Callum turned his head when he heard an amused chuckle only to find Nash, his best friend leaning against the wall, cocking a brow at him.
"The monsoon has yet to come, my brother and you are already drowning in the rain of Amore (love)," Nash commented, quite amused. In the end, he finally found something to tease Callum with. "But be careful not to catch the love cold."
By love cold, he meant the painful consequences of puppy love.
"No nonsense, Nash," Callum warned him. He wanted to be lost in his dreamy world for a while. He didn't want Nash to take away the joy of the first time being in love from him. Of course, it couldn't be love at first sight. But he knew that he felt more than just a rush of uncontrolled feelings for the woman he saw now. And right now, he didn't wish for anyone to awaken him for his sweet dream. He wanted to dance in rain. His heart was about to explode with the sweet feeling.
Let him stay inside the bubble he had created for him.
It was stupid. It was pathetic. He knew it. No need to tell him.
Of all the people, his best friends were the people who had the least right to comment on his love life when they had a habit of falling for the most forbidden women.
Especially this Nash was beaten badly by Santiago, his other best friend for proposing to his sister.
Nash grinned and zipped up his lips. Dramatically, he threw the imaginary key to his zipped lips at the trash bin causing Callum to roll his eyes.
But only if it could keep his mouth shut.
'She look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But Callum, my buddy, you gotta be wise
She could be a devil in disguise.'
Nash sang the song even when he was aware that he could put any tone-deaf person to shame.
"Don't provoke me, Nash," Callum gave him a look which said he was being serious. His Calli was an angel!
"You need a chill pill, Cal," Nash snickered. He wrapped his arm around Callum's shoulders and walked him to the car. "You just met her and I don't think it's healthy obsessing over a woman you just met for what? A few seconds? Come on, buddy, you can do better than this. Don't embarrass me by telling people a woman swept you off your feet in wet and dirty clothes. I agree she was a bombshell. But what socialites have you not met in this life? Why must you be wasting your time on a widow who had no interest in moving on?"
Callum stopped in his footsteps and glanced at Nash. It was only the last part that got his attention. "What did you just say?"
"She is a widow, Callum, who is taking shelter with the church, " Nash told him seriously. "She had devoted her whole life to serve the church and humanity."
"How the hell do you know all this information?" Callum asked him in slight anger.
"I asked Maxwell when you were running after her," Nash shrugged. "You have no future with a woman who has her whole future mapped out. And she has no blank space to fill you in her life."
His words punched Callum. A small voice in him wanted to say: there was no harm in trying once. At least he would tell himself that he tried. But the rational part of him was screaming not to go crazy over a woman he wouldn't probably see again. He understood that Nash was trying to save him from the pain he was going to inflict on himself.
Yet, he couldn't help but listen to the small voice in him.
"We need to leave," Nash said, his gaze settled on his phone. "King Leonardo expects to see you."
"Again?" Callum scowled.
"Ronan fucking Joseph," Nash said the name and Callum interpreted his unspoken words.
…
"Is it you, Calli?" Liana, the girl who stayed in the room next to hers said.
"Yeah," Calliope softly replied as she opened the door to find Liana drying paintings for her. "You should have taken a rest, Liana."
Liana mostly did all her cleaning and all the other tasks that didn't include painting. It could also be said that Calliope was alive because of this girl. When she would be engrossed in her art, this girl would make sure that she didn't die from hunger and exhaustion.
"You don't pay me to rest, Calli," Liana said with a wide smile. "Father Francis told me the news. He said your painting was sold at a very high price. Is it true?" Her smile faltered as her gaze fell on the wet coat on Calliope's body. Her eyes indicated that she recognized it belonged to a man.
Under Liana's assessing gaze, Calliope swallowed hard. Her attention once again was stolen by the owner of the darkest eyes she had ever seen.
What was the name of the man?
Callum Facci.
A fancy name for a fancy man.
Callum. She called out his name in her head. He had the face of an angel and the temperament of a saint. Even when she unleashed her wrath on him, he didn't say a word instead offered her one of those charismatic smiles. She had no wish to read his intentions behind leaving his coat to her and neither did she have any intention of looking for him to return this coat. If he could own one, he could buy another too?
It was not a fairy tale where one of the protagonists would lose his/her handkerchief only to be used as red strings. It was real life. And real life was way scarier and real.
"The painting was bought by a man who was probably showing off his riches to the likes of him," Calliope replied with a smile. "However, his purchase of a million dollars could help the shelter for a few months to run smoothly."
Liana forgot about the man's coat when she heard that the painting was sold for a million dollars. Freaking one million dollars. She didn't even know how many zeroes the word million even had. But she was thrilled. So thrilled with the excitement that she held Calliope's hands to dance merrily.
…
AUTHOR NOTE: Nash is singing Elvis Presley's devil in disguise but with modifications.