discomfort in Kai's face, and she didn't know if she actually enjoyed watching her being humiliated like this. Kai did deserved to hear this though, but not this way. "Can we change the subject, girls?" Paris told them, not wanting to be exposed even more.
They conversed for another thirty minutes until the two friends finally left to go back to their homes. When Paris and Kai were left alone at the table, there was once again, another dead silence between them.
Paris closed her eyes, exhaling air from her nose deeply. She opened her eyes again to stare at Kai and spoke first, "Tell me, why did you come here?"
"You seriously don't know?" Kai lifted her brows arrogantly. "I'm taking you back home with me, of course." Her voice was stern, as if she was in a bad mood again. There was a short pause in her words as she suddenly remembered what Pearl told her this afternoon. She needed to be patient and calm with Paris or else they wouldn't be able to have a smooth conversation. She tried again, speaking more gently this time. "I mean, I do understand that you need a break from work."
"If you understand, then go home." Paris replied, crossing her arms.
"But you must-!" Kai stopped halfway through her phrase, realizing again that she was raising her voice subconsciously at her. She cleared her throat, trying again, more softly, "When are you coming back then?"
"Why do you want to know? It's none of your business." Paris answered coldly.
Kai furrowed her brows at this, and shouted, "I must know!" It seemed like, no matter how hard she tried being nice, her domineering side would always show off more. It was difficult for her to be humble when all her life she was taught to be arrogant.
Paris rolled her eyes, not wanting to continue this conversation. If it was going to be filled with yelling, then she preferred not talking things through at all.
"Paris, I'm your boss." Kai tried explaining gently again, "Is normal for me to want to know."
"Even if I go back to work, I wouldn't want to be your bodyguard anymore." Paris responded. This conversation seemed to be going nowhere.
Kai let out a deep sigh, trying to calm down and asked, "Why?"
Paris wrinkled her brows, "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you seriously forgotten all the things that you have done to me? You don't know a darn thing about yourself."
Kai, "I might be a crappy boss. I might also be oppressive, ungrateful, and cruel. But I do care about my people."
Paris, "But you have never cared about me or about my feelings!"
Kai shook her head and corrected her,
"Paris, if I really didn't care about you, then I wouldn't have come all the way here alone to talk to you." This was true though. She actually had left all the bodyguards behind at the mansion, and came alone to find Paris with nobody to protect her back.
Paris remained quiet, hearing this. She lowered her gaze to the ground, not wanting to believe anything. She was sure that Kai didn't care for her. Kai had only come here to bother her. To take her back and keep hurting and confusing her. This is what she believed, deep inside her broken heart.
Kai pondered for a while with the silence. She licked her own lips, before uttering softly, "I'm sorry."
Paris lifted her brows, not sure if she heard right. "What did you say?"
Kai inhaled and exhaled deeply, and repeated, "I'm sorry, for punishing you." She felt ashamed for punishing Paris just because she had to follow her father's orders. She didn't mean for things to turn out this way between them.
"Sorry? Can a woman like you truly feel sorry?" Paris answered, pain showing in her amber eyes.
"Look at what I have done. I tried my best to come here alone. I don't want to keep hurting you. I'm truly sorry." Kai spoke genuinely.
"Hold on a second." Paris furrowed her brows slightly and asked, "Are you sure that you came here alone?"
Kai didn't know why Paris was asking her this after she had repeated it several times already. She noticed that Paris was shifting her gaze from one place to another. "Yes, I came alone. Why?"
"I think we got some company." Paris told her while raising her arms in a sign of surrender.
Kai's eyes widened slightly as she felt a gun being placed on the back of her head. There was someone pointing a gun at her. And it was not only one person, it was a group of bandits that had tracked her all the way over here to kill her.
They were in trouble, and there was no bodyguard to help them this time.
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