His Flower [DISCONTINUED]

20: Biology Project

On the weekend, Antonio and I decided to work on the biology project that we'd been assigned. Although we'd been partnered together a while back, it had slipped my mind until he'd reminded me a few days ago during lunch. So here I was in front of his grand house, ringing the doorbell on the breezy Saturday afternoon. The door swung open a mere two seconds later.

"Flower," Antonio greeted me with a pleasant grin smothered across his face.

I briefly surveyed his lazy attire before my eyes rested on his face. His black eye, although slightly faded, was still very much present. I couldn't help but grimace, which did not go unnoticed. The smile left his face and he brusquely turned around.

"Come on in," he said in a different, more cold tone.

Anyone else would've overlooked it, but I could see the small shift in his behavior. As I stepped inside, I pried off my jacket and tentatively apologized.

"Sorry for staring," I sheepishly said.

We walked side by side through the front hallway. Meanwhile, he looked down at me and offered a coy grin.

"It's okay. Hard not to."

Unimpressed, I narrowed my hazel eyes. This only provoked a boisterous laugh from him.

"This way," he jerked his head to the right, amusement still plastered on his face.

As I followed Antonio's direction and turned right, I suddenly bumped into a strong chest that had me gasping and stumbling backwards.

I looked up at the person and was surprised to see a middle-aged man. He was undoubtedly Antonio's father—the resemblance was uncanny. The only obvious differences were his faint wrinkles and graying hair.

"Sorry," I apologized for bumping into the man.

He remained tight-lipped and peered at me with contempt. The suit he wore made him look all the more intimidating, and I found myself taking a step back.

"Father," Antonio droned in a surprisingly bitter tone. "What are you doing here?"

I was taken aback by his hostility and shuffled on my feet.

"It's my house," his father replied with a sneer. "In fact, how dare you bring one of your little prostitutes into my home?"

My eyes bulged once I realized he was talking about me. Well that escalated quickly.

"You know good and well she's not a prostitute," Antonio snarled through gritted teeth.

There was a cold stare-off between the father and son, although Antonio's father was slightly shorter, so he had to look up to meet Antonio's piercing eyes.

"Y-Yeah, Mr. Brown, I'm just here so Antonio and I can work on our biology project together," I carefully defended.

There was a moment's silence.

Mr. Brown curled his upper lip at me. "Might as well be a monkey and I still wouldn't notice the difference."

My stomach dropped at the racist insult. Antonio aggressively stepped in front of me... almost as if to shield me from his father.