arius pov
as soon as i dropped off nhu at the company and went towards my parents house, my world started to dim. i know nhu is safe, thanks to the shadows i ordered to secure him. a little later today, i will be planting a close security guard on him in the form of a personal assistant. shes a hardcore masochist if she had to. and she likes women, if i may add. my nhu is safe. thats all that matters but this distance makes me too anxious, i want to gun the accelator back to nhu.
but
i had to go. the ancients been bothering my email and nagging even my dads to let me face them again for this meeting. they still didnt know that i already found my singer ages ago and i intended to keep it that way for as long as i could to keep them away from him. these vampires are too thirtsty for blood and having nhu in their presence makes me want to rip their heads off.
im on the dungeon parking lot when i saw the line-up of our foot guards. apparently after my meeting with the ancients, i got another one with my fathers as well. mafia business. ill choose mafia business rather than facing the old farts. they kept pissing me off. well.. for a well deserve reason.
as soon as i stepped into the meeting room, all the buzz went silent. my fathers adoptive father is not right here to take care of this and my fathers are too busy with the mafia stuff and now im the only one these red eyes could pester.
"who dared summoned me?" i am not the supreme lord of the vampire race for nothing. even my parents cant handle me if its out of reason.
"we... all did, sire. we felt that it is time for you to choose a woman to enter your chamber. we are concerned with your well being my lord. and the council deemed this justifiable since although we are meant to find the one for us, its not really meant for all of us. you need to relax my lord." said the eldest of them all. hes the most crafty one. i cant just easily get rid of them even if i want to. they held up most of our societys balance and governance this whole time that they already became pillars of our clan. i value them for their wisdom and advices but this topic is always the cause of my distate for them.
i cant help but to glare down at them in annoyance. who are they to push this notion to me? who are they to involve themselves on my private life?
i stood up with a loud bang having my chair slide to the wall behind me and the iron table to bend and crack.
"HOW DARE YOU! if you lot were not part of this council, youll be drowing in your own blood right now! I WILL NOT HESITATE THE NEXT TIME IM DEMANDED WITH THIS!" i stormed out of the room leaving them prostrated on their knees. my aura will make them grovel like that for an hour at most. i dont care if im rude. i dont care if im too harsh. I AM THE KING OF THE VAMPIRES! they got a problem with that? make me bleed out and turn me into ash, if they can.
im fuming in anger.
i am this far away from my singer for this absurd request!
i reached the residential area of my parents floor and went straight to the kitchen and reached of an ice cold water. it cant calm me down but the sting of the cold temperature kept me in check of my reality.
"why the red face, hon?" my head snapped to the direction of the voice and saw my mother in his robes. maybe hell join us later in the meeting.
"those geezers really should keep their crabby hands out of my personal life if they want to still keep breathing." i said gulping down the last of my iced water.
"you know that they kept on like that because they didnt know you have your singer already." my mom replies weakly. ever since that punishment was given to him by grannie, he became a bit soft. not that he isnt naturally, its just that he became a bit tamed. computer skills aside, hes still deadly thanks to my fathers who wont leave his side after granny gave him his punishment.
"yeah, whos fault do you think was that?" i dont want to sound crude but really if this singer issue wasnt hushed up, i may have already have nhu by my side rulling this old farts.
"im sorry. i only want to protect both of you that time. did i also made a wrong decision for you?" my mom looked down and i felt a bit disgusted because of what i had said.
"sorry. you did not. i get why you did that and thankful for it but seeing my singer suffer and me not doing anything about it, makes me feel like a failure of a mate."
"sorry."
"enough of the apologies. it wont make the time go back and reverse everything thats been done. well just make up for it if its really that important to us. and my singer is important to me. now that hes here, expect seeing less of me. this is the farthest that i ever left my singer since yesterday and im not very happy about it, mom."
"youll see him later. hes adorable by the way."
"yes he is and a bit more."
"now, that smile, i had missed to see for a long time."
did i smile?
----------------->>>>>
nhu pov
"hello, sir. im wena. lord arius sent me to be at your service both at work and at home."
im looking at the tiny woman before me. shes smaller than me of 5'8"... maybe shes around 5'2"... is she for real? president arius didnt tell me anything about this...
RING!!!! RING!!!!
speaking of the vampire himself... "hello?" i answered.
"nhu, ive sent someone named wena to you. shes gonna be your p.a. from now on. you are not going anywhere without her, understand?"
"b-but why? i can take care of myself on my own..."
"tell that to someone other than me, nhu. i know." i cant really hide anything from this person. ive tried to be independent on my own ever since my parents casted me away but i guess, my efforts are not at par to what is considered as healthy.
i sighed and let it go but, "fine but..."
"no, buts. its non-negotiable. you may be fine on your own but youre with me now, so please just amuse me with this much. i cant be with you everyday since i got my own work as well. just let her do her job and dont mind her at all if it really bugs you that much."
"okay, i said fine, right?"
"dont be mad, love. i only want you to be safe and secured whenever im not around you like this. i worry about you too much like right now, i want to fly there at your location and leave these business meetings to my parents but apparently, im badly needed so im crazily missing you now. im sorry."
"my manager told me i got a live later at socmed and then after that ill be... home. can... can i bring you something for dinner, maybe? as thanks?" i cant cook much. might as well just bring something that could fill my stomach after a tiring day, right?
"whatever you pick, im all for it, love. just dont go anywhere without wena, okay?"
"okay." then a series of voices came in from his background. apparently hes already been called in. "you go, now. bye."
"okay, take care." and the line went dead but here i am staring at my phone for maybe more than a minute. i dont know how naturally it came to him to call me by that nickname. my face is all hot and maybe red. augh!
"seems like sugar daddys been doting on his baby." my sisters voice rang from behind me. "dont look at me like that. words been spreading since early this morning. lucky for me, im shooting here as well for my series. what a small world, huh?"
"buzz off, kate. settle your issues first before you play on mine." i rushed past her with wena on my heels grabbing my jacket from me and my water jug.
"you know moms not gonna be happy about this issue, nhu. she specifically told you to have a clean career so that money keeps on flowing in. seems like youre gonna get an earful later." she sneered at me. i know shes downplaying it but shes happy that im digging up my own grave in this industry making her shine more because she get to be interviewed and such.
but
"sorry to pop your bubble but i no longer have a mom or even a dad or a sister. president orders which i am now thankful for. i work for my self. i own myself. bye." i walked away back to our set leaving her red ugly mug of a face stuck to where she was standing. i caught her dialing someone. maybe already reporting to the parents. whatever.
sigh
i dont care anymore.
i feel numb.
its like being under pain killers for so long that even just a prick felt like nothing but a light touch. being under constant nagging ang berrating from my mother and now living in silence from her, felt like peace under anesthesia. maybe this is what they call as adjusting to a phase? i dont know.
i was about to climb up my van when a shout startled me from afar. its mom. that woman called her maybe. well, this maybe too convenient but i dont want to face them this early on. i want the president to be by my side if i ever confront them in the future.
"NHU!" shes near enough but i climbed on the car and shut my door on her face. the look of disgust and shock on her too busted up with surgeries face is so funny i laughed my heart out. i know im acting crazy but shes really that funny. can you blame me?
then she saw wena and the little one stood her ground from her. a little while later, she mounted the front seat by the driver and sighed.
"youve got one feisty mother, sir."
"that she is and her spawn too."
ive had enough being tamed by them. im greatful for their care when i was young but all i ever remembered from them was the back of her hand everytime i got a note out of place and her constant nagging that i could sometimes relate to a mass in a church, not that i ever attended one. i was never religious in the first place or maybe, i was never introduced to one. i was constantly on stage singing my heart out and in salons prettying myself up in constant criticizing eyes of my mother. school was just a second priority but i made it to a point to be in top10 of my school if possible. she might not care about it but i do. this is the only thing i am willing to do on my own. now that the president... no... arius came back, apparently, to save me.. im not turning back and be a coward in front of them. i need to be firm with arius beside me, otherwise, ill succumb again to the darkness that the limelight had given me.
as soon as we went in in the studio for the live, buzz was everywhere. its already late in the afternoon and since its a live, theres a bit of an audience to encourage interaction. wena ushered me to a dressing room and was seated for a quick touch up.
"15 minutes!" shouted a runner in our dressing room.
i sighed.
after this i want to just lay down and sleep but knowing arius, hell pick me up and push into the table to eat.
"thats a nice smile, sir." said the make-up artist.
"did i?" i looked at myself in the mirror and saw a crook in the corner of my lips where a smile has shown before.
"you did and its beautiful. mind showing that from time to time, your fans will go a-crap crazy for sure."
i cant reply. now that i was made aware of it, im conscious.
moments later, i was already at the dais with two host on each of my side with me in the middle. i was suppose to be presenting a new fragrance of cologne and a special edition of a perfume, all from the same brand. the hosts were so engaging with the audience, through tag lines and jokes from here and there. games were played too. my face was pleasant enough but they kept on encouraging me to smile.
i cant.
i dont know what happened but the audience suddenly went silent. i looked up and saw a tall figure by the camera but when he came into the light, i felt myself breath out. i was not aware im holding on my breath this entire time.
"oh my god! look here everyone, may we welcome the presence of our dear president and ceo of mss entertainment, our boss, sir arius kirigun." the host bellowed out. he motioned for the camera to pan to him but he refused to be in it.
but the thing is... i was not aware of this but i saw it when it was tagged to me later in the day... the live camera was on me when i was made aware of his presence. i cant believe a smile graced my face that time when i stared at him while he was off cam. that sigh was capture too.
now that this came out in the public.
now that i know that only him and his presence could make me smile like this.
im scared.
im elated.
do i have the right to claim him?