ANISHA'S POV
I received a message from Carter, in which he was asking me to meet with him after my lectures. Regretting why I had not yet blocked him, at first I decided not to respond; but in the end I did reply. I asked him what he wanted from me, and he flatly refused to tell me, stating that he was only going to say it when me met face to face. I did not want any more drama in my life, so I said no, and immediately blocked his number.
Soon after I left the lecture theatre for my last lesson, I hurried towards the parking spot. I jumped into my car and before I could start it, there was a soft knock at my window, and I looked up to see Carter grinning from ear to ear.
"It is a privilege for a student to own a car. But when they drive a car as nice as this one; such an expensive car, I end up wondering if we can still use the word privileged, or there is another term for this?" he said.
I just gave him a small smile and asked him to tell me whatever it was that he needed from me, for I was in a hurry.
"Anisha, it seems like you're forgetting where you came from. I loved you first, you must always know that." His voice sounded like he was starting to get angry.
"I always considered you as a brother; and even if you might have loved me first, I never loved you back." I reminded him.
Carter looked around the parking lot, as if he was looking for something or someone, before he laughed a little, and walked around to plant himself comfortably in the passenger seat.
"Anisha, I saw your videos. You and that billionaire dude, at some ice cream shop. I wasn't aware that he too shops from the same places as us," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Are you here to see me because of the videos?" I could not help but ask him.
"Not entirely because of that. I am here as a friend, as someone to look out for you, because I love you Anisha. You know that I do. Anisha, that guy does not care about you. How can I show it to you, when will you ever get it?"
"Do you even know him? I stay with him, and from the first day that I knew him, he has shown me nothing but love!"
"How? How has he shown you love? Anisha, he buys you this very expensive car, and you think it's love? Let me tell you, it's not love. To that dude, the cost of this car means nothing. He has too much money, his family made it in life centuries ago. Even if he wanted to leave work and stay at home from now on, he can still survive and live a comfortable life with what he already has now in his bank account." Carter's voice sounded chocked and in pain.
I could not help but wonder what was causing him pain. Did he care for me that much, that he would even get close to shedding tears for my presumed demise? I chuckled at how ridiculous he sounded.
"You're laughing?" he sounded hurt. "Anisha, if I work hard and save up money to buy you a simple car, it does not mean I love you any less. I would have saved and worked extra hard for it. Unlike that guy Dylan. He just walked to his parents and says mamma, papa, please transfer some millions into my account…."
"Dylan is a hardworking person who doesn't depend on his parents!" I retorted.
"Ok, ok, if you say so. All I am trying to tell you is, don't be fooled by his luxurious gifts. And in the process you ignore me, when I have true love for you."
"I love him, OK? I have told you many times that I love him!! Please don't continue bothering me!"
"Is it him you love, or his money!" Carter said out loud, much to my disappointment.
Without realizing it, I shouted back at him, "It is him!! Even if you take away the money from him, I will still love him!"
Carter broke into laughter, but the laughter died down when, from nowhere, two men appeared and stood on either side of the car. They were dressed in clean and tidy black suits, and from looking at them, they somehow reminded me of the bodyguards at Dylan's mansion.
"Are you in any trouble, miss?" one of them asked.
I looked at him and wondered who he was, but slowly I managed to shake my head and whisper, "I am fine."
"Is this man bothering you? Should we ask him to leave?"
Carter looked at me with pleading eyes, before he asked me, "who are these men?"
I was about to say I also was not aware of their identity, when the man standing next to me said, "our job is to protect her."
Carter looked at him, and then at me. "So that billionaire now has you guarded like some VIP? You're now enjoying the life of the rich, with bodyguards all around you! No wonder you can't leave him!"
The man standing nearer to Carter held him by the wrist and gently pulled him out of the car. Carter tried to resist but the man stated firmly; "sir, I will ask you to leave, please! I don't want to cause a scene. Please go."
"What if the lady wants me to stay?" Carter asked while staring at me with hopeful eyes.
"You want me to stay, don't you, Anisha?" he smiled and bit his lower lip.
The three men's eyes were fixed on me, and all of them waited for me to say something. I could tell from their looks, that if I had said yes, the bodyguard were going to leave Carter's wrist, but then…I really wanted him to leave me alone.
I quickly shifted my eyes to avoid Carter's; and I whispered, "I need to go home now."
Without warning, the man hauled Carter out and gently closed the door of my car with "have a good day, miss."
I reversed out of the parking area and stopped immediately after realising that our little scene had managed to pull a small crowd. Students were standing and watching us. I stopped the car and looked around, only to hear some of them talking amongst themselves; "…she is the girlfriend to the de Milos' son….wow she is blessed…..she is so pretty…which family is she from?.....so she actually has bodyguards?..what was that man thinking, trying to seduce de Milo's woman….I bet she comes from a filthy rich family….to think that I once crushed on Dylan….what were you thinking, do you think he would ever notice you?...
Not wishing to hear more, I drove out and headed home. As soon as I reached the mansion, I called Dylan to ask him if he had assigned any guards to follow me around.
"Why...of course I did." He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing to do.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry, it might have slipped my mind." He said.
"How could it slip your mind?" I was getting mixed emotions about the issue.
"Is it a big deal, Anisha? We all have people watching us. That's the normal life which you'll have to get used to. That's how it has always been for us."
I felt embarrassed. Oh, so this was how the life of a billionaire was like? But, how could I even not know? At the ice cream shop, when a mini commotion broke out, didn't many bodyguards just emerge from nowhere to come and save me and Dylan. Never in my life had I ever dreamt of myself having bodyguards. I smiled to myself as the feeling of importance welled up inside, and I really felt the beauty of living in the billionaires' world.
"Are you still there, Anisha?"
Oh! I had long forgotten that I was on a call. When Dylan spoke, his voice startled me but I managed to quickly recompose myself and told him I was still on the line.
"Why are you so quiet? Are you angry because of the bodyguards? The reason why I said they must keep their distance was because I wanted you to be yourself. You don't want them around you all the time, do you? So they only appear when they are needed. You might be angry but believe me, Anisha, you need that security."
"Oh sorry, I am not angry. I…I appreciate that. I truly appreciate it."
"Well then in that case, let me go for now. I will call you in about fifteen minutes. I love you."
"And I love you more." I smiled