A Room
Kurt’s surprisingly caring statement seemed to be exactly what Vivian needed.
She immediately stopped crying, and her devastation quickly gave way to joy.
“You’re staying, then?”
Kurt sputtered, “I’m going to school.”
Wiping her tears, Vivian reasoned, “You won’t have classes every day. My brothers told me that
university class schedules are shorter and more flexible. Plus, you won’t be going there on the
weekends. That has nothing to do with you staying here.”
She looked like a child who had emerged triumphant in a play fight.
Kurt was speechless, and his heartbeat was quicker than he would like to admit.
He heard himself asking, “Sure you want me to live here?”
Vivian’s eyes reddened with tears as she replied, “Of course. You said you’ll protect me, right? Shouldn’t
my bodyguard live in the same place as me? And you’ve always lived with me in the past.”
It had taken her a lot of courage to plead with him to stay. If he refused, Vivian did not think she could
ever bring herself to utter these words to him again.
Her case made, Vivian waited nervously for Kurt’s reply.
Thankfully, Kurt did not protest against her wishes. He turned his head away, communicating his
agreement with his silence.
Vivian was so happy she could walk on air.
Later that night, she arranged for the household staff to prepare dinner for two and clean up one of the
rooms for Kurt. She also asked a maid to stock up the room with some daily necessities.
A maid showed Kurt to his room after dinner. When he opened his room door, he was struck silent by the
sight of clean sheets, a neat desk, and a bathroom stocked with an array of toiletries.
Kurt’s silence alarmed the maid, who wondered if he despised the pink lace-trimmed bedsheets they had
used for his bed in a pinch.
Hastily, she explained, “I must apologize, Mr. Lopez. Ms. Vivian did not inform us about your stay until
today, so we only have her bedsheets available for use. Rest assured, she has instructed us to replace
these sheets by the weekend. Until then, we hope you won’t mind using these.”
Girly bed sheets were the least of Kurt’s concerns.
He could not begin to describe his emotions upon learning that he had a tidy room to his name.
No one knows how I’ve pulled through the past year.
From the moment he admitted his identity in front of Vivian and took his stance, he had never expected
to have a room of his own again.
Back then, he had been wandering through life like a lone wolf, living off the streets like a shadow.
He was a lost and lonely soul who believed that he would spend the rest of his life without a roof over his
head.
This room was beginning to overturn his bleak outlook on his future.
When Kurt finally lay on the bed, he kept his arms stiffly on his side.
The muted feminine scent of the frilly sheets soothed the tension in his body.
He allowed himself to relax, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Buzz! Buzz!
“Hello?” Vivian answered groggily, jolted awake by an early call to her phone.
Sonia’s voice greeted her ears.
“Hello? Are you still sleeping, Vivian? Didn’t we agree to visit the farm today? We’re almost outside your
house. Please don’t tell me you’re still lying in bed.”
Vivian’s mind blanked for two seconds before she leaped off her bed in horror.
Argh! I’m doomed!
She washed up as quickly as she could and rushed downstairs without bothering to change out of her
pajamas.
“Ma’am, where’s Kurt? Where did he go?”
“Huh?”
The maid had been puzzled to see Vivian running around the house this morning. Vivian had sped from
her room to Kurt’s before running downstairs to accost the maid with a question regarding Kurt’s
whereabouts.
The maid answered truthfully, “I have no idea, miss. I haven’t seen him in the villa at all this morning.”
Vivian’s excitement deflated instantly.
She had been rushing around the house to seek Kurt out and invite him to join them on their visit to the
farm. She had been so eager to find him that she couldn’t care less about her friends’ imminent arrival.
How could he leave without a word?
Vivian was devastated.
Just then, a lanky shadow darted past the villa.
Vivian’s eyes lit up as she made to follow the shadow. Before she could take a step, Sonia and her
friends had arrived. They hurried into the villa excitedly as though they were running for their freedom.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda