Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 63

IN CONTRARY TO JAKE AND BRIE who adjusted pretty quickly to the whole situation of Samuel appearing out of nowhere with a woman who doesn’t seem to be his mother based on how young she looked, Laia remained as pale as a ghost and didn’t have any energy whatsoever to even lift the spoon to her mouth.

The words that the asshat mouthed earlier didn’t help calm Laia down, either.

“Hey, why aren’t you eating?” Brie whispered as subtly as she could when the Senator was enthralled by the conversation that he was having with his wife who Laia honestly thought was the man’s daughter.

Or niece.

Or maybe just someone else except being his wife.

“Uh,” Laia tried to make Samuel look at her but the boy was adamant to avoid her gaze, trying his best to look focused on his meal. “I’m just a little uncomfortable about everything,”

Which was a half-truth, by the way. Regardless of being surrounded by her friends and acquaintances who have been privileged their whole lives, Laia still had difficulty adjusting to the lifestyles that they had, especially when they drag Laia alongside to do their shenanigans.

Brie sympathetically places her hand above Laia’s. “Don’t worry, after we get Sammy out of here we’re leaving,”

Jake who was on Laia’s opposite side nods in agreement. “We won’t have to come back here anytime soon,”

Despite her friend’s reassuring smiles, Laia still felt a chilling sensation in the back of her mind that this wouldn’t be their last time in this estate with the Senator and his wife.

“How was the food, children?” Helena turned to the three with an almost embarrassed smile.

Laia stopped herself from grimacing at how Helena called them. Glancing at Brie who seemed to share the same thoughts, Laia subtly elbowed Jake to respond when both girls didn’t know whether to pity the young woman in front of them or to laugh at her choice of words despite her face looking way younger than theirs.

“It’s great,” Jake replies after subtly glaring at the two girls on his side. “You’re a good cook, Helena,”

Helena shyly tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Thank you,”

Laia glanced at Jake whose eyes seemed to have watched the young wife for a while longer. She quickly elbows the boy before both the Senator and Brie could notice. “Hey,”

Jake blinked and turned to Laia. “Yeah?”

The girl briefly gestured to Brie who was distracted by the pasta in front of her. “You don’t want her to jump to conclusions, right?”

He was quick to understand what Laia was trying to convey and turned away from the young wife who was still glancing at him occasionally.

Regardless of how bothering the whole situation was, Laia couldn’t help but still feel weird about the obvious age gap between her and her husband.

I mean, wouldn’t a person rather want a relationship with someone near their age gap rather than someone probably older than them by more than a decade or so?

“Is everyone ready for dessert?” The Senator suddenly spoke, effectively making everyone turn to him.

Brie decided to respond when nobody spoke up. “What’s for dessert, uncle?”

“I’m glad you asked,” With a wave of his hand, a bunch of maids entered the dining room holding plates of desserts varying from cupcakes to munchkins and even to a familiar-looking dessert that Laia forgot the name.

Probably because she had only seen it on some of the travel vlogs that she sometimes watches.

“Are those macarons?!” Brie excitedly squeals, any hint of her fear and anxiety earlier disappearing like smoke at the sight of her favorite dessert.

Or one of her favorite desserts since Brie always had a liking for sweet things.

“Indeed, we just got them from our trip yesterday to France,” Helena shared the young girl’s enthusiasm. “I always wanted to go to France and Thomas made it happen,”

She batted her eyelashes in an endearing manner towards her husband. The Senator merely laughs and doesn’t make any motion to deny how much he spoils his wife.

Laia awkwardly turns away from  Brie who was definitely enthralled by the scenario in front of her in contrary to both Jake and Samuel who looked like they just wanted to leave or disappear out of thin air.

“Have I told you about how much I adore my stepson?” Helena suddenly quips after a few glasses of wine.

That made sense. It would be weird to have a son who looks as young as she is and is probably even just a few years younger than her.

The Senator places his hand above his wife’s. “Helena, you have drunk again too much,”

She pouts at him. “I only drank five glasses, darling! That isn’t too much, it’s just a bit too much? Hehe,”

Glancing at the three youngsters who he treated as visitors, the Senator beckoned them subtly to the living room which was in the next room.

Jake quickly complies and urged the two girls to do the same. Brie was about to leave but stopped and pulled Samuel alongside her despite the lingering stare of the Senator behind their backs.

The long-haired girl pushes Samuel towards one of the couches and narrowed her eyes at him, hissing. “Why the fuck did you not bother to just call or text us that you have been here all this time?”

Samuel remained silent. His gaze was anywhere but at any of his friends. It reminded Laia of what he looked like back at the school clinic.

“Sammy!” Brie shrieks.

Laia pulls her away and flicked her forehead. “Are you seriously going to start screaming when his father and stepmother are just in the next room?”

Her words calmed Brie down for a while but she proceeds to pace back and forth nervously. “Why is he just.. sitting down like that?”

“Like what?”

“Look at him!” Brie exclaims in hushed tones, glancing at the dining room and back at Samuel repeatedly. “He looks lifeless!”

Laia turned to Samuel and couldn’t help but agree with her friend. She couldn’t see the usual boy with the smirk on his lips or the affinity to make anyone laugh with his sarcasm or just his usual way of talking.

And the girl had a recurrent thought of who might be behind it.

Jake was sitting beside Samuel, a grim expression on his face. It was obvious that he wasn’t able to make his best friend talk which only worried both the girls further.

How else would any of them know what happened when the asshat wouldn’t even talk?

Except for the words he mouthed to her earlier which didn’t make sense at all.

“Maybe you should try talking to him?” Brie suggests.

Laia raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you seriously think he would rather talk to me instead of his best friend?”

“Uhm,” Brie sheepishly grins. “You can try? I mean, at least you tried right?”

She gave her a deadpanned look. “I don’t even know if you’re kidding at this point,”

“Just try!” Brie pushes her towards Samuel who barely moves or reacts even at their sudden close proximity.

Much to Laia’s chagrin, Brie had also pulled Jake away with her to settle at another couch on the other side of the living room.

“What is honestly with rich people having huge living rooms,” Laia murmurs, glaring at the innocent couches. “Why can’t you just have a small living room for once–”

“Helena loves how huge the living room is,” Samuel suddenly says, making Laia turn to him with a surprise on her face. “She loves reading books and playing the piano,”

He even gestured at the grand piano on the left corner of the room.

Laia took her time to admire the grand piano. Even if she didn’t know how to play the piano, she always wanted to learn.

But of course, piano lessons weren’t cheap and there’s absolutely no way that they could even afford to buy a piano.

So it was another dream that she had to let go of.

Shaking those depressing thoughts away, she focused on the boy in front of her that still was looking anywhere but at her.

“What happened?”

He didn’t respond. Laia watched how his blue eyes would disappear behind his eyelids whenever he would blink and noticed how blue his irises were really.

They resembled the sky during the days when everything feels warm.

And yet, they resembled the ocean as well. The deep and blue ocean which hid a lot of secrets unknown to many unless they decide to explore and find out more about it.

“Are you done staring at me?” The boy was using his teasing tone again, making Laia unconsciously smile. “Hmm, a smile for once,”

Laia rolled her eyes. “Is it such a shocker to see my lips curl upwards?”

He was silent again. Laia patiently waited for him to either answer her question or change the topic like how he would when he didn’t want the conversation on hand to continue.

“Why did you come here?”

She frowned at his question. “What kind of a question is that? Of course, we would come, you disappeared out of nowhere and none of us could get in touch with you through any means possible–”

Laia was interrupted by the asshole laughing spontaneously, making her raise an eyebrow at him. “I mean,” He catches his breath after his endless laughter that didn’t make sense to Laia at all. “Why did you, out of all people, come here?”

“What do you mean? Because I’m your friend–”

Laia stopped. Are they friends? Does Samuel think of her as his friend or is it completely one-sided on Laia’s side?

“Friend?” The asshole finished for her, a smile still on his face.

“Yeah,” Laia kept his eyes on the ground and away from the boy’s intent gaze. “If you think of me as one, but if you don’t well it’s alright, I mean, who would want to be friends with me anyway like it’s definitely alright–”

“Hey,” The boy was now standing up with his hands placed above the girl’s shoulders, effectively shutting her up and making her stare into his blue eyes again. “We’re friends.”

“It’s already late, how about you stay here for the night–”

The girl whipped her head in the direction of the Senator’s voice and caught a mysterious smile on the man’s lips as he watched them.

“How about that, Samuel?”

Samuel pulled away from Laia immediately, leaving the room without another word.

“That was probably a yes,” Helena suddenly says behind the Senator.. She still looked drunk. “You can choose any of the rooms on both the second and the third floors! Do enjoy your night here!”