SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 11: Chapter 11. Some Sort Of Drama

Chapter 11. Some Sort Of Drama

Rosa Lin’s POV

”What’s wrong?” He asked, with his arms folded, observing me as I stood before him, my fingers fiddling around with the keys while I stared at his chest, my mouth hanging apart, words totally failing me.

I closed my eyes and breathed out. ”I don’t know,” I said, looking at my hand.

”Seriously, what’s there to think about?” he asked, his shoulders shrugging.

I looked back at him, twisting my lips. ”Well, maybe because you are the dean and lecturer, and I’m just a student. I don’t know. It’s just not going to sound like a very great idea,” I said, my voice shaking. ”I mean, what if people find out? They are not going to listen to the fact that we are related. Everybody is just going to come up with their own conclusions or something, so I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

When I looked up at him, he was staring at my hand now. I saw something that looked close to sadness flicker in his eyes, or was that my imagination? I frowned. ”I could still come over and visit you, I mean, once in a while,” I said calmly and saw the moment his eyes lifted to look back at me. He smiled. Was it my imagination previously? Was he really that sad? I wondered.

He chuckled and stepped closer, placing his hands on either side of my shoulders. I felt his warm, strong hands against the bare skin of my shoulders, and I trembled, staring up at him.

”Look, I understand how you feel, and I understand what people might think if they look at the situation between us, but come on, it’s between us. Are you trying to tell me that if I was a female, or maybe probably your aunt, you are not going to stay with me?” he asked.

I chuckled, tilting my head to the side. ”It’s not the same thing.”

”It’s actually the same thing,” he countered.

I looked back at him.

”The only difference is because I’m male, and if it was an aunt, it would be a female. But seriously, think about it. What’s the difference? We are relatives. It’s not like anything is going to happen, right?” he asked. He leaned closer with an eyebrow raised. ”Or, are you expecting something to happen?”

I blinked rapidly, my face flushing instantly. I pointed at him. ”Look who is thinking dirty here, not me!” I said.

He chuckled as I shrugged his hands away from my shoulders, pouting and turning to the side. He chuckled and shook his head, staring at me. I looked at him from the corner of my eye.

”For real, I would really love it if you think about it. The villa is large, and most of the time I just kind of feel lonely with nobody to stay with me. I was happy when I saw you at school. A little surprised you didn’t recognize me—but it’s good to see that we’re back together after all these years.”

” Where have you been?” I asked him.

”Well, I’ve been away trying to sort out some things, busy with my career. I have finally retired now, and I just felt like I should get in contact with my relatives who are still around,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. ”I’m sorry, you have retired? How old are you?” I asked.

He chuckled. ”It’s not wrong for a person to retire early.”

I squinted my eyelids at him. ”How old are you?”

”Why do you want to know?” he asked.

”Because I’m a little bit inquisitive,” I countered.

He chuckled. ”I am thirty,” he said, and stepped even closer. ”What do you want to do about that?”

Thirty??! Wow. He looks a little bit too young to be thirty.

My lips shook, my eyelids fluttered, and I quickly looked away from him. What is this guy doing?

I heard him chuckle in front of me as he brushed his hand against my bare shoulder again. Oh my Lord, this guy is a little bit too touchy. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m feeling uncomfortable about staying with him. I looked up at him. He seemed to notice my expression and quickly dropped his hand.

”Oh, right. Sorry,” he said, chuckling to himself and folding his arms behind him.

I tilted my head to the side, watching him.

”Just think about it for real. There’s nothing wrong, okay?” he said. ”Except... Maybe you’re having some dirty thoughts lurking in your head,” he added, tapping his finger against my forehead.

I frowned at him and slapped his hand away. ”I don’t have dirty thoughts in my mind.”

”Oh, is that so?” he asked in amusement. ”Then why are your cheeks a little bit rosy?”

I pointed my hand at him, my lips moving, but no words came out of my mouth. ”Shut up!” I finally said.

He laughed calmly, shaking his head, flashing those two bright, perfect white teeth. He is not human at all! I thought to myself, watching him.

He stopped laughing after a while and folded his arms, gazing down at me.

I took a deep breath. ”Fine, I understand you,” I said, ”but you’re just going to have to give me time to think about it, to work my way around because I’m still...”

”You are not comfortable!” he interrupted.

I looked up at him and then slowly nodded my head.

He chuckled and placed his hands in his pockets. ”It’s alright, I understand. I will give you time to think about it, and you can feel free to let me know your mind, okay? It’s not a must, actually. I just kind of feel a little lonely and need someone to stay with me, that’s all,” he said.

I looked up at him. Well, he is really humble to actually seek company from a teenager. Why doesn’t he go around looking for someone his age? I thought to myself, unable to keep the smile away from my face. He grinned at me and brushed his fingers again through my hair.

What’s with this guy and my hair? I thought to myself, trying to move my head away from his hand. He noticed and brought his hand down.

”So where are you going to stay in the meantime?”

I swallowed and looked to the side with my arms folded. ”Well, I’m just going to stay with my friend here. She also has a beautiful mansion outside of campus, and it’s quite okay and comfortable.”

He nodded his head. ”Oh, I see! Mia Chen, right?” he asked.

I frowned, looking at him. ”How did you—?”

He chuckled. ”Come on! Who doesn’t know Mia Chen? I guessed she must be your friend because I saw the both of you together before you stepped into school today,” he said.

I nodded my head. ”Oh, I see!” I said, and he chuckled.

”Well, anyway, it’s nice seeing you again, Rosa,” he said, shrugging. ”I hope you don’t run away from me,” he added.

I frowned at him. ”What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

He chuckled. ”Nothing! I just hope you don’t move on from thinking about it to, ’I am so not staying with him.’”

He said with a touch of humor that made me snicker and turn my head to the side. ”I am not running, okay? Moreover, didn’t you say you are going to give me a choice?” I asked, and he nodded his head with his forehead creased.

”Yeah, yeah, that’s right. You still have a choice, and I’m not taking it that way.”

But I could see something that looked like nervousness in his expression, like he was hoping I would stay with him. Just what the hell was that?

I blew out a breath. ”I’m not running, okay. After all, my luggage is still in the villa, so it’s not like I can just run off,” I said, and he smiled.

”Yeah, that’s right. Take all the time you need,” he added.

I nodded my head slowly, not knowing what to say, and began to rock back and forth on my feet.

He raised an eyebrow. ”Don’t you have any more lectures for today?” he asked.

I blinked. ”Oh yeah, yeah, right. I still have one more lecture before I’m finally done for the day,” I said, and he nodded.

”Alright, why don’t you get on with it?”

He then turned away from me and headed towards the entrance. I watched his back, watched his broad shoulders protruding through the fabric of his wonderfully tailored suit. I clutched my backpack.

”Are you taking the keys?” I asked tentatively.

He turned slightly. ”No, keep them. I have a spare set. You are welcome anytime,” he said, a little smile playing at the corner of his lips.

I slowly headed over towards the entrance, where he stood, holding the door open for me. I turned to look at him. He smiled.

”Take care of yourself, cute little Rosa,” he said.

”I’m not little,” I said.

”You are to me,” he said, and patted my head.

I rolled my eyes and walked off, hearing him chuckle behind me.

Don’t look back, Rosa, I told myself.

I walked down the stairs till my feet touched the main ground, feeling the gravel crunching underneath my sneakers echoing in my ears. Don’t look back. I could still feel his heated gaze pressing against my back.

Don’t you dare.

I couldn’t help it. I stopped. I turned around, about to look at him. Sure enough, he was standing there, resting against the frame of the door with his arms folded, smiling at me. He waved his hand, and I frowned.

He is being a little too friendly to be an uncle, I thought to myself.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. Don’t think so much about it, Rosa. I waved back, and then I smiled before turning around and walking briskly across the estate back to school.

In the next few minutes, I found myself back at school, typing briskly into my phone in my chat box with Mia:

MIA: Just wait for me over at the Cafeteria block. I’m going to meet you there in a few minutes.

That was the last message Mia sent to me. I replied, then dipped my phone into my pocket.

I really had a lot to discuss with her before the next lecture started, which was in the evening, so I had a lot of hours to think, rest, and do whatever I wanted to do.

I got to the cafeteria block, where a sea of students were hanging out and socializing. I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, looking around, tapping my fingers against my arm.

There was a huge crowd there, and I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I’ve never been at ease around crowds. My head darted from left to right, waiting for the moment Mia’s head would pop out among the numbers of people, waiting for when she would wave at me.

The murmurs suddenly filled my ears like a sharp gust of wind.

”Isn’t she the one?” I heard someone say to my right.

I breathed out.

”Oh yes, she is!”

” I can’t believe she is allowing herself to be seen in public! Can you imagine?”

” Some girls really have a lot of nerve.”

Someone else said, ”Oh, if I were the one, I would so drop out.”

”Maybe her education is actually important to her. Remember, she doesn’t have the funding and has no means to get into a better school.”

” Yeah. I heard that Mac’s parents were the ones who had been sponsoring her school. I also heard that she ditched the family. How is she going to survive now?”

I ground my teeth. Word sure spreads fast in this school. I couldn’t continue listening to this. I took off my backpack, unzipped it, and began to search for my backup earphones since my earbuds had been damaged—anything just to block out this noise.

”Rosa.”

I heard a sharp, cold, dreaded voice I haven’t heard in a month, and my hand froze in my bag, forcing my eyebrows to squeeze together. My heart instantly picked up speed. I slowly tilted my head to look up.

Everyone’s gaze was on me now. A few meters away from me, at the entrance of the cafeteria, was Mac, together with his group of friends, his hockey teammates. They were all holding snacks in their hands, and their eyes were wide, gazing from Mac back to me at intervals, like they were expecting some sort of drama.

I saw Mac’s eyes watching me with disbelief, raking from the top of my head to my feet, and then back up to my face.

”Well, well, well! Look what we have here!” he said, casually walking over towards me.

Oh, shit!