"Come in miss Alani" He instructed me as he stepped aside to allow me into the estate. I step into the house and immediately my eyes go wide. I mean I knew he was successful and therefore he made good money but this is not what I had expected at all.
The layout of the room was wide. The room was bordered with windows on one side of the room so light flooded in. The light fixtures and golden colored wall decor glowed with the sun. Further into the large room was a staircase. A staircase I assumed led to the bedrooms.
"Miss Alani I would like to know more about you if we are to spend the next year of our lives together. Would you please follow me to the common area" His voice snapping me out of my shock. We headed to another room through a set of glass doors. There were two sofas and a table in between. I sat on one side of the table and him on the other. Now that we were seated I got my first chance to actually look at him.
His hair was blonde and a medium length. He had a haircut to where his hair was long in the front and shortened as it reached towards his neck. It was curly and a bit unruly it just barely covered his eyes. It suited him nicely though. His clothes were very business casual. And he wore a gold ring on his index finger. It was a simple, large band. He was very pretty. It was really the only way to describe him. He was genuinely and undeniably pretty.
"Miss Alani-" I noticed that he called me Alani every time he addressed me. I never did much like hearing my full name.
"Just Lani please," I tell him and he nods his head. I guess it's a good response as any. He clenched his hands together as if he was nervous. Was he nervous? I mean he might be a soldier but he's still very young and now he's being forced to take on an intern I didn't even think about whether he was stressing over meeting me. I was too busy stressing over meeting him.
"Um, I was told by Levina that you have a blight-" The topic of conversation instantly caught my attention. What else did she tell him about my blight?
"Would you please tell me about it? I want to know what you can do," I look at his face which is now focused on mine. He seems a lot more comfortable now after asking me one question. I wish I could say the same. Usually, when people around me find out about my blight they run for the hills. So what will he do?
"Uh sure, I haven't exactly been able to use it to full capacity. I'm pretty strong now but it's like I can feel more inside of me. I know it's there I just don't know how to get it to come to light. But anyway, as of right now I can use what I refer to as chaos magic. I can move things with my mind, I can see into the minds of others, I can release bursts of said magic, and I can heal myself and others. All of which has its drawbacks of course.Contrary to what most think I'm not invincible." I explain to him as I wait for a response, Looking at his face I can tell he's shocked by all that I have told him. He's staring at me as he doesn't know what to say. I clear my throat to cut the silence taking over the room. He notices that he's zoned out and focuses back on the answer that I gave him.
"Well, that's certainly a lot. You said that there are drawbacks? Care to share them?" He asks me cautiously as if he was afraid his questions would offend me or hurt my feelings. But hey I'll take it over the look of paralyzed fear I get from most people. I just met him and he's already different than most. He's cautious, not scared, he looks more curious than anything else.
"Well, other than me not having access to a huge chunk of my power, I can change and influence memories and emotions but I can't create or destroy them. So say one person was angry at another person for stealing their seat. I could change why that person was angry. even make the anger less intense but I couldn't change the fact that the person was angry entirely. And I can heal myself and others but I use my own physical strength to do it. So if I was exhausted I couldn't heal as fast and I probably wouldn't be able to heal anyone else." I bring my explanation to a close and at this point, I really can't tell what he's thinking. I get it is a lot to swallow but still the anticipation is a lot.
"Well, that's certainly a lot to swallow um how about you tell me more about you personally. I mean how about we start easy what's your full name?" Well, at least he didn't freak out he took it very well. Honestly, I thought telling him about my blight would be the worst of it and if it is then this internship might not be so bad after all.
"My full name is Alani Shigemi" He looks at me as if he has no idea what I'm talking about. It's honestly kinda funny.
"That's a very unique name, no middle name?" At this point, I can't hold in a small laugh. He's like a child.
"My mother was Japanese, Shigemi was her maiden name I took it after I was taken in and middle names aren't really a thing in Japan"
"And what about your father?" I look down at my hands avoiding eye contact for this next part.
"Um my father was an Englishman, He married my mother after a work trip to Japan. After my mother had me they raised me there until I was seven. Then we came to England where I would start school. I spoke English fairly well due to my father. But when we got here...My mother died, she was killed. And that night my father abandoned me."- He looks at me with a sad expression. I have always hated that expression. seeing it on people after they hear what my life has been, I don't want to be someone's sob story I never have.
"I'm sorry Lani, Well after all the questions I've asked you I think it would be only fair for you to ask me some as well," He says to me with a small smile on his face. It was such a small close-lipped smile, and yet... it helped.