Intrepidity

8 |Bipolar?|

The day broke faster than I had anticipated. I did not get to sleep much last night, for I did not trust Antonio. I could not even get myself to fall asleep, even if I wanted. So many thoughts were running through my mind. Antonio's words hunted me. It kept on repeating itself in my mind, like a mantra.

Now I know why they were so desperate to get rid of you from their lives. You are indeed a dimwit and you're really hard to love!

To get rid of you from their lives!

You are indeed a dimwit!

You are really hard to love!

The words hit me in the heart like an arrow. No matter how hard I try to spurn the words, they just wouldn't leave me be. They were destined to demoralise and destroy me completely. I would never allow that! I was strong!

Dreadfully, my gaze trailed to Antonio on the couch. He looked so innocent, while sleeping. Like someone who couldn't harm a fly, but beneath his soul, was a dangerous man. The person I hated the most — after my parents of course.

I sauntered to the bathroom and quickly did all I had to do and emerged. Antonio was already awake. He gazed at me like a maniac, before averting his gaze away.

For about ten minutes, we stayed in the same room, without exchanging a word to each other. I was impatiently waiting for him to unlock the door so I could get out, but I controlled myself from asking him to do so, while he was not doing anything in particular. He was seated on the couch, occasionally staring at space, then at me.

I became fed up and was about to ask him for the keys. Just as I parted my lips to speak, he beat me to it.

"About what happened last night." He began in a really calm voice, I began to wondered if it was really Antonio speaking. "I did not mean to do or say any of those awful things to you, believe me." I was really more surprised now. Was this his way of apologizing? He was really strange in a terrifying way. One minute, he was acting all bossy and dangerous and in the next, acting all caring and innocent. I began to think he was really suffering from some kind of disease. Perchance, bipolar disorder.

"Are you apologizing right now?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"Uh? Not really. I would not put it that way." He replied, awkwardly. "I'm just trying to explain stuff to you."

Oh!

"I tend to get that way whenever I'm disturbed from my sleep." He excused his behavior.

Wow!

"Aggressive, you mean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Whatever you call it." He replied, slowly going back to his old self. "Look, I don't want the deal we had to be called off and that is the reason I am explaining things to you. We had a deal and I intend to stick by it for the period of time we agreed upon. Just bear with it, after five months, you will finally be able to live your life on your own accords."

"Even while I am here, I refuse to live my life on your accords. You can just kill me if you can't live with that." I spat, really angered by his choice of words. I was no one's slave. I was bought by him, yes, but I refused to be his property. I couldn't wait to pay him double the amount of money he paid to my family — only then, will I be completely free from his bondage.

"You really want us to pick up from where we stopped last night, don't you?" He ran his hand through his hair, exasperatedly.

I scoffed. If that was what he also wanted, then so be it! I was prepared. Much more prepared than I was last night. "I don't mind."

"What kind of a person are you, really? Here I am trying to settle things between us in order to stick to the deal and you are trying to make this much more difficult than it already is." He verbalised, shaking his head in disbelief.

"As long as I'm here, we will always be at loggerheads." I remarked, stretching out my hand.

He raised his brows questionably.

"The keys."

He pulled them out of his pocket and was about to place them in my open palm, but stopped midair. "Remember the deal, Andrea. If you defy me again, you are definitely not going to like the consequence of your action." He threatened and handed over the keys to me.

I unlocked the door and hurried out of the room. Immediately I stepped out, I felt a feeling of relief wash over me. I could not keep living that way for five long months. I decided to talk to Fin. She seemed nice. If I could confide in her about her brother's doing, I was sure she would not hesitate to help me. Yes! That was exactly what I was going to do.

I went directly to her room, but she wasn't in there. For a moment, I thought she might be in the bathroom, but after waiting for five minutes or so, I knocked on the door and found out she was not in there, either.

I waited a while for her to return, but when she did not, I decided to search the house for her, even though I really didn't know where to begin from. The house was large — larger than almost all the mansions I had ever seen. I was pretty sure I would get lost if I went ahead with my plan to search for her. I heaved a sigh and sat back down on her bed.

Fortunately for me, I heard footsteps approaching. I immediately assumed it was Fin, but I was wrong. Antonio's tall frame hovered over me. "What are you doing here? I hope you remember what we talked about."

In spite of how hard he tried to sound and look relaxed, I knew he was far from that. He was afraid. Afraid that I would disclose his secrets to his family. I could read through his acts. "What did we talk about? I don't remember having a conversation with you." I provoked.

"Andrea!" He called, warningly.

"What?" I yelled, standing in front of him. "What are you gonna do? Hit me again? Go on, do it! You're used to it anyway. Why don't you do it?!"

"Josephine isn't here. She always goes to the gym every morning. You can find her there or choose to wait for her. She will be back soon." He turned around and left afterwards.

The nerve he had! Instead of begging me not to expose him to his sister, he was even telling me where to find her.

Just like he said, it did not take long before a sweaty Fin walked into the room. "Hey!" She greeted with a wide smile of her face. "I would have loved to hug you right now, but ewww—" she cringed. "I can't."

"Good morning." I greeted back with a smile.

"When did you get here?" She inquired, wiping her sweats with a towel.

"Not for long." I replied.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. I normally go to the gym every morning. If I had known you would come, I wouldn't have gone today." She apologized.

"It's perfectly fine." I responded. "I would hate to inconvenience you."

"It would be no inconvenience." She smiled and took a seat beside me on the bed.

I gazed at her, unsure if I should confide in her. Don't get me wrong, I was not afraid of Antonio's threat, but I did not know if Fin was indeed trustworthy as well. "ERM..." I stuttered and trailed off.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" She asked, a convincing smile playing on her lips.

"Actually there is." I responded, nervously.

"Please feel free to." She goaded. "I'm always here if you need a friend to talk to."

"It's about Antonio..." I blurted and trailed off.

"Antonio? What about him?"