Diane
"Wow Johnson. Your girl can play really good ball huh," Leyla smirks when the ball enters the net again.
I don't even have the time rejoice because I just realized what she has just said.
Your girl.
Me? His girl?
"Oh no, I- we're not-"
"Yes, I've got good competition," Isaak admits but what shocks me the most is that he doesn't correct her. Not even later on. "She's a keeper. Don't lose her," She looks serious as she shoots him a pointing look.
"Well I used to play ball with my dad, so he taught me a few things," I say.
"Oh so daddy's girl huh?" She averts her gaze from me to him. "Better not mess with her then. But who am I to talk? I can do a lot of things. Dangerous things . But basketball is none of those," She readjusts her cap that was protecting her from the boiling sun.
My brows come together. What did she mean by dangerous things? Maybe she could explain why they had so much security. The men here barely uttered 5 words. All they did was nod and say yes or no when asked for something. The dogs too. But how could I judge them based on the dogs they had? Almost every person owned a pet or more.
Though there had to be an explanation, right?
"Dangerous things?" I point out. She nods at this. "Alright, I think that's enough," Isaak interrupts.
"Stealing her so quickly?" Leyla raises a brow. "It's lunch time, Leyla," He says, almost sounding irritated.
"I'm just playing. Ugh, why do you and your brother always have to be so serious?" She rolls her eyes. Isaak doesn't say anything as he walks over to place the basketball in it's original place. I slowly follow behind him. His mood had suddenly changed and I wondered why.
Was I not supposed to ask?
Did I say something wrong?
I was able to walk at his pace-- by that, I meant I had to run. "Hey," My hand landed on his chocolate brown skin that glistened beautifully underneath the sun. His jaw clenched and I immediately let go. I tried to not think of how that made me feel and stepped in front him to stop him from walking. "Are you okay? Did I say something you didn't like? If I did, I'm really sorry-"
"No," He shut his eyes. He seemed to be fighting with himself and I just stood there, dumbfounded. My eyes roamed around his face. I notice a thin layer of sweat on his forehead that matched mine. I wondered what was going on in his head. Why was he keeping it all in? "I need you to take that back," I furrow my brows. "What?"
Why was he so damn vague?
"Your apology, take it back," He said more clearly. I stared at him, baffled.
If I had said something wrong why didn't he let me apologize? It didn't seem fair to me.
"Please," He doesn't give me a reason like I had expected him too. My shoulders fall. "Okay. I take it back," The words leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Without another word, I walk away from him.
I pushed everything that just happened at the back of my mind knowing damn well it'd come crashing down later. I enter through the back and even through a distance, I could spot Claudia in the kitchen. She was no longer dressed in the clothes she was in when we were playing basketball, no. She was glowing, her curls were gathered in a bun while she cooked.
"Well, hello wife material," I came in smiling. Her big brown eyes found mine. "Hey, you guys are right on time," She smiled a little.
I hum. "...And what's the wonderful surprise?"
"Surprise?" She cocks her brow but her eyes are focused on what she's doing. "By surprise I mean all of this, Claud."
"Well I mean yea but since everyone is going to join lunch-- dinner included, I wanted it to be special."
"Oh I know what this is about," I smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"Luciano," I notice her freeze for a nanosecond but she's able to quickly compose herself. "What about him?" I walk to the fridge, closer to her so I can get a cold glass of water. I rinse my glass and pour the cold water.
"I saw that," I tease her and gulp down the cold water. "What? Diane you saw nothing, okay? And what about Luciano? I'm just preparing this meal because from tomorrow on, he'll no longer be at work as much as he is,"
I hum in response and quickly get to washing my glass in the sink. "And you?"
"What about me?"
"You and Isaak?"
"I don't know what you mean," I lie with a shrug. I knew exactly what she meant but I was just returning the same energy she gave me.
"What, so you're not gonna tell me how starstruck you are by him? Or about how his unlike any other guy you have met before? None of that?"
"No. Not really," That's when she turns back and faces me. I rinse my hands once I'm done washing the glass and dry off my hands. She squints her eyes, her hands on her hips. "What?" I look at her.
"You like him," She says knowingly. "You just don't want to say anything right now. You wanna see how things will go and keep it private. I like that," I smile a little.
She read me like an open book.
□□□
Luciano
When I get home I'm welcomed with a bundle of laughter and voices. All my life I had adapted to silence hence, the sound of laughter is so foreign and strange. My ears and my mind were being introduced to something... different.
I didn't know if I liked it..
Or if I preferred things as before.
"Ah, my boy. You're finally home," I hear my mother's voice. I feel arms wrap around me. My arms wrap around her with zero hesitation. Over the years I had forgotten how everybody looked like.
Including my brother.
The image had become distorted so quickly. I had forgotten them much sooner than I thought. Seeing nothing but the absolute darkness made it hell for me everyday. Maybe for others it may have been something they got used to but it wasn't for me. All my other senses had grown stronger. I could smell better, hear things others maybe couldn't.
But it didn't change anything.
Especially how I felt on the inside.
All of this just forced me trust myself and others more. I had to build this house with no image in my head. I had to get used to bumping into things no matter how much I thought I 'knew' my house.
"Claudia made dinner for all of us. She hasn't taken a bite of hers because she waited for you," My mom says.
Claudia waited for me?
Why?
"This time please don't upset her. She spent all afternoon preparing a delicious meal. Even if you just sit down," She continues like she knew I was ready to say no. I sigh, giving in and I just knew she had a smile on her face.
She guides me to the kitchen where the chatter gets louder but all of a sudden stops. "Luciano," I hear Claudia's voice even though it was a whisper. I could've sworn it was hers.
I inhaled her scent.
Vanilla and raspberry.
If I'm not mistaken.
She didn't change it.
Good thing she didn't because she smelt heavenly. I told her to change it in hopes of her doing it because I said so. Though she didn't care about what I said and I liked that.
Most women would do whatever I asked and I became bored but she.. she didn't. "Dinner is ready. Your food is warm and untouched,"
Normally I'd say I'm not hungry but I allowed myself to stay at the dinner table to eat. When was the last time I ate here? I thought.
The chattering had died down and everyone suddenly began to say their goodnights, leaving me alone with Claudia.
The food smelt delicious, without a doubt. "What is it?" I ask.
"Excuse me?"
"The food," I say in attempt to be more clear. Sometimes I wondered if she was always this slow.
"Oh," She chuckles "How about you take a bite and guess what it is?" I jerk my head back. It was my time to say, "excuse me?"
"Open up, come on, Mr invincible,"
"I'm not a child," I glare. "You should see your face right now. You look like a child that had their toy car stolen," She giggles softly.
"I'm. not. a child." I reiterate. "Then prove it," She giggles and I wonder what she looked like doing so.
It was only then I had realized I didn't even know the color of her eyes. Her hair, her style. Everything. I barely knew anything and for some reason, I wanted to know everything.
For some odd reason, I wanted to know about Claudia Ramirez. But why?