Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Isabella's pov;

I dragged my bag down the stairs and placed it near the door. The morning sun glowed through the window, blinding me as I stepped outside. When I took a look around the living room, Mr Martinez was working on his laptop. I wonder if he'd even notice me coming downstairs.

Mateo took the bag and asked, "Are there bags other than this?"

I shook my head and said, "Only this one."

"Okay. Then, I'll take it to the car." He carried the bag out of the house and headed to the car.

Rose asked, "Come and have your breakfast."

Mr Martinez didn’t seem to notice my presence yet, so I stood by the doorway and watched him work until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and then I walked over to the other side of the kitchen and sat at the dining table.

The cook placed the food in front of me, closed by a cloche.

"What did you cook for me today? Can I open it?"

He nodded hurriedly and said, "Go on and open it."

I opened the cloche and was surprised to see, "It's cioppino stew! My favourite! Thank you so much for the food."

I nodded my thanks and took a bite, humming contently when the flavours hit my tongue. It was good to be home. I tasted the shrimp following the soup. "It's delicious. When I opened the restaurant, you had to be the head chef, Kirk. Please don't reject it. Don't just cook in this kitchen and hide your talents. I want people to know and see and taste your food. You cook tasty foods."

He patted my head and said, "How many times do I have to remind you that do not talk while having food in your mouth, you're spitting the soup all over me."

My face burned in embarrassment as he laughed, "Oops! I'm sorry." I continued eating my favourite dish on my plate.

Kirk picked up a tissue paper and wiped over my mouth and started to clean the area around the mouth saying, "It's all over your mouth, eat slowly."

Big brother came while I was eating the cioppino.

He asked, "What are you eating?"

"It's my favourite dish, Cioppino stew! Want to have a taste?"

"I already ate before coming here. When are you leaving?"

"Now. Didn't you see my bag in Mateo's car?"

"Oh, okay. Yuyang and Sammy will be in the house."

I finished with my food and asked him, "When will you come to the house, Big brother?"

"Around 6 to 7. Sammy will leave at 4 so take care of yuyang. She's a smart kid so you don't have to do much for her. She'll take care of herself. And, You don't have to wait for me. Eat with Yuyang and go to sleep."

"Does yuyang know that I'm coming?"

"No, I haven't told her yet. I thought I'll inform her when it's confirmed."

"What's confirmed?"

"You are coming to the house. I thought you were joking yesterday like you do all these time. But you were already leaving."

"I didn't lie. I really wanted to go to your house. Okay, then, I'll go and surprise her in person."

While I was leaving, I stopped and looked at Mr Martinez who was still working on his laptop. Big brother poked him to make him look at me.

He raised his head from the laptop, acting surprised, "Oh! You're leaving, right? Enjoy the stay in Mr Johnson's house."

Speaking like he's okay with my leaving. Fine! Let's see how long you can maintain that face, Mr Martinez.

I walked out of the house after waving at Big brother.

After a while, I got down in front of Big Brother's house. Mateo took the bag out of the car and dropped it on the floor while saying, "I'll carry it into the house. You get inside."

I took the bag from him and said, "It's fine. I'll take it with me."

Mateo, "I heard that you're going to stay here till college reopens. If you want to go somewhere, don't hesitate to call me. I'll come and take you."

I smiled and said, "Okay! I'll call you if I want to go out."

He nodded and left in the car.

After Mateo left, I dragged the bag into the house. I rang the bell since the door was locked. I waited along with my bag outside the house.

They opened. Sammy was standing in front of me blocking my way.

"Bella!"

She gave me a quick hug and asked, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good. What about you? You look like you lost weight?"

While I was struggling to drag the bag, Sammy helped me to get the bag inside the house while saying, "Yes, I'm planning to lose 5kg this month."

"5 kg? It's a difficult goal to achieve. Moreover, is it healthy to lose that much weight? I heard 2kg is the average weight people lose in a month."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm on a serious diet right now."

While I was talking to Sammy, Yuyang ran to me while calling out my name, "Bella, when did you come?" And gave me a quick hug by wrapping her hands around my neck.

"Just now. What were you doing inside? I thought you'd open the door."

"I was making a swan."

"Swan?"

Sammy answered, "We were doing origami birds and flowers."

"Oh, okay." I turned to yuyang and asked, "Did you finish making your swan?"

"It's almost finished." She ran to her room.

Sammy asked, "What's with the bag? What's in there?"

"My clothes. I came for the vacation."

"Oh, okay. It'll be fun having you here."

After Sammy left, Yuyang and I waited for Big brother.

Yuyang, "I don't think daddy will come anymore. I'm going to sleep. Are you coming?"

"What do you mean you're going to sleep? Aren't you going to wait for him?"

"He comes home late. During school, I'll go to sleep at 6 since I have school the next day. During holidays, like now, I wait for him till 8. If he doesn't show up, I go to bed while watching television."

I patted her head and said, "Sorry for making you daddy work hard."

"Why are you apologising to me? I know Mr Martinez is the one who's giving a hard time to daddy. He's the one who has to apologise."

I let out a chuckle and said, "I'll tell Mr Martinez to send your daddy home quickly once I return back. Okay?"

"Are you leaving soon? I thought you would stay longer this time. Don't you like staying with me?"

"I like being with you but I have to return soon."

"Where are you going?" Big brother asked me as soon as he entered the house.

Yuyang ran to Big Brother and gave him a hug and asked, "You came early today."

"Since my work finished quickly, I came home early. Did you two have dinner?"

"Yes, daddy. Bella and I ate chicken wings. It tasted good."

Big brother gave some toys to yuyang and said, "Go and play with this."

After Yuyang left for her room, Big brother asked me, "What were you talking about while I was entering the house? You said you'll stay here till college reopen. Aren't you going to stay here?"

"I'm going to Mr Martinez's house tomorrow."

"Why? What happened? Did yuyang do something?"

"No! No. She's really a smart girl. She didn't do anything. It's me. I came here to tease him. I don't think I can stay away from him too."

He let out a sigh and said, "Do you know what happened in the office today?"

"What happened?"

"Mr Martinez cancelled every meeting for today and didn't meet any clients who we are supposed to meet today. That's why I came home early."

"Why is he doing it? Is he crazy?"

"I think he's upset about you moving away. Should I tell him that you're going back tomorrow?"

"No. Let him be like that. Let's see how long he can be mad like this."

"Bella…"

"Big brother, please don't talk about this with me. If he's mad, let him be. I'll stay here for some more days."

The next morning,

"Are you going to watch television all day?" Big brother asked us while we're watching some cartoons. He picked something out of his pockets and waved it on our face.

Yuyang asked, "What is it, daddy?"

"Three tickets for Disneyland. Get ready. We're going to Disneyland today."

Yuyang ran to her room to get changed.

Big brother asked me, "Aren't you changing your outfit?"

I asked him, "Aren't you going to the office?"

"I took a day off today. Even if I go, there's not going to be any meetings so it's better to be with you guys." He tapped on my shoulder and said, "Go and get ready. Let's have fun today."

I nodded and left the room.

In front of Disneyland, there’s a line waiting for the entrance. The people on the other side are smiling and giggling with delight, and it makes you smile too. it was bustling with activity as everyone came to visit. There are some children that are running around, making noise and laughing. They look like they’re having fun but at the same time it almost seems like they’re scared because everyone is too busy to be happy while the people around them are in a hurry.

"Daddy! Let's go inside." Yuyang dragged Big brother into Disneyland and I followed them behind.

When we stepped inside, the atmosphere felt different like there's a smile on everyone's faces.

"Daddy! Cookies! Buy me cookies."

Big brother patted her head and bought her cookies and gave some cookies to me. I received it from him and started eating it while taking a walk in Disneyland. The sun was shining but it was still cold outside so I wore my coat.

"Daddy, let's get on that ride. It looks fun."

When I looked at the ride Yuyang mentioned, it had a name board as 'it's a small world' ride. We three got in a boat and it rode through the river having dancing dolls on the banks which lit up yuyang's face. She looked happy.

Jungle cruise. It was another boat ride which took us in the stream, where the atmosphere looked like we're in some part of African forests because we saw animals like elephants and zebras. The view wasn't that great though. You can barely see the tree tops on the top deck and they seem too tall to reach the bottom deck but you could still see a lot from what's below.

Disneyland railroad. It was a train ride which took us all around the park. It had become one of my favourite places to visit when I was younger, but now it was more of an adventure than anything. When we came to the tunnel, Yuyang said, "Bella! There's a dinosaur over there. It looks like the one daddy bought for me." She sounded excited. When I looked at Big Brother, he made an awkward smile.

A small crowd was gathered. A lot of people were in costumes and some had their phones out recording them as they walked through the doors. It wasn’t every day one could enter a Disney castle. The main attraction for today’s event was the ‘Mighty Mouse Theme Park’.

Finding the Nemo submarine. We got into a submarine-like boat and saw many underwater creatures and corals under the water. Yuyang was excited to see colourful fishes under the sea.

Buzz lightyear astro blaster. I asked to stay behind but Yuyang dragged me to play with her. The setup looked like a real life sized video game where it was lit by neon. Everyone was carrying a colour gun in their hands running and chasing after others. The setup reminded me of Mr Martinez, when we played all night forgetting to go to sleep. While i was being lost in thoughts, i got hit by yuyang's colour gun.

Mad tea party. I stayed behind saying the reason for having a headache. Big brother and yuyang got into a giant tea cup and the tea cup started to spin around when the ride began. My head is killing me seeing those teacups spinning in front of me.

I saw an old man and a woman sit on a swing set, smiling at each other, the older man's arm around her, swinging gently back and forth. It looked cute.

There's a small stand manned by a young man and girl. They have matching pinks shirts with bright yellow hats and matching orange boots. In their arms are some sort of stuffed animals they've picked up from all over Disney Town.

King Arthur carousel. Another spinning ride. The children are all gathered together in front of the carousel. and waiting for their turn to go in.

Big brother made yuyang get on one of the animals and it began spinning. Big brother asked, "How is your headache?"

"I think it's getting bad."

"Shall we go home?"

"It's fine. I'll be back." I excused myself and came to the restroom.

While I was washing my face, I heard another woman's conversation on the phone. She is always really loud. She sounded like she's mad at someone who's on the other side of the phone.

“No. No, you can't say that! You promised me we would never speak to each other again! How could I believe that after everything you did to me? You killed her!”

My heart stopped as I listened carefully to the rest of what she said.

The person talking sounds like she just found out she lost someone. The person she talked to sounded upset that something had happened. It seems like they are in some sort of trouble because she keeps yelling at someone.

"What did you do this time? Why can't you take care of your own damn dog?"

She's talking about a dog, I thought she was talking about some person.

She was having the Marlboro in between her lips. The popular brand in the USA.

"Marlboro."

Did I say it aloud?

She looked at me and asked, "Do you have a lighter?"

I gave her one which I was holding onto. She returned it to me after she used it.

She said, "You don't look like someone who smokes."

"I'm not a smoker."

"But you know the brand's."

"It's been years since I quit."

"People have so many interesting reasons for quitting. What about you?"

"The guy who I like doesn't like the smell."

"Did he ask you to quit it?"

I nodded my head and said, "He didn't. That's why I quit. When I saw him being uncomfortable, but not saying any word made me quit."

"Why are you lighter?"

"It became a habit to carry around the lighter with me."

She tapped on my shoulder saying, "That person must be lucky to have you." And walked out of the restaurant.

The person who is supposed to be lucky, has to be me to have a guy in my life.

When i came to big brother and yuyang, big brother asked, "Shall we go home?"

Yuyang, "Daddy, we haven't gone to meet the Disney prince and princesses yet."

There was a small queue to get in. The line moved slowly but eventually it became long enough for one person to be able to enter and another person had to wait until the next person entered. All three were dressed in their own version of Disneyland apparel. They wore bright orange hoodies with red shorts and sneakers.

We three spend our time in Disneyland till the sun goes down.

After a week,

"Bella, how does my butterfly look?"

"Good."

Yuyang ran to her room and brought back her origami birds, animals and flowers and showed them to me one by one. I nodded when she asked how her origami looked.

Big brother, "Yuyang, did you finish your summer homework?"

"If you want to talk to Bella secretly, you can tell me." And left.

I smiled at her comment.

Big brother said, "She's growing too fast."

I nodded and asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"You don't look happy."

"What? I am happy. What makes you think like that? Did you notice that I didn't get mad or shout at anyone for the past one week? My temper became better than before."

"I can only see the smile on your lips, your eyes say otherwise. Your eyes look like they're longing for someone."

"I know who you're talking about. I'm longing to see him, Big brother."

"You haven't even made a call since you came here. Don't you want to know how he's doing over there?"

"Why should I have to know? Why do I have to care for him? Why do I have to know what he is doing? Did he come to see me? Did he make a call or even message me asking me how I'm doing? He didn't look out for me then why should I do it?"

He made a smirk and said, "You're mad at him that he didn't come see you?"

"I don't."

"He's not going to his house for the past one week. He's not attending meetings anymore in other companies. He stopped holding meetings in his company. He stopped meeting clients. He's being mad at each and every employee in the office. He even fired some people in the office."

"Why does this have to do with me?"

"It's been happening for the past one week after you came here."

"Are you blaming me for what's happening in the office?"

"I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying what's been happening in the company for the past one week."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Talk to him."

"Did he talk to me?"

He let out a sigh and said, "If you both are going to be like this, then how will it get solved?"

Yuyang dragged my bag out of the room to the living area and said, "Daddy, Bella already packed her clothes in her bag. She said to me that she's leaving after you come back from the office."

"Then, why did you talk like…"

I stood up and held the bag and said, "I already decided to go to the house, Big brother. And, it's not because of him. It's me. I think I got used to seeing him everyday so I couldn't stay here without seeing him." And walked out of the house.

In the Skyland corporation,

I knocked on Mr Martinez's cabin, and walked in. When I stepped in, he was standing in front of the window and looking outside the company. Didn't he hear me coming?

"How long are you going to stay here?"

He turned around quickly as soon as he heard my voice and ran to me. When he tried to hug me, I stopped him and walked away from him to the window.

He asked, "How did you come here?"

"Since your office is on the tenth floor, I took the elevator to get here."

He let out a chuckle and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I went to the house and found it to be empty. When I asked Big Brother, he said you're here. And he said that you didn't go to the house for the past one week. Why are you staying here? Don't you like to go to the house?"

"Yes, I hate going to the house without you."

"What did you do before you met me? Did you stay in the office till you met me? And, I heard that you're not meeting any of your clients, attending meetings and many more complaints have been filed against you. Why are you doing this?"

"I couldn't concentrate on anything after you left."

"We met three years ago. Were you like this three years ago? Why did you become like this? Don't say that you're in love with me to act like this. You didn't build your company not for some fun, it was built and being run by your passion, ambition and your effort. Don't ruin everything using my name. Take a look at yourself. This is not you. This is not Mr Martinez I know. He is a better version than you. He can handle as many meetings in a day. He doesn't yell at his employees, he doesn't fire them for nothing, even though he's a little crazy, he has a good relationship with his work and towards his employees. The person in front of me is not him. You are different from him."

Mr Martinez remained silent.

"I'm not scolding you right here, why are you being silent?"

He turned and looked at me and said, "Why did you come here?"

"To take you to the house of course."

Suddenly, he gave a hug and said, "I missed you."

"Hey, what if someone sees us?" I tried to push him away.

"No one's here."

"Then what are you doing in the office? Let's go to the house."

He took his belongings quickly and said, "I'm ready."

While Mateo was driving the car, I looked at Mr Martinez who was watching outside with a long face. He didn't even notice me staring at him and it bothered me. Sure, I had to keep my distance and let him have his space but I felt like we were closer before this happened and now... Now there's not even an air in between us.

"You look like a beggar." Which made Mateo and Mr Martinez look at me at the same time.

"I'm not lying though. I mean… take a look at yourself. Looks like you didn't sleep and ate for days and your face suits well to be a beggar because of your facial hair." And laughed.

Mateo laughed along with me.

Mr Martinez to Mateo, "Do you still remember who you work for?"

"Sorry, Sir."

"Don't try to threaten him. He's not your driver anymore to get scolded by."

After some time, Mr Martinez said, "You can take that job you wanted."

"It's fine. I'll stay at home. It's not like I left the house since you didn't give me permission."

"Then why did you leave?"

"Does that bother you?"

He went silent again. He couldn’t seem to find the words he needed, or perhaps his tongue simply refused to move. But it was a small relief. He could only stare at me, watching the way my eyebrows drew together and the slight frown on her face that accompanied her expression. A minute passed and he still wasn’t saying anything.

I asked Mateo, "Did you miss me, Mateo?"

"I don't know how to answer this since we met everyday, Bella."

When I looked at Mr Martinez, his facial expression looked tense and asked Mateo, "How did you meet her?"

"I'll answer you on his behalf since he's driving. He's my driver. Did you forget that? I called him to take me to see my friends."

He turned away and uttered, "I know how to drive too."

I smiled and put my head on his shoulders and said, "I missed you too."

He flinched, "What did you say?"

When he flinched suddenly, I got hit on my neck, "What did I say?"

"You said you missed me."

"Really? I thought I was saying that I feel sleepy. Did I say that I miss you? Maybe there's something wrong with your ear."

Mr Martinez asked Mateo, "Do you hear what she said? She said she missed me, right?"

When Mateo was about to answer, I interrupted him and asked, "Did I really say that, Mateo?"

"I was driving so I didn't hear what you were talking about."

I smiled and looked at Mr Martinez.

"I hear it clearly. You said you missed me."

I put my head on his shoulder and held his arms and said, "Don't flinch again."