12 The Chip

Early in the morning, Nancy woke up out of excitement. She trusted Samuel. She knew he would've gotten the permission by now.

She had never been that much excited to see him. Laura was surprised to see how her troublesome daughter was waking up earlier than usual.

Nancy quickly ran out telling her dad to drop off Nina himself. She wanted to know it all as quickly as possible. Samuel was already outside, like always.

She quickly got inside the car before her dad could bring Nina and force them to take her with them.

"Drive!" She shouted in a whisper.

"Should we not wait for your sister?" Samuel asked, being the honest and fair man.

"Shut up and drive." Nancy gave him the death glare.

Maybe he should never try to argue with her. So, he started to drive. Nancy wanted to talk, but she couldn't think of how to initiate it.

Soon, they reached college. He pulled the brakes and put his hand on the door handle to open it. However, she put her hand on his before he could open the door. He looked at her in confusion.

"Is something troubling you?" Samuel asked.

"Yeah… Tell me. Did you get the permission?" Nancy asked in excitement.

"Yes."

"Then tell me."

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"It is a highly confidential matter. We shall discuss it in a safer and quieter place after college if that suits you."

"That doesn't suit me, though. I wanna know now."

"If you are willing to keep this argument, then I shall, hereby, never ask for your opinion in the future."

"Fine. Just tell me to shut the fuck up rather than saying all this bullshit."

Samuel ignored. She was like that almost every day, so it didn't matter. Throughout the day, she slacked off at everything, even during lunch. Amy didn't attend either, so she had more reasons to slack off.

She just wanted to know everything as soon as possible. Whenever she had free lectures, she would tag along with Samuel.

He was in the staff room on his phone when Nancy decided to tag along. Her excuse was finance, of course. 'I want an extra finance lecture.' Nancy was good at excuses. She sat beside him after making others believe she came to study.

"Hi, Samuel." Nancy subconsciously giggled.

"How can I help you?" He asked as he grabbed the finance book and opened the page with the list of contents.

Nancy furrowed her brows and sulked. 

"I didn't come here to study, you stupid!" Nancy whispered loudly.

Samuel stared at her for a minute. Then he looked around. As his eyes rolled back towards her, he came a bit closer to her ear.

"If you are planning to keep this up, then consider not knowing anything at all." Samuel threatened her as he whispered close to her ear.

However, Nancy didn't hear anything. She was solely focused on how close Samuel got to her. As he rose back, she stared at him. 'What are you doing???' She thought to herself as she quickly stood up.

"Uh… Thank you for your time, Professor." Nancy quickly acted out and ran out of the staff room.

Samuel thought his threats worked. Who knew she left for a different reason? At least she left. That's all that mattered.

After college, he drove her to his apartment.

"Why are we here?" Nancy asked as she saw Samuel unlocking the door through a passcode.

It was a simple passcode that almost looked like his birthdate.

"To discuss such a matter, being in public will be horrendous. All the public places we visit have countless eyes and ears. We must avoid those." Samuel said, opening the door and letting her in before locking it back.

"Don't you get tired of speaking this-." She stopped mid-way as she laid her eyes on his organized home. "Woah!" She exclaimed in wonder. "Why is your house so clean?!" She added.

"Shall I consider that a compliment?" He asked politely.

"Duh! I would die to live here!" Nancy exclaimed at seeing the beautifully arranged furniture, and cozy-looking arrangement of indoor plants and ceramics. "Except, I bet I'd turn this into my house in a split second and ruin everything." She added as she nervously laughed.

"I live alone. Hence, it is easy to stay organized. When I lived at Sir Roth's, it was the same as your house. Especially with children around, it is hard to stay organized." Samuel explained.

"Is that why you moved out?" Nancy asked. "Damn!" she added.

"Not at all. I moved out because of personal reasons."

"Like?"

"Like the ones you do not need to know."

"Wow, you know how to deny…" Even though he replied bluntly, Nancy was surprised.

"What exactly do you take me for?" Samuel asked.

"Floor-mat?" Nancy said as she chuckled sarcastically.

Samuel wasn't amused one bit as he moved to the kitchen. Nancy followed him.

"By the way…" Nancy paused, watching him brew coffee.

"Yes?" He asked as politely as ever.

"Why do you call Roth 'Sir'? Isn't he like your dad? Even the most acceptable would be 'Uncle'…" Nancy asked in curiosity.

Samuel looked at her from the corner of his eyes, the rest being focused on the coffee.

"You do ask me questions I do not wish to answer," Samuel complained as he chuckled lightly

"I just asked because I was curious, dummy!" Nancy explained. "I am not trying to attack you mentally… Besides, I know you're adopted. Just asking. Geez."

"…" Samuel sighed. "I never told this to anyone. I addressed him formally, as it would be rude of me to address him informally. He took me in when I was 14, raised me for 4 years, and sent me off to Australia as soon as I turned 18." He paused for a moment. "I was a guest, not a family member." He poured freshly brewed coffee into cups.

"Maybe… That's just what you think." Nancy tried to change his point of view.

"It is certainly better this way. Who would want a disgraceful son such as myself?" Samuel said as he offered her a cup and invited her to the living room.

"I don't understand you," Nancy said as she sipped the coffee.

"Why must you try to understand me? I am just a mere bodyguard." He said as he stared at his coffee.

Nancy just shook her head slowly. She almost forgot about the actual reason why she came over here.

"Wait! You were going to tell me!" She exclaimed as soon as she realized.

"I was meant to. However, your questions never seem to end." He said in his explanation.

Nancy, sitting opposite him, stood from her seat and walked towards his side to sit beside him.

"We must discuss the matter in privacy, uh. It is too horrendous outside, uh." Nancy impersonated him as she whispered.

"I do not speak like that," Samuel said in his defense.

"Yes, you do." Nancy chuckled. "Must we whisper in your house as well? Mr. Samuel?" Still impersonating, she asked him.

"No, the walls are soundproof," Samuel said.

"Ooh. So?" She leaned in a little forward to show she was all ears.

Samuel cleared his throat.

"You have a chip inside your brain." He didn't hesitate.

Upon hearing this, Nancy's eyes were wide open. She leaned back in surprise. She blinked her eyes a few times to open up to reality.