Am I Clear?

“Can you tell your master if I can go out? This place feels so empty and suffocating."

Sophia said to the maid cleaning her room. She threw a cherry into her mouth, suckling on it. She crossed her leg.

A week had passed since the funeral, but Sophia seemed strangely cheerful. She wandered through the house with a smile on her face, a lightness in her step.

Every little thing seemed to amuse her, and laughter followed, drifting through the walls as though nothing happened.

It scared everyone, but there was nothing they could do but attend to her every need as per Luca’s instructions.

The maid smiled and nodded, dusting the table with a rag.

“Yes, miss."

The maid finished cleaning in minutes and left.

Sophia shoved the plate of cherries aside and sprawled across her bed. Staring at the milk-coloured ceiling of the canopy bed.

Her gaze wandered around the room before she shifted restlessly against the sheets.

He hadn't given her her phone yet when he’d promised to do so, which irked her.

She pushed the plate away.

It rolled across the bed before tumbling to the floor with a sharp clink. A scream tore from her throat.

She grabbed the sheets and pillow and threw them across the room.

She marched to the vase on the table beside the door and knocked it to the floor, sending it crashing into pieces.

The water splashed on her, but she didn’t care; she only stepped on its vase shards and moved to the door, banging on it.

She tried the knob, but it didn’t open.

It was locked.

“You asshole. I want to leave this place. Come and open this door now."

She continued banging on it and shouting, but no one answered.

***

“What’s wrong with her?”

Luca stood by the side as the doctor checked Sophia’s vitals and cleaned the wounds on her feet.

He had been out and saw a commotion in front of her room when he returned, knowing no one would enter even if she were dying.

Those were the instructions he had laid. No one was to enter her room on no account.

“She is drained. Malnourished. And her blood level is low. She needs a lot of healthy food and rest."

The doctor said and began packing his things up inside his briefcase, looking up at Luca, his face stolid.

“She needs a lot of rest,”

“And that she would get, doctor."

Luca nodded his head at the doctor and led him out of the room before returning back to Sophia on the bed.

He tucked a stray hair away from her face and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

With his eyes closed, he pressed his lips to her forehead. He didn’t notice her eyes flutter open and was gawping at him.

“What are you doing?” Sophia asked.

He retreated, clearing his throat, and tucked his hands into his pocket.

“Nothing”

Sophia sat up from the bed, making the duvet pull back from her body.

“That didn’t look like anything to me. You were…”

“That was nothing," he brushed it off.

“You need to start eating. The doctor said you were malnourished and drained, which shouldn’t be in the books of this place. Eat the food the maids bring up to you. I told you I won’t be letting you go until I know you are capable of taking care of yourself."

She lifted her chin defiantly and rolled her eyes.

“And if I don’t?”

Luca smirked, an expression that didn’t come off easily, bending low to her level to make them face-to-face.

“Remember”

He tapped the side of her head with his fingers.

“I haven’t given you your phone yet. I don’t think you would like to know what I would withhold more if you don’t obey me. Would we?”

Her throat bobbed; she leaned away from him, clutching the bedsheet tightly in her fist.

“Am I clear?” He asked, standing up, his face going back to being aloof.

He didn't want to subject himself to such a level, but she was too stubborn to listen with too many things right now on his plate.

He didn’t want her to add to that and the promise he made to her father.

“Yes,” she said under her breath.

He kissed her on the forehead and left for the door. Kissing her on the forehead was becoming a norm for him.

He didn’t know if he should like or hate it. He’d never had a woman this close to him who wasn’t related to him.

He knew what he was getting himself into if he didn’t let her go on the expected time and date.

“A maid is going to bring in food right now as soon as I leave. Anything you would want to eat specifically?”

He stood by the door, his back to her.

Hand hovering near the handle. He didn’t know why but he didn’t want to look at her face.

She said nothing, and he hummed, asking again.

“No,” she answered.

He said nothing and opened the door and left. Sophia slumped on the bed, releasing a large breath.

She placed a hand over her chest as her racing heartbeat slowly began to settle. The air between them had felt unbearably thick.

Her pulse pounded violently beneath her skin. She swallowed, wrapping her hands around herself.

What was happening?

Whatever was happening, she didn't want to be in it but only to leave this place.