I have a confession

The time was past 7 pm and Anne was standing at the doorstep of Carl's exotic mansion which was very beautiful and luxurious. It was like the house was meant for a king. There were so many of Carl's latest expensive cars parked at the garage as if he was selling them.

*Ding dong* Anne tapped the doorbell and Carl showed up in a minute. He was putting on an ash color short-sleeved shirt revealing his crazy biceps and black sweatpants, looking as handsome as usual.

"Anastasia" Carl smiled as soon as he saw her after opening the door.

He saw her holding a pizza box that contained a full-sized pizza. She was just standing in front of him like a hot delivery girl.

"good evening Carl, …oh shit! I forgot to ask you… is your mom home?" Anne asked, hoping Carl would say no.

"Yeah she's in," Carl said and Anne sighed with a disappointed look on her face.

"Oh okay then, give this to Richie and tell him I said hi," she said handing the packaged pizza to Carl, intending to leave.

"I'm only kidding!! my mom is out of town" Carl laughed and Anne sneered at him for playing with her.

"Are you scared of my mom or what? …Please come in" he said gesturing for her to come inside his house.

"After what she did to me, yes!" Anne said, entering his house. She was still holding the pizza.

"you don't have to be scared, my mother is never going to hurt you again I promise," Carl said and Anne smiled

She was assertive that Carl was going to protect her if he said he would. She didn't need him to pledge to her.

Her eyes rover around his living room and she admired his large spacious house that had so many fine paintings on the walls with expensive furniture. Carl's house was even more beautiful on the inside with so many artistic designs.

"You have a beautiful house" Anne complimented.

"thanks" Carl smiled at her biting his bottom lip. He was still wondering in his head how a lady could look this beautiful.

"what is it?" Anne asked awkwardly because of how he kept staring at her.

"oh nothing... you're just really beautiful," he said.

"Sometimes he's cold to me, sometimes he's nice to me," she thought to herself because of how he acted rudely to her in his office.

"I see you brought me pizza… you're too kind," Carl said.

Anne clicked her tongue "Actually, it's for Richie"

"ohh" Carl muttered. He already forgot that Anne came to his house to see Richie and not him.

"Okay, so umm… can I get you something to drink?" he said.

"thanks but no thanks…" Anne said

"…are you sure?" Carl insisted.

"yes I am," she nodded.

"Alright, let me take you to Richie's room," Carl said and Anne followed him from behind.

"Richie, it's me, Carl," Carl said, knocking on Richie's room door.

"you have a visitor …please open up the door," he pleaded but there was still no response from Richie and Carl flashed Anne a 'see what I mean' look.

"Hey Richie, It's me, Anastasia," Anne said in a soft tone and Richie immediately opened the door.

Carl was surprised, he wasn't expecting Richie to open the door that quick after hearing Anne's voice. He was surprised that Anne didn't have to beg Richie in opening the door.

"I brought you pizza... can I come in?" Anne said, smiling at Richie and Richie took the pizza from her hands with a big smile on his face.

It was the first time Richie had smiled in a while. He had been sad for a long time, shutting everyone up but surprisingly, he was happy to see Anne.

Richie took Anne's hand and pulled her inside his room and she sat on his bed.

Meanwhile, Carl who was standing at the door of Richie's room was feeling happy on the inside to see Richie smile.

"thank you so much, Anne," Richie said as he starts digging into the pizza. "Carl please close the door in front of you" Richie ordered Carl and Anne giggled softly.

"Okay I'll leave you too," Carl said feeling a little embarrassed as he closed the door.

"oh my God!" Richie exclaimed with his mouth full. "This is the best pizza I've ever tasted in my entire life" he praised the pizza as he kept on eating like he was very hungry.

Anne chuckled "awww thanks Richie, I'm glad you like it"

"Anne, I have a confession to share with you," Richie said.

"I'm listening," Anne said, paying full attention to him.

"umm… my brother wasn't the one that kicked you on the butt at the subway that day, …it was me." He said in a soft tone.

"Really?" Anne said with raised brows and Richie nodded.

"don't blame Carl, it wasn't his fault. I did that on purpose. I'm really sorry" He sincerely apologized.

Anne's mind drifted to when she publicly embarrassed Carl and accused him of sexually harassing her. She recalled how Carl was beaten up like a criminal by strangers because of her accusations.

She thought he was a pervert and she wanted to teach him a lesson. She had no idea Carl was innocent, it was all Richie.

"It's okay Richie, Your brother has apologized several times..." Anne said.

She felt terrible for treating Carl unfairly in the beginning and despite everything, Carl forgot about the past and saved her life twice.

Anne sighed.

"I just feel bad for mistreating him because of that," she said to Richie.

"It's my fault, but Carl is not going to take it to heart… he's just too kind," Richie said

"if that's the case why are you being hard on your brother?" she asked and shifted closer to Richie.

"I'm not being hard on Carl, is just that my brother takes too many risks in fighting bad guys and putting them behind bars …and a lot of criminals hate my brother so much for that," he said in a low tone.

"you don't have to worry about him, your brother is amazing and he's good at what he does," she said.

"I know but what if whoever wants to hurt him is close to him? How does my brother figure it out that whoever might hurt him can be one of the closest friends he trusts the most." Richie said fighting the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"come here," Anne said with her arms spread apart to hug Richie and Richie hugged her.

She saw that Richie was starting to get emotional and she wanted to comfort him. However, Richie was trying so hard not to tear up in her embrace. He felt better but he still couldn't tell Anne about Carlos no matter how much he tried.

"Richie, Carl is very smart and he has good instincts too. He has saved my life a couple of times you know..." Anne said in a soft tone, gently patting his back.

"…I understand you're just scared and worried if a criminal gets a hold of your brother but that's normal. It's okay to feel vulnerable when you care a lot about someone... Just have a little faith that nothing bad is going to happen okay?" she said and Richie nodded his head, rubbing his eyes.

"Anne, can you be my best friend?" Richie said as they pulled from the hug.

"Why?" she smiled

"Because I'm very much comfortable with you and I wish you were my big sister," he said.

"Alright, I'm going to be your best friend and your big sister on one condition," she said maintaining a serious face.

"Okay. What should I do?" Richie said with a confused look.

"I want you to get better grades on your studies," she said

"Okay Anne, I promise to do my best, I won't let you down" he smiled and she hugged him.

"that's my boy" Anne laughed.

She checked the time and it was almost 8' o clock. "I should get going now," she said standing up from his bed.

She left his room and wandered around the living room as if she was lost and couldn't find her way out.

"you seem lost," Carl said and Anne was startled, hearing his voice.

She turned her back and saw Carl, standing in an open space with his hands in his pockets like a male model.

"oh my gosh! you scared me..." Anne said with an exhale.

"sorry about that, didn't mean to"

"and I'm so lost, I can't find my way out," she said.

"Wait! you haven't told me what's up with Richie," Carl said.

"…Richie is just an adorable kid who's still growing"

"adorable??" Carl scoffed

"Adorable yeah... He's only scared of losing you. Just pay more attention to him and try to listen to him no matter how stubborn he can be… He needs to be comforted and be rest assured that he's not getting abandoned" she said.

"Thanks, I'll do that. I'm really glad Richie likes you" he smiled.

Carl walked closer to her and held her hand. "I wanna show you something please come with me" he pulled her and they got upstairs.