Adalia
I rang the security doorbell bell by the black gate, and pressed my forehead to it, knowing there was a camera pointing at my face.
"Do you always have to put your five-head on my camera every time you come here? Now I have to take the time to wipe out the grease from the lens," a husky male voice grumbled.
"Oh, shut it. My forehead isn't that big and you know it. As for the grease, well boohoo deal with it," I bit back.
A suppressed chuckle streamed out from the speaker. "What do you want this time?"
"I got rejected...again," I muttered.
The speaker went quiet, and I didn't bother asking if he was still listening because I knew what he must be doing right now.
He's probably putting on his white indoor slides and opening his huge glass doors, stepping down the black marble outdoor steps, walking past his mini lake of a pool, past his gardens, and heading for the black gate.
As if on cue, the gates shook open and a tall figure emerged from it. The moment I raised my head from the doorbell, warm hands enveloped me in a hug, and my face pressed into a grey sweatshirt.
Yup, that's my brother, always there to catch me when I fall.
"So basically you're still single at the age of twenty-four," my brother laughed.
Uh-huh...always there to catch me when I fall.
In terms of look, my brother was practically the male version of me; oval-shaped face, curly black hair, almond-shaped eyes that held honey-brown pupils. The only difference was that he was blessed with more height and slightly better looks, and since he worked out, his body was pretty toned.
"You get on my nerves Mael," I lamented.
"Oh yeah? What do I do on those nerves of yours? Do I sit on them? Stand on them?" he ruffled my hair.
I couldn't even bring myself to call his jokes lame as I always do. It's actually what I needed to distract me right now, and that's why I came here.
"Come let's go inside," he wrapped his hands around my shoulders and led me through the gates.
"Yeesh what happened to your garden? Your girl stopped tending to it?" I grimaced at the withered garden with rotten fruits and vegetables becoming one with the soil.
"My dear sister, you aren't the only one who got a taste of heartbreak recently," he tapped my shoulder.
I blinked at him. "Uh, yeah anyways, just make sure your pool is ready sometime soon. It won't be long until it's summer."
"Wow, Ada. Here I am comforting you on your heartbreak, and you ignore mine like it's nothing."
"Brother dear brother," I patted his chest "However is that stale heart of yours?" I asked sarcastically.
"Damn sis, no mercy huh," he opened his front door and let me in.
I flopped onto his grey leather couch and kicked my vans onto his grey rug. "Just kidding. So what did you do this time?" I tossed my Sherling denim jacket and black bag on another couch. "Attach your ass on your gaming chair all day? Or worse, occupied all your time with your engineering job?"
"None actually. She just said she met someone she was destined to be with and couldn't resist him. She said she had to go to him no matter what. Blah blah." He masterfully mocked, ruffling his black curly hair, as he stalked toward the kitchen.
"You definitely found a strange one Mael," I called after him, but he just waved me off and disappeared behind the kitchen walls.
I took the time to admire the massive space that was my artwork. That's right, I designed his home for him.
It was a contemporary house built mainly on grey marble and stones. Most of the walls were made out of large glass panels, that were obscured with grey curtains. The floors were made of white oak hardwood that complimented the white ledger stone on his TV wall. Running up to the second floor was a black spiral marble staircase, with recessed ground lights following each stair.
I threw my black socked feet on his chair and hugged one of the black and gold veined pillows. Nice to see he's still keeping this place intact.
"So who was it this time?" Mael asked, coming out of the kitchen with two steaming cups. He walked through the dining, past the spiral stairs, and came to place the cups on his center veneer coffee table.
Then he walked off to the side to pull a much smaller coffee table and placed it in front of me. "Is it uh...what was his name again? Oh right. Luke."
"No it isn't Luke," I groaned into the pillow. "It's much worse this time."
"Oh yeah?" Mael flopped into the chair opposite mine and took a sip out of his cup.
"Yea..."
He took another long, purposeful sip, "Is he taken or something? I already told you, if you like someone and they're taken, then just snatch them back. Likewise, if someone likes you and you don't like them back, then just use them for short company and ditch them later."
I raised my face from the pillow and grimaced at my brother. "You heartless soul, it's no wonder you're single now."
He air toasted his cup at me then brought it back to his lips for another sip. "At least I was taken at some point, unlike you."
"Loser," I lazily threw the pillow I was hugging at him, but he just swiped it out of the way.
Laughing, he returned my gesture with a pillow of his own, but I caught it and drew it to my chest, replacing the one I threw.
"Go on sis, tell me how it's worse than the whole Luke situation. Because last I checked, when you found out Luke had a girl, you came crying to me. You even called out sick from work and stayed in my house for a whole full week. A WEEK! Then you also barely ate anything for that week, looking like you were on the verge of death."
I groaned into my pillow again, embarrassed at the rush of memories that were suddenly coming to me.
However, my merciless brother didn't stop there and continued his narration. "You didn't even date the boy and you felt like ending yourself. So what's the problem with this one? He doesn't know you exist or something?"
"No Mael, he knows I exist all right..."
"Okay...?" he egged me on with his hands as if telling me to cut the suspense and get straight to it.
"He..." I hiccuped. "We went on a date, had dinner, and even had a make-out session. Then all of a sudden, he just cuts our kiss and walks away. I haven't heard from him since then."
I glanced over at my brother to see his face looking like he was about to throw up all the tea he had just drank. "You got that far with him?!" He threw another pillow at my face. "Didn't I tell you if you find another man I should be the one doing the judging?!"
I glared at him, "I just met him. Of course, I didn't get a chance to tell you"
"What the—?" He raised an eyebrow. "You're this hung up over someone you just met?"
"Well...I know I just met him, but somehow it felt like I've known him forever. Something about him is just so compelling to me like he's the one I've been searching for. Like he makes me whole."
I peeked at my brother again, only to see his scrunched-up face. "What?" I asked.
"The fuck is that sentimental shit? You sound like an old hippie."
I launched the pillow he threw over, back at his face and this time it hit its mark, "Stupid idiot. I'm being serious here. I—"
"Wait, pause. You aren't using this as an excuse to hang out in my house because you're getting tired of your small house, are you? This is precisely why I told you to buy a bigger house."
"Ugh, my silly brother. If I decided to grace your house with my presence you should be happy. And no thank you, I already told you I'd be too spooked to live in a big ass house all by myself. Also Mum might just move in with me..." My teeth clattered at the thought.
My house is intentionally average size for a reason. It's just enough space to make me feel cozy.
"Hmm yeah okay. Anyways continue your love story, we should make you into a Netflix series." he rubbed his jaw.
I ignored his comment and continued, "With Luke, I was really heartbroken when I found out he was dating someone else, but I survived. This time, it's different. It feels like something in my heart has been ripped apart..." I couldn't even finish my sentence when something wet touched my cheeks. I swiped my finger against it and brought it to my eye level. It was a tear.
And just like that, the dam broke and the flood came crashing.
Earlier I just felt numb to the world even though I knew I was in pain. But as if the anesthesia has worn off, my heart is now hurting ten times more than it did with Luke.
"Mael, I don't know what to do. My heart is hurting and it feels like I can't breathe..." I sniffed and wiped off my tears that just came rolling back down.
Mael instantly dropped his cup of tea and raced to my side. He engulfed me in a warm hug, and I sobbed into his chest. His familiar cologne evaded my nostrils, wrenching back the nostalgic feeling of home. In any other situation, it would be a thing I'd smile about, but not right now. Right now, his smell was making me feel nostalgic, and that gave my body permission to relax because it understood I was in a safe space. Since my body relaxed, the tears came in ten folds. In a matter of time, I was ugly crying.
"I can't breathe Mael, why doesn't he want me? I thought everything was fine, I thought that he liked me since he took me out on a date. I thought..." I wailed.
Memories of Zayn laughing behind me as we rode on Nel's back came flooding. His hot breath on mine as his burning palm slid up my body.
I exposed myself to him and let him explore parts of me I've never let anyone see or touch. I gave him a piece of my heart I didn't even give Luke. And yet they weren't enough to make him want me.
Why does no one ever want me romantically? Am I lacking in something? Surely I don't look ugly. Does my personality suck?
My confidence was waning at the moment, and so was my self-esteem. I got back up after the whole Luke fiasco, but this one? I was unsure if it was possible.
"Shh." He cooed as he stroked my hair. "You can breathe Adalia. Your heart is still there," he placed my hand on my chest. "It hasn't been taken away. It's yours and yours only. You're strong Adalia, you can breathe. But I won't tell you not to cry. Just let it out, so your heart can heal."
Funny how he told me I sounded like an old hippie, but he was the one telling me this sentimental stuff. I didn't hate it though, because even if I could barely hear him through my loud crying, I still felt relieved. I had someone to cry to.
The loud buzzing of my phone paused my crying, and I immediately fumbled through my jeans pocket to fish it out. I was so ecstatic until I saw the caller ID on the lit-up screen and my hopes instantly plummeted.
I sighed and tossed my phone on the couch, then proceeded to wipe the tears that had begun falling again.
"It's Addy. Aren't you going to pick up?" Mael asked, patting my back.
"No, I can't deal with her energy right now." I sniffed.
"Were you excited to pick up the phone at first because you thought it was someone else?"
I glared at him but made no attempt to debunk his claim because he was right.
The sound of my ringtone blared again, and this time I didn't make an attempt to grab it. However, my stupid brother had other plans. He picked up the phone, put it on loudspeaker, and brought it close to my mouth.
I palmed my face and mumbled, "Hello?"
"Adalia, I went to your house and you weren't there! Where are you?!" an irate Addy yelled through the phone.
"I knew you'd come to my house, and that's precisely why I'm not there," I mumbled.
"Do you know how worried I was? Where are you right now?!" She yelled back.
"She's at my house," Mael interjected.
"Mael?" Addy questioned.
"Hey Addy," Mael laughed. "Do you think you can come get this one out of the house?" he pointed at me like she could see us.
"Sure thing! On my way right now!" was all she could get out before she hung up.
"Oh boy she's coming," I groaned.
"Isn't that good? You need distractions, not wallowing in self-pity. We've been through this before, and I'm not letting you repeat the same pattern."
"Whatever."
***
In about fifteen minutes, Addy had already pulled up in front of the house, and my brother was shoving me into the car. "I'll get you back for this," I said under my breath before he successfully shoved my head into the car.
"Yea, yea whatever," He said as he closed the door in my face. Then he walks over to the driver's side of the car. "I texted you all the details she spewed so you know what's up yeah?" he said to Addy.
"Yes, and thank you for telling me, because Adalia here," she gritted her teeth at me, "would never have bothered to."
"I was going to—"
"Save it Adalia," she waved me off then turned to Mael. "I'll be taking her now." she grinned as she started the car and started to drive out of the compound.
I stuck both my middle fingers to the window as the car slowly pulled passed my brother. But my message didn't seem to reach across, as he just wiggled a bye at me with a big ass grin on his face.
Oh, he would definitely pay for this.