Chapter- 3

“Mom, I am going to Julia’s home,” Naomi said to her mother who’s in her study room, working on her new novel. Naomi is a great fan of her mom’s book, she loves all the male characters, they are so dreamlike and charming. Her all-time favorite is Victor, Ashley’s debut novel Hero. He’s a great character, and over the years she somewhat understood that it’s based on her father.

Till now, she didn’t meet such a type of person in her life but it would be great if she finds a guy who’s attractive like the heroes in her mom’s novel.

“Okay dear,” she first nodded but then turned her attention to Naomi, “Are you sure? Because last time, Nick and you had a fight. I can’t see you sad like that,” she said removing her glasses.

“Mom, that’s fine. I won’t mind him this time,” she says confidently.

“Why don’t you ask Julia to come here?” her mom suggested.

“No, mom. I am fine. She has exams tomorrow and she’s preparing for them. Nothing like last time will happen,” she assured.

“Okay. And Naomi, Nick is a good guy; I think he’s just playing with you. You know, behind everyone’s words there might be something else. The problem between you and him can be solved if you start thinking in a different way. I don’t know how to say this… change your perspective about this fights maybe you could find a way,” her mom advised because she even confused why Nickolas acts this way. She has a guess but she doesn’t know how much that could be true.

Naomi just nodded but she got even more confused by everything.

What does she mean by that? Is she telling me I should understand Nickolas? See him in a different way? Naomi asked herself when she’s going in the car.

Yesterday, as per her father’s request, she spent the entire day shopping with her mom and had a great time. Her mom is more like a friend. She shares everything with her, but in the case of Nick, she couldn’t tell what she really feels about him. In the anger, she might say she hates him but that’s not the truth, she knew that very well.

Still, why she couldn’t ponder her feelings more than this? Why she’s afraid to think about him other than her angry side is what makes her anxious all the time.

She leaned back on the seat, today all her brothers have gone to see a movie except Magnus who went with their father for some work in the office.

Her father’s work is somewhat complicated to understand, one is his normal work, his multinational company and somewhat she guessed the other is a shady business. Most of the time, they tried to hide that from her but somehow she accidentally overheard it many times. She finds this weird to know that her father has two different names, those who are close to him used to call him Vincent and the outsiders know him as Hector. He has passports in both the names.

They have faced an out-of-the-ordinary situation a lot of times, she was being guarded by her father’s friends, their house was highly guarded and she has seen her father having guns whenever he goes out. As he’s rich and has a lot of enemies but that doesn’t give a proper explanation for all this to happen and they never allowed the police to entire the picture.

Is this normal? She knew it is not but she turned blind eye to that because she can't question her parents as they love her so much and she has to be grateful for everything she has right now.

Since they are trying to hide from her, so she never stepped into that matter, yet she’s curious too. Magnus and Jorge seem to know more about that but they always refrained talking about those matters in front of her. Maybe one day she will know everything.

The car stopped before Uncle Dan’s Mansion. She got down and walked in. It is as big as their mansion and she loves the interior of this house.

All she hopes that Nickolas should not be at home.

“Naomi!” Aunt Tamika exclaimed in surprise seeing her. Today Naomi is wearing a light pink skirt and white shirt. She has tied her long red hair in a ponytail. She looked so beautiful which she doesn’t realize at all.

“Aunty,” she smiles.

“Julia didn’t say you are coming here,” Tamika says.

“Oh, did I came at the wrong time?” Naomi asks.

“No, no. I am just going out for work. I won’t be in the house, is that okay for you?” she asks, hesitantly.

“That’s totally fine, Aunty,”

“But Naomi, Nick is here, I hope it’s fine for you,” she revealed.

Naomi’s smile instantly gone from her face, the thing that bothered more than nick’s presence is the way others are seeing them. Like they are enemies of a lifetime. She regretted crying during the last fight because that’s when their parents gave importance to this issue.

“I am fine, Aunty. No issues,” she smiles. She’s here for Julia who’s like her sister, whether Nick is here or not, it doesn’t matter to her.

“That’s a relief,” Tamika wheezed.

“Where’s Uncle?”

“He’s not home, honey. He’s with your father,” she says.

“Okay, I will meet him next time,” Naomi says and steps towards the stairs.

“There are a lot of snacks in the cupboard, you can get anything you want,” she said.

“Thanks, I will have it,” saying that Naomi walked on the stairs.

“Okay, if anything, give me a call,”

“Sure,” Naomi huffed and walked to Julia’s room.

“Hey, Jules,” Naomi enters the room.

“Nat, thank you so much for coming,” she said.

“Oh, come on. Let’s start the study session. We have to finish it on time.”

“Yeah,” Julia nodded. They arranged the study table for them to sit and Naomi started on with Geometry. It went by for an hour and they have finished algebra too.

“Wait! I need a break,” Julia leans back on her chair feeling exhausted.

“Okay,” Naomi nods still working on the difficult problem.

“You know, Nick’s at home,” Julia uttered.

Naomi staggered for a moment but remained like it didn’t bother her.

“I don’t know why he’s at home. You know, he usually won’t be at home during weekends,” Julia raised a question.

That’s when, Naomi stopped her concentration on the problem, and turned her gaze to Julia.

“Yeah, why he’s staying at home?” Naomi asks.

“That’s what I am wondering too,” she says. “It’s strange.”

“Yeah,” Naomi nodded. She has come to this house a lot of times, but she has never seen Nick here.

Last weekend, the same has happened. He is in the house, barged inside their room, purposefully mingled in their conversation, and then dragged Naomi for a fight. She was afraid whether the same thing will happen now.

“Maybe he’s here to study? His college entrance exams were coming.”

“Study? Nick? Come on, when did you ever see him studying?” Julia asks.

“I have seen him in the library a lot of times,” Naomi shrugs.

“What? Really?” Julia exclaims. Her brown eyes reflected her surprise.

“Yeah,” she nods. Nickolas isn’t an extraordinary student, but not bad either. He scores good marks even though she has never seen him preparing for exams.  But he participates in all the sports and always finds reasons to skip classes. In her opinion, he loved boxing more than anything. He’s different from all the guys she ever knew in her life.

“That’s weird. Nick in a library, I can’t even imagine such a thing,” Julia chuckled.

“Come on, I heard from Magnus that he’s one of the smart guys in his class,” Naomi talked in favor of Nick. She doesn’t know why she’s doing this; it’s coming out of the flow.

“Why you are supporting him?” Julia smiles.

“I am not supporting him, I am just guessing,” Naomi shrugs.

Julia’s eye squints while pondering about these matters.

“Oi, what?” Naomi patted her cheeks.

“It’s so strange. Nick is strange,” Julia said unable to believe that Nick is spending some time in the library and that too no one seen it except Naomi. And she’s now doubting whether he’s staying in the house just because Naomi is coming here?

“Let’s not talk about him,” Naomi says, yet she wanted to know what he might be doing right now in his room.

“Yeah, let’s not talk about him, and let’s talk about Jorge,” Julia grins.

She got a crush on Jorge ever since she saw him playing Jiu-jitsu and in fact, he’s the coolest among all these boys. Always got a smile on his face, and if anyone asks for any help he will do it without fail. He’s such a nice person.

Julia is a beautiful girl, she’s just like her mother in appearance and Nickolas is somewhat like his late grandfather, that’s what everyone says when he comes to family gatherings.

Naomi huffs, “Jules, seriously. He’s your cousin and you can’t have these feelings for him,”

“So what? He’s not my brother to be disgusted like that and we aren’t close blood relatives. His dad and my dad were just friends,” she reasoned.

“Okay, you got a crush on him?” Naomi asks.

“Yes, I have a major crush on him and you should help me in this,” she says.

“Julia?” Naomi worried about this feeling she has for him.

“Naomi, you are like my sister. I did not even say this to anyone except you, that much I trust you,”

“So?”

“You have to help me,”

Rolling her eyes, Naomi asks, “Okay, fine. Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am serious,” she nods, confidently.

“What do you want to know about him?”

“Nothing, but… I want to know what kind of girl he likes, is he dating anyone, having a crush on anyone, his whereabouts, and….”

“Whoa wait, the list is getting long Madam,” Naomi stopped her.

“Please, you have to do this to help me. You are the only person spending a lot of time with him in the house and school. He’s a close friend to you,”

“But how could I ask his preference in girls, that’s way too awkward,” she says. Though they are close siblings, Naomi never talked about these matters with him, as a shy girl herself, she never thought of asking these questions.

“Come on, you can do it,”

“Could you ask your great brother Nickolas the same questions?” Naomi retorts.

“I can ask,”

“You can’t. Nick won’t tell you,” Naomi says unable to believe her.

“I am not lying. Do you want me to ask him now?”

“What?”

“Yeah, I could do it,” Jules got up.

“No, no, no,” Naomi nodded and held her hand, “Please don’t do such a thing when I am around you. Now only the problem between me and him has calmed down. Don’t add fuel to the fire, Jules,”

“Okay, fine. But I can tell you what kind of girl he likes, tomorrow. I will ask him after you go, okay. And you have to tell me what kind of girl Jorge prefers, tomorrow,”

“Hey, I don’t want to know Nick’s preference in girls, I don’t have a crush on him,” Naomi sighed by seeing this foolish girl.

“I know but I have to prove that I am not afraid to talk to Nick. He’s not that scary,” she says.

“Whatever,” Naomi frowns, “What I will say if Jorge asks me why I am curious about this matter,”

“Tell him that a beautiful girl, who got a crush on him wanted to know,” Julia blushes saying that.

“Seriously,” Naomi yelped, “He will turn curious and torture me to confess. Then I will say your name, okay,” she says.

“Naomi, that’s not fair,” Julia frowns, “Why can’t you tell him that you want to know,”

“No, I won’t say that because I have no interest in that,” Naomi replies.

“Why you are so stubborn? Please, Naomi, understand my heart. You are my only friend who could help me in this,” she requested.

“Okay, what if he doesn’t like you?”

“Then I can forget my feelings. You don’t have to worry about that,”

“Jules, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Naomi’s concern surged in her tone.

“Don’t worry dear. No one can break my heart,” Julia smiles.

Naomi smiles back and hoped this won’t lead to anything stupid.

“Wait here, I will get some snacks and hot chocolate,” Julia got up.

“Is Nick in his room?” Naomi asks, hesitantly.

“Yeah… but I don’t know. I didn’t see him,” Julia utters. She is a typical sister, who seems unconcerned about his brother but always keeps an eye on him.

“Let’s not bother about him. He’s a prude,” she says. 

“Prude? He’s so popular among girls and that means he knew how to attract them,” Naomi says.

Julia sits back, “He’s not popular than Magnus,”

Naomi replies, “I don’t think so. My classmates like Nick,”

"Are you attracted to him?" Julia asks.

"No, not at all," she nods. "I am just saying what others are saying,"

"Oh, I see," Julia accepts.

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” Naomi asks.

“No, but he gets a lot of proposals,”

“I heard he’s having a girlfriend, his classmate Marisa, I have seen her flirting with him?”

“No, I don’t think so. What do you think about my brother? He’s a conservative guy,” Julia says, “Sometimes, I wonder whether he’s a gay.”

Naomi starts to laugh. It’s so true that one of the favorite topics for girls to chat about is boys.

“But he’s not a gay, my father confirmed that when he thought how odd it is for him to be single at this age,”

“Why he’s not having a girlfriend?” Naomi asks but in that question, her heart sank. She doesn’t want to talk about his love life and hear that someone must be there in his heart already. She doesn’t know why she feels this way. This is one among all the mixed-feelings she has for him.

“I don’t know, maybe he has someone in his heart,” Julia answers. “I think, he has a secret crush on someone.”

Naomi nods as she doesn’t believe that at all. As far as she knows, Nick is a very straight-forward person and he won’t be shy to make a move. Maybe she could be wrong too.

“Look, what we are doing. We are wasting our time, talking about my brother,” Julia left the room to get the refreshments and Naomi realized she’s so interested in talking about Nick. Nowadays he’s there in her mind all the time.

“Julia,” Nickolas’s voice startled her. She expected his arrival but not at this moment.

Naomi looks at him, he’s wearing a pair of black shorts and an oversized t-shirt on his well-built physique. He’s attractive in every single way. His hair is messy and his dark-brown eyes stared at her long and fixed.

She’s the one who broke the strange way their eyes have locked.

“Sh-She’s not here, she went to the kitchen,” Naomi answers.

“Why you are here?” he asks.

Naomi’s face grimaced. She never asked him bluntly, why he’s coming to her home even sometimes, he barged into her room to look for her brothers. He’s such a rude person she ever knew in her life.

“I am here to teach Math for Jules,” she replies not looking at his face.

“Oh,” he nods and came inside.

“I thought you will never come here after the last fight,” he says sarcastically.

“What’s that mean?” Naomi asks furrowing her eyebrows. She thought the opposite that he’s mocking her.

“Nothing, I am glad that you forgot all our fights and came back to my home,” he leaned on her desk.

“I am here for Julia,” she retorts.

“Whatever,” he smiles and came close to her. She was taken aback and looked at his perfect face. His chiseled jawline and his straight-edged nose compliment his sharp eyes.

“Did you color your hair or something? It’s looking bright,” he says scanning her face.

“No,” she mutters. 

This is weird but she doesn’t think she could avoid this, they stared at each other for some time until Julia comes in.

“What you are doing here?” she asks.

“Nothing, I am just talking to Naomi,” he says and walked away.

“Did he say anything?” Julia asks.

“No, he didn’t,”

“He won’t because dad was disappointed to know about the fight and asked him not to do that again,”

Naomi nods. She munched the cookies reminding the way he looked at her.

“Ugh,” Naomi jerked her shoulders when her heart starts to pound.

“What?” Julia asks.

“Nothing, it’s just this cookie. Tastes good,” she lies. Then the evening went by. Naomi almost covered all the topics that Julia isn’t good at.

“Oh my god, it’s 7.30 pm,” Naomi says looking at the watch while packing her stuff.

“I have to ask someone to pick me up,” Naomi called her mom and she told her that Magnus will drop by on his way home.

“Naomi, don’t forget about what I asked. I will be waiting to hear tomorrow,” Julia says.

“Sure, I won’t forget,” Naomi nodded and came out of her room.

She waited in the living room for Magnus to show up, Julia was still in her room as she needs to study a bit more. Naomi’s exams got finished last itself along with Magnus and Nick.

That time, Nick came down looking at his phone and Naomi huffed. His room is located on the top floor of the house, she’s been there one time and he didn’t invite her, she just went there with Julia. It’s a very big room and has a lot of interesting things.

Naomi always knew that Nick was a hard worker, adventurist, and risk-taker. Compared to Magnus, Nick is so close to the business and has knowledge of many things. She always wanted to talk with him and be friends, however, he doesn’t want it.

When she was in her thoughts, she got a call from Magnus, “Hey, Nat. I will be late; can you wait for me?” he asks.

“Okay,” she says and Nick’s eyes were on her.

“Are you waiting for Magnus?” he asks once she ends the call.

“Yes,”

“He can’t come now,” he calmly says.

“Oh, how do you know that?”

“I know,” he utters looking at the doorway.

“Do you want me to drop you?”

His offer surprised Naomi, and she took this opportunity without missing it.

“Are you sure?” she asks.

It’s just a ten minutes ride from his house and he has never offered this before.

He smiles, “Yes, I am,”

His smile turned her heart to race. She got up and he walked to his car. For his eighteenth birthday, he got a brand new Jaguar as a gift from her father. Nick was loved by everyone, especially by her father.

She got inside the car after informing Magnus about this, and Nick followed her.

They didn’t talk anything for a few moments until Nick broke the silence.

“Are you close with your classmate Lisa,” he asks.

“Uh… no,” she nods.

“Is she a nice person?”

“That’s how do I know?”

“Fine,”

“Why you are asking about her?”

“Just for a reason,” he smiles.

Naomi’s face frowns again. Inside, she doesn’t want him to date Lisa or anyone but she wonders why she even cares about that.

Then again this silence continued for some time, “Nick, why do you fight with me,” she asks.

He didn’t answer and stared at the road.

“We could be good friends,” she says.

He turns to her, “Yes, we could be friends but I don’t want that,”

“Why?”

“Because… you are…” he stopped right there and turned his attention to the road.

“It’s better that we stay like this. I don’t want you near me,” he confessed.

It stirred Naomi. She never thought he would hate her so much.

Talking with him after this is waste, so Naomi turned to the other side. Nick doesn’t explain much and the car stopped before her house.

“Thanks for the ride,” saying that Naomi walked inside without inviting him.

Her mom isn’t at home and her brothers were in their respective rooms.

Naomi went straight to her room and dropped her small bag. She laid on her bed sometimes, and then remembered about Julia.

She immediately got up and went to the next door, Jorge’s room.

“Jorge,” she knocked on the door.

“Come inside,” he said.

Naomi walked in, he’s playing a game on his computer.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, are you playing a game?” she starts hesitantly.

“What do you think I am doing?” he replies still playing the game.

“Yeah,”

“Jorge?”

“Tell me,” he mutters.

Awkwardness filled in her face and she doesn’t know what words to put before asking this.

“Jorge… are you planning to date someone?” she asks.

That is kind of surprising for him, he paused the game and turned to her.

“Why?”

“I just want to know,” she smiles.

“Yeah, if I find someone I would date,” he answers.

“What characters you like in a girl?”

“What? Naomi!” he chuckled.

“Don’t mistake me, I am just curious,” she says.

“But why you are asking this all of a sudden?” he asks, “Did anyone asked you?”

“No,” she nods, “Just tell the answer, I have other works to do,” she says.

“Fine, I like smart girls, nice and kind type,” he states.

Naomi nodded, “Do you have a crush on anyone right now?”

“What got into you?” he asks.

“Nothing, just answer me,” she urges him.

“No,”

“Okay, do you like a short or a tall girl?” her question again made him cringe.

“Naomi, whoever asked you these questions, ask them to come and meet me. I really want to see her,” he smiles.

“Jorge, answer me,”

“I like girls shorter than me,” he sighs.

Naomi smiles because Julia and Naomi were the same height. But all these boys are so tall.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I guess,”

“Who asked you this, I want to know,”

“I can’t tell you, sorry,” she said and got up.

He held her wrist, “What?” Naomi exclaimed trying to get her hand from his grip.

“Did Nickolas said anything today?”

Naomi calmed seeing his concern.

“No, he dropped me at home today,” she says.

“Really?”

“Yes,” Naomi says. “But still, he’s a jerk,”

Jorge smiles and leaves her hand. She went to her room and laid on her bed. She has taken her phone inside his room to record their conversation. Tomorrow she will send this to Julia, if she sends this now, she won’t study for the exam.

With a smile on her face, she changed her clothes and went to have dinner.