6 ~ Olive

The wedding reception went by in a whorl. There was eating, drinking, a little bit of dancing. All this was because we had a long table where everyone dined and wined.

My greatest surprise was the fact that we had to leave as soon as dinner was over. I had no idea where we were going but my luggage was soon hoisted and taken into the vehicle that would lead us to God knows where.

I hugged my brother and Nonna so tight as I waved at the others whom I barely knew as we left. Xander had been grumpy all day so it was in my best interest to avoid asking him questions.

We boarded his private jet and according to the pilot we were heading for Los Angeles. That was when I remembered that he actually lived in America and not in Italy with his Nonna. So I was moving to another country entirely without any form of preparedness. I sure did a great job at being oblivious.

I dozed off as soon as the plane ascended, only to wake up a couple of hours later and see him on his laptop, doing a video chat with someone.

"It's crazy! I needed you to come and stop it!" He exclaimed, tousling in hair in frustration.

Because he had his headphones on, I could not hear the other person.

"I can't wait to see you babe." He sighed.

Babe? That sent alarm bells ringing in my mind. But because I was sleepy, I made nothing of it and dozed back to sleep until when we landed some hours later.

When we stepped out of the jet, he walked ahead of me and then we sat side by side in silence at the back of the vehicle that was to take us to his residence. Not one word uttered except for the constant calls he seemed to have.

My eyes roamed the city as we drove through it. It was busy and full of life. I had high hopes that I was going to love it here.

I marveled at the tasteful mansion he lived in. It was ultramodern and extremely spacious. I held myself from reacting the way I would have ordinarily wanted to. I did not want to be ridiculed by him.

Just like back in Italy, he had staff all over the house. They waited for him inside and bade us congratulations, welcoming me warmly like the woman of the house. I answered them with a gracious smile while Xander gruffed out his responses as he walked in quick strides that were hard to keep up with.

He led the way up the stairs after the guards hoisted our luggage with mine apparently being more than his.

I held in a gasp when I saw his room. It was huge and so tasteful looking. Finally he turned to me and spoke.

"Your room isn't ready yet." He said.

I nodded even though I knew for a fact that he could have put a call across to get it ready before we arrived if he wanted to but of course he wanted to be a mean ball.

He threw a duvet at me and I barely caught it. "There's enough space to lay on the floor."

My mouth fell open. Was he being serious right now?

"Bathroom's over there. I sleep with the lights on. Good night." He said clippedly and walked straight into the bathroom.

To say I was stunned was an understatement. I knew we had our issues but him wanting to treat me this way on my first night here was just out of it.

Resigning to fate, I waited for him to come out so I could take a shower too and get a proper sleep if at all. I was out like a light the moment my body hit the floor.

~

My sides ached as I got up from the floor where I had laid all night.

He wasn't in the room when I woke up so I assumed he was downstairs having breakfast. To my surprise he had left for work already. I saw the wedding ring on the drawer and just then I knew it was going to be a long, long ride.

Nonna's call came in just as I began moving into the room he assigned for me, next to his. I expected him to want to throw me as far as possible.

"Hi Nonna." I said into the phone.

"Mia cara, how are you settling in over there?" She said.

"It's pretty great so far."

"You're sure?"

"Yes ma'am."

"How's your new caregiver?"

"She's doing great. You don't have to worry about me."

"Yes Nonna." I said. She knew I would always care for her.

"If you need me to call him to order, just say the word okay?"

"Of course."

"Good." She said.

I was most probably not going to call her because I knew I was going to be in my lane, minding my own business and avoiding his trouble. I just wondered how I was going to get used to the new environment. LA was very much far from my comfort zone. It was in times like these that I wished I had thought this thing through properly, no sentiments attached.

With nothing else to do, I decided to properly set up the room that had been assigned to me. Assigned? That sounded like a job description.

With a walk in closet available, I knew I was going to have a swell time arranging my stuff in it. That, I did to the best of my ability before I was notified that my lunch was ready. How my morning flew by so quickly I did not understand but I got to eat a sumptuous meal and that was a win.

My next task was to look around the big house this bachelor decided to live in all by himself.

For no actual reason, I felt like he was a lonely psychopath and that was why his grandmother had to intervene and get him a wife. But this was just me and my ever so busy mind doing what it did best - to overthink and overanalyze things.

There was a theatre room, a library filled with books of different kinds, he even had an office space in it where books were piled. I caught a glimpse of his handwriting and was sort of impressed with his stylish cursive writing and more so by how his mind worked. When I left the library/home office, my feet carried me to the pool area. This was where I was going to spend most of my day. I loved to swim.

It wasn't until it was way past midday I realized how much time I had spent there enjoying the warmth of the water. I got out, wiped myself clean with the a towel that was placed by one of the helps on the pool chair.

And throughout that day, up until night I did not set my eyes on Xander. I sighed in exhaustion. This was just day one and what an unproductive day it had been. I knew I could not continue like this.