TWICE GIVEN, TWICE LOVED

BEING HIS DRIVER

"Eat this. I made it specifically for you," my mom chimed as she served spaghetti onto my plate. Excitement radiated from her aura, and her happiness coerced me to feel guilty for not spending an adequate amount of time with her. Moving out to attend the country’s best high school in the neighboring city felt like a poor excuse. Yet, she still espoused my decision, and I was deeply grateful to have her as my mother.

"Thanks, Mom." The spaghetti was delicious; her homemade meals were my absolute favorite. As I reached for my fork, it clattered to the floor, prompting me to bend down and pick it up. Clumsiness certainly ran in my blood.

"Well, how’s school? I hope everything is good and that no one is bothering you." No one really troubled me, except for that one person—the only one who had the nerve to cross paths with me.

The maid replaced the fallen fork and returned to her duties. I thought about the outdated family rule from my ancestors that dictated not using utensils from someone else’s place setting at the dining table. Only two people were dining at that moment anyway. Quite silly, to be honest, but it was the way things were. "It's good," I replied, taking a sip of my cranberry-strawberry juice—another of my favorites. "Just like your ankle." I sensed her reaction even without looking up; it was always the same.

The sound of clanking silverware and shuffling feet filled the room, and an uncomfortable silence enveloped the two of us as lunch continued in a quiet rhythm.

My fist knocked on my mom’s door twice before entering her room. She sat up in bed, a book in hand, with her glasses perched on her nose. The title read 'Life: A Beautiful Tragedy.' She put the book down and straightened up as soon as she noticed my presence at the doorway. Frown lines deepened on her beautiful face when she saw the first aid kit in my hands. I approached her bed gently, my gaze roaming over her features.

When had I failed to notice the emerging wrinkles beside her eyes? How long had her body been aging so much all of a sudden? Had it started when I moved out of the house or when I stopped visiting for months on end?

"May I?" A whisper escaped from my lips softly, my hands offering her the first aid kit.

Wordlessly, she removed the comforter from her legs, wincing slightly as I placed her foot on my lap and shifted her nightdress to reveal her ankle. The cuts weren't cavernous, but they pierced my heart nonetheless in a brutal way. She bit her lip and clenched her eyes as I disinfected the wounds and bandaged her ankle. Both of us had low pain tolerance. "Done," I said as I stood up to leave. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist.

"Will you not ask why?" she whispered meekly. Turning my head to her, I sighed. "Will you really answer me?" I asked.

Her hand left mine as she stared down at her fingers entwined with one another. "I disappointed you again, didn’t I?"

"Yes, you did."

"I’m sorry."

My fists clenched. I hated having this conversation—always. "Say your apologies to yourself and your body. You owe that apology to them for hurting them so many times." Tears trickled down her beautiful light blue eyes, making me sigh. I cupped her face and bent down to her level, my thumbs brushing her cheeks. "Please consider therapy. If you don’t like it, I won’t force you to continue. But you have to try it first—for me, if not for yourself."

"Okay," she agreed, and I smiled, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too." We embraced, her sobs muffled against my shoulder.

Depression is a curse that drags you into an abyss of darkness with no permanent escape— just like a black hole.

The exasperating ringtone of my phone jolted me from my peaceful slumber. I had just experienced such an irie dream! A dream I wished to come true so desperately. Nicholas had been my slave, doing all my chores in the dream. Haha. I was evil.

Well, they say to make wishes carefully.

Speaking of the devil, ‘Demented Stalker’ was calling. The clock on my wall indicated how irritating that man was; it was only six in the morning.

"What?" My rudeness was a quality which was reserved for only a few people.

"Woah! Good morning to you too, Principessa," he replied, mischief lacing his tone—exactly what I didn’t want to deal with so early. The weekend was over, and I was back at my place.

"What do you want? Get to the point."

I heard him exhale loudly, sounding disappointed. "Still rude as ever. I just wanted to remind you to pick me up for college today. Don’t forget about it and leave me here alone."

Why couldn’t I bang my head against something? Why was he my neighbor? "Oh! The Great Nicholas. Please enlighten me: when did you hire me to be your driver?"

"Since today." His chirpy voice only fueled my irritation. This guy was definitely a mistake from my past life.

"Shut the fu—"

I was abruptly cut off. "Ish... No cursing, Principessa. Princesses don’t curse."

"Shove that princess rulebook up your ass."

"Ah... my princess is a rude one, I see." Was he truly an unhinged piece of flesh? "Well, how about this? I’ll pay you half a million a month to be my driver. You just have to pick me up for college in the morning and drop me back to our place in the evening."

My ears perked at that offer; I didn’t even bother to correct him about ‘our place.’ Money had always been my priority. I loved money and absolutely hated those who didn’t. It was one of my sweet weaknesses.

"One million." I decided to push my luck. Being greedy up to a limit wasn’t so bad, right?

"Done. See you in an hour." He hung up before I could respond. My lips twitched as my phone pinged with a notification from my bank confirming the transfer of one million. He must’ve been afraid I’d back out. Quite smart he was.

It was a fair deal; tolerating him for a few minutes was worth it if I got a million in return. Regardless, I had to drive to college anyway, so technically, that money was just paying me for my own commute. A good business arrangement indeed.

"I love money. Oh, I really love money!" I sang happily as I skipped to the washroom.

My palm pressed the horn repeatedly when I spotted him ambling leisurely toward my car. I had been waiting for fifteen minutes, and I was fuming at the prospect of being late to college. A murder was sure if I didn't reach on time.

"Hey, Principessa! I missed you a lot these past two days," he pouted as he entered the car, settling his presence into the passenger seat. My fists clenched around the steering wheel as I shot him an irritated glare.

"I will kill you if we don’t reach college on time."

A hearty laugh escaped him. "Who cares if we reach college on time? Who has the guts to scold us?"

I rolled my eyes as I started driving. "Then why bother going at all?"

He shrugged, leaning closer to me. "So that I can see you."

My index finger pushed his face away from mine, distracted by his uniquely attractive scent. "Stay away from me and know your limits."

His tongue flicked my hand as he laughed at my disgusted expression. What a weird human being he was? "What the fu—"

"No cursing, Principessa. I expect this much from my employees." There was not much traffic on the road today.

"What? So, you lick your employees?" It wasn’t a sunny day; dark clouds veiled the sun. It looked like rain was on the way.

"Well, if that employee is you, then maybe. I can lick anywhere." His voice dipped an octave. "Everywhere."

I groaned inwardly, suppressing a cringe as the image of Sofia’s favorite phrase drifted into my mind.

"Ah...Yes! Lick me everywhere." Sofia moaned.

"I am surprised that you waited for me for fifteen minutes. I thought you’d leave me and so my money would go into waste." He spoke after some moments of not getting any reply from me while fiddling with the AC and radio buttons in the car.

"I wanted to show professionalism on the first day."

"Only on the first day?"

"Try coming late tomorrow, and you’ll find out." I parked the car in the lot and gathered my things, taking a deep breath after exiting the car. Many eyes turned our way as Nicholas stepped out of the same car as mine, sticking close to me. The ground was filled with students as usual, and gossip began to swirl. One of my wolf traits was the enahanced hearing capability and currently, I loathed that trait more than anything.

"Are they dating?"

"They look great together."

"Their families have huge businesses. It must be a business alliance for more power and money."

"Rich people always value money over love."

"It must be a PR stunt."

I could hear all sorts of rumors, and it finally dawned on me how easily they spread.

Why are humans so nosy? The worst human trait is being more interested in others’ lives than in their own. I wasn’t any different; I loved drama, but only when I wasn’t involved.

"Let’s go. I’ll drop you off at your class," he said, snatching my bag and wrapping his arm around my shoulder before I could retake it. He was too touchy for my liking.

"I can manage myself." He tightened his grip, making it impossible for me to retrieve my bag as he walked alongside me.

"I can do this much for my driver," he said, greeting several students along the way, nodding his head with his usual nonchalant smile. The attention of onlookers, especially the girls, burned my skin as we walked. We put our things in the lockers with me closing the door of my own with a loud band.

"Quite the nice boss you are," I retorted, dripping with sarcasm. He followed me to my class. His class was just adjacent to mine. No wonder he insisted on following me to class. Annoying me was the sole purpose of his life.

"Only for you, Principessa."