Chapter Two
Brittany
Either this guy was deaf or he just chose to ignore my warnings. He came to stand in my front, we were almost feet by feet. I had to strain my head and adjust the glasses on my face to look at him and just like that, the start of a new friendship that would later come to destroy me "Hi, My name is Brittany"
He led me to an outdoor reading era before he replied to my greetings with the same mocking stone "Your mother called you Brit baby." We both laughed at my mother's choice of nickname and for a moment, I saw the boyish nervousness in him and blurted out the next thing in my head "How old are you?"
He was just shy of eighteen, a measly year older than me but his stature could fool one into thinking he was older. "You look too big to be eighteen"
"You look too naive to recognise the original Duchamp paintings on the wall."
"We would have to thank my art and history teacher for that."
Mother always said that my inquisitiveness was one of my qualities, My brothers hated that I questioned everything but there was only one way to find out more what this man-guy "Why do you have cameras everywhere in your house?" He didn't answer "Why were you watching me? You saw me staring at the paintings right?" I turned fully to face him "You knew where I was through the camera!"
There was laughter in his eyes as he debated whether to answer me or not. "Many people don't notice the cameras," he finally said. "And my name is Lucas. Thanks for asking." He stood up "Stay here or stick to the La Bass living room." Without any further comments, he turned and left me there.
How many people do you know named their living room? And his ass was tight. What? I couldn't exactly close my eyes. I laughed nervously at my thoughts. Apparently, my brothers' effort to shelter and 'protect' me from men was in vain.
The reading area was a terrace with tall walls and a sitting setting. There are four comfy chairs in total with a glass table in the middle. Each chair had a side tool table, it was truly an avid reader's fantasy. Unconsciously, I looked for security cameras around the little lights scattered around but didn't see any. Tired of waiting on my mum in a place that clearly did not tell me to go, I started towards the entrance where we came in.
Lucas.
What a fine man– ouch, he's just eighteen, a boy. That was the last time I saw him until I left the mansion that day. The next time I saw him, he was wrapped around a blanket annoyingly having a fever. Just like the first time, we walked into the estate and the house only that time, there was no almost naked boy waiting for us–me.
Again, I took the stairs to continue the exploration of the artworks but instead of taking the right path at the end of the spiral stairs, I took the left. The path led to what I assume were bedrooms and the walls were once again decorated by beautiful artworks, expensive ones but many, I could not recognise.
I was almost at the end of the path, looking at an open space that resembled a balcony when I heard a gasp from one of the rooms. It was more like a moan of pain and I set out to find the origin of the sound. Soon, I noticed that one of the doors was slightly open, I kicked it open and came in contact with the object of my fantasy writhing in pain.
"Hey, Are you okay?" His response was a groan. I moved to touch his body and reeled back at how hot it felt. "Hey, where is your mum? Who should I call?"
There was no response from him, I guessed that he must have been like that for some time. He did jolt from the bed and said no when I wanted to dial 911. Everything Lucas did since I met him was a surprise and so without a choice, I went to talk to my mum.
The Lucas I met was a teaser and a beautiful man with an innate desire to stalk people through the surveillance of his home. The Lucas on the bed could not muster a word. From nowhere, I was enveloped by the need to take care of him. At every point in my life, I always had my mother and brothers. They would do anything for me and right then, I wanted to do everything to make sure that Lucas was fine.
My mother was surprised at my request for a cool washcloth and hot soup. I fed him and placed the damp washcloth on his forehead until his symptoms felt better. He also took drugs which made him sleep.
There was only so much that I could do especially as he refused to go to the hospital. My mother and I could not stay the night so I asked for his cell number and programmed my own on his phone.
The most disturbing part of the whole fiasco was not the fact that my mother kept glancing at me throughout the ride home, it was the fact that nobody showed up to take care of Lucas. He lived in a mansion with billions of dollars worth of artworks and security cameras within every inch but not one person showed up throughout the entire hours that I was with him.
I remembered that he also didn't answer my question about his mum. Was she dead? Maybe she was on a vacation or something or worse, maybe she didn't care.
My heart pounded at the thought. Nobody deserved to be neglected, not even liberal Lucas. Why was he taking space in my heart and my head when we barely knew each other? I ensured myself that it was nothing and I was just taking care of a friend. Okay, just a person.
I rendered help to a person who needed it. That's humanity and not some feelings brewing.
It didn't make sense that there was no one else in the mansion, my mother mentioned cooks, 'special cleaners', gardeners and housekeepers. Where were they when Lucas needed them?
Surely, a person who could afford all of that domestic help can hire a live-in nurse or caretaker. She also mentioned that her employees were rarely home and were mostly male.
I could remember the times that she mentioned 'female company' after strenuous days at work.
However, we did not talk about the children of her boss. Let's assume that the mother was absent, what about the father or other siblings? Lucas was truly alone. If you were to choose between being rich and lonely or comfortable and surrounded by people who love you, what would you choose? My reality was the latter option but I wanted to choose Lucas, my family and wealth.
The brain is the most complex organ in the body, it could do millions of things but my brain was operating in a unidirectional flow that day. My mother was happy and gushing about a family dinner that was going to happen the following day but I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Lucas was alone in the mansion right then. I wondered if he was going to be okay.
Maybe he would pick up the call if I called him that night.
On the way home, We went to the mall to get foodstuff and ingredients but I was just tagging along and holding the basket as my mother picked her choice. "Brit baby, You are the one that keeps stocks of ingredients in the kitchen, do we need more curry, cayenne pepper or caramel oil?"
"Brittany!"
I snapped out of my thinking trance to stare at my mother "What did you say?"
"Baby, never mind. Are you okay?"
I still don't remember my response to my mother that day, however, I remember that I hurried to my room immediately after we got back. I remember that I showered, perfumed myself and debated whether to call or not.
Lucas called first. We would later argue about who started the friendship but that night was the start of many things in the friendship that ruined my family. We had a lot of firsts but Lucas ruined my life. A lot could be avoided by simply ignoring a phone call but what did a 17-year-old know about crazy families, messy relationships and dangerous ties?