Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Isabella's pov;

After having a nice day with my friends, I headed to Mr Martinez's house.

When I entered the house, something burst in the air and there were glitters all over the place.

"What is it?"

The glitters fell all over me and when I saw my hands, it was glittering in silver pieces.

Big brother walked to me and said, "The results came. You passed the exams!" And gave me a hug.

"I passed? Woohool! That means I'm going to graduate soon. Yay!" And hugged Big brother and continued, "Thank you so much for teaching me and tutoring me at the same time, Big brother. I thought after two years, I would have forgotten everything but thanks to you I passed my exams. I bet I wouldn't have passed without you, big brother."

He flicked on my forehead and said, "Stop overreacting."

I laughed and looked around for Mr Martinez, he wasn't there.

Big brother said, "Mr Martinez is in the company."

Of all days, I heard that Mr Martinez left the office today.

Big brother gave me his phone saying, "Mr Martinez is on the call."

I took the phone and looked at it. Mr Martinez's name was on the display.

"Hello, Mr Martinez?"

"Yes."

"Why weren't you here? Why did you go to the company today?"

"I had an important meeting today."

"When will you be back home?"

"Why? Are you missing me already?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

"When will you be back home?"

"Around 7."

"Fine. I'll wait for you. Bye." And ended the call.

Big brother said, "You could have told him over the phone, right?"

"I wanted to see how he reacts in person."

"Okay." And left.

I went up to my room and freshened up and waited for him while I was watching television.

The time struck 6 pm.

I came downstairs to see whether he came but he wasn't in the downstairs. I sat on the couch and looked for him by looking at the door. When will he come? Somehow I fell asleep.

I felt someone's hand on my cheeks which woke me up. When did I fall asleep? I rubbed my eyes and saw Mr Martinez standing in front of me. I hugged him and said, "I passed my school exams."

"What? Really?"

I nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes."

"Then I'll get my ten million dollars back soon."

I broke from the hug and said, "Yeah, I'll return it soon."

"How do you want to celebrate it?"

"Why do we have to celebrate graduation from high school?"

"Don't you want to? It's not like any graduation, you passed the exams after two years of absence. We have to celebrate it, right?"

"Ahhhh! Why are you teasing me? Nah! Don't do it."

"Did you really call me to tell me about your graduation?"

"Yeah, what else do I have to say to you?"

"There's so many things you can tell me." And made a smirk.

"Are you trying to flirt with me, Mr Martinez?"

"Yeah, I did but you didn't fall for it. I forgot to tell you this."

"What is it?"

He whispered, "I got a call from Ethan."

"What? What did he say? Did he say he's coming to the USA?"

"Why are you getting so excited?"

"What did he say?"

"He asked for your number so I gave him. I think he'll call you any time."

I smacked my head and said, "My phone's been switched off from last night. I'll go charge my phone quickly." And tried to leave but Mr Martinez stopped me.

He held my hand and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To charge my phone. What if he calls me and I miss it?"

"Whenever you feel excited for someone, it feels bad. Why?"

I removed his hands and said, "I'll put my phone in charge." And walked upstairs. While I was on the way, I thought about what he said. Why is he talking in a weird way?

After coming to the phone, I picked my phone from the coat and put it into the charger. I turned on the phone. I checked whether I got calls from Ethan. There wasn't any call from him, I let out a sigh and sat beside my phone.

While I was waiting for his call, I felt hungry. Should I go and eat dinner? What if he calls me after I go down? But I feel so hungry. I took my phone and looked at the percentage, it was 5 per cent. Wow.

Someone knocked on the door, I leaned forward to see who it was. Rose?

Rose was carrying a tray, what is she bringing me? She placed the tray on the table and said, "Mr Martinez asked to bring you dinner to the room."

"Oh, thank you for bringing me. I'm sorry, I would have come downstairs but I'm waiting for a call."

"Why are you apologising? It is my job though."

"But I feel bad to make you bring food for me. Thank you so much, Rose."

She patted my head and said, "Without you, I would have been bored to come here."

"What?"

"Yeah, before you started working here, we all worked like robots in this house. Doing this and that according to the orders we received. After you came, I almost forgot that I'm a worker here because you always treated me like your friend. This house changed after you came to work here. Everyone began to speak casually, smile a lot and make fun of others too. These two years, the house looked like it lost one of the main ingredients. Mr Martinez went searching for you for a week, extended as a month and many more months. He's never home. Mr Johnson was the one who took care of the Skyland corporation when Mr Martinez was looking for you. Mr Martinez returned home with a sad, and upset expression on his face whenever he couldn't find you. After you came, I could feel like everything returned back to normal. Don't leave again. If you leave, return back soon. Don't take so long." She patted my head and left.

Mr Martinez didn't come to South Carolina for a business meeting. He was searching for me? Why was he searching for me? Is it for the compensation he said? But does anyone search for someone for compensation? Why did you search for me? Do you really search for me for the compensation?

While I was thinking about what Rose said to me, my phone rang.

It must be Ethan!

I answered and turned on the speaker.

"Hey, Bella! It's me Ethan!"

"How are you?"

"Yeah, I'm good. How are you doing?"

"Yup! All good. How's Helen and the restaurant?"

"Um… I wanted to tell you something. Just why I called you."

"What is it?"

"I'm getting married next week."

"Wow! That's great to hear. Who proposed first?"

"Promise me you won't tease me if I tell you who it is."

"Yeah, yeah, who proposed first?"

"She did."

"You slow sloth."

"I know. I thought about proposing to her after opening the restaurant so I waited but she did it first."

I laughed and said, "Then what about your restaurant? How's it going?"

"Yeah, the customers are pouring in everyday. It seems like I have got to get extra employees to serve the customers."

"Do you want me to do it? Since I have experience, I can do it well. You can put your trust in me."

He laughed and said, "I'll keep that in my mind. The reason I called you is to invite you to the wedding."

"Thanks for remembering me, brother."

He laughed and said, "We're trying to keep it in a low circle so I didn't invite many people. And, bring Alex with you."

"Did you invite him?"

"I did but he said he's not coming so make him come along with you. If it's you, he'll have no choice but to come."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just drag him over here."

"Okay."

I ended the call. What did he mean by that?

After finishing the dinner, I took the tray downstairs to the kitchen.

Rose said, "If you called me, I would have come to pick it. Why did you bring it down?"

"Don't treat me like a guest. By the way, did Mr Martinez finish eating dinner?"

"Yes, he must be in his room by now."

"Okay."

I came to Mr Martinez's room, knocked on his door and walked in. He was drying his hair using the dryer.

He asked me, "What is it?"

"I talked to Ethan."

He gave a nod and continued drying the hair.

"He invited me to his wedding. Can I go?"

He signalled me to come closer to him. I walked to him and stood in front of him. He dragged a chair and asked me to sit on it and I took the offer.

He asked, "Why are you asking me permission to me? How many times have I had to tell you that you're not a hostage here but a debtor? If you want to go, just go ahead. You don't have to ask me everytime you leave the house."

"Ethan said to bring you too."

"I said that I have meetings to attend. Didn't he say that?"

"He did but he said you will come with me if I'm the one who asked you."

"Do you want me to come with you"?

"Two is better than one, right? And, I've never been to the UK so I want to go."

He let out a chuckle and said, "Okay. Let's go but after your graduation party."

"His marriage is next week."

"Then we'll have your graduation party before that."

"Do we really have to celebrate it? I feel so embarrassed."

"You passed your exams even after you stopped studying for a long time. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You gotta be happy."

I gave a nod and tried to leave.

"Goodnight."

His greetings put a smile on my face.