𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐋 {𝟏𝟖+}

XLII

"Have a nice day too, daddy." I got out of my father's car and took my phone out of my bag when I heard it ping, thus stopping in place to reply to Lydia's message, right there on the sidewalk.
I was about to hit 'send', when the obnoxious noise of tires screeching against the pavement made me turn my head around so fast that I nearly got whiplash.

A rightfully scared student, who found himself frozen on the crosswalk with a sleek black car just inches from him, managed to get back to reality, and he just ran towards the academy.

I took a better look at the scene and saw that none other than Lorenzo was sitting behind the wheel, and he was visibly shaken. Without wasting any more time, I jogged to his car and opened the door, hopping into the passenger's side. "Are you okay? What happened?" I asked, slightly agitated myself.

Lorenzo released a deep breath, looking straight ahead. "I... I guess I'm fine." We heard the annoying sound of a car horn coming from behind of us, and the Italian man seemed to finally wake up. He restarted his car and made a turn on the right, towards the academy's staff's parking lot.

I placed my hand on his in an attempt to stop him from doing so. "Don't. You can't go to work like this, you're clearly not fine, and I can't attend my classes with all this worry occupying my mind."

He finally glanced at me, and his eyes were so full of negative emotions. Anger, misery, and frustration were swimming inside his beautiful hazel irises, which were fully focused on me. Even with all the tiredness shadowing his face, he still was the most handsome man on Earth. "You've got to go to school, Alison." He stated softly, yet firmly.

"School's almost over and my grades are excellent, I can afford to skip classes. Please, Lorenzo, I won't be able to pay attention anyway. You almost got into an accident." I pleaded with nothing but genuine concern in my voice. I loved him so, so much, and I couldn't leave him alone when he was like that. Not in a car.

He sighed and looked back at the road, his fingertips tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel. "I need to go to work."

I rolled my eyes and leaned over his seat, wrapping my fingers around his forearm and gazing up at him with big adoring eyes. "It's your academy, Lorenzo, you can totally decide not to show up. Please, we can go to my house, I can make you a cup of tea and you can relax. Pretty please." I tried to persuade him, topping it all off with a bright, reassuring smile.

Lorenzo looked straight into my eyes as he pondered his options in that beautiful head of his, and I saw his features soften with each second he spent staring at me, until a small smile appeared on his lips. "Fine, but only for a bit."

I clasped my hands together in delight and began giving him directions. The ride home was relatively short, we soon found ourselves entering my gated property.
"Okay, let me go in first, I need to make sure that no one's home." I hopped out of the car and ascended the steps that led to the front door, quietly unlocking it and slipping inside. "Dad?" I shouted.
Seeing how I didn't get a response, I ran around the house and checked a few rooms, noticing that the house was indeed empty. I then walked back outside and gestured for the Italian man to come in.