Chapter Five

Noveli

A week had passed and nearly all the furniture I had bought came in. Everything except the deep burgundy crushed velvet oversized high back chair. And now I needed to pick up my textbooks from campus and needed some clothes. Kelly had been getting on me about not purchasing any clothes.

I looked into the large mirror. I was wearing high waisted dark denim jeans and a dark green crop top. An oversized black sweater draping over my shoulder and my trusty black converse.

"Thomas?" I called out walking into the kitchen. I really needed to get his number or something. The cook named Hector grinned, stirring a pot of something.

"He might be in Mr. De La Cruz office." He said moving his head to the other archway where the hall was.

"Thank you. I'm still trying to get used to this." I laughed.

"Don't worry I was A mess when I got here. The wine cellar was one big puzzle I could not figure out." I gave him a parting smile and walked down the Marcos office. Nerves made my chest tighten as my fist hovered over the door. Breathing out, I knocked gently twice.

"Come In." Marcos' voice called out as finished a phone call. I ignored whatever he was saying, not wanting to eavesdrop. I waited by the door closing it behind me. I looked down with my hands behind my back. My mind drifted to Paul and how he had me appear before his guests.

Hello Story. A deep male voice washed over me before I heard him say goodbye.

"What can I help you with?" Marco said, shaking the sickness off of me.

Glancing up I saw that Thomas was actually not here, it was only Marco. "I'm sorry to bother you. I thought I would find Thomas here." I said defensively.

"That's okay. You can come to me whenever you need something. Thomas is assisting the boys with a supply run." I nodded my head. What was I going to do now? I needed to go into town to pick up those books.

"Tell me what you need." Marco pressed. Looking into his eyes I could see the sincerity, he wanted to help me.

"I need to go to campus to pick up my books and Kelly has been telling me to buy clothes all week." I said sheepishly. He smirked at me, and I just knew he wanted to laugh. I could be a very awkward person at times. Not used to asking for help or for things ever.

"Don't laugh." I glared at him, and he chuckled.

"I'm sorry, Veli. But I don't think I've ever had anyone else hate asking me for help or struggling to spend my money." my stomach pinched guilt settling over my heart.

"I will ask Philips to take you. Are you meeting up with Kelly?" I nodded my head happy that I got that over with.

"Yes, she wanted to take me to a couple stores." I groaned as he laughed softly.

"Go be a teenager." he said, calling Phillips on his cell.

"You really need to have some of the staff's numbers on your phone," he said.

"Can you give me Thomas and Sara's number please." I said my damaged phone in my hands. My black case had broken before we got here and now had packing tape courtesy of our move.

"I hope to see you buying better electronics today." Maco said glaring at my hands. I turned over my phone where the grey duct tape started to peel off.

"No need." I smiled, thumbs hovering over my screen. I waited and when I only heard the clicking of his keyboard, I looked up to him.

"Kelly is taking you to go get a new phone and laptop. Don't argue with me. You need this for school as well as your writing career." he encouraged. I've been needing to upgrade for years but I never had the money to afford it. I've had these items since before mom passed which was five or six years ago.

"What if my writing doesn't make it?"

"It will. I've seen you when you have an idea for a story. I 've seen you break as your characters go through their own tragedies." he says. Then I remember what he had told me the summer he had visited last year before proposing to her.

If you can cry over the pain of a fictional character, then I know that the books are good because you felt something.

That had been the first day I cried since Theo was born.

"Fine. I swear I can't get a break between the both of you." He smiles at me as Philips walks into his office. Quickly Marco gave him instructions on where to pick up Kelly and to make sure we weren't bothered. I let them talk as I watched Kelly's face appear over entertainment news. My stomach dropped instantly. Scared that Paul would somehow find a way to get ahold of me. I walked closer to the television, my shuttering out of me.

Big hands held me in place and their conversation finished without me knowing.

"Philips is with you." Marco said, looking into my honey brown eyes. "I have everything taken care of." He assures me.

Time and space shifted inside me. And the next thing I knew I was being escorted to GU's Bookstore. Picking up my online order. Looking astound at the college merch I got a black sweatshirt and a few colorful packs of sticky notes. You could never have too many sticky notes. Unless you were me, I had an addiction to buying them the only thing I made sure to never run out of.

"Are you hungry, Philips?" I asked.

"No ma'am." he replied, eyes on the front entrance. Today the bookstore was a little packed.

"I'm eighteen. Please call me Noveli or Veli." I giggled watching him briefly. His thick muscles tense ready for anything.

"Come on. I'm ready to check out." We walked to the register as he made sure no one else was too close to me. Something I was really appreciative of. Seeing Kelly on TV had brought to light something I hadn't taken into consideration. Marco De La Cruz was the owner of KoreTech. The largest Security Tech company that was changing our modern-day society. And somehow, I never saw it as me stepping out of the darkness and into the spotlight. But that was what would happen to me and Theo. It made me considerably more nervous about going out.

Waiting in line I glanced over all the journals. I had a problem with purchasing writing essentials. "Phillips, stop me from buying this." I teased. He chuckled, showing me his dimples before smothering his smile. His baby blue sparked with amusement as he went back to scanning the room.

Laughing at Phillips' expense and the hairs at the back of my neck prickled. I turned to look for whoever was watching me. And there he was. His hazel eyes that were more green than brown stole my breath. There was no one else here.

"We're up." Phillips whispered, snapping me out of my daze.

I smiled walking up to the counter ready to pay. The confidence I want within my grasp but still out of reach. I absentmindedly swipe Marco's card unaware of how much everything was. Seeing this tall, big boy smiling back at me. Made me aware of how imperfect I am. How I feel like the dirtiest girl ever.

"I also have an online order that I need to pick up today." I replied. My nerves are getting the better of me as I try to ignore what I want because I'm not good enough. Not yet and maybe not ever.

"Name?" He grins hands ready over the keyboard. His voice is made for ASMR. Both Deep and soft I'm mush on the inside. Lost to his sound as I chew on my bottom lip.

"Noveli Meadows."

His fingers fly over their keys as he pulls up my order receipt scanning for my books.

"Noveli if you can follow me." He says, leading me to the back of the store with Phillips right behind me.

"Philosophy 101, Psych 101, Anthropology 101, History, Creative writing, and Music." He whistles. "Are you a Transfer?"

"Yes, I've been taking online courses since I was Seventeen." I said nonchalantly. I love school, it kept me away from home. Naturally I would be out all the time studying and being involved at school just so I didn't have to be home with Paul.

"Do you have Mrs. Shorewood for creative writing?" He asks and I gape at him.

"Yes…" I say drawing out my reply. He chuckles and the sound makes my stomach flutter. My heart beating a little faster hearing it. He brushes his fingers through his dirty blonde hair pushing out of his face.

"I take her class." He says setting up A bag for my books and other items. "I'm in her class this year." I nod my head as he hands me my bag. Phillips intercepted it for me.

"Thank you." I say eyeing Phillips and then looking back at the guy briefly looking at his name tag. Feeling a little more confident than I did before I pushed my negative feelings aside.

"Maybe I will see you in her class, William. Thank you for your service." I purred. He said nothing as red tinted his cheeks. As I left with Phillips, I could hear a woman laughing at William and his stuttered response for me to have a good day.

"You are going to be a handful, aren't you?" Phillips asked our eyes meeting in the rearview mirror.

"I'm a good girl." I said while he muttered under his breath. 'Sure'

Meeting up with Kelly at a place called The Wildflour on the corner of West Gate and Green Point. It was a quaint little spot. I saw a lot of my time being spent here grabbing a coffee and a Danish. We sat in the front while Phillips and Taylor both watched over us. Taylor was outside by the car and Phillips was at a table behind us. We both got the Cranberry Chicken salad, a coke for her and a raspberry lemonade for me. I kept looking over my shoulder trying to listen to her.

"What's up?" she asks. Kelly and I are close but there are just somethings I couldn't talk about with anyone. If I had told her everything that I had gone through she might never have wanted me to begin with. Too broken to be wanted.

"I'm not used to having a bodyguard. It's all…" I paused, not wanting to take for granted Marcus' help. Or how serious he takes our safety. Phillips wasn't a bad guy, just always watching. Always tense. It made me a little paranoid. Okay who was I kidding? It made me extremely paranoid.

"Alot." She fills in and I nod with a grimace.

"Don't get me wrong. You know I'm grateful for it but... It's also making me more anxious." I admitted. It brought back the feeling I had under Paul's roof. That was something I had admitted to Kelly a long time ago. How I was constantly watched and under surveillance with cameras everywhere around the house. It wasn't like we had anything to protect.

I told her how my stepfather liked to be in control of everything to the point of suffocation. And it was one thing that made my skin crawl. She didn't know that part. How he recorded me while I slept. How he visited me every night after my mom was murdered. Bile rose up in the back of my throat. A brush of his hands swept over me briefly before I blinked back into the bistro.

"Why don't we talk to Marco together. I know you don't like it, but it will help you feel less like your trapped." she said, holding my hand in hers. Taking a drink, I let the tartness of my raspberry lemonade wash away the bad taste in my mouth.

I pushed my food around hating that I could no longer enjoy my meal. Thinking about Paul was one way I could lose the extra weight I had put on taking care of Theo. Know I was no longer hungry we paid the bill and had my leftovers boxed up.

"Just think about it." Kelly whispered.

Thinking was something I always did to the point of insanity. I needed to not be in my head. To be let out of that pristine white house with its white picket fence and big backyard. A ghost of a shiver curled through me.