Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Zenovia

I found myself back in Maksimillian’s suite. I was in the bathroom, facing the mirror after washing my face. My eyes and nose were still puffy, but I guess I shouldn’t care about it anymore, as I was in no mood to go out and explore some medieval castle, though I was excited to see Dracula’s Castle for the first time. But now, Bran Castle was not in my priority list anymore.

When I went out of the bathroom, I saw Maksimillian come into the suite and close the door.

“I’m sorry,” I apologised in a quiet voice.

“For what? Rejecting my comforting you?” he asked slowly as he walked up to me.

I frowned at him. “What? I didn’t—” I began, but he cut me off.

“Yes, you did, Zenovia.” His eyes were accusatory.

I played in my mind what transpired earlier. And yes, he was right. I did reject him, but I didn’t mean it.

I slowly gulped down the invisible lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, Maks.”

He was now right in front of me and held my chin with his forefinger and thumb. He tilted it so that I could meet his intense sea-green gaze. His masculine scent and expensive cologne enveloped my entire being, making my heart and stomach flutter.

“Zenovia, in case you haven’t noticed, I care for you. In spite of knowing each other for just a short time, I want you to know that I do care for you. Do you believe me?” He said it almost in a whisper-like tone, increasing the pace of my heartbeat as a result.

I did believe him, but something held me back, and I didn’t know what exactly. Was it because of my fear of another man that could hurt me in the future? As it was, no one could tell what the future holds. And no matter how much he cared for me right now, I wasn’t sure it’d be the same in the next days, weeks, months or even years. Just like how my father loved my mother while it lasted. I wanted to believe there was something that could last for a lifetime at least, since we couldn’t live forever in this world.

His gaze held mine, and I couldn’t look away. It remained that way while I was breathless. His eyes caressed my face as he waited for my answer. Another minute ticked by, and he pressed his lips on my brow.

“All right. I understand. I understand,” he said, sighing in defeat. He touched his forehead on mine, and I closed my eyes. A tear escaped from each of my peepers, slipping down my cheeks. He wiped them away and then encaged me in his powerful arms. “Mihai asked me if you and he can have a date? He doesn’t want to go home until you give him the chance.”

I sobbed when I heard it.

***

Mihai and I walked around the Council Square the following afternoon, since Maksimillian did his best to put my mind off my family troubles by pleasing me with his mouth before taking and pumping my body hard. I didn’t have to use the lube this time as he did more wonders to my body. But I knew it was like a switch, considering that I had a reproductive issue. My life was a complete mess entirely. But I just loved the way he cared for me and for being patient with me. I did realise it had nothing to do with the signed deal between us, but I refused to even think it. I just let my body be one with him, trying to protect my heart nonetheless.

Mihai and I chose a nice café where my brother ordered Double Dutch ice cream, clatite Brasoveana (pancake filled with beef, mushroom and cheese) and placinta cu mere (essentially a sheet cake with shredded baked apples in the middle, with raisins added to it and topped it with powdered sugar).

“These are all sweet. You know it, right?” I commented as I looked at each serving we had of these Romanian desserts in front of us. I glanced at him from across the small square table and made a face.

“Sweet things make you feel good,” he stated a fact.

I started to eat my share of clatite Brasoveana after the ice cream, and he did the same as though copying me. He grinned at me and took a selfie of us to document our sibling date. He then posted it on social media.

Antonia called when she saw the picture of us, but I didn’t talk long. Besides, she had an emergency. She was just happy Mihai and I found time to be together during my vacation time in Brașov.

“I don’t want to ruin this time with you, Zen,” Mihai began.

When he said it, I gripped my fork tighter. I was in the middle of eating the apple pie, and I knew what he was about to say.

“Did he put you up to this?” I gently confronted him, looking straight into his eyes.

“No, no.” He readily shook his head. “Tati told me he wanted to see you actually. That’s why he originally planned to go to Iași. To talk to you, Zen.”

“Are your parents getting along well?”

He nodded. “I believe so.”

I scoffed and dropped the fork to sit back on my chair. I let my eyes roam around us while I thought of my father. I barely took note of the hanging plants of the café. These had pink flowers with lines of white on each petal. The tourists and local people roamed the Square; some took family pictures by the clock tower. Others were happily having chitchats with friends in nearby cafés and pubs. I could faintly hear some different languages spoken to their companions. Some were in German, French and some others I couldn’t tell or even guess.

“Why would he want to talk to me?” I settled my eyes back to my brother and took a deep breath. He didn’t miss the bitterness and anger in my tone, even though it was low. I crossed my arms just below my breasts, regarding Mihai carefully.

I believed he was thinking about how to put the words aloud as he drank the cola. And then, he answered me, “He didn’t tell me. But I think he wants to say sorry. I overheard him mentioning it to Mami while they talked in our living room, believing I was already asleep.” He looked with great discomfort when he conveyed it to me. “It was a long time ago though.”

Although there was nothing to swallow, I gulped and considered his theory. Was he right about it? But why just now, after all these years? He didn’t even try to talk to me. Well, I could remember he did visit me in our house one time after the divorce. But he watched me destroy my own paintings, in front of him due to my uncontrolled anger.

I did regret why I did it. It wasn’t fair to myself. It took love, effort and inspiration for me to create those paintings, but in the heat of the moment, I just did it.

Yes, I remembered now. He did try to talk to me, but I shouted at him, telling him to leave our house, as he didn’t live there anymore. I could just feel the heaviness of my heart when I recounted that scene in my head. Bile rose to my mouth that I had to drink my own cola to get rid of it.

“Y-your mum and dad talk about me often?”

“Not very often, but yeah,” he answered truthfully. I could just see it in his eyes.

I swallowed one more mouthful of cola from my glass.

“Can you give him a chance to talk to you?”

“I don’t know, Mihai,” I quickly replied to him with a shake of my head.

“We’ll stay some more days. We’re going to explore Bran Castle, too. Can you come with us then?”

I scoffed. “No. Certainly not!”

“But, Zen…”

“No! I’m not going there with you and him, okay?”

“Then bring along your boyfriend!” He groaned.

It made me still for a couple of seconds. “No.” I shook my head again and continued to eat the Romanian apple pie. “And he’s not my boyfriend!”

“Do you even know who he is?”

I stared at him and pointed the fork in his direction. “Don’t you ever tell a soul!” I warned him.

“Ah, so you know him,” he concluded and ate the rest of his dessert.

“Not really. We just met almost a couple weeks ago.”

“What? He didn’t tell you he’s a billionaire?” He frowned.

“No, because I didn’t ask, and I’ve just found out,” I reasoned.

“He seems to be a nice guy and has a lot of money. Why don’t you make him your boyfriend?”

I snorted at him. “What? Just because he has a lot of money, I’d want him to be my boyfriend. It doesn’t work like that for me, okay? Besides, I’ll be going back to Iași in a few days. My vacation’s over, so you and I are not going to have another bonding time.”

“Unless you go to Bucharest or I go to Iași.”

“Right.” I smirked at him.

He nodded with a tight smile, staring at me with such gentleness in his eyes that it made my heart jolt. “I love you, Zen.”

And I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Just finish what you order and we’ll go.”

“What? I still want to hang out with you!” he protested.

The 3 PM sun was still bright and hot, and I squinted my eyes. “I didn’t say we go back to the hotel. I was going to say we can still check out the White and Black Tower. We have time before dinner.”

“Are you going to treat me to dinner then?” He gave me a sly smile now.

I sniffled and shrugged. “I’d think about it ‘til dinner time.”

“You’re going to treat me to dinner, aren’t you?” he pressed on the subject.

“If I’d think about it, you were the one who wanted to hang out with me. Maybe you should be doing that instead of me. After all, you have more money than I do. I’m just a hotel receptionist.”

“Yes, in a big hotel.”

“Well, it’s a four-star hotel but enough to make a decent living out of it,” I concurred. “Wait, don’t you hang out with your friends? You seem clingy to me,” I teased him, trying to lighten up the atmosphere even more. I was just feeling so tired of feeling the hate inside me.

“My friends and you are different, and I can be clingy all I want. You’re my sister,” he retorted.

Well, what else could I do? He was unfortunately born like this.