Sweeter Than Romance

Chapter 8: Conditions

*Lianne*

After I finished eating, I slowly got up from my seat and adjusted the empty plates on the table. Not long after, a servant approached and cleaned the table while I awkwardly watch him in doing so.

“Should I wait for here or-

“Ms. Lianne.”

I glanced up and saw George already waiting at the other side.

“ I assume you’re already finished with your meal. Should we head upstairs for the guest rooms?”

“Uh, sure.”

George politely smiled and motioned for me to follow. I silently complied and walked to his side.

“ How was the food?”

“It was Great! E-err. I mean fine.” I looked down in embarrassment after I realized my mini outburst. George just gave a short laugh and I instantly relaxed from the tension.

“Then that’s good to hear. The cooking staff would be glad to receive such comments.”

“Yeah. Tell them that I would hire them if I’ll become rich someday.” I replied with a grin.

It seems as though my nervousness was replaced with a feeling of comfort and I realized that I was comfortable being with George now.

“ Nicholas won’t like that. You stealing his workers.”

“ Well he’s not the one paying them.. is he?”

At my response, George broke into another laughter but it was a little longer this time.

“ I won’t argue with that one, kid.”

We kept walking until we’ve reached the 2nd floor. There were at least 3 rooms at sight and George told me to pick one of the rooms.

“ There are more rooms on the west wing. If you like, we could go there as well.”

“ No need. This will do.” I said and pointed to the first room on the side.

Why would I go through the hassle of checking the other rooms when I’m sure that they would be identical anyways? I’m not that much of an i***t to do that.

“ Okay. Let me check for the keys first.” George said and reached over his pockets. He picked out several keys and scanned their details.

“ Guest room number 1..... Oh, here.” He inserted the key and the door opened afterwards. We stepped inside the room and there was a King-size bed located in the middle. There was also a study table and a mini couch on the right.

“ It’s been a while since this room was last used. So pardon the small dust and mess , if you may.”

“No, it’s absolutely fine.” I replied while waving my hand in dismissal. “ If anything, I would say that I’ll gladly become a guest anytime just so I can use this room.”

“Then I suppose you prefer it if you change first before we take a tour.” George said with a smile.

“ You can drop your things on the table and change in the bathroom. “

“ Right. Hehe. “

I didn’t even realize that I was carrying my bag all along. I placed it on the table and grabbed the clothes which Hazel lent me. Afterwards, I got inside the bathroom and changed my school uniform. George was patiently waiting outside as he adjusted the pillows and covers of the bed.

“ Nicholas told me that you should meet him downstairs in the living room after an hour. Until then, we can make use of that time to take a tour around the house.”

“Okay.” I nodded and then soon came thinking.

“ Where is Nicholas, right now? “

“ He’s probably in his room doing assignments or stuff.” Replied George.

“ I hope he’s not planning something evil like my death or something.”

“ Ms. Lianne, if you won’t mind me asking..”

“ Just call me Lianne, George. It’s not like I’m your boss or something.” I said with a sheepish smile.

“ Well then, Lianne. Are you a close friend of Nicholas? If yes, then I’m surprised that he never mentioned you before.”

I thought hard to come up with an excuse. It’s not shocking if the people here would question my connection with Nicholas.

“Ummm.. I’m not exactly his friend.. or a LOVER of that sort.” I emphasized the word lover because I don’t want them to get the wrong idea twice. Heck, just thinking about that possibility gives off a funny vibe.

“ I see.. You’re just an acquaintance then..” He thought hard and tapped a finger on his chin. “Strange cuz Nicholas never brings people here.. not unless they are close or something.”

At his statement, I tensed up and looked down on my feet. How am I gonna find my way out of that one?

“ You discovered something, didn’t you?”

“W-What?”

“ His secret.” George said and gave off a smirk. “ You discovered his secret.”

I was at loss for words and didn’t know how to react. Omo, is George mad or something? Did Nicholas ordered him to end my life secretly? Nooo! I’m too young to die.

George’s laughter broke me from my stupor and I just remained silent in the process.

“ Who would’ve thought that this day would come? Guess Nicholas isn’t as sneaky as he thought.” He wiped a few tears from his eyes and faced me.

“ Don’t worry kid. I also knew about his secret so chill out, would you? I’m not gonna hurt you or anything.”

I relaxed a little bit and gave off a sigh. Phew. Guess my life is spared.

“ Does everyone here know about this or-

“ As far as I know, Nicholas hasn’t told anyone else about his secret. Not even his Dad.”

“ What about his mother? Or brothers and sisters?”

“ Nicholas’ mother died when he was still 5 years old. As for his siblings, he only has one brother.”

“ T-Then does his brother knew?”

“ Nope. Only 2 people knew about his secret so far. Well... that changes to 3 since you are the latest person to know about it.”

“ Who’s the other person aside from us? “ God, I didn’t know why but it felt weird asking that question.

“ It was his grandmother. Madam Emelia ”

“ Oh...”

“I’m sure you have many questions on your mind right now.” George said with a chuckle. “ How about we talk about it on the way? ”

“That would be fine.”

George got out of the room first and I followed behind him. We went to several places in the house such as the music room, the movie room where Nicholas would often watch movies with his friends, the Game room, and the Swimming Pool of course.

“ I started looking after Nicholas when he was only 5 years old.” George said when we were walking on the Garden Area. It was already dark but the artificial lights illuminated our pathway.

“Mr. Howard is a busy man and because he needed someone to look after Nicholas’ welfare, I was appointed for the job.”

“ How did you got into this job? or How did you meet Nicholas’ family?”

“ I was an old friend of his grandmother.” George said with a little bit of sadness in his voice. “I was originally a soldier by profession but I got evicted from my job because of reasons I don’t know. When Emelia knew about my situation, she immediately offered me my current job. That was weeks after the death of Nicholas’ mother.”

“ Nicholas must be very close with his grandmother. The necklace seems to be a proof.”

“ Yes. It was Emelia’s necklace. “ He said with a smile. “ Do you know that Nicholas’ second name was given by Emelia herself? It seems as though she was the one who gave birth to him.” George jokingly said.

“ If Madam Emelia knew about Nicholas’ secret in the past.. then does that mean Nicholas is gay for a long time? “ I was slightly surprised and confused about this one. I mean.. Nicholas was gay even when he was a child?

George just smiled and gave me a look of amusement. The glimmer in his eyes seem to hold mischief and playfulness.

“ That we could never know.... But I’ll have you know that Nicholas was a little princess even in the past.” He said with a wink.

“ Woah. No way. How did you find out?”

“ There were signs. A 5-year old Nicholas would prefer to play cooking than go on a hike adventure with other younger boys. And oh, he would choose the color pink over blue anytime.”

“ Aren’t those shallow reasons though? Like what if he just likes it that way?”

“ Of course it is. That’s the reason I didn’t pay any attention to it in the past.” Replied George with a slight chuckle. “ It was during his elementary years that he sort of told me his problem or confusion as how he quoted it. That was the time he met his best friends, Zion and Xavier.”

“ My god.. So Nicholas might had a crush on those two before? "

“ I connected the signs and his statements. He then confirmed what he truly is. What about you? How’d you find out about his secret, kiddo?”

I narrated the incident about The Mysterious Hooded Guy and the supposedly Kidnapping scenario which led me to my current situation. George had a good laugh throughout the whole story.

“Honestly, I expected more from Nicholas. Seriously? Wearing a hood with matching shades really gave away his chance of being discreet.

“ Yeah. That’s what I also thought when I was chasing him.”

George snickered before we left the Garden Area. An hour has passed and we remembered what Nicholas told us. We headed to the main floor and there , in the sofa, sat the Prince or Princess of the house. He was wearing his puppy-themed Pajamas and I inwardly chuckled at the sight.

“ I bet half of the female population would die to see him in that outfit.”

“ One of the Guest rooms has already been occupied, Nicholas. Is there anything else you need?”

“ No, that is all. You may leave now, George.”

George slightly nodded and he gave me a reassuring look before walking away.

“ Now then.. Lianne you girl or woman or whatever.” Nicholas waved his hand in the air to prove his point. “ I believe we need to talk and have this agreement.”

He looked at the folder placed on the table and I mirrored his actions while sitting down on the sofa opposite to him.

“ What is that? ”

“ This..” He said while picking up the folder and some papers inside. “ Is a form of agreement which states the conditions about our connection.”

“ What the hell do you mean by our connection? ” I said with a brow raised. Nicholas scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“ Well if isn’t obvious enough, you discovered my secret and I have to do some necessary actions to prevent you from telling anything.”

I stared hard at the papers he was holding. In my opinion, there was really no need for him to do these things because I’m not the type of person to spread secrets about someone. b***h, I just wanted a peaceful life.

“ Okay. What is the agreement all about? ”

Nicholas read the contents of the papers and I listened half-heartedly to whatever he was saying.

“ You should keep this secret to yourself. And this literally means you can’t tell anyone including your friends or even family of the sort.”

“Hmmm...”

“ You need to stop thinking about the secret. Chances are, you might reveal something about it if you keep wandering your mind around. In other words, Leave the matter alone.”

Nicholas continued reading some rules and honestly, I didn’t care a little bit. The thoughts are all the same and if it can be summarized in two words, it just orders me to Shut Up. Why is he so worked up about this? Maybe he just needs assurance but whatever. It’s not like I’m telling people.

“ Alright I get it. I just need to shut up, Right? So fine. There’s no need for us to go through all this hassle.” I lazily said.

“ I need proof, Lianne. “ replied Nicholas as he pointed a pen at me. “ I need you to sign this one for proof.”

“ Isn’t it enough that I won’t tell people about your secret? And heck, I’m not the type to pry other people’s lives.“ I said with my arms crossed.

“ Well then. Why don’t you just sign the papers instead? ”

I grew slightly irritated at how persistent he is about the signing or agreement s**t. I seriously hate it when people doubt the sincerity of my words. I decided to mess with his temper and current mood.

“ You can’t even trust me so the same goes for my part. Why would I sign something which could possibly ruin my life? I bet there are hidden messages or threats in your papers.”

“ If you like you can read the papers yourself.” Nicholas replied with a fake smile as he lifted the paper to match my eye level.

“ No thanks. I’m not planning on signing that paper soon or who knows? My life might be in danger.”

Nicholas was stunned and I can tell that he was controlling his anger based on how his hands would shake.

“ Seriously? I’m supposed to be the one who’s life might be in danger. You’re the one who has the possibility of using my secret against me.”

“ Personally, I know that I won’t do such things anytime soon. Just look at our situation.” I dramatically scanned and looked around. “ Who is capable of doing such things? And may I remind you of who attempted to kidnap me in the first place.” I said with a cocky smirk.

Nicholas slammed his hands on the table and spoke through gritted teeth.

“ That’s it! You brought this upon yourself. If I can’t ask you nicely, then I have no choice but to resort to another way. Prepare yourself, woman.”

He got up and harshly grabbed the folders from the table.

“ All I can tell you is Good Luck and I hope you really do. Goodnight, stupid.”

“ Well Good Luck in making me believe your words. I won’t be signing anytime soon.”

He stomped away from the room and I shouted some few words to him back.

“ A very Good Night to you too, Princess! “

I smirked triumphantly to myself at how worked up he is. That was a payback for kidnapping me out of the blue. I’m not gonna sign those papers soon and I wanna irritate him more. I know I’m being a brat for acting this way when I’m at his own freaking house but nah. I don’t care.

“ Well at least he has the manners to greet me Good Night.” I thought in sarcasm before leaving the room to go upstairs.

-Chapter End -