Slow Dancing

07 | legato

0 7

legato

[It.] : Played smoothly without separation.

ADELAIDE APPARENTLY TRUSTED me enough to leave me to my own devices on the days I visited Kaden. She was no longer at the beach-house when I came over the next time, bearing two large boxes of pizza that I had bought at a diner two bus stops away from school. Millie had gotten me the pizza at a discounted price since she worked there.

Parker, who had chauffeured me to the beach-house, left as soon as he dropped me off because he had to go back to work. So the house was empty save for Edwin and Kaden – empty halls and empty corridors and empty rooms; it all seemed somewhat depressing to me, extravagant as the house was.

Edwin eyed me in amusement when I staggered through the doorway, juggling the pizza boxes, my bag and several books in my arms. He immediately took the boxes for me. "Mr Bretton has been rather restless all day," he said as he led me up the stairs, "he's been asking to see you for several days now."

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "He's been restless? Has he spent all day cooped up in the house?"

"Days," Edwin corrected, sombrely. "Mrs Bretton doesn't allow him to leave the house until he's fully regained back his sight."

I felt something in my heart pull as I remembered Kaden sat by the window, always looking out and never in. Pushing that thought aside, I leaned against the railing along the stairwell and continued to chat with Edwin. Within minutes, I'd already learnt plenty about him - that he had a son who worked at Nolan's company, a daughter whom I reminded him of and who had just given birth to a baby several weeks ago.

I was just about to ask about the gender of the baby when the door behind us clicked open and Kaden stepped out, hovering by the doorway with a disgruntled expression on his face, his mobile in his right hand.

"Evangeline," his lips flattened into a tight line, "what're you doing having pizza with Edwin outside my room?"

My eyebrows knitted in confusion. "How did you know – "

"I'm just blind – my auditory and olfactory sensory systems are functioning perfectly well," he returned in an almost sulky manner, and I resisted the urge to laugh because he sounded a lot like a small boy who wanted food he couldn't have. "Come in. And Edwin," the tone of his voice now seemed almost respectful and kind, "you're off for the next few hours. I'll call you if necessary."

"Thank you," Edwin said, nodding at me before leaving. He disappeared into a small room to the left of the first floor, which I presumed was where he stayed since he seemed to work round the clock.

Gathering my things, I followed Kaden into the room, setting the pizza boxes down on the coffee table. Kaden had returned to the phone call I presumed he was having before the interruption, his tone crisp and professional. It was definitely a business call and was proven right a moment later when he told the person on the other line to send in the report by Monday before ending the call.

"I can't believe you're still working," I said in disbelief, flipping up the flaps on the pizza boxes and laying out the napkins properly. "Aren't you supposed to be recuperating?"

"The stocks for the company will fall if I'm not there to monitor it," he returned seriously and I did believe him, because as the head of the company, Kaden clearly had a lot on his shoulders. Not to mention that Bretton was one of the largest companies in the country and held a huge share of the stock market. "I can't afford to go on breaks; my father thinks the company will disintegrate if I do."