Mistakenly Eaten

95. Salva or Nicholas

The clock struck three, the entire island cooed in sheer silence, with the only sound chirping was that of the crickets and the ants, that echoed in the dark of the night, hidden somewhere deep in the forests of the island. The lights of the mansion on that island, turned entirely off, except for those at the boundaries of the mansion, deliberately left turned on, so that any intruder trying to get inside the island would be viewed easily on the security cameras, that were being monitored in the surveillance room by two guards, who were also yawning and almost snoozing, tired from having to cook in the pretentious cooking competition the entire day and then have to fulfill their true duties as guards at night.

Everyone else inside the mansion also remained asleep, except for two people, who burned in agony and anguish of each other’s memories and desires.

Both missed each other but had their own preservations.

With Althea holding the front barrier in the name of being heartbroken because Nicholas refused to give their situation the status of a relationship, she cried holding a pillow close to her chest and sobbed harder with every passing second.

Her mind wouldn’t allow her to move on from the irking fact that she was no good to be loved for and the only reason why someone would want to be with her was her body and nothing else.

To Nicholas she was just a shiny little toy and he enjoyed making senseless love to her, instead of actually showing gestures that counted as love.

Nicholas on the other hand, paced his room back and forth, irritated and angered at Althea for suddenly bringing in demands in their relationship when everything was just going perfectly fine.

He felt at peace with whatever the two had going on in between them but the moment, Althea brough it the demands of him treating her like she was his girlfriend, there was a sense of hesitation that bloomed right away in Nicholas’s heart.

The last time, he had a girlfriend, things were awry for him. he had abdicated on his fate of every being in a relationship ever again. In fact, he didn’t even know if he was ever going to be with another woman. Yes, Althea did lift that curse off him. but he never imagined himself being with her in an intimate relationship.

All the actions that he carried and all that he did for Cheryl, who was the first woman that he ever went beyond his ways to make feel special and all of that gave him nothing but hurt in return.

He didn’t want to complicate things with Althea. So far, everything was so simple and straight with her and he didn’t need a plan with her, just like one does when they are in a serious relationship.

He just wanted to have a good time and feel at peace and he was but then Althea dropped the ‘relationship’ word that scathed his unhealed wounds and acted as trigger to him.

For him, the only relationship he ever had, led him to a path of hurt and agony and he didn’t want to relive through that ever again.

He ran his hands through his finger, slumping down on his bed and looking up at the ceiling of his room.

He always discussed his relationship problems with Salva and he did feel the urge to pick his phone out and give him a call but stopped. Salva was finally off the island, a place Nicholas assumed that he was on, only because of him and he was finally out of that place. He couldn’t call him and bother Salva again with his problems. The man had already done more than enough for him and he was already working quite hard to make Nicholas’s problems go away for which he had brought Althea on the island to begin with.

Nicholas realized that the moment, he would confess to Salva what he had been behind his back and the way he had ended up getting intimate with the woman that was brought to the island to treat his eating disorder, would not only put Nicholas’s credibility to question but also might make Salva and everyone around the house, lose their minds and get mad at Nicholas.

They all were working day in and night out only to make things better for Nicholas and he was actually jeopardizing their hard work by his selfishness.

He took a deep breath, analyzing his situation and finally was hit with the realization that he had actually ended up putting himself in quite a locked up situation, where he didn’t have any place to escape and the best thing he could do was simply save face from at least one side and that was exactly was he was going to do.

He decided to sleep his worries away and take care of everything later on in the morning.

As he laid down to sleep, he definitely felt anxious and restless, as he didn’t have that soft body that he held on to for the past fortnight.

But he had to get used to it and focus on why Althea was initially brought on the island. He needed to respect everybody else’s hard work that they had put for him and if anything, he especially needed to respect Salva and his dedication that he had put up to help Nicholas recover.

Nicholas realized that he might have just ended up confusing his feelings for Althea and if he was not willing to give her the things any normal guy would, it surely meant that he didn’t actually love her and instead he needed to stir clear off her, instead of keeping her on the hook and just be with her for the sake of his pleasure. He decided that it was for the better to let go off her and it would be better if he concluded her situation in the early stages where it was, rather than dragging it out and making it worse not just for her or himself but for everyone else at the island as well.

Althea was there to cure his eating disorder and it should remain that way and that way only.

He sighed, calling it a night and sleeping at once.

As he refrained from talking to Salva about his problems, he only did the right thing, since the guy in question, sat in Barcelona, in his parents mansion, gathered around in their living room, sipping on an exclusively saved bottle for a special occasion.

Salva’s parents, Stephano and Greta, the once young and wild couple, who had now become old, wrinkled and freckled, were beyond happy that their son had returned home after an entire month,

But that wasn’t the only thing that made them happy, they had seen how keen and responsible their son had become. Before leaving the island, Salva informed his parents about his arrival and his father told him that he would be Sicily, where he had to go to look at work and collect some reports and files but Salva asked him to stay in Spain and instead, he collected everything from Sicily and came to Spain.

This was something extremely unusual of Salva to do, who was always careless and carefree and never showed even the slightest ounce of interest in the family business. He always remained attached to Nicholas, who took care of his own family business while Salva spent most of his days, partying and enjoying his life, until he had hit thirty six and began realizing that it was about time he got serious in life and settled down for good.

“I am so happy that you finally decided to take interest in family business.” Stephano patted his son’s shoulder and at the same time, extended his arm over his wife’s shoulder, pulling her closer.

“I always thought you would find another interest like your brother.” Greta told Salva, pointing out how his younger brother Brian was a tech savvy and after working for Lucas for a good amount of time, he opened hi sown software house in New York.

“Yeah, well Brian is definitely intelligent, so he made use of it. unfortunately, you guys are stuck with the dumb kid.” He joked, sipping on his wine, making both his parents laugh out loud.

“You do know son, that I have never forced you to focus on career or work. I always encouraged you that I have plenty of money for you to spend and you should enjoy your youth to the very peak. As long as you can.” Stephano reminded his son, making his wife, roll her eyes.

“Honey! He is already thirty six and if he has finally decided to get serious in life, you should appreciate that, instead of making him go back on his previous careless manners.”

Both the father and son, rose their eyebrows, at Greta’s comment.

“I thought you were just as cool as Dad, with whatever I decide to do with my life.” Salva pointed out, making Greta scoff and shrug.

“Oh please! One son is gay and the other refusing to get married and settle down. Do you think, I don’t want to have grandbabies and rub it in Aurora and Rachel’s face?” Great complained, making both Salva and Stephano laugh out loud.

“Just so you know, Brian is bisexual.” Salva reminded his mother, who once again remained indifferent.

“Which means, I still have high chances of having a grand child from him than I would have from you.” She told Salva, making him shake his head at his mother’s nonsense behavior.

Stephano’s phone rung up, which made him excuse his wife and son and he moved out of the drawing room.

Once Greta noticed that Stephano was out of sight, she then got slightly closer to her son.

“So, tell me what piqued your interest in the business all of a sudden?’ she asked from her son, who shrugged.

“What could it be? I just realized that Dad alone was burdened by a lot, since Uncle Luca is also busy with family and Granddad is also retired. So, I realized that I should help Dad in business. Besides, how long would I live on my party animal character. I have to get serious in life at some point and most importantly recently, I have come to realize how blessed yet how ungrateful I am. I have everything at my disposal and some people have to work off their asses and wear themselves off, only to be able to afford basic meals of their days. So, I guess it is about time, I start paying up for what I get as well.”

Greta stood stunned, seeing how mature her son sounded.

“Wow! Are you really Salva?” she asked, keeping her glass aside of the crystal bar counter and held Salva’s face, stretching out his cheeks and poking his eyes.

“Are you a cyborg who has replaced my son and are pretending to be one? Salva is still on the island, right? Or maybe he is hiding somewhere else and had sent a duplicate to the island. Right? You can not be my careless son.”

Salva laughed slightly, at his mother’s adorable nuisances.

“Mama! I am not a cyborg and I am being for real that I want to get serious in life and actually be grateful for everything that I have.” He told her, grabbing her hands and Greta smiled delightfully.

“Well, whatever or whoever it is, that had made you take this decision, I am grateful for that.”

“How can you say that it is someone?” he asked his mother, who didn’t say anything and simply looked at her son’s confused expressions.

“I am your mother and I know better and more about my children than you would even know about yourself.”

Salva softly smiled back at his mother and the two went back to finishing their drinks from their glasses.

“Oh! By the way, who is this new chef girl on the island?” Greta asked nonchalantly, making Salva’s eyes go wide and choke on his drink.

“How did you…?” he lingered with his words but a realization hit him right away.

“Aunt Martha told you, didn’t she?”

Greta chimed and nodded.

“Don’t tell me that she told Aunt Rachel as well.”

Great shook her head, “Nopes! She knew that she couldn’t tell Rachel and since Aurora is busy with her grandkids and Auror being in and out of rehab, so it left Martha with just me. And she told me that Nicholas was having troubles eating but that girl’s food is the only thing that he is eating now. How is he doing now a days, by the way.”

“Well, Nicholas is actually doing quite better. His health is getting better and he is even back at the gym. Also, he shaved his beard and gave himself a slight trim on the head as well. I think he is recovering well.”

“Wow! Just within a month?”

Salva bobbed his head, “That girl’s food is really magic, if you ask me. She cooks with so much perfection and focus. Aunt Martha did tell you what we have to do on the island to convince her, right? It is just so much fun and yet so foolish at the same time. Oh by the way, her name is Althea and she is from this town in Italy, Gragnano. She is really hard working and extremely honest with her work. Her pasta was what Nicholas ate, that made him propose Cheryl to begin with. So, we kind of connected the dots that he blamed the girl to be the root of all of his problems. Since, you know had he not proposed to Cheryl, he wouldn’t have been left at the altar but I think it is not just Nicholas, that girl just has some occult capabilities in her hands. If you would eat her pasta, you would also fall in love with her…”

Greta’s eyebrows rose slightly at her son’s words and noticing her expressions, Salva also understood that he had spoken a bit too much. He immediately reprimanded his words.

“I mean that you would fall in love with her food, the food that she cooks. Because she cooks very well and everything that she makes is delicious and…”

“It’s fine! I got it, don’t over explain it.”

Greta smirked, sensing that something was going on in her son’s heart related to that girl.

“So, now that Nicholas is recovering and you hated going to the island anyways and now you are showing interest in your father’s business. When do you plan on moving back to the city? I think your dad would want you back in New York.”

Salva scratched the back of his head, as he tried to postulate an answer to her mother’s question.

“I was thinking that Nicholas had not recovered entirely and since I am the one handling everything on the island and I am supposed to be the organizer of the whole cooking competition, I think it would only jeopardize our whole set up on the island, if I moved out of the island, a little too quickly. The competition is supposed to go on for the next two months. According to how it is originally held and the girl is quite well versed with the terms and conditions of the competition as well. So, I think it is better that we complete the whole thing and consider it as the completion of Nicholas’s therapy course.”

Greta held back her amusement, after hearing how much involved her son was in to something other than partying for the first time in his life.

She patted his shoulder and hummed back in response.

“I never thought that you would be this enthusiastic to stay on the island.”

“I am not enthusiastic…”

“Just let it be, okay? And if anything, I would recommend you to hold on to this girl.”

“What? What girl… Mama, please you’re embarrassing yourself. There is nothing going on between me and her and I just see her as nothing but a mere objective person, who is helping Nicholas and…”

“Didn’t I just tell you that I am your mother and I know everything more than you do.”

Salva remained quiet for a moment.

“I just think that she is different.” He confessed, looking a bit cumbersomely in to his glass, all the while his mind was occupied with Althea’s thoughts.

“I know that there are other women out there in the world, who work hard to make things work and to make ends meet but I have never seen someone like her, who despite of all the hurdles and hardships in life, has kept her head so high and her morale even higher. She is so positive about life and all she does is give off positive vibes. She is so radiant and there is just something about her aura that is full of life and happiness, that just makes everything around her glow. You know Mama…” he shifted his gaze up towards his mother, who also looked at her son with completely amusement.

“… I actually got curious about how Nicholas was getting cured by food and researched it and found that people who have a good heart and are a pure soul, actually do tend to be good cooks. And their food had the tendency not just heal broken bones but even broken hearts. That’s how much love they can pour in their food by choosing just the right ingredients. That’s why most of the companies have special therapies for their chefs, so that they stay happy at heart and at peace mentally. This helps them cook better. Your taste buds are highly active when you are the happiest and cooking is also actually considered as a top tier form of therapy. So, I guess that’s how it works out, Althea is just so good at heart and…”

“Althea! So, that’s what the name of the girl is, who has captured my son’s heart.” Greta interrupted her son in the middle of his nonchalant chant of how great the girl was.

Salva laughed out slightly, as he understood that his mother was gently teasing him. An unwanted smirk rested on his lips, that despite of his resistance, still showed up on his face, signifying that the boy felt a little shy in front of his mother, who managed to read between the lines and understood what was truly going on inside her son’s heart.

“Oh, my boy!” Greta couldn’t be more happy for her, son despite of being thirty six, acted like a teenage boy in love, who blushed hard at the mention of his crush.

“Mama! Stop it! this is embarrassing.”

“Fine, I won’t tease you like this, when you would bring Althea home.” She nudged her son, who gasped in sheer shock.

“Hold on to your horses, you are getting way ahead of yourself. I am not even sure about her and…”

“Oh, you are.” She told her son, making Salva look up at her with confusion.

“How can you just tell everything?”

“Because I am your mother and I also once have been through the same situation of love as you. You can deny your feelings as much as you can but you are only delaying the truth not denying it. So, instead of delaying it and losing the chance that you have now, grasp it and don’t put your feelings on too much hold. Go ahead and confess the truth to Althea. I have never seen you so serious in life. It is like the girl is not only healing Nicholas but you as well. She is helping you grasp the reality of life and focus on a professional side as well. So, don’t waste your time. Tell her how you truly feel and besides, it would only help Nicholas more. She would stay back for a good reason and help Nicholas heal.”

Salva laughed at her mother’s last words and pondered deeply on her suggestion.

Even when he went to his bed, he held his hand out on to the other side of the bed and sighed in schism. He didn’t know if Althea felt the same towards him as he did or if she had someone else in his heart. He only wished that he would be able to bring her home to his parents and one day, when he would lay his hand out on the other side of the bed, he would find Althea to be there.

He closed his eyes, letting sleep consume him, all the way remaining oblivious of the fact that Althea was carrying in her room, curled up like a crumpled up piece of paper, left unnoticed, once filled with letters that were never put to their utmost potential, just like all of Althea’s love that she was willing to give to Nicholas, who on the other hand was willing to throw it all away, just because he was still scared and felt terrorized at heart from willing to give a normal relationship to anyone.

--------------------------------------

Team Salva or Nicholas? Who do you support?

Thank you for always reading and supporting my work <3