SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 57: Chapter 57. Kidding Me

Chapter 57. Kidding Me

”Everything is fucked up in my fucking life,” she thought, resting her elbows against her knees and pressing her shaking fingers against her forehead. She tossed her phone to the side, allowing it to bounce against the sofa and land face down.

She took a deep breath in and then out, in and then out. Then, she sat up, staring ahead of her.

”Okay, Rosa, think,” she thought, but the image of Mrs. Lee just wouldn’t leave her head. The deadline two days away, the school fees she had to pay, the whole freaking $600k.

And now this.

She brushed away the strands of hair she had earlier neglected that almost fell into her eyes, then laced her fingers together, tapping her feet against the ground.

It struck her like a lightning bolt. Her eyes widened, she got up from the chair, and gasped with an inexpressible surge of relief.

”Oh, my God, how the hell did I not think about it?” she thought. ”Mr. Don—he literally has a studio, and I have access to his mansion.”

”Right?” she thought with a skeptical look on her face, tilting her head to the side. ”Is he going to allow me?”

She scoffed. ”Don’t be ridiculous, Rosa. You’re the one avoiding him. The dude was literally begging you to stay with him.”

”Yes, I guess that’s an advantage,” she thought to herself, unable to stop the smile that spread across her lips.

”Oh, my God. Thank you, Lord Jesus,” she thought. ”I guess I will have to visit him first.”

She quickly checked her wristwatch and saw that the time was a few minutes to five.

”I still have time. Depends on how long the assignment is going to take, but I should be done before 7:00.”

She quickly began to pack her things, organized her backpack, and took out a few notebooks, along with the ones she had wanted to use earlier to plan out her current trouble with Mrs. Lee. Then she took a pen and shoved it into her pocket. She zipped up her bag and set it by the side of the sofa, then turned toward the staircase.

She breathed out as the image of Mia’s disappointed face flashed in her mind.

”I still need to talk to her,” she thought.

She slowly began to walk toward the staircase, climbing it as silently as she could. She walked through the corridor and stopped in front of Mia’s door.

She hesitated for a brief second, breathed out, and then knocked gently.

There was no response.

”Mia,” she called. She rested her head against the door. Still no response. She frowned. ”Mia, um, I will have to leave now. I just got an assignment from my department. I’m going to have to use Mr. Don’s studio,” she said gently. ”So, I’m going over to his house.”

There was still no response.

Rosa closed her eyes tight and breathed out. So that’s it. She’s just going to keep ignoring me.

”Mia,” she called. ”Okay, look, I’m sorry. Okay, can we just not go along with this?” she said with a frown.

Still no response. She breathed out.

”Yep. She’s definitely still enraged.” Rosa raised both of her eyebrows. ”Yeah, I guess I should just leave. There is no time. Maybe by the time I get back, she would have cooled off a little bit.” She nodded her head slowly.

”I guess I will see you some other time,” she said toward the door. ”Let’s talk about this when I get back, okay? I can see you’re still very angry,” she said, mimicking a childlike voice—the technique she used whenever she wanted to calm Mia down. ”By the time I get back, I’m sure you will be cool, so we can just gently negotiate, okay? I haven’t made my decision yet, and I didn’t say I was totally going to reject your offer. So please, just calm down.”

Mia still didn’t reply. Rosa bent her head down, staring at the floor. Then she let out a heavy breath. She turned to the side and slowly began to walk through the corridor, back toward the stairs.

She was just a few meters from the stairs when she heard the lock of Mia’s room.

Click.

She flinched. She turned around quickly and froze when she saw Mia slowly stepping out of the room. Her hair was wet, signifying that she had probably stepped out of the shower a few minutes ago, but the displeasure was still clear in her eyes. Rosa saw the way Mia folded her arms, rested against the doorframe, and glared at her with that authoritative annoyance that made Rosa feel like she had committed the biggest crime in the world.

”You know, you are really taking this too far,” Rosa said.

Mia didn’t reply.

Rosa breathed out. ”I’ve already apologized,” she said.

Mia still didn’t say anything.

Rosa ran her fingers through her hair. ”I guess I was right. You are obviously still very angry. Let’s talk about this when I get back, okay?” she said with a smile.

No response.

”Mia... ”

Mia still didn’t even bother to respond.

Rosa chuckled. ”You look so cute when you are angry,” she said.

She was just about to turn away.

”You should have just stayed there when you had the chance,” Mia said in a soft voice.

Rosa frowned. She turned back to look at her. Mia was avoiding her gaze now, but her anger was mild, lingering somewhere beneath the surface.

”What do you mean?” Rosa asked.

Mia scoffed. ”You should have stayed at Mr. Don’s residence. You wouldn’t have to stress yourself going every day to do what you need to do. Your course is music. You are definitely going to need a studio. Mr. Don has everything you need. You should have just made it easier for yourself.”

Rosa smiled. ”Does that mean you still care?” she asked.

Mia scoffed. ”Who the fuck cares about you, you annoying prick?”

Rosa bit her lip, but she could see the corner of Mia’s lips twitching. She folded her arms, walked slowly back toward Mia, and stood before her, pouting. ”I’m sorry.”

Mia scoffed, but continued to avoid eye contact. ”Go wherever the fuck you want to go, girl. Stop apologizing to me. Did I tell you I needed your apology?”

Rosa wrapped her arms around Mia’s, pressing herself closer and shaking her like a child begging her mom. ”Mommy,” she whined, bowing toward Mia and trying to force Mia to look at her.

Mia struggled, doing her best to avoid staring at Rosa. ”Just get the fuck out of my sight,” she said.

But Rosa persisted. She couldn’t help it; she grinned wildly. ”Mommy.”

”Rosa, stop! Stop calling me that. I am not your mom, okay?” Mia said.

Adjusting her shoulders, Rosa slowly dropped her hands, bowing her head and squeezing her face like she was about to cry.

Mia still didn’t bother to look at her. ”I only accept active apologies,” Mia finally said.

Rosa frowned in confusion. ”Active apologies? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mia scoffed and rolled her eyes. ”Yeah, how would you know?” she asked sarcastically.

Rosa chuckled.

Mia slowly turned toward her. ”I only accept apologies that are proven through actions. You know, doing what you need to do, taking the bull by the horns,” she said, giving Rosa a subtle hint with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Rosa squinted her eyes, instantly getting the hint. ”Oh,” she said, ”I see.”

”Anyways, when I get back, we’ll talk about it. Time is not on my side right now. I need to work on the assignment and get back as soon as I can,” Rosa said.

Mia scoffed and rolled her eyes. ”You can stay overnight. I don’t really care,” she said. She turned around, walked back into her room, and shut the door.

Rosa stood there for a few minutes, smiling at the door. ”Stubborn girl,” she thought.

Then, she shrugged. ”Well, she’ll be fine,” she said with a smile.

She turned, walked down through the corridor, and headed down the stairs. Once she was out of Mia’s mansion, she walked out of the estate straight toward the bus stop.

She boarded the public bus, realized it was full, and had to stand, holding on tightly to the iron railing. She bore the struggle of the commute—countless sweaty bodies pressing against her as she clung tightly to her books, groaning when someone stepped on her shoes, and gnashing her teeth when someone’s elbow hit her ribs.

”Good Lord, how the hell am I going to keep bearing this?” she thought with a frown, wincing in pain at intervals.

The moment she finally reached Don’s residence, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She alighted from the bus and leaned against the entrance of Don’s estate, panting hard and placing her palm against her chest. She watched the bus drive away.

”Are you fucking kidding me?” she thought. ”Do they want to assassinate me?”

After she had calmed down, she brushed her fingers through her hair to adjust it and stepped into the estate. She couldn’t understand why her heart was suddenly racing so fast; a feeling close to excitement and anticipation flooded her nerves. She shook her head quickly, snapping out of it.

”Rosa Lin, you can’t be happy that you’re coming back to this perverted man’s residence. You are just here to do your assignment and get the fuck out, right? Perfect. Now, focus.”

When she finally got to the door, she stopped before it, breathing hard before pressing the doorbell. She clutched her books tightly against her chest, staring at the base of the door, rocking on her legs and nodding her head up and down as she waited.

It didn’t take long. She heard the beep of the electronic lock, and the door slowly swung open.

She lifted her head, and what she saw made her jerk back instantly. Saliva went down the wrong pipe, forcing her to wheeze and cough out loud as she tried to compose herself.

Don stood at the door with a frown on his face, staring at her with a raised eyebrow as he watched her try to regain her breath, patting her chest continuously.

”Are you okay?” he asked.

She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes slowly drifting back to his face.

”Are you fucking kidding me?” she thought.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt. He was only wearing the trouser pants he had on previously, and he was sweating. That glorious, muscular, perfectly sculpted body was bare, glistening with perspiration.

She saw his chest heave, as if he had been busy with some heavy lifting. What the fuck has he been doing? she thought, her face flushing as her eyes drifted down his body.

Suddenly, she began to hiccup again for that same reason she had always hated.

Holy shit, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.