Leila's POV

I shouldn't have asked that question. What was I thinking? He'd obviously avoided the topic, and there I was, asking about her anyway. I ought to be ashamed of myself.

And, now, here I stood, early in the morning in the kitchen, waiting for him to come from his morning run. The weather seemed a little friendly that morning, but I could tell that it was definitely going to rain again today.

The front door opened, and the sound made me stand abruptly, making me almost knock my head on the upper cupboard door that was open. Maybe the universe wanted to play a wicked trick on me by letting me have a big huge lump on my head.

I took hold of the pot and put it on the stove. Just as he got into the kitchen, I turned to look at him. Wearing a black sleeveless hoodie and grey joggers, he stood where he was, looking at me.

"Mr Carter..........good morning."

He nodded and replied gruffly, then went to get his water. Just as he was about to leave, I spoke.

"Look, about last night-"

He suddenly turned, and looked at me again, his piercing gaze pinning me to the spot, making me mute. His voice was deep and, dare I say, mesmerising.

"Don't worry yourself. It's okay."

I looked down, trying to keep my focus on apologizing to him.

"But, I know that-"

Two large hands suddenly held onto my shoulders, making me look up, to see that he was now in front of me. That was the closest he'd ever been, and I felt his presence. His grey eyes were soft, kind of, and I couldn't help but look.

"No, you don't know anything. As I said before, don't worry yourself over things you don't understand."

I nodded, not knowing what to say due to his close proximity. He smiled then, that smile that made his dimple come out. He squeezed my shoulders. My eyes scanned his face, looking for any signs that he was lying, and found non. I smiled at that, and his gaze went to my lips. No one said anything, but I could feel that something was going on between us. Like, a hot current sizzled around us. When I cleared my throat, he let go of my shoulders. After clearing his own throat, he excused himself, and walked out of the room.

He really was handsome.

Shaking my head, I hit my head lightly with my fists.

What's wrong with you? Just.......focus, okay?

As I made breakfast, I couldn't help but think about him. Why was it that he was becoming more and more handsome as the days went by? I began to notice some features about him that I usually didn't.
His eyes seemed to be more attractive and mysterious than when I'd saw them the first time. They were a dull grey for me at that time. His face was kinda above average at first, now I saw him as a very beautiful specimen.

Laughing to myself, I just realized that it was my employer I was talking about. Knowing how wrong and crazy that was, I told myself to stop with these thoughts. They wouldn't help me with anything.

I went to Emilia's room and bathed her. After wearing her uniform, I took her with me to the dining room. Mr Carter was already there making his coffee.

I silently walked inside and served breakfast. As we were eating, I looked up to see him looking at me, his gaze unreadable. Averting my gaze, I looked at Emilia who wasn't even paying attention. I looked at him again, but his gaze was still on me. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I just wanted to disappear from the table. Why was he looking at me?

"Aunt Lei?"

Emilia was done with her food, standing up from her seat now.

"What is it, little one?"

"Aren't you hungry? You've barely eaten anything."

The waffles were barely touched, making me feel embarrassed. Maybe that was why he kept on looking at you like that.

"I will. Don't worry, okay?"

After a short while, she nodded. Mr Carter then, decided to speak.

"I have to go. Have a good day, pumpkin."

He kissed her forehead, and looked at me for a short second before he grabbed his suitcase and left.

"Mmmm....."

"What is it, Emilia?"

She scratched her chin, seeming like she was deep in thought.

"I'm wondering why Dad was looking at you a lot today. He never did that before."

The bus came to a stop at the front of the house, and Emilia ran outside with her bag. I yelled out for her to have a good day. Closing the door behind me, I couldn't help but smile at the idea of Mr Carter looking at me.

Lord, what's going on with me?

*********

The cleaners we're almost done with their cleaning when I decided to go upstairs to relax. Just as I passed by the living room, I saw the girl from last time, sitting with her friends gossiping as usual. I wanted nothing more than not to pass there, but I had to.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard a sharp laugh from the blonde.

"I see that you're grabbing onto him, trying to make him see you. It won't be work."

Deciding to ignore her again, I took a few steps up before she spoke again.

"And even if you did, somehow, get to snatch him, he wouldn't love you for long. You're just a desperate nanny, and he has businesses countrywide."

I stopped then, anger filling me as I stepped down and walked until I was in front of her.

"What have I done to you, blondie?"

"The name's Alice-"

"Yeah, whatever Lisa. I don't really care about that. You better stop what you're doing, or else there will be dire consequences."

She laughed then, and her posie laughed along, their laughs threatening to peel my ears off. The brunette of the group stood up and came next to her.

"What consequences do you know about? You are just as stupid as the dogs that look for food in rubbish bins. So filthy."

She snorted, and the other blonde with a pixie cut stood as well, her chubby hands on her hips. She looked at me, from my head to my shoes.

"Very very out of date. You're way out of his league. Just stop before you even bother with trying other ways of getting the poor man."

My anger was now mixed up with a hurt I didn't know of its origin, making tears begin to well up in my eyes. Not knowing what to say about it all, since I was dumbstruck and was not one to argue, I ran upstairs. Their laughters were following behind me, until I closed the door to my room.

I walked to the couch that was by the window and sat there. The rains had begun to come down in sheets, making it difficult for one to see what was a few feet in front of them due to the force. Almost everything was grey outside, making me feel even worse than before.

I rested my head on the hands that were resting on the couch's hand. Thunder rumbled, making me remember my days in high school when I was bullied because of my hair. When I was young, i used to make puffs and afros with it, and this invited negative attention. The girls would make fun of my hair, tug at it when they got the chance. Some people didn't even play with me because of it.

I ended up relaxing my hair in order for it to be straight like the others. I did it after every two months, but I didn't know that i was only damaging it. It ended up falling off, reducing in quantity and volume. Even my hairline was receding up to the point where I ended up getting my hair cut, which made the bullying even worse.

My parents were notified of my reduced performance in class and wondered what was wrong. I just kept quiet about it, because something in me told me that it was a stupid reason for failing in class. I felt sad and lonely those days, until I got home one day to see Tori, a girl whom I'd known as the popular black girl, talking to my mother. She smiled at me as she left, and I looked at my mother, who had tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She gave me a big hug, and I just burst into tears then and there. I hugged her back,and together we cried for a little while before we separated. She told me to always stand up to those who bully others, because they will be insecure and jealous of you. The next day, Tori was always with me, and the bad mean girls stayed away from me. From then on, we became inseparable.

Laughing to myself, I realized that I was crying, salty tears rolling down my cheeks, making my hands wet. I wiped some of them off, but they kept on flowing. It was funny how some circumstances led to beautiful, lasting friendships. As I sat there, sleep overtook me, allowing me to escape into the land of dreams, where I was safe,at least.

***

My body shook left and right, forcing me to open my eyes to see who it was. Emilia stood in front of me, frowning. I sat up and looked at her, wondering what was wrong.

"What is it, Em?"

She touched my cheek.

"Why were you crying? What happened?"

Quickly touching my face, I came to realize that the tears had dried up, leaving salt lines. I shook my head, embarrassed that I had been found by that little girl in such a state.

"Nothing happened, sweetie."

I went to the bathroom and washed my face. Red eyes looked at me in the mirror, and I sighed, knowing that they wouldn't go back to their normal color anytime soon.

We went downstairs and had lunch. My mind kept in replaying all those things those girls had said to me. I knew that I was getting paranoid over nothing, but I couldn't help but take their words to heart. I shook my head, sighing when I turned around to see Mr Carter standing at the door, looking at me, a frown drawn in his perfectly sculptured face.

"Good evening, Ms Rollins."

"Good evening."

He walked in and sat on a kitchen island chair, and I turned my attention back to the stew.

"Emilia told me that something happened to you whilst we were gone."

I just kept quiet, and continued on stirring the pot.

"She also said that you had cried, and she found you with tears in your cheeks whilst you slept."

I turned to look at him, and I saw the frown was still there, his brows had furrowed in concern.

"It was nothing."

"Ms Rollins, I'm pretty sure-"

Just then, Emilia shouted from the living room.

"Dad! Come look at the pony that I drew."

We had a staring contest for a while, until he stood up.

"We're going to talk later."

He left the room, and frowning to myself, I began to set the table for dinner. They came in a few minutes later, and Emilia showed me the pony she had drawn. After commenting on how beautiful it was, we had our meal.

******

The night was dark, as usual, but the showers from the dark sky made the scene more depressing. Sitting in one of the chairs in the garden, I played some songs on my phone. I closed my eyes momentarily, trying to let the peace of the night seep into my mind.

Opening my eyes a little, I saw a body sitting next to me in the other chair. It was him, looking like the beautiful man he was, face void of any emotion. I took my earphones off, and paused the song.

"Ms Rollins, what happened today?"

A wind picked up, but I had brought my jacket with me, so I was warm and snug. Mr Carter, however, was wearing a plain long sleeved green t-shirt, which acted as a second skin.

Should I tell him?

Well, if you don't, what do you think will happen the next time they come back?

Based on my past experiences, I decided to tell him. I told him what happened from when I had decided to go upstairs, up to the point where I just left them there. I did, however, leave out the topic of conversation. How could I possibly tell him that it was about him?

"What's the girl's name?"

I told him her name, but I didn't know the names of the other two. He said that he'd do something about it. He looked angry when he stood up, and left me alone there again. Suddenly feeling bored and alone, I left the garden, and its peaceful yet depressing serenity.