𝒎𝒂𝒇𝒊𝒂

𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆

Alayah's POV

2 hours later

It's been two hours since Maverick left and I was starting to get restless and bored. "Ughhhh," I said rolling off his bed and falling on the floor. I heard a knock on his door and immediately shot up from the floor. Mrs. Allegretti walked in and scanned the room before her eyes landed on me and smiled.

"I knew I heard somebody in here," she said with a smirk making me smile awkwardly. "Would you like to help me make dinner sweetie?"

"Of course," I said walking over to the door.

We were in the main kitchen when she asked, "So how did you and Maverick meet?"

I smiled at the thought and said, "We bumped into each other on the first day of school. I was putting my books back into my bookbag and Maverick was looking for his first period."

"So was it love at first sight?"

My eyes involuntarily widened before I laughed. "Far from it. We hated each other for a better part of a day before we started to tolerate each other. Besides we're only friends."

She laughed. "That sounds more believable." She continued to stir the pot as I continued cutting up the vegetables.

I know I probably was out of line and a bit nosy for asking Mrs. Allegretti, "What do you think they're talking about?" but I couldn't help it! The thought of Maverick and his dad fighting made me fidgety.

So I was surprised when she said, "Business." I stared at her puzzled and blurted out, "What kind of business?" She turned around to look at me with tired eyes and gave me a closed-lipped smile. "That's not our, dear," she said and turned back towards the stove. It remained silent after that.

By 5 o'clock, we had finished cooking and Maverick has wondered in probably because of the delicious smell. He hugged and kissed his mother's cheeks before turning to me with an unknown emotion in his eyes.

I furrowed my eyebrows but before I could even say anything and he slipped his hands around my waist pulled me into a bear hug. My hands involuntarily found their way around his neck and in his hair. His mom had left the kitchen.

"What's wrong Mavey?" I said looking up at him. His eyes clouded with the same unknown emotion from before. He picked me up and placed me on the kitchen counter. He diverted his eyes from mine and looked at the floor. "What's wrong?" I ask again pulling him in between my legs and grabbing his face with both hands forcing him to look into my eyes.

"There's no way out," he said barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"I'm trapped, Alayah," he said looking at me with anger and sadness swarming in his eyes.

"What do you mean Maverick?"

"He said I'm taking over the business no matter what...no matter how much I resist."

"Maverick-"

Before I could even say anything he ripped his body away from me and grabbed the first thing he touched and chucked it at the wall. He happened to grab a glass vase. It shattered, making a loud sound as it made impact with the wall. I jumped off the counter in fear. I walked over and started to pull Maverick's shoulder back to make him face me.

It had gotten quiet. I heard sniffling and my heart broke. I walked around to the front of him to see tears running down his cheeks. His neck and ears had gotten red and he had his fists clenched. I let out a sad sigh. His father had to have said something else because he wouldn't be acting like this about taking over the business. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it so I didn't push him.