Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
by Lao Tzu
* * *
"Mrs. Roberts, I was told you needed to see me." She stated as she stepped into the classroom without any student in it. The middle aged woman, Mrs, Roberts, was seated behind her desk and looked up at the sound of the teenage girl's voice.
"Yes, Kiana." She replied as she instantly got up to her feet to meet the young girl, who was taking time walking into the classroom away from the entrance.
"I'm glad you came right away." Mrs, Roberts expressed as she took hold of the door and gently shut it, to hinder any external ear from prying into their conversation. Kiana found it a little odd that she would bother shutting the door to a classroom, especially during after school hours, but she decided to hold off on uttering a word regarding the older woman's action till she understood what was actually going on.
"There's someone who would like to speak to you in private." She explained, as she immediately turned to Kiana.
"Me?" Kiana asked with both raised brows, as her proportion turned to the woman.
"Am I in some sort of trouble? Is it my grade for the test? I can assure you, Mrs. Roberts, I wrote well and I can't get anything less than an A."
"You're okay." Mrs. Roberts immediately intervened before the young girl could cook up more assumptions from her fear and imagination.
"Someone outside the school or staff committee would like to speak to you." She repeated once more, when she noticed a somewhat calm expression on the young girl's face.
Kiana's brows slowly furrowed in confusion at what was going on.
"Hello, Kiana." The sudden voice caused her to turn to its direction quite immediately and almost in a startle.
She stared a little strangely at the elegantly dressed female in front of her, who had on a simple and warm smile, but nothing about a stranger asking for you was actually warm. As if purposefully prolonging the minute silence that occurred right after pronouncing her name, she spoke up sooner than later.
"I'm Mrs. Giulia Edoardo Vos." She identified as she took a few steps closer with her hand stretched out to her for a handshake. A broader smile than the one she had on earlier played on her face.
Kiana took one look at her from head to bottom and back up once more. For some reason, she felt a little uneasy, so she hesitated about accepting her handshake. Giulia noticed.
"I'm Tyler's mother." She added and watched, as the expression on the young girl's face slowly changed. Her eyes, a little widened in surprise.
"T-Tyler's... mum?" She asked and Giulia nodded in accordance. Kiana took one look at her hand and finally accepted her handshake.
"I... I'm sorry. I didn't know who you were, so..." Kiana attempted an explanation regarding how rude she might have been with her stares and for not accepting her handshake on time.
"It's okay. I understand."
"I left Tyler right outside the school. I'll let him know of your presence." She told her as she attempted to turn away towards the door, but Giulia quickly stopped her by placing a hand on her arm.
"There's no need for that." She admitted right away.
"I'm here to speak to you and I don't want Tyler knowing about our little meeting." She explained and Kiana brows slightly furrowed in confusion. She couldn't fathom what was going on.
"Mrs. Roberts, can you please give us a moment of privacy?" She humbly suggested to the teacher, who nodded right away and thereafter excused them by leaving the classroom then shutting the door behind her.
Kiana looked up to Giulia, as soon as the teacher was gone. She watched as Giulia drew up another warm smile on her face. She stared at Kiana in silence for what seemed like a while that Kiana began wondering if she was going to speak at all.
"You're just as beautiful as he described." She finally commented and although a part of her wanted to ask who described, but she held it in.
"I know you must have a lot of questions regarding why I'm here, and refusing to let my own son find out about my presence. It's allowed. You're allowed to be curious." She began and after a second, she suddenly took hold of Kiana's hands in hers much to the young girl's surprise. The expression on her face changed to that of a sad one.
"I love my son and as his mother, I always want the best for him." She continued and Kiana also noticed the change in her voice. It was a little softer and shaky, like that of someone about to cry. Kiana shockingly noticed the fact that her eyes had gotten teary.
"Kiana, I'm here to plead for your help. Tyler... he has a bright future ahead of him, but... he's refusing to accept it because of you."
What?
"His uncle, my older brother, who resides in Italy has recently passed away. He had no son or daughter of his own to succeed his business. Tyler's the last male heir in our family and in order for his hard work not to perish, both his wife and himself passed the entire business to him. It's a wine production business and Tyler has to move there to learn from the root about everything, but he's refusing to do so, because..." She came to a pause, now looking Kiana straight in the eyes. Kiana, on the other hand, unknowingly wondered what next she was going to say. She had barely understood the first part of her story.
"... because of you." She concluded and Kiana's eyes slowly widen at her statement. After a moment of trying to understand what was going to but failed to really do so, Kiana gently withdrew her hands away from hers.
"I... I really don't understand what's going on... I mean... Tyler's decision is his. I have no say in your family matters..."
"He has a huge crush on you." She blurted out and Kiana stared at her, quite stunned by the not so expected confession. Kiana gulped down hard.
"I'm sure you now understand what I meant by you being his reason for refusing to leave."
"Are... are you sure? I mean, he could..."
"I know my son very well. He's too timid to tell me about his feelings, but I have my ways of finding out... He plans on telling you about his feelings very soon, but I need you to turn him down. Make him feel miserable and desire to leave this place."
"W-what?" Kiana stuttered, a little shocked to hear such words from her.
"Yes. He'll be heartbroken, but he'll desire to get over it and thus, agree to leave this place. Look, I'm ready to offer you any amount you desire as long as you do as I say..."
"Please, stop, Mrs. Vos!" Kiana finally exclaimed, her voice a little higher than usual. She stared at the woman with disbelief in her eyes, on a facial expression before she looked away for a second then back to her.
"I don't need your money and I certainly can't hurt him the way you desire." She stated and watched as the tensed up expression on Giulia's face relaxed.
Kiana shook her head in disbelief.
"What kind of a mother are you?" Kiana rhetorically asked, before turning away to leave.
"The kind who doesn't sell her body to any man in exchange for a few dollars." Giulia responded quite quickly, causing Kiana to halt on taking another step forward. That very sentence sounded familiar and at that very moment, her heart sank with fear.
Giulia took in a deep breath before taking steps forward and only stopped when she was in front of Kiana. For some reason, Kiana found it hard to look her in the eye.
"I really didn't want to do this, but I'm the type of person who's ready to go to any length to get what she wants." She admitted and Kiana raised her eyes up to her.
"I did my little research on who you truly are, Kiana Stuart, and I found out quite a lot that my son and... probably the entire school knows nothing about." She confessed and Kiana glared hard at her.
"I got married, but tragically lost my husband to an illness. Tyler is legitimate, but you..." She commented, giving her a disgusted look by the end of her sentence.
"Why don't you make this easy by accepting my offer and doing as I say? It'll be for your good as well." She stated, before stretching her hand out for a handshake. Kiana glared hard at her hand before looking back up to her and by this time, her heart had started racing and she was filled with rage.
She walked right past Giulia and made her way out of the classroom. Her steps down the hallway seemed heavy and war-like. Her eyes had gotten teary as well. She hated being reminded about this truth to her life.
* * *
For obvious reasons, Kiana felt very nervous while seated outside the office, waiting patiently for Enrico to eventually step out. It might have been minutes, but it felt like hours since he has been in there. A part of her curiously wondered about what might be the topic of their discussion. She took another look at the door and there was still no sign of anyone stepping out.
She nervously and lightly bit her lower lip as she rubbed her palms together, then began tapping her feet continuously. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She even imagined the worst and feared the very fact of Enrico finding out the truth from someone else and not her. She knew she did bad. She knew she should have told him earlier and not procrastinate it the way she did. She should have persisted, regardless of the distraction, and then she might really lose him. The thought of it made her heart sink with fear. Unable to sit still anymore, she stood to her feet and took quick steps towards the door.
Suddenly, it was pulled to an open and Kiana's eyes widened with surprise at the mere sight of Enrico in front of her. Her heart thumped loudly from within her chest. For a few seconds, they stood staring at each other, Kiana searched desperately on his face for any expression or signal that would hint her on what was presently going on in his mind. Unfortunately, she found none and it scared her to the core.
"En..." She attempted, but he suddenly took hold of her by the wrist and immediately walked away, dragging her along with him. Although, his very act took her by surprise, she couldn't find the right word to speak up, as she blindly followed him. Her eyes remained on him, but he neither said a word nor stole a glance at her. She only concluded something was definitely wrong when he impatiently pressed the button to the elevator and when it didn't open soon enough, he drew her along with him towards the staircases.
She took a look at his hold on her wrist and it was starting to hurt. His hastened steps down the staircases took a toll on her as she barely caught up with him. Finally, out of the building, Kiana drew to a sudden halt, dragging her hand immediately out of his hold. By so doing, he came to a stop and turned to her. She stared at him for a while, a little out of breath from having walked so fast but yet, he said nothing.
"What's... what's going on?" She questioned, finally seeking a straight answer. If he knew something, it would be better if he shared it with her. She waited patiently for his reply, yet he gave none. She watched him look away from her and she felt a little frustrated about the situation.
"Enrico..."
"She's saying a lot of bad things about you, but, Kiana,... I refused to believe them. I trust your character and I know just how honest you are. I was vexed and couldn't tolerate it anymore, so I left... I had to take you away from there." He suddenly explained as he took hold of her hands in his and drew closer to her.
She stared at him with eyes slightly widened and after what seemed like a moment, she got a hint of what he was talking about.
She told him the truth.
The very sentence rang in her mind and slowly, fear creeped in. The look in his eyes was clearly searching for some sort of reply from her, one that would backup his belief, but Kiana knew she couldn't give him what he desired to hear. That one fact hurt her a lot. There was so much trust in his eyes, yet she was about to break that.
She gulped down hard to control her emotions and found herself blinking several times, as well as she looked away from him.
"What... What did she say?"
"It doesn't matter. It's a lie and you would never do any of the things she said." He interjected right away, as he brought his hand to her cheek and wore a warm smile on his face, but this only made her feel worse.
"I trust you completely." He added, looking her straight in the eyes. The word 'trust' made her feel so guilty. Her heart wrenched and she admitted to the one fact that she was the worst person alive.
"I'm sorry." She apologised almost in a whisper, as she lowered her eyes in shame away from his. Her eyes had gotten teary and by this time, the tears had begun trickling down her cheeks.
Enrico stared at her for a moment, a little confused about the reason for her apology. Slowly, his brows furrowed in expression of the confusion he was going through. A part of him wanted to ask what she was sorry about, but when he saw how much she had begun weeping, a scary conclusion began creeping into his mind and his hand eventually fell to his side.
"Did... Did you actually... accept the money she offered?" He questioned what felt like the right question at the moment, regardless of the fact that it displeased him.
Slowly, she forced herself to look up to him. The look in his eyes was that of a plea. A plea for her to state his desired reply. She shut her eyes for a moment as the tears persisted. She hated having to do this. He didn't deserve any of this. Eventually, she opened her eyes to meet his once more and he seemed so patient about her reply.
"Yes." She confessed, nearly in a whisper and watched as his eyes widened for a moment, surprise evident in them. The look on his face, in his eyes, seemed so different from a few seconds ago. Disappointment washed over him and he took a staggered step backwards before looking away from her.