Louisa's p.o.v;
I woke up to the unknown noises, I looked around for Ace but he wasn't lying on the spot where I saw him before. What are the noises? Is he the one who's making those noises? Bernie walked out of the kitchen. Where did Ace go? When did I fall asleep? Shit!
"Why are you sleeping on the floor? Did you fall asleep while watching television?" Bernie asked.
"When did you come?" Asked while rubbing the eyes.
"10 mins ago."
"Was the door open when you came?"
"No, closed. Why? Don't you remember?"
"How did the date go?"
"Okay."
I stood up and asked him, "What do you mean by okay? Didn't you say you're going to ask her to be your girlfriend? Did you ask her? What did she say?"
He didn't give a reply and walked here and there. I stood in front of him and asked again, "What did she say?"
"She asked for more time."
"More time to what? To see another guy?"
He gave me a flick and said, "Some people need time to think about a serious relationship. I'm glad that she's taking it seriously."
"What about you?"
"I'm serious too."
I sat on the couch and said, "You're still 19 but you're thinking about serious relationships. Duh!"
"Age doesn't matter in relationships."
"Whatever, I hope she says yes." And laughed at him.
"I forgot to say, she wanted to meet you. When will you be free?"
"Why does she want to meet me?"
"She asked to meet my friends. Since I introduced you to others except you, she asked me about you. What are you saying?"
"I don't get the answer for why she wants to meet me yet."
"You can ask her when you meet her."
While Bernie was talking, I spotted blood on the carpet. Shit! What if Bernie noticed? I took the carpet and some clothes from yesterday and asked, "Hey, I'm going to dry clean. Do you have some clothes to wash?"
"When did you become a clean freak?"
"I'm leaving. Do you have clothes or not?"
"Hold on."
He gave me some clothes and asked, "Why do you have the carpet…"
"I have to go to the library after this. I'll go."
I rushed out of the room and came to the nearby laundromat. After dumping the clothes, I held the carpet and saw the blood stains thinking about how to get rid of this. Will it go if I wash it in the washing machine? While I was staring at it, an old woman who was sitting near me said, "Use hydrogen peroxide containing detergent to remove the stain."
I thanked her and rubbed the mat using detergent with hydrogen peroxide. It didn't work in the beginning but after some washes, the blood really came off. Wow! When I turned to thank that lady again, she had already left the store. Because of that guy, I'm struggling like this. Why did he come to my place if he got shot? Doesn't he have any other place to crash? What if he died when he came? Wait, he said he doesn't have place to hide at that time. Does that mean someone was after him? Did someone follow him? Did someone see him while entering my place? I took the cleaned outfits and carpet and walked out of the laundromat.
While I was climbing stairs, I noticed the surveillance camera in the stairs. What if it had the evidence of Ace being here last night? I rushed to the room and placed the clothes inside and headed to the maintenance room. I opened the doors slowly and saw is anyone there.
"What are you doing here?" The voice came from behind.
I turned and saw Mr Hernandez standing behind me. I asked, "Someone broke into my house so I wanted to have a check."
"Why didn't you inform me? Did you file a complaint?"
"Not yet. I thought I could check who it was first. Some people at University have been playing pranks on me so I wanted to check if it's them."
"Oh, okay. Come in, let's check the monitor."
After some time of reversing the running time of the surveillance camera on my floor, I didn't see Ace entering my place. Then, how did he come to my place?
Mr Hernandez said, "There's some glitches here. I think those pranksters you talked about might be intelligent ones."
"What are you saying?"
"They used jammers so they weren't caught in the camera. Did they steal anything in your room? We'll report it to them?"
"It's fine. Nothing went missing. Moreover, I don't possess any valuable things with me."
"What if you didn't check properly, check again and see if anything is missing."
"Okay, I'll check again. Thank you for showing me the footage, Mr Hernandez."
After a while, I came to my room. When I sat on the couch, Bernie asked, "Where did you rush off leaving the clothes near the door?"
"Nothing important. Where are you going?"
Bernie was wearing a suit when I looked at him.
"A marriage."
"Who's?"
"From my mother's side. Do you wanna tag?"
"Nah. I hate crowded places. By the way, who's having a marriage at 11 in the morning?"
"There's this pre-wedding party. I told them that I'll attend the marriage but they asked me to attend the party as well." "Louisa, help me with the tie." And he stood in front of me.
I got up from the couch and helped with the tie while asking, "When will you come?"
He pinched my cheeks and said, "Are you feeling alone?"
"Just asking."
"Maybe around 9. I'll make a call if I'm crashing there. Close the doors and go to sleep early." He said while ruffling my hair.
"Stop playing with my hair."
"Okay, I bought lunch for you. Heat it in the microwave and eat it while it is hot."
"Okay."
"Take care."
After he left, I dropped on the couch.
"I thought he wouldn't leave." I heard Ace's voice.
I shouted, "Am i hearing voices now?"
"I'm here."
I saw Ace coming out of my room and dropped on the floor when I turned to see him.
"Didn't you leave?"
"The medicine from yesterday was heavy, which put me into a deep sleep."
"Did Bernie see you?"
"No, he didn't come to your room. You two don't look like friends, it was more like wedded ones. I understand why you asked for him again and again."
I stood up and said, "Looks like your wound is healed. Leave."
He took steps towards me and asked, "What did you say?" He used the tone which he used while I was being held captive by him.
"P-Please leave…"
He took a seat and said, "I'm going to stay for the night."
"W-What if Bernie sees you? What if someone sees you?"
"I'll leave if anyone approaches. Now, get me some food. I'm hungry."
He's using the same tone he uses with the workers. Do i look like a slave to him? I walked to the kitchen where Bernie placed the food and kept it inside the microwave to heat it up. After some time, I placed the hot food in front of him and stood.
"Aren't you eating?"
"I don't have an appetite."
He grabbed my hand and made me sit and said, "Eat."
After we finished with the food, I cleaned the living area and went to my room. What if Bernie suddenly comes back? Why is he still here? What if the bad guys found the place and came here?
"Hey! Come out!" He shouted.
I came out of the room and asked, "Why are you shouting? What if someone heard you?"
"Don't raise questions against me."
When I tried to go to my room, he asked, "Where are you going?"
"To my room."
"Turn on the television."
Does he think he's a king? I turned on the television and saw headlines displaying my parents as one of the most successful business people in the world. I changed the channel and gave the remote to him and walked into my room.
While I was in the middle of the shower, he tapped the door continuously. What does he want now? I changed my clothes and opened the door asking, "What is it?"
"Some of your friends are at the door."
"Friends?"
I walked out of the room and headed to the door. When I opened the door, it's the guys from my faculty. Arlo, Ryder and Colton.
I asked, "What are you doing here?"
Ryder pushed me back into my room and they all walked in.
"Hey, what are you doing? You can't barge in someone else's place like that. That's trespassing. According to article 22, you'll be put behind bars for one to four years of imprisonment and a fine. So, leave before I call the police."
Ryder laughed and asked Colton, "Hey Col, lock the door."
When I tried to stop Colton from closing the door, Ryder pushed me on the floor and ordered Arlo to get a chair for him. Ryder sat on the chair in front of me and asked me, "What is the punishment for harassment?"
"Article 215 A, one to five years of imprisonment."
He came closer and asked, "What about rape?"
I stared at him with terror.
Suddenly, he grabbed my neck and asked, "Did you forget? Answer me."
Ace came out of nowhere and hit Ryder in his face which made him bleed at once like hell and said, "That's the answer you asked for!"
Soon, he beat the shit out of everyone. After getting thrashed, Ryder, Colton and Arlo ran off like they saw a ghost. Seeing them running off like that, I broke into laughter.
"I didn't know you could laugh like that."
I remained silent and said, "Thank you." I can't believe I'm thanking the monster who kidnapped me.
"Who are they?"
"Bullies from my faculty."
"Is that how they bully you? What if they…" he stopped and continued, "Report them."
I asked, "You did the same too. What should I do with you?"
"I said don't raise questions against me." And went to Bernie's room.
After a while,
"Don't you have any other place to go?" Ace asked when he came out of the room.
I said, "It's my break."
"I'm hungry. Bring food."
When I tried to leave the place, he asked, "Where are you leaving?"
"I'm going to buy the food."
"Don't you know how to cook?"
"I don't."
"Be quick!"
After a while in a convenience store, I bought some instant noodles and went to my place. When I entered, he asked, "What took you so long?"
"There was a long queue in the…"
"Enough with the excuses and prepare the food quickly."
WHEN WILL HE LEAVE!!!!
I placed the instant noodles in front of him and sat with him. While I was blowing out the hot air, he said, "What the fuck is this!"
"Instant noodles." And I took a bite.
"Don't you have anything else?"
"No."
"I'll cook food for myself."
Do that! He stood up and left for the kitchen.
When I finished with the dinner, Ace sat with the food he cooked. It smells delicious. While he was eating, I cleaned the apartment.
I got call from Bernie.
"Hello?"
"Hey, i can't come tonight so don't wait for me."
"Okay."
"Louisa…"
"What is it?"
"Everly accepted."
"Who?"
"The girl I'm dating. She accepted to be my girlfriend. I thought she'll take some more time but she accepted sooner than i expected. I'm so happy. I called you to share it with you."
"Why do you sound like you're going to get married?"
"Because I'm so happy."
"Don't get drunk. I'm happy for you too. I can't believe you're finally taking it seriously too. Don't get broken up soon since this girl agreed to be your girlfriend even after you flirted with many." And laughed and continued, "When will you be back?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Okay."
After I ended the call, Ace gave me a smirk and said, "Doesn't look like you're happy for him, it's more like you're jealous of him."
"I'm not jealous."
"Did you forget what i said earlier? I hate when people lie."
"Bernie said he'll be tomorrow…"
Before I finished, he said, "I know. I'll leave before he comes here."
In the middle of the night, when I came to get a glass of water, I saw Ace looking outside through the window. What is he looking at? I walked over to him and tiptoed to see what it was. There's nothing but a dark empty street.
"Why are you out of bed?" He asked.
"I felt thirsty."
"Go to sleep when you're done."
Does he think we're in his house so he can boss me around? What a shitty attitude! I went to my room and hit the bed thinking, whatever he'll be gone tomorrow.