Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Isabella's pov;

"I can take care of those things, you don't have to do it. Plus there are maids and Butlers for help." Noah said.

"Do I look like a weak person? I took jobs in construction sites and I carry heavy things around so helping you to organise isn't a thing for me."

"Construction sites?"

"Yeah, that was one of my part-time jobs."

"So there are many?"

I gave a chuckle and said, "Yup! I took a job as a garbage girl in restaurants, bartender in night clubs, waitress in cafes, librarian assistant in book shops, flower shops, giving out pamphlets, lifting heavy things in construction sites..."

"Hold it! Woah! Looking like you took every job on the earth."

I laughed and said, "The jobs that I went to are not that difficult when compared to working here. Those jobs are hourly so I get off soon but here, it's totally different. And I don't know when the contract ends."

"Won't you come here if the contract ends?"

"Um... I didn't give it a thought."

"Okay. Since you know how to carry heavy things, take this." gave me a vase and said, "Take this to the storage room, I don't want it in my room. It gives a weird vibe when I see it. And take it carefully. It's pricey."

I nodded and took the vase from him and carried safely down the stairs.

When I was walking across the hall, I heard Mr Martinez's voice, "What are you doing?"

I turned and saw him entering the house and dropped the vase on the floor. Good god. Ethan catched it before me.

Ethan asked me, "Are you alright, did you hurt your hand?"

I shook my head and looked at Mr Martinez.

"Where are you looking?" Ethan saw him and walked towards him while asking, "Brother! You're early today. I thought you'll be late from work."

"Why are you still here?" Mr Martinez sounded scary.

"Ah! Again with this topic. Brother, listen to this, I can't stay outside. You know how bad I hate hotel food. And, it's only for a week. What's bothering you? Oh! Is it about the girl?"

Why is he talking about me?

Mr Martinez said to Mr Johnson, "You may leave now."

"Yes, Sir." He nodded and left the house. Mr Martinez climbed the stairs to go upstairs.

Ethan gave a stare at me.

"I said I carry heavy things. Even if they fall on the ground, it doesn't break."

Ethan said, "Okay. I'll carry the vase."

"No! I'll carry it. Trust me on this. I can do it. I want to give it a try. I want to know whether I'm capable of carrying those things."

After putting things in the storage room along with the Butler's, I headed to the first floor to go to Mr Martinez's room.

While I was on the way, Ethan was shifting his room.

I asked Ethan, "Your room is on the second floor, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to be alone there. Since my brother and you are staying here, I want to be on the first floor too. Okay, why are you still up?"

"I came to see Mr Martinez."

"Okay. Good night."

I knocked on Mr Martinez's door but he didn't respond. I think he's asleep. When I tried to leave, I heard Mr Martinez's voice, "What are you doing here?" Mr Martinez's voice startled me a little.

I turned and made my way towards him and asked, "I thought of helping you to sleep but you didn't answer the door so... I thought of leaving..."

"What day is it today?"

Day?

"Huh... Um... Sunday."

"Was Sunday mentioned in the contract?"

I shook her head and stood silent.

"Work according to the contract."

I gave a nod and looked at his wet hair. Did he forget to dry it? Should I remind him or not?

"What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing."

"What were you doing earlier? Carrying the vase around the house. Are you trying to break all the things in this house?"

"I-I was helping Ethan."

"You just met him Today but you're addressing him with his first name already?"

"He was the one who said to call him by his first name. That's why I did."

Mr Martinez said, "Go to sleep. You have school tomorrow."

"School?"

"Weekends are over already."

"B-But..."

"Go to sleep."

It's been a week. I don't even know what's happening in school. Should I really have to go to school tomorrow?... Ah! I forgot to tell him that his hair is still wet.

When I turned, he was about to close the door. I stopped but I hurt my knuckles.

He opened the door and asked, "Are you blind?"

I tried to hold my tears back since I don't want to cry in front of him. I don't want him to be seen as a weak soul.

Mr Martinez came with a med kid while I was blowing on my finger knuckles.

He took my hand by holding the wrist and dapped the cotton on my finger knuckles. Ouch! It hurts! Don't let out a sound of pain. Don't let out a tear. Hold it!

"I'll do it slowly."

I nodded and said, "Okay."

Did he notice?

He cleaned the wound on my knuckles, applied the ointment and put a bandaid on every knuckles like he's experienced, "You look pretty good at this, Mr Martinez."

"I got hurt a lot when I was little so my mother taught me how to treat it by myself."

I let out a little chuckle.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. Getting hurt a lot sounds like... You must be naughty when you were little, right? It was funny imagining you like that, Mr Martinez."

"I wasn't naughty. It's just I wasn't careful with things."

"Oh, really?" And looked at his eyes.

"It's done," I said after putting a band aid on my finger knuckles.

I looked at my hand after it was treated. The band aid looked like a mummy's hand.

"Are you still teasing me?"

"No, I didn't smile because of that. Look at my hand." Showed my hand in front of his face and continued, "It looks like a mummy's hand. Came out of a coffin." And laughed.

He took the first aid kit back to where he took it from.

"Okay. I'll leave, Mr Martinez."

"Wait. You didn't say the reason for stopping me from closing the door, yet."

"Um... Your hair looked wet. So i tried to remind you but you were closing the door so i tried to stop it and got hurt. I don't know why I did that too, Mr Martinez."

"Don't do stupid things like this hereafter."

I gave a nod and left the room.

When I came out of Mr Martinez's room, maids were carrying things to Ethan's room.

I asked Ethan, "Aren't you finished yet? Okay, I'll help you. Ethan, do you really want this lamp in your room? It's so heavy."

Mr Martinez was standing in the corridor. I thought he went to sleep. What is he doing here? I ran quickly into Ethan's room with a lamp in my hand after seeing Mr Martinez.

I woke up to the knocking on the door.

"Come in." I woke up from my sleep and sat on the bed.

The butler said, "Mr Martinez wanted you in the dining room before 7.50 am. And it's an order from him."

"What..."

I looked at the clock on the wall. My eyes almost popped out when I saw the time on the clock. It's 7 am.

The butler left after giving the message.

I let out a sigh and made my way to the bathroom for a shower. After showering, I got into my school uniform, took my bag and came downstairs and headed to the dining room.

When I came to the dining room, Ethan was eating his food.

"Was it 7.50 yet?" I asked Mr Martinez.

Mr Martinez made a smile and said, "Have a seat and eat your breakfast."

Mr Martinez smiled? That's new.

I gave a nod and sat on the chair. I kept my bed beside me and my breakfast was served. It looks like a dish from an expensive restaurant. I looked at Mr Martinez and Ethan. They were eating the food like it's usual for them. Don't get used to this food. I took my first bite and when the food went into my mouth, it melted, "Wow! It's delish. Thank you for breakfast." And continued eating breakfast. It tastes so good.

Ethan asked me while I was enjoying my food, "Is this your school uniform?"

I nodded while eating my food.

"It looks cute. By the way, why does your bag seem so heavy?"

"I didn't go to school for a week so I took every subject."

He gave a nod and asked me, "Which school are you in?"

"GU high school."

"Sounds familiar. Gu... Where did I hear it?... Ah! It's where yuyang is studying, right?"

"Yeah! You know yuyang?"

He smirked and said, "Yuyang is Noah's daughter. How come I don't even know our manager's daughter, huh? Do you think of me as your Mr Martinez?"and laughed.

Why is he talking about Mr Martinez now? And he's potraying him as a stupid.

"It's not like he didn't want to know, maybe he was conservative."

"Conservative? Not bad for a school girl. Why are you speaking for him?"

Ofcourse I will speak for him. Because he's my boss.

"I'm not speaking for anyone. I'm just stating the facts."

Mr Martinez said, "Dining table is for eating and not for having conservation."

Mr Martinez doesn't talk much. I think he doesn't like people who talk much. But he never showed a face to me whenever I talked to him. I wonder why he didn't say anything instead of being silent.

Ethan asked me, "Bella, how do you go to school?"

Mr Martinez said not to speak. Is Ethan dumb?

"I'll take the bus."

"Bus? Really? I'll drop you at school."

Why is he being fussy?

"It's fine. I've always taken the bus to school so it's never a thing for me."

"Hey, I dropped Yuyang at school. And, I have to go past the school anyways so I'll take you to the school today."

It looks like he won't keep his mouth shut.

"What about tomorrow?"

"I'll take you."

"What about the day after tomorrow?"

"I'll take you."

"What about next week?"

"If I'm free, I'll take you."

I let out a chuckle and said, "Taking a bus is not my choice, it became one of my routines. If someone interrupts your routine, will you be okay with it?"

"If you don't like to come with me, you can say it to my face. You don't have to beat around the bush."

Yes!

"I don't want to come with you. I'll take the bus."

"Woah! Learning so fast!"

"I'm a quick learner."

Mr Martinez said, "Finish your breakfast quickly. It's time for school."

"Okay." and continued eating quickly before he uttered another word.

I finished my breakfast and came out of the house before Ethan saw me. I sneaked to the car while looking around me.

Mateo asked me, "Is something wrong, Ms Garcia?"

"Nothing's wrong. Start the car quickly, Mateo!"

"Yes, Ms Garcia."

Mateo dropped me at the candy shop and I walked to my school from there.

I stepped into the school and headed to my class.

While I was climbing the stairs, I saw Harry along with his friends. I walked away from them and came to Ms Devlin's room.

"Come inside, Ms Garcia."

I stepped into Ms Devlin's room and stood in front of her.

She asked, "Is your mother fine?"

"Y-Yes, Ms Devlin."

"Good to hear about that. And, why are you here? Why aren't you in your class?"

"About my leave..."

"Your brother submitted a leave letter last week so you can go to your class now."

"Oh, thank you, Ms Devlin."

I let out a sigh and walked to my class.

Peter asked me, "Bella! Where did you go? Did you go for a vacation or something?"

"It's..."

Before I finished, Tina asked me, "Our class was so peaceful without you. I bet it'll be not anymore. Welcome, Ms Naughty."

I pinched Tina's ears and asked, "Oh, really?"

Jimmy whispered into my ears saying, "After you went MIA, your friends looked so down."

I looked at my friends.

I walked to them and greeted them. No one answered back.

"Is this some sort of silence treatment?"

Noah asked me, "We came to visit you at the hospital, You weren't there. We went to your home, you weren't there either. Where did you go?"

"I was staying at my Big brother's house."

Evelyn asked me, "Why didn't you say that?"

"I didn't get time to inform you guys."

Noah asked, "How's your mom doing?"

Big brother said she still hasn't woken up from sleep.

"She's good."

"Hope she recovers soon. By the way, why didn't you talk about your brother before?"

"I just knew him some weeks before."

"What?"

"I mean... I came to know that I have a brother some weeks ago."

"Okay. Hear me out, did you check the notice board in the main building?"

"No, why?"

"It's about..."

Before Noah answered, Mr Brett came to the class.

I went back to my place. I looked at Liam and Sophia, they didn't even look at me.

I received a message. I checked the message under the table. It's from Harry. When I opened the chatbox, he said, "Where are you staring at?"

I let out a sigh and put my phone back into my bag and listened to Mr Brett.

Mr Brett said, "I guess you've seen the notice board in the main building already. Some of you might have missed seeing it so I'll explain the details of the trip..."

Trip? Where to?

He continued, "Our school has arranged a study trip to the mountains for three days in the Chezu mountain. So everyone informs your parents about the trip and takes all the necessary things you'll need for the study trip. Don't pack heavily or you'll end up being tired soon since you're the one who's carrying it."

Noah poked me from behind and whispered, "Bring your guitar. It'll be fun." And turned to Evelyn and talked with her.

After the class ended, I went to the cafeteria along with my friends. Noah, Evelyn and Liam were having a conversation leaving Sophia and me alone.

She ignored me and continued drinking her drink.

"Hey!"

She didn't give a response and stood from the table saying, "Guys, I have a thing to do. See ya later in the class." And left.

When I looked at my friends, they forgot my existence and were speaking with each other.

I stood from my place but no one noticed. I walked to the counter and ordered a chocolate drink and waited. After some time, they kept my chocolate drink for takeaway. When I tried to grab it, Harry took it before me and drank it.

"Not bad. Even though I'm not a fan of sweet drinks, it's good."

I ignored him and ordered another chocolate drink for me.

While I was waiting, he asked, "How's your mom?"

"Good."

"How would you have known it if you hadn't been to hospital after she got treated?"

"How did you know I didn't go?"

"Because I was there."

"For what?"

"I waited for you."

"Weird."

I took my chocolate drink and started walking to my friend's table.

Harry held my hand. I was shocked.

"What are you doing?"

He pulled me towards him, which made the distance between us disappear. We were so close to each other where our faces were a few inches back. He didn't talk or didn't do anything except stare at me and look into my eyes. I could feel his hot breath against my face.

After hearing some giggles around us, I pushed him back and walked to my friend's table.

I sat with them and started drinking the chocolate drink.

What's with Harry? Why is he behaving like that?