Just the Beginning [Complete ✓]

Chapter 2

It's around mid-afternoon when I find my way back downstairs. By now, I'd exchanged my jeans for sweatpants and I slipped a hoodie on under my sweatshirt and my beat-up converse.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I find James in the kitchen doorway. From my current angle, I could see the tension and rigidness in his shoulders and the way the veins in his neck were standing out. At his sides were his hands, curled up into fists so tight, his knuckles were turning white.

He was still in his uniform except that now, he wore a hoodie underneath the blazer.

Making my way over, I can vaguely make out heated words being exchanged. When I'm close enough, I can make out that James is yelling, but he's yelling in some language I don't know. He looks distressed.

I start to reach out my hand to him, but right before I can, he turns and the next thing I know, his arm is between us. My eyes are enormous- almost the size of saucers and it's safe to say that his expression is mirroring mine. It's like it takes a moment to process, but when it does, he's throwing apologies my way left, right and center while I'm trying to figure out what to say- how to calm him.

"Gosh, kid! If I knew you were there­­-"

"Are you alright?"

As surprise shuffles its way into his eyes and across his face, I realize that my question must have caught him off guard. I mean, it makes sense that it does because here I am asking whether he's okay when he clearly is not.

"I mean, you're obviously not. Is there something I can do to-?"

A laugh interrupts me. A soft and light laugh that catches my attention quickly. It's the cook.

I can feel my eyebrows knitting together in confusion as I look at her properly and I suddenly feel bad about calling her a middle-aged woman because with the way she was laughing where her eyes crinkling in the corners and small dimples showing, it's clear that she's not that old- she actually appears quite young, especially with the way the light shines on her. If I were to guess, I'd say early to mid-twenties.

"Um, have I done something wrong? What's so funny?" I ask lightly, taking a step back as James pulls his hand away from the wall and lets it drop to its side.

"Nothing, nothing," Carmel insists with a wave of her hand. She must see my expression though because the next thing I know, she's explaining herself. "It's just that when your father told us his little princess was coming, we expected you to be..."

I raised a brow.

"We expected you to be like him," James says instead, looking at me with a little grin. "But that's not what you are. You're like this angel compared to him."

"I try."

This earns a laugh from the two of them and I can't help but chuckle as well. When we're done, James makes his way over to the sink while Carmel eyes me up and down. Trying to piece me together, it would seem, with the way her eyes darted all over me.

"So!" she exclaims, folding her hands together and letting them rest in front of her on the counter as she looked down. When she looks back, she's smiling a little awkwardly; like what she's about to say next will not be pretty. "My name is actually not Carmel. I'm Carmela."

"With an A?"

"With an A," she confirms with one nod of her head. Then she looks at James and before she says it, I take my own little guess. Which she happens to confirm. "And he's not James. He's Adrian."

"Ah. Well, it's nice meeting you both, Carmela and Adrian," I smile and even make it a little extra with a little curtsy. To my own amusement, they bow in turn and the room is soon filled with soft chuckles from each of us.