2 THE OPPOSITE TWIN

It was Sunday and everyone in the mansion was woken up by the loud music of Metallica through all the speakers of the house. People groaned and mumbled. Some cursed and yelled. Damien groaned and prepared to kill whoever it was that played it. He yanked the door of his room open only to be welcomed by the beauty of Lie.

"Good morning!" she greeted him as she walked past him like a fairy in the middle of a meadow. Her chocolate brown eyes were behind Harry Potter glasses and her hair was neatly pulled up into a ponytail. As always, she was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt paired with old, black running shoes. "See you at the dining room!" she yelled through the blaring of Metallica.

Every single tenant arrived at the dining are at different levels of stress and annoyance. Each of them ready to kill anyone in plain sight. Well, everyone except Michael and Lie. The music had been turned off and Michael had instructed the tenants to meet them in the dining area.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, people, but I have a good reason for that," she explained with a smile, though her eyes were sharp. "The old man is coming to inspect the house and the tenants themselves. You might not know him but Michael and I do. If he sees a room that is too cluttered for his own liking, we will return your money, and you will have to look for another lodging."

There were the expected mumbles and protests but her gaze upon them never wavered. "I know that you paid a hefty fee just to get here but I'm also prepared to give back those hefty fees if ever you don't pass his eyes. So for those who really want to stay, you have the whole day to fix your rooms and make sure that everything is in their proper order. Michael and I will be helping Mimi and Lola to clean the parts of the house that do not belong in your jurisdiction. That's all for today, come and join us for breakfast before we go through the cleaning."

About five hours later, Damien walked out of his room and blinked a couple of times when he saw Lie at the top of a ladder, cleaning the chandelier. "What are you doing?" he asked, leaning on the banister just parallel to the area she was standing on.

"Not sure, really," she replied. "I might be swimming or drawing, but I'm pretty sure I'm not writing."

Michael hid his laughter behind cough and maintained his position under the ladder, supporting it. His blond hair seemed dirty when the viewer was from above and the sleeves of his t-shirt were folded up to his shoulders.

Damien had to bite his tongue to stop himself from retaliating with an equally obnoxious sarcasm. He shook his head and watched her wipe each crystal with narrow-eyed concentration. Pushing himself away from the banister, he decided that he wanted to know her more. He wanted to see how far she could go and how far he could push her. He wanted to know her quirks and her thoughts. He wanted to know her. Period.

He walked down the stairs, eyes still on her, before picking up the vacuum cleaner. "What can I do to help?" he asked Michael. The soon-to-be-doctor smiled at him.

"Are you sure your room is super clean now?"

"Yup."

"Go vacuum the parlor then. It won't be our fault if you get kicked out of the house though. Mimi and Lola had wiped all the windows and lights in the parlor. It just needs a run or two of vacuum."

"I'll handle it then. And don't worry about me being kicked out." He was careful not to bump the ladder as he walked past it. He looked up to see Lie again and had to look back down as quickly because he saw things that he shouldn't have.

When night came, everyone was tired and cranky. They readily crawled to their beds after dinner.

Damien stood at his veranda and gazed up at the starry sky. The coolness of the night wind eased his mind. With his eyes closed, he tried to visualize himself as a lawyer. Soon, he'll be a lawyer. Just a couple more years of hard work. And when he has reached that, he'll marry the woman of his dreams. Which would it be?

He chuckled and sat down in preparation for his nightly dreaming of the future. What kind of woman would he marry? Would she be a doctor? Or maybe another lawyer?

What would the color of her eyes be? How about her hair?

Even as his dream wife formed in his mind, he heard her before he saw her. He smelled her before he heard her. She smelled sweet and feminine this time. Not just flowery or fruity but something seductive. Something that makes anyone's mouth water and makes that someone imagine of indecent things.

He opened his eyes and looked at the other veranda and saw her. His dream wife. She was far from his usual busty and curvaceous types in a woman, but she fit for him. She would be a great partner. She would be understanding and loving. Her patience would be beyond compare because of her training as a professor. Handling blokes who are either over-entitled, over-sensitive, arrogant or the opposite. There's no in-between.

He smiled to himself and kept silent as he watched her long, wavy, brown hair flip in the air. Moonlight bathed her face and nothing would have been more beautiful than her. No angel nor fairy, nor even a goddess would have been more gorgeous than she was.

Her lashes were not long nor thick, her nose not chiseled, but her lips and eyes were the kickers. Can a man even think right once those lips were on his lips or his skin? Or when those eyes burned through his soul? Could any man say no?

She had her hair down this time. As usual, her face was bare and unpainted, but instead of her usual shorts and sleeveless shirt outfit, she was wearing one of those sexy silk nightdresses that left any man wondering if she had anything underneath. She was gorgeous.

And still out of his league.

He pushed himself up from the metal chair with a sigh. The sound of metal scraping against the floor made the professor turn her head to his direction. He gave a nonchalant smile and waved at her. "Good evening, Lie," he greeted and leaned of the banister that was facing her veranda.

"Good evening, Damien," she greeted back and faced him.

"It's a beautiful night," he commented as he looked up at the sky. "Too bad…" he looked back at her, "the sky is not as beautiful as you."

The comment made Lie blink then chuckle at the absurdity of it. "Does that ever work?" she asked, her heart thumping hard against her chest.

He chuckled and shrugged. "It usually did."

She knew that because it worked on her. Her heart stammered and did the backflips in her chest. "Your girlfriend is probably always melting then."

His brows rose at that. "I do not have a girlfriend."

"Oh… just flings?"

"None of those either lately. I'm interested in someone out of my league so I have to work hard to get that person before they get swooped out of my sight."

Her heart stopped backflipping and crawled to the corner to sob. "Oh… is that so? Then this person must be very beautiful to be able to get the attention of a heartthrob like you."

He grinned at that. "She's a goddess in my eyes. If we were alive back when the Trojan war happened, another war would have started because of me. I would have fearlessly screamed to the world and the gods above and below that she is far more beautiful than all the goddesses combined."

Envy is a strong emotion, and it was what she felt. She smiled and hugged herself to ease the coldness that wrapped around her heart. "She's a lucky woman," she told him before looking at the sky again. "Well, anyway, it's getting late. I'll have to go in now." She didn't wait for him to speak. She just walked away without looking back. Damn it. He had looked so happy when he was talking about that woman as if the sun itself had nothing against how his eyes brightened up.

He watched her walk away and sighed. "Damn it…" he wanted more time with her. More time to hang out and just talk. He sat down once again and closed his eyes to imagine her as his wife.

She would still be a professor at the university but instead of Fitzgerald, she would be called Professor Callie Criss. The two of them would wake up in each other's arms and each morning, they would be welcomed with kisses and slow and gentle lovemaking. Each night would end with earth-shattering sex.

She would look so beautiful with her head on his shoulder as she slept the fatigue away. Her skin would be soft against his and her hand would be pressed against his chest. That or her arm would be wrapped around his neck. With the difference in their height, her thigh would be thrown over his waist.

He smiled. That imagination was good. He looked up at the sky and continued to dream.

He would give her children if she wanted some. If not, then he would just treat her as his queen forever. He can imagine her walking towards him in a white gown, lips curved up in joy, and eyes alit with excitement. She would be his forever. Her fingers need some rings. It should be illegal for beautiful fingers to be bare when the owners of said fingers could afford rings.

His brows rose when he heard music coming from her room. It wasn't as loud as this morning but it was still loud enough to be heard from his room. If he wasn't sure that she was alone in there, he would have thought that she was planning on having an earth-shattering sex tonight.

He was not far from it.

She turned the lights off and crawled to her bed. She knew that the walls were thick enough in the mansion and the music was unnecessary but… she thought about it and sighed. She had to think of the other tenants. She turned the music off and lay on her bed quietly. She wasn't in the mood to fantasize about sex. She didn't even feel sleepy at all. But she was kinda upset.

She knew that there was a possibility that Damien would be in a relationship but it still upset her. It shouldn't, to be honest. He didn't belong to her. Only in her fantasies.

She closed her eyes and imagined his face. She started with his dark and curly hair, then his heart-shaped forehead. It always made her smile how his forehead could be so damn perfect. Then, she proceeded to his bushy eyebrows and his long and dark eyelashes. His eyes were caramel brown and mischievous. His nose was aristocratic. Can this guy be any more perfect?

The answer is yes, he can be more perfect than he already is.

His lips were reddish and the shape was something most girls would die for.

She opened her eyes and sighed. The damn guy is a damn perfect guy. So her only chance of having him? Through fantasy.

She took a deep, deep breath and let out a scream that could awaken even the dead.

Footsteps ran to her door and multiple people came knocking on her door.

"Are you alright?"

"What's going on?"

"What's happening?"

She got up and opened the door sheepishly. She had literally forgotten that Michael isn't her only housemate now. "I'm… I'm sorry… I just had a pretty bad dream…" she lied and sent the others back to their rooms with apologies from her lips.

Everyone left except Michael and Damien.

"You sure you're alright?" Damien asked, eyes wary and searching her face for answers. He didn't believe that it was due to a dream.

"Yes," she replied and looked at Michael who readily checked her temperature. He nodded when he saw that her temp was normal, then left without a word, leaving the two of them alone.

"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?" he asked again, hoping that she would say yes.

Say yes. This is your chance. Say yes! Say yes! Her mind already proceeded to sing 'Say yes, say yes, coz I need to know.'

"No, I'm really fine, thanks," she turned the offer down with a small smile. "Good night, Damien. See you tomorrow." She closed the door and leaned against it, cursing herself for her stupidity. How could she let such an opportunity go? How?!

"Fucking Stupid," she mumbled and threw herself to the soft and wide bed.