Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Annabel Piccolo's POV

Holding the teddy bear tightly, I pull it to my chest feeling the need to hold someone. The lonliness in my heart kept increasing. It's bringing unsettling and negative thoughts in my mind. Pushing them all aside I get up from the bed and walk to the window before sitting down on the mattress beside it. The moon is shining brightly and the stars are twinkling. That's when a thoughts popped in my mind.

Even in the dark, there is always light. We just have to see it. There is no path hopeless and no path helpless. It's me who have to make that path.

I sigh. A small smile spread across my face. The full moon's light illuminated through the dark sky and falls down from my window and inside my room. My heart is racing thinking of what might happen tomorrow. Finally and surprisingly, there was not as much rukus as I expected from Felisa before she accepted. All thanks to Papa. He is very happy that I am taking this job.

"Stop it, Felisa!" Dad's voice rang through the walls of my room. "What is wrong with her going to a job?"

"If sh3e really wants to do job, there is a lot of work she can do at home as well-" Dad got up from the chair and stood in front of her in a minute. My gaze blurry from the tears that I am holding back.

"Do you think of my daughter as your personal maid!" His voice is loud, louder than I expected. A feeling of guilt starts settling in my heart. I don't want them to fight because of me.

"Papa!" I put my hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down. Felisa looks a bit scared. I have never seen him angry like this. He pulls me to him and puts his arm over my shoulder.

"This is my daughter here, just like Gemma." Felisa opens her mouth, but he raises his hand to signal her to stop from speaking anything else. "I might understand your anger towards her, but I will not have you treating her as your maid! You better understand that." His voice is dangerously low as he says that.

"If she wants to take this offer and go join in the company, then I am more than happy for that." He says to her. Felisa looks at me with hatred burning in her eyes. I look down, not liking how I am becoming the cause of their fight. This only makes Felisa hate me more. He turns to me and pats my head. "I am so happy for you my Bell. You have my permission, although that's not needed. Thank you for giving me this old man such importance."

He kisses my forehead and I see Felisa leave the room angrily. "Thank you, Papa."

"I am so happy you are still here with me. Thank you for not giving up on this old man. This palace might become so lonely if you and Gemma leave. I want my little girls to never date anyone." He says suddenly switching to being funny. I smile a bit through the tears feeling happy. This palace is surely what he said. A lonely place. "So, are there any young suitors that like you, or maybe someone you like that I must know of?"

"No, Papa." There is one person, Papa. I feel bad for lying to him, yet scared that I might get caught since I am bad liar

"Fine.If you say so. Now, want to go out for dinner tonight? My treat. You are joining in a job from tomorrow. We should go." He says and I smile wider.

"Okay, Papa. I will be down in five minutes." He smiles before looking at me

"Fine.If you say so. Now, want to go out for dinner tonight? My treat. You are joining in a job from tomorrow. We should go." He says and I smile wider.

"Okay, Papa. I will be down in five minutes." He smiles before looking at me a second.

"I just want you to be happy, Bell." He says. I nod my head at him. He leaves the room to wait downstairs for me.

Lucas and Papa are my hope in this darkness. Papa is always there, at least most of the time. He was never the ignorantone, but few things still happen without his gaze falling on them.

My heart races as I think about Lucas. The way the butterflies attack my stomach and how the cloud shadow my brain. I feel happy that I will get to Lucas every day. I may not work with him, but at least I might get a glimpse of him. I will be in the same building as him. I feel my heart jumping up and down thinking about it. A smile is spread across my face right now and I am stopping myself from grinning. I am sure a giggle might escape soon.

Here I am, in my room, sitting alone by the window basking in the moon light and grinning like maniac thinking about Lucas. I don't think I can get any more creepy than this. I pull my knees closer to my chest and rest chin on them. Slowly my thoughts drift from happy to worry.

What if I am not able to handle the job? What if I do something wrong? What if the people there are not supporting? What if Lucas is not in the same branch office that I am in?

I sigh and put my forehead on my knees before closing my eyes for a moment. An image of Lucas's smiling face comes into vision and a smile immediately spreads across my face. I let out a low squeal shyly.

When have I become like this? I scold myself. I hear a ping of my cell phone and look at my study table. Going to it, I pick out the cell phone and find a text message from an unknown number. I frown. Who might it be this late at night? Once I open the message then read it and find who it is, my heart stops for a milli second before beating again. It's from Lucas. I should say I have been thinking and hoping he would call or message, but forgot about it later.

Maybe because of all the things that happened today, this particular thing left my mind. Also, I didn't expect him to contact me this soon. Smiling widely, I bite my lip and open the message. A feeling of giddiness, nervousness and sheer happiness settles in my heart and flows through my body. All because of one text message from him. Now I might sound just stupid. Opening it, I find his message.

Hi! This is Lucas.

I quickly tap my phone to type a reply, but suddenly I am out of words. What should I type? Have you had dinner? How are you? The second one might sound lame. I have seen him just today morning. I think about it for a while and finally reply back. The smile on my face, all the while not leaving my lips. I feel like a teenager that's talking to her crush. Suddenly I feel like thanking the guy who invented the cell phone.

Hi! Thank you for offering the job!

After sending the message, I wait impatiently for his reply, which came in just ten seconds. When did ten seconds start to feel like ten minutes?

You are more than welcome, Angel. I take a pause while reading the message my eyes pass through the sweet endearment he used, the name he gave to me. My mind goes back to that memory for a second. I resume reading again after my heart settles. I am happy you took the offer. Your father has informed me about it. Looking forward to see you tomorrow morning.

Oh my God! I slowly walk to the bed while reading it and fall back on the bed as I read the last line. My arms spread on either side. I am hopeless. I can't help but let out a giggle. So, it's sure that I will see him tomorrow morning in the office! I don't know how to deal with these sudden rush of feelings in my heart. My heart is not able to hold them.

Me too. Good night:)

After send the reply, i quickly regret sending the smiley. It's too cheesy. Will he think of me as a stupid? That's too childish! Almost immediately I get a reply from him.

All the best for tomorrow and sweet dreams, Angel:)

After reading the message my phone leaves my hand and I move on my bed like a kid who is getting tickled. I giggle and put my face in the pillow, then turn around to stare at the ceiling and turn to my left to look at the moon from the long glass windows. The smile glued on my lips. I suddenly think about his eyes, his light sea green mesmerizing eyes. What is happening to me?!

I finally pull the blanket over me and fall asleep lately thinking about Lucas and how tomorrow might go.

Maybe tomorrow is a start of new things.

Good morning, Angel! Have a great day!

I wake up early in the morning and find Lucas's message waiting for me in my inbox. There is that smile again. it didn't leave my face all the while as I was getting ready.

"Bell! Are you ready?" Papa knocks on the door and I quickly go to open it once I look at myself in the mirror. I got ready early in the morning as soon as I wake up. I try a few different clothes before finally picking out a white knee length skirt and a pale pink formal shirt.

"Good morning, Papa!" I greet him with a smile.

"Good morning! You look energetic. Someone is excited for the first day of their job." He says and I smile widely. I am smiling too much since yesterday night.

"Yes, Papa." I am really excited. I am going to do something of my own. Yes, I maybe working under someone, but still, it is something for me to become individual.

"I am sure you will do well! You are my daughter after all!" He says patting my head. "Let's go."

Once we reach the office building, I just look around still sitting in dad's car. The building stands tall almost touching the sky. I look how busy people are walking on the streets. Some are carrying coffee and some talking on phone. Nervousness starts settling in my heart once I see the environment.

"Don't feel nervous Bell. I will come inside with you." I look at Papa in shock as he says that. He is about to open the door when I stop him holding his arm.

"Non(no) Papa. I will go. You don't have to come up."

"But it's the first time you are going for a job and I want to-"

"Papa, non. I am not a child anymore. I will go in on my own." He sighs once he hears me say it, then looks up at me.

"Okay. I spoke to Lucas today morning. If there is any problem, I mean any, at all, you will call me immediately. Okay?" He questions and I nod my head before responding.

"Okay." I agree and he smiles.

"You will do very well. I know that. All the best." He pats my head and looks at me as if he is ending me to a war. I smile and get out of the car. I close the door and go around the car to go to the entrance. I turn around to wave at him and find him talking on phone, but he still waves. I turn around and close my eyes before taking a deep breath and was about to walk in, when my phone pings. I pull it out form my bag and open.

There is a message from Lucas. I quickly open it.

Welcome Angel! All the best!

Happiness fills my heart later a question comes in my mind. How does he know that I have reached just now? Then it clicks. Maybe Papa spoke to him while he was waving at me. I shake my head before walking in. Just as open the glass door and walk in a person who is in late thirties greets me.

"Good morning, Ms. Piccolo." I greet him back.

"Good morning! But, can I ask who you are?"

"I am Mr. Alberto's butler and guard. He ordered me to take you to the receptionist." I am truly surprised at his. I was not expecting this.

"O-Okay."

"This way, ma'am." He says and extends his hand to the right. I walk along with him.

"Um... Please call me Annabel or Anna." I am not used much to people calling me ma'am. "What is your name?"

"Paulo." He answers.

"That's a nice name." I say and then feel stupid for even saying it.

"Thank you, Ms. Piccolo." He says without any emotion and I don't know what to say so I did not speak anything after that.

"You are welcome."

We pass by the area of the lifts and go behind it to find two other lifts. He presses the button we wait for the lift to come down. Why aren't we going in those lifts?

"This is Mr. Alberto's private lift." I try and hold back the gap once I hear Paulo answer my unspoken question.

Once the lift comes, he allows me to go in first for which I thank him and he follows in later. He presses the button of twenty eight floor. Once we reach there and walk out, he walks me to the receptionist there.

"Ms. Lia." She looks up at us once he calls. She seems to be in her late forties. "This is Ms. Piccolo." He introduces me to her. A kind smile spread across her face once she looks at me and smiles. I smile back instantly.

"Oh, Hi dear! " She comes to me. "I will take it from here Mr. Paulo." She tells him. He nods and leaves us. "I am Lia Andrew." She says. She must be American.

"Hi, Ms. Lia."

"No, please call me Lia." I nod my head at her. "This way. Come." I follow her as she takes me to the Human Resources department.

"Mr. Alberto had informed that you will be coming today and our Human Resources head is waiting for you."

What? Lucas did all that? My heart swells. He is so sweet!

Lia introduces me to the head and he later gives me a quick tour around the company only taking me to the important places. Apparently Lucas has told him all that he has to do. After that, the H. R head takes me to the Research Department.

The people in the Research Department are very nice and very friendly. Friendly. Maybe I can finally have friends outside that Palace. There are six people in the department including me.

Alessandro, the funny person in the whole team. Aria, she is bubbly and talkative. Micheal, sweet guy and flirty at the same time. He is only four years younger than me. Nicole, gossiping one and Daniel, the calm and well behaved one. Although all of this is my observation.

"So, how do you know the boss?" Aria asks smiling.

"You know we are ordered to not ask too many questions, but we can't help it." Nicole says. I look at them clueless not knowing what to say.

"Are you Richard Piccolo's second daughter?" Alessandro asks. The H. R head has revealed my full name while introducing me to them. All of them look at me waiting for my answer. Piccolo's are very popular. They are almost same as Alberto's.

"Yes, I am." I say looking down at my hands. Everyone knows that the second daughter of Piccolo's family is an illegitimate one, the one that is born from an affair. But no one knows how beautiful of a story their's is.

"Hey! No need to feel bad or shy about it. No one in our team is a bully."

"Also, since Mr. Alberto is our head and you know him so well, I don't think anyone will say anything bad. Don't worry. Here we work as a team." Micheal says and look at him in shock. What?Lucas is the head of the team? But, isn't he the C. E. O? He is the boss to all of us. I look up at them.

"He is our boss, I mean to this department?"

"Yes. He personally looks after this and we are the coolest of them all. Although, I must say he is a Devil, but we are here to support you." Nicole says and I look at her in shock. She just called Lucas a Devil. Is he really that strict? I have read in newspapers before, but never accepted it. How can the sweet Lucas be a Devil?

"Thank you." I tell Nicole and she smiles back.

"Welcome to the team Annabel." Daniel says with a polite smile. I nod my head at him. Before I can say anything , we hear Alessandro tell us looking up from his phone.

"The Devil is here!" All the five people who were greeting me and were beside me, suddenly scatter to their places and sit in positions. I look at them in confusion. What happened? I hear footsteps and someone enters the room. Before I can turn back and look who it is, all the members n the team stand up as though there is a bomb under their chair that might explode anytime. I stand up along with them and turn around to look at the door.

My heart started beating fast again. There he stands in all his glory. Lucas. His eyes meet mine and I stop myself from smiling. This is office and I have to behave professionally.

"Good morning. Mr. Alberto." They all greet. I just stood there still looking at him. Our gazes never moving away from each other.

"Good morning! Hope you all are having a nice day." He says looking at me. I nod my head at him.

"We are." Micheal answers.

"Good. Daniel." He calls him and slowly turns his gaze from me to him. "Files?" He asks.

"On your desk, Mr. Alberto." He answers.

"Any corrections?" Lucas asks.

"I have checked them all. There are none." Alessandro replies.

"Good. If I find any, get ready to re-type the whole contract again." His voice bossy and cold. This is a side of him that I never saw before, that I never knew existed.

"Ms. Alberto." My heart drops. For a minute, I forget that I am in his office. I look up at him in shock only to find him not looking at me, but at Aria and Nicole. "I am sure you all have met her. Take care of her and explain her work to her." For some reason I am sad and happy at the same time. Happy because I secretly want him to talk to me, but didn't want it to be in front of everyone and I don't think I have the courage to talk to him.

"Yes, sir." "Sure, we will." They both say at the same time. Nervousness is clear in their voices.

"Continue with you work." With that he left the room before meeting my gaze once. His eyes did soften when he looks at me, but then turn to harsh cold once he turns to them, giving them a stiff nod as he walked out. All the members waited till he left and once he is out, I am surrounded by them again. Before my heart can settle from being in his presence, I am sitting in a pile of questions that they are throwing at me.

"Are you his friend?" Micheal asks. Before I can reply, Alessandro speaks.

"Non. I don't think so." He says to Micheal and turns to me. "You must be his girlfriend." His voice is as though he is asking a question but it is almost as if he stating a fact, which is not. I open my mouth to answer, only to be cut off by Aria.

"I know Mr. Piccolo is strict, but I don't think he will be that cold to her." Aria says.

"Didn't you see him smiling at her?" Nicole says.

"Yes, but, he didn't even acknowledge her." Aria says. Oh, he did. I smile to myself. Our encounters and words cannot be seen by anyone. No one can understand it.

"Still, maybe. I mean, he smiled. Did you ever think he can even smile? I thought he don't know how to do it." Micheal says and I get angry at that. Lucas has a very beautiful smile, the one that melts my heart like a glacier in summer. It is warm and lovely.

"Guys. Stop it. Maybe they are just acquaintances. Alberto and Piccolo family are friends for generations and it is obvious he knows her. That's all there is to it. Now get back to you places." Daniel says and all of them nod their head and smile at me before going back to their places.

"Okay, Senior." They all say in chorus. They all call him senior, I got to know. He is the earliest one that has joined the team and has stayed this long. I look at him and smile.

"Thank you." My seat is just beside him.

"You are welcome." He turns to Nicole. "Nicole." She looks up from her computer at him nodding her head at him to continue. "Tell Anna what she has to do."

"Okay. Senior." She says and comes to me.

She explains everything patiently. I go through everything that she has said once again. Everyone one here is very nice and sweet. I stop for a moment and look at everyone here. They all have this positive energy and are working while having fun at the same time. I don't think I can ask for more. I am really thankful to Lucas for this. I look back at my computer, when I hear my phone ping. I pick it up and find a message from Lucas.

You are so beautiful this morning!

My heart is flipping crazily after I read it. I try and keep my face straight. I am thinking about what reply I should send when Alessandro calls.

"Hey Anna!" I look up at him waiting for him to continue. "You want to come with us for lunch?" I smile widely, I never had lunch with a bunch of friends and I am happy that one of my dreams is coming true.

"Yes, I would love to."

"Cool!" He says and turns to others. "How about we go to the diner downstairs today?" He asks.

"Yes, please." "It's been long since we went there, we should go." All of them agreed.

"My treat." I say and they all smile.

"Finally, I am not the only one that is going to pay the bill!" Micheal says and get hit on his head with three files each from one while Daniel just types on his laptop.

"Senior, also pays!" Nicole says, still Daniel doesn't respond. "God, one day, you will become the second Lucas Piccolo." She says to him.

"Only more strict. The nightmare!" Alessandro says and they all laugh. I can't help but let out a little laugh. They all are really scared of Lucas.

My phone pings and I see another message from Lucas.

Have lunch with me.

My eyes go wide once I read it. It sounds like an order, but I know it is not. But, I have already agreed to going out with them. What should I do Also, if I have lunch with Lucas, it might be the second we will be alone and maybe this time we can actually talk. I will be able to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I get excited just thinking about how it might go.

But I have already promised to the team that I will go with them. I don't want to miss out of the first day with them. I think about it a minute and reply back.

I am sorry, Lucas. I have promised our team members to go with them.

I hope I didn't hurt his feelings. Is it too harsh? How can I just down right tell him like that? I am so stupid!

My phone pings again and I hurriedly check the message knowing it's from Lucas.

Okay, Angel. Enjoy your lunch!

That's it! Should I feel happy about it that he took it easy? Or sad? Right now, I am feeling a mixture of both. Before I can think further, my phone starts ringing. It's Papa. I quickly pick up the call.

"Buon pomeriggio (Good afternoon), Papa!" I greet him once I answer the call.

"Hi Bell! I am picking you up for lunch. Come down in ten minutes. Okay?" What? Him as well?

"But, Papa-" He cuts me off.

"No buts. I will see you when I get there. Lucas is joining with us for lunch. Bye sweetie!" He cuts the call before I can say anything more.

Lucas is joining us? What should I do now?

A/N:

Hey my cute dumplings!

How is it? So, it's a bit long chapter compared to others and I hope you have enjoyed it. Tell me what you think. Your comments are what made me want to update sooner than I thought of. So please do comment.

Please VOTE and COMMENT.