When Love Reawakens

Chapter 01. PART I

« I don’t want to stay with Nina tonight ! »

I heard the voice of Alysanne screaming from the bathroom. I try to ignore her complaints and concentrate on this damn eyeliner line that I can’t trace.

Despite all the experience I have with makeup, I still have so much trouble making sure that my two features are equal. Yet these features bring out my doe eyes, but I guess it’s useless anyway because of the mask that hides my face during performances.

I’ll try one last time and if not, I give up.

« I’m tired of you treating me like I’m six! »

The new complaint of Alysanne distracts me and the layout that was perfect crumbles.

I put down the pencil and get up. I give up.

I open the door and my eyes come into contact with large light brown eyes.

« What’s the matter with Nina? I thought you liked her ? »

I Asked, crossing my arms as she looked up at me before reaching her phone, I watched curiously.

« See for yourself what she dared to post on her story! »

I squint when I look at this thing that seems to

upset her so much: it is a picture of her reading one of her books that she loves so much.

Alysanne is a fan of reading, she has a library in her room with tons of books divided into genre, author and theme. The book she reads in the photo is the last novel I bought from her about a tragic love story between two doctors. I haven’t read it, but I know the characters and I even have preferences because of Aly who shares her feelings with me, even when I don’t want her to spoil my reading pleasure.

« All I see is a picture of you reading »

I said shrugging my shoulders and returning her phone.

Nina is the one who takes care of Alysanne when I am at work. She doesn’t want me to use the word “nanny” because she’s a big girl and she would feel like she was six years old.

« But why does she take photos of me in secret that she posts on social media? I don’t want her, I can take care of myself very well. »

she says indignantly.

And here we go again...

« Aly... I said, taking a seat on the chair and holding his hand. I know you’re old enough now and can perfectly take care of yourself. I just want you to be safe, that you have someone by your side in case there’s a problem or if you need help with anything. »

Alysanne has been paralyzed in her legs and has been walking in a wheelchair since she was 7 years old. She is very suspicious and has trouble opening up to others. The only people she trusts are her two friends, Soraya, Eva and myself.

The problem is that I can’t be with her constantly because I work to make sure she lives the life she deserves, so there has to be someone who takes care of her in my absence. Nina is the fifth “nanny” in three months that she wants me to get rid of.

She doesn’t like pictures very much and I had specified to Nina not to do something against her will when I hired her. She puts me in an uncomfortable position and unfortunately for Aly, I will not be able to send her away, not now.

« ... I no longer trust Nina. Could you not stay with me tonight, Alyanna? » she begs...

I sighs and by my expression she understands that it is impossible.

« I wish, you know that if I could, I would stay with you and hear you tell me the last drama of one of your novels. »

She sketches a smile.

« But I can’t. I’m working tonight and there’s no one to replace me at the restaurant. »

She throws her head back and moves away from me.

I try to hide my smile, but when we look at each other, we laugh out loud. She knows what’s going to happen and so do I.

« Okay, okay. But I want to go to the bookstore tomorrow because I need a new stack of books to read. Soraya and Eva can join us then we’ll go eat somewhere. That is the condition for me to accept Nina staying with me tonight. »

she throws her arms crossed on her chest.

This is how I usually forgive myself for leaving her alone when I work. We go to a bookstore the next day and she chooses as many books as she wants.

To be honest, I don’t understand why she still needs it so much when I bought her a k****e e-reader so she can take it wherever she goes. I find the books cumbersome, but she doesn’t agree; she says that books have a charm that electronics will never have. She knows her stuff after all.

« Deal made. » I say, reaching out her hand and shaking it, a mischievous smile on her face.

This little one is amazing!

**************************************************

« What’s on for tonight? » I asked Makeda, helping her with her hairstyle.

« A private party organized by a guy with money to his name » she says on her phone.

Makeda and I have been friends for five years and also work together. She helped me to assert myself in all my relationships and to hold on to the pressure of my life.

Without my friends, I don’t know what I would have done or if I would have this temper to take it all. She was also the one who convinced me to join the Warriors. She is the founder of our dance group, the «Warriors» made up of her, four other girls and me. Makeda has a dark skin, she is African. She has beautiful brown eyes turning black and the body of a goddess. She’s a great player and she broke more than one heart.

We are a private group, that is to say we perform only during the evenings on demand. We are in high demand, so we have the privilege to refuse or not to refuse certain requests.

At first, I wasn’t really into it especially because I had trouble with the insults on social networks such as: «courtisane», «luxury whore», «light women», «whores» and so on. I ended up turning a blind eye to all the “we say” and I even got used to it.

People are so mean behind their phones that they judge and criticize the lives of others without knowing what is really going on. The worst is that we do not sleep with these men, we just dance. I can’t imagine that if we weren’t masked and our faces were exposed, we would have had worse.

« What type? » I asked, curious.

« The businessman, you know, Vincenzo Russo. » She said, showing me a picture of a man in his thirties, I would say, handsome, brown, square jaw and eyes more piercing than the night.

« He’s not bad, is he it? » she asks me with a wink and a smile.

I simply shrug my shoulders in response and refocus on her hairstyle. Yes, he’s a handsome man, but I know that kind of cliché and it is certainly not with a private party dancer that he can finish.

At worst, he will want to play. I have long accepted that love is not for me. I mean, not everyone is meant to get married and have a family, and I’m part of that. I don’t believe in love, at least.... I don’t believe in it anymore.

« Do you think I have a chance? » she asks.

I put down the comb and take a wipe to wipe my hands.

« You’re a bomb, Makeda. A man who wouldn’t want you would be crazy. I started. But this guy, I’m sure he already has a girlfriend who is rich and spends her time shopping without looking at the amount she spends. If not, he looks like a man of women to me. Besides, he’s not your type. Forget it. » I Said I as I headed to the dressing room to get my evening clothes.

Makeda likes men of color like her. I remember that she was admired for her ability to play and bring down heartbreakers. In a sense, she is the karma of all men who have played with women’s feelings. I don’t remember for the last five years seeing her really in love with a man.

« How long has it been since you’ve been with someone? Have you been touched by a man? Three years? Four? » she asks, following me and taking me by the shoulders.

« Don’t start » I anticipated it.

Makeda is frustrated that it’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone.

I don’t mind. My last relationship ended rather badly. I found my ex in bed at home with a woman when i suddenly came to see him because he told me he was sick.

He tried to be forgiven many times, but it’s just not possible for me, I’m sorry.

« I can’t believe what happened with Scott is stopping you from opening up to men again. »

« ... it’s not just that... Men lie and I’m tired of believing them. They never keep their promises » I said by passing her and get my things.

I don’t feel her steps behind me so I conclude that she understood and will leave me alone with this. She can be pushy when she wants to, so I’m quite surprised that she doesn’t get one back up as quickly.

I take my bag and decide to text Nina to check on Alysanne. I hope she can handle it. Alysanne and I are 13 years apart. Even when our parents were still alive, I treated her as if she was my daughter. My mother called me her “second mother” because that’s what I was to her.

I never thought that one day, I would become the first.

Life gives you everything and then, overnight, it takes away everything that it has offered you as if it wanted you to taste happiness before entering into a whirlwind of suffering.

I gave up my youth and my studies to look after her, and it’s the best choice of my life. If it was to be done again, I would surely do it again because I would give everything for her.

« Who are you thinking of exactly? Something tells me that you’re referring to De... »

I turn at a lightning speed and put my hand on his mouth.

« No mention of his name before me. » I say with a serious air.

She raises her hands in the air and I take off her hand.

« Sorry, I missed it. »

She changes the subject after that and I thank her silently.

There is a man behind my lack of confidence and my disgust towards males who is not Scott, my ex, even if he strengthened it.

There are loves we would like to forget, moments we would like to erase from our memory, but if it were that simple, everyone would do so…