"Don't judge a book by its cover"
"Ava!" Lorenzo ran towards her and stood in front of her. Noticing her eyes shut tightly, he knew something was seriously wrong.
"Bring a chair fast." Lorenzo asked the person who just came out of the elevator.
"Ava! Ava! Are you able to hear me?" Lorenzo asked while facing Ava.
"Y-yes sir." Ava said with difficulty, still facing the ground, wanting to hide her miserable state from him.
"Look here," Lorenzo asked in his deep voice as Ava looked up. He bent down slightly and examined her eyes in an attempt to know what was wrong with her. Ava saw a very different emotion in his eyes. The concern
"Take deep breaths," Though Lorenzo was trained on how to handle such situations, he wasn't a professional doctor.
Ava did as she was instructed. She was dozing off as her eyes didn't have energy to keep themselves open.
"Don't close your eyes, Ava!" Lorenzo warned, and Ava mentally rolled her eyes at his bossy behaviour even in such a situation.
"Sit here," Lorenzo said, guiding Ava towards the chair. As Ava sat on the chair, Lorenzo gave her water, which Ava drank in one go. Lorenzo kneeled on the ground and removed the hair that were falling on her face.
When Ava felt Lorenzo's hand on her forehead, she flinched and turned her face to the side, hating the physical contact to the core. But Lorenzo was checking Ava's temperature to make sure she didn't have a fever. Lorenzo became confused about Ava's reaction. He noticed Ava feeling uncomfortable and was about to get up from the chair when Lorenzo stopped her.
"Okay, okay, sit down, I'll not touch you." Lorenzo said, taking his hands off her face and raising them to his sides, in an attempt to relax Ava. Thankfully, it worked as Ava relaxed a little.
"Are you sick?" Lorenzo asked in a very calm voice while looking into her deep ocean eyes, still kneeling down and facing her.
"No, I'm fine, sir." Ava said as her eyelids were about to close.
"No, you are not. Let's go to the doctor." Lorenzo commanded.
"No. It's already late, and I need to go to college tomorrow."
Lorenzo was perplexed as he stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you go to college?"
"Yes. I do." Ava said, as if it were the most obvious thing.
"What exactly is your age?" Lorenzo asked as curiosity washed over him.
"16," Ava replied.
Lorenzo was not able to get over the fact that Ava was younger than he expected her to be. Maybe he assumed her age based on how mature she behaves and how responsible she is. For him, she was a very calm girl and had an ego that touched the sky. He never imagined a tough and unbreakable person like her to be this young. Like sixteen? Was he fighting a kid since so long?
"Why are you working in a restaurant then?" Lorenzo asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Coz you said so, sir" Ava stated, as if it were the most obvious thing.
The employee, who was listening to their conversation in the back, laughed out loudly but soon vanished after receiving a death glare from his boss.
"Stop calling me sir, Ava." Lorenzo said, diverting his attention back to her. He was irritated as she became too formal with him.
"Did you not ask me to be professional, sir?" Ava asked sassily.
"You are not at work now. You can address me by my name." Lorenzo said.
"Okay... What's your name?" Ava asked nonchalantly.
"You don't know my name?" Lorenzo inquired, his gaze fixed on her.
"Did you say it to me?" Ava bit back. Lorenzo was in shock. Almost everyone in Italy knew him. He was always seen on the front page of the newspaper.
"Police in search of Lorenzo Vincent"
"The murder of two officers was reported today, and all the evidence points towards Lorenzo Vincent."
"Italy is in chaos as a result of ongoing crimes committed by an anonymous gang with a renowned head."
The police couldn't find strong evidence in order to arrest Lorenzo, which is the only reason why he is not behind bars yet.
"Anyways, let's go." Lorenzo changed the topic. He was short-tempered, and Ava was literally testing his patience.
"Where?" Ava asked.
"We're going to see the doctor and ask the reason for your dizziness," Lorenzo said rather firmly. Ava remained quiet. Could she defy his orders? Of course not. He was her boss.
Lorenzo looked at Ava, who nodded blankly and followed Lorenzo to the car like a shadow, dressed in black from head to toe. Lorenzo kept her bag in the back seat and opened the door for Ava.
"Thank you." Ava sat quietly in the passenger seat.
Lorenzo started the car and drove off to his own hospital, which was near the restaurant. When they reached there, he opened the car door for Ava and waited for her to come outside. Ava was confused about why he was being so good to her. Maybe it was just sympathy. Ava shrugged her thoughts off and started walking. The staff bowed to Lorenzo, making Ava wonder who he actually was.
"We need a children's lady doctor." Lorenzo said to the nurse.
"I'm not a child." Ava scowled, interrupting the conversation.
"You are not an adult either." Lorenzo shrugged.
"I'm a teenager," Ava stated.
"Teenagers are basically kids." Lorenzo said
"No, they are not. They have their own feelings and emotions." Ava replied, feeling the need to continue the meaningless argument.
"When did I say they don't, Ava?" Lorenzo asked, slightly pissed off.
"Whatever. What's your age?" Ava asked
"I'm 21." Lorenzo shrugged
"Oh! 21? " Ava acted as if she realized something.
"What?" Lorenzo waited for her to continue the sentence.
"I thought you were in your 40s or something," Ava said sarcastically.
"You-" Before Lorenzo could answer, he was interrupted.
"Excuse me, sir." They both turned around and looked at the doctor.
"Sorry for disturbing your conversation, but I came here to check the patient," the doctor, who had been waiting patiently for the past few minutes, said. Lorenzo signaled Ava to follow the doctor as he followed behind.
Lorenzo explained the doctor about Ava's dizziness. She did Ava's checkup and started asking her questions.
"When was the last time you ate?" Ava didn't expect this question at all.
"At breakfast," Ava said hesitantly, while the doctor was expressionless, but Lorenzo's turned surprised.