AGE( it is just a number)
Episode 9
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Feelings 2
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ha-rd in Castillo
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A cold fear swept throu-gh me as I stared at the b©dy on the floor
Jayden! Jayden! We have to get out of here . I heard a voice say but it sounded so distant
Taking a step closer to the b©dy , I leaned over to peer into the face when a strong hand gr!pp£dme …….
Let me go ! Let me go! Let me go! I screamed loudly and then jo-lted out from sleep
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A cold shiver ran down my spine as I sat up on the be-d ,i was p@n-ting heavily as my heart beat erratically
ha-rd in! Are you alright? I heard Hazel asked but her voice sounded so distant as I was lost in my own thoughts
The nightmares, they keep on coming to remind me of my past ! Can’t I sleep in peace for once?
ha-rd in! She called again as she leaned over to switch on the light bulb and that was when I saw the dried tears on her face and the sadness in her eyes but I was just too agitated to ask her about it …….
What is wrong with you ha-rd in ? Why did you scream like that? She asked with a concerned look
Nothing! I managed to say and she sighed
It is going to be alright! It is just a night mare! she as-sured , yawning
Just a night mare! hell no, it is far from it …….
Laying back on the be-d , I pu-ll-ed her close to me ; she was reluctant at first but soon relaxed in my arms as i held her ti-ghtly
What is wrong with her! Did I offend her! Did I hurt her in anyway! What was she even crying!
Oh yeah! it is probably because of the k!ssbut was I wrong in telling her the truth!
I sighed softly
I wanted her to be happy! I wanted to see her smile! I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was today! I wanted to tell her she is the first girl I have ever held like this but no, I will end of hurting her because love doesn’t work for me ….
staring down at her face , She was alre-ady asleep …
I brushed off the hairs off her face as she chewed on herl-ips
She must be going throu-gh a lot!
but come to think of it , how did she end up as a maid! Why is she not in school!
There are lot of things I don’t know about her , i guess I will have to ask her!
Watching her sleep , I soon drifted off to sleep!!!!
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Next Morning
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The first ray of the sun pour into the be-d room window , I squint at it as i f0rç£d my eyes open
I turned sideways to see Hazel still slee-ping peacefully
She must be so weak!
Stretching, I sat on the be-d as I glanced at the wall clock
Damn! It was 8:00am, I was alre-ady running late to school
I jo-lted up from the bad and dashed out of the room to my room and on entering my room , I met my mom seated on the be-d
she stood in a huff as soon as she saw me
Where are you coming from ha-rd in? She asked with her hands on her w@!st
And where are you also coming from? I fired back at her as she huffed
Don’t get c0cky with me young man and just answer my question?
I stared at her for a while and then smiled
It was obvious she knew I was with Hazel .. well! since she wants to hear it from me , I will gladly tell her
I am coming from Hazel’s room . I answered, staring intently at her and I saw her eyes grew wi-de in shock
Hazel! Your maid! And did you spend the night there? She continued and I nodded truthfully
Oh my gawd! She exclaimed, taking two small steps backpack
Rebecca told me all about it but I couldn’t bring myself to believe it
Oh right! She finally confessed
But why the hell will you be stay in the same room with your maid or are you both scre-wing each other? She asked and I froze
scre-wing! and Who the hell is telling you all this cra-p? Rebecca
Just answer me , Are you scre-wing your maid ? She yelled and that was it , I flared up
Maid ! Maid! Maid! can’t you do without calling her a maid ? She has a name for crying out loud and so you should know , I don’t fv¢king care about what you or that “loud mouthed bit-ch” think about us , her especially, but if you dare scold at her or try to fire her , you will never ever see me again. I threatened and to my surprise, she bec@m£ so calm
Does she really mean that much to you? she asked as herl-ips quivered
Of course ma, she is the only one in this house who un-derstands me
Having said that , I retreated and took few steps to the bathroom when I heard her say
Do you know she is older than you?
Older ? I repeated in surprise, turning to face her
Yes son ! she is 3 years older than you . She stated and I felt my head spinning
21! that tiny girl ! how can it be! …. I mean I have always seen her as someone younger , she doesn’t look it at all…. why am I even getting work up about it , It is not like it changes anything
She is still Hazel and I am still ha-rd in
Okay! I simply answered and walked into the bathroom to freshen up ……
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Returning to the room, I met my mum on the be-d with her hands cu-pping her chin
She was lost staring into space and my heart churned a little on seeing her this way …..
Despite all the anger i have towards her , I still couldn’t bring myself to hate her , she still remains my mom and will always be; and to tell the truth, the thoughts of seeing her again was what kept me going while I was in prison…..
I wanted to hvg my hands ti-ghtly around her and as-sure her that she will be fine but hell no ,it will end up in pain
Ignoring her , I went over to the wardrobe , pu-ll-ed out a black hoodie along with a black p@n-t trou-sers and hurriedly dressed up in it ; then put on a black boot
Slinging my backpack across my shoulders, I picked up a comb to style out my hair
what about your mai .. erm Hazel ? She suddenly asked and I stared at her throu-gh the mirror to see her staring at me
She is sick . I answered rudely and she exclaimed softly
Then what about breakfast, should I go get it for you?
No ma! I will pas-s. I stated .. and one more thing! plea-se do not disrupt Hazel sleep , she nee-ds to rest
Okay! She answered with a low voice
Picking up the car keys and my phone , I walked out of the room with one of my hands in my pocket ………
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Hazel Dakota
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My eyes fluttered opened as i rolled on the be-d stretching
ha-rd in scent filled the whole room and that was enough to bring back the sadness to my face
Sitting up on the be-d , I glanced at the wristwatch and my heart jumped into my mouth
13:00 pm! oh god! I am so finished
I jo-lted out of the be-d and rushed into the bathroom to clean my self up and when I was done , I returned to the room
The cramps were all gone and I felt so relieved!
I pu-ll-ed out a red go-wn from the big black bag at the corner of the room and hurriedly dressed up in
Having done that, I walked out of the room to ha-rd in’s room
Entering his room, I found his mother laying on his be-d with her eyes closed
My heart skipped in fear
Oh Hazel , you are really done for!
I turned around and was about leaving when her loud voice st©pped me
And where do you think you are going to?
I retreated my steps and turned to face her
Erm Good morn .. I erm afternoon ma. I stuttered as she stared blankly at me
I erm am sorry for not cleaning up erm your son room on time erm , I felt so erm so sick . I said trying to explain to her
She was quiet for what seems like eternity and then she sighed
Come have your seat . She said with a surprisingly calm voice , tapping the be-d as she sit up
I walked slowly to the be-d and sat down faraway from her should incase she flare up …..
Good! so Can you plea-se tell me the reason why I employed you? She started and I swallowed ha-rd
To be a personal maid to ha-rd in . I answered, hearing the sound of my heart as it threatened to explode from my rib cage
Good! then what is this I am hearing about you and ha-rd in? She continued with the same calm voice
I don’t know what you are talking about . I said feigning ignorance and she smiled lightly
Oh! I never knew you to be dumb but anyways , let me rephrase the question for you
Is my son fv¢king You? She asked with accusing eyes and I shook my head vigorously
No ma! Nothing like that! ha-rd in and I are only friends.. erm I mean he is my employer. I quic-kly corrected myself
Only friends! Then why the hell did you k!ssme. My subconsciousness mocked me and I waved it off
She sighed, I am lost at what to say ,I feel so confused right now , I am not against your friendsh!pwith ha-rd in in-fact I am happy that heartless son of mine is alre-ady loos£ning up but I just don’t want him to hurt …….
But ma I am not trying to hurt him. I said Innocently and she chuckled
Of course you are not , but you will if you both continue with your friendsh!p
I stared at her confused as she paused to typed something into her phone
What is she trying to say? Am I about to be fired? Oh Lord, plea-se let it not be what I am thinking
Yes!so as I was saying , don’t try to misjudge me but I just want you to cut all clos£ness with my son and go back to being his personal maid . She continued and I heaved a sigh of relieve
At least I won’t be fired! I will still be in the same house with ha-rd in ..
And believe me when I say, I am not saying this base on the age differences , I will say this to you even if you were younger than him. She quic-kly added
Age difference! Does that mean she is among the few individuals who doesn’t care about age . I thought within
And as if re-ading my thoughts, she said
I am older than ha-rd in’s father with four years
Four what! I blurted out foolishly and she nodded slowly as she stared at me with a far away look in her eyes
Dave was everything I had always wanted , he was caring , ha-rd working and most especially, a good husband but will all that , I still scre-wed up because no matter what he does , he was always like a kid to me …..
Oh! I exclaimed softly not knowing what to say to her but I un-derstood her point perfectly
She doesn’t see age as a big deal but she believes relationsh!plike that never lasts but why is she telling me all this , ha-rd in does not even regard me , he does not even like me…
Hazel ! She called snapping me out of my thoughts
Yes ma! I answered as I composed myself
Are you alright? She asked , fixing her on me and I nodded
Good! You can go to your room !
I will ma, but I nee-d to clean up this room first . I said, referring to ha-rd in’s room
No dear ! you nee-d to rest, Rebecca will do it today
But ma…. I tried to say but she cut me off
Just do I say!
Alright ma, I agreed , standing up from the be-d
And do not forget what I told you , severe all clos£ness with him . She reminded and I nodded
one more thing, we never heard this conversation, is that un-derstood?
Yes ma!
With a heavy heart, I walked out of the room knowing everything she said was the truth
But what can I do? I am helplessly in love with a teenage boy who doesn’t even feel the same way about me , his reaction after the k!sstells it all ….
I exhaled de-eply,
I think it is best to make our relationsh!pan official one and who knows , I might get over my feelings for him ……
But will that ever be possible! I guess I will have to try
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Pushing the door opened , I walked into the room and sat down on the be-d
I reached for my phone and dialled Mike’s number
he received it on the first ring
Hello Hazel! he greeted first ,sounding so surprised
Of course he has to be , he is the one always doing the calling
Hi Mike! how are you? I asked nervously
Fine Hazel!
So erm I called to know if we can meet up this Saturday!!!!
Yeah! Sure! he agreed
Good! I will be giving you my response……
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ha-rd in Castillo
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After school hours, I bade my friends as I headed to the car lot
Friends! Did I just say friends! hell no, they are just my clas-s mates
Getting to the car , I opened it and was about getting in when I heard someone call me
I looked in the direction of the voice to see Kimberly running towards me
Not again! She was really a pain in the n£¢k today
ha-rd in! She called again when she got closer and I faked a smile
She steadied her hands on her knee for a moment , breathing ha-rd ; and then raised her head up to look at me
Didn’t you hear me calling! Why did you make me run this way! She queried
What exactly do you want? I asked, ignoring her query and her eyes lit up
Actually I wasn’t able to sleep yesterday as I was thinking about the k!sswe shared
So? I asked with a scoff
Erm I was just thinking if we should you know do that again . She said , l!çk!ng herl-ips se-ductively
No Kim, I nee-d to get going now ! I retorted, staring at her S-xyl-ips
$h!t!Why must she be so beautiful?
I was tem-pted to pushed my ton-gue into my mouth and k!ssher till I could k!ssno longer but no, Hazel is sick and I nee-d to be home on time ….
But why do you like pushing me away? She asked with a frown and I chuckled lightly
I am not honey , I just nee-d to be home and moreover we will be spending the night together on Friday . I said trying to lighten up her mood and it worked
She beamed happily
Alright Castillo! She said grinning like a puppy as I sm-irked
See ya tomorrow. I bade as I got into the car closing the door behind me , I drove off heading to home ….
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I drove into the big compound and on seeing Hazel standing beside one of my mom car, I smiled
Alighting from the car , she rushed to greet me as usual but I noticed something different, she had this straight face look ….
Is it still the the period pain? I thought within
Welcome Sir ha-rd in! She greeted and that was when I knew , she was not alright
Sir ha-rd in! What is that? I asked with a chuckle but she still maintained the same straight face
Can I have your backpack Sir? She said politely and I handed it to her with my eyes wi-de opened
The Hazel I know will just drag it from me !!!!
Is there anything else you want me to do for you? She continued and I scoffed
What exactly is wrong with you? I fired at her and I saw it again , her tears
Hazel! I called , trying to t©uçh her but she took a step backward
I will bring your food to your room . She said and before I could say anything, she scurried away
Gobsma-cked, I watched her run as something in my heart cli-cked ; my heart began to race fas-ter and I felt so ….. scared…..
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TBC
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