Happy Reading.
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-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Seeing that the name written there was named after Marzio, Mallory bit the tip of her tongue as her eyes kept dropping down to read all the messages, which within a few seconds she clucked out her annoyance. "It's funny... who does he think he is to have us stay with him again after that past incident?" Mallory's hand reached out to return the object to its owner. "I think it looks like he's playing a comedian talent show, try giving him an acceptance contract."
A faint laugh echoed from inside Marzio's mouth. "I was expecting you to say that, Ry."
Mallory raised one leg resting crossed over the knee of the other leg, with her half-sitting body leaning against the armrest of the sofa. "The funny thing is," she raised her gaze to Marzio. "They left us years after the divorce that night. But now, without any clarity, they suddenly want us to move back in with them. Like...?"
Marzio laughed again when he saw Mallory's face showing a knitted forehead and her lips that rose in one part puckered towards her nose. "If we take her to the Oscars I'm sure she'll be nominated, Ry." he said, walking over to plop down on the armrest of the couch. "It's also funny that they asked us to choose which one of them to live with. Even though we both clearly know that neither of us will come out."
"We're already too comfortable living together like this. Our life so far looks fine." Mallory raised her hands in the air to show that she could no longer say much. "Besides, living with them again, one or both of them again. I can't guarantee that I'll feel at home there. Also, what's the reason they want to take us back? Suddenly they want us to live with them again,"
"I believe your statement is valid. For example, living back with Mama, while Mama herself already has a new family, that would be very awkward." he said approvingly. "I also don't know what their reasons are, let alone Papa who also suddenly wants us to go back not long after Mama sent a message only hours apart. Even though since the two of them separated, they have never given us money to live on." Marzio turned off the phone screen completely after reading the last message from the person who was supposed to be a 'Papa' figure for him.
The air around the two teenagers left a sense of calm, which actually forced them to get used to being comfortable with the state of their lives that had changed completely since the incident all those years ago. The silence hung for a few moments leaving the second sound of the clock as the only sound, which accompanied the two siblings in their reverie. Before Mallory moved her feet off the couch first, she stood still for a moment in her spot as she straightened her sleeves.
"My advice right now is to block the old man's number so he doesn't have access to either of us." Mallory said without taking her eyes off her hands. "I've had enough of his attempts to get our hearts back," she continued before she reached out for her bag, but seeing it unknowingly sat on by Marzio, she hit her brother with the sofa cushion without saying anything hitting him until his body moved on its own releasing the bag.
"You..." Marzio raised his hand to point at Mallory's face with his forefinger, but Mallory just stuck out her tongue from the corner of her lips with her eyeballs glancing through the tip of her eyelids. The girl said nothing more in response to Marzio's protesting face, and instead walked away leaving the man sitting alone in the living room. While afterward she headed towards the stairs that would take her to her private room up there.
Mallory's back was turned leaving a slight blush on Marzio's face who was holding back his small annoyance at his sister's treatment, but he remembered how Mallory's response to the message sent by his 'Papa' earlier made him turn his forehead that was folded in annoyance into the lines of a smile on his face. The sound of steps Mallory made as her feet hit the wooden stairs slowly faded into the distance as Marzio glanced at his sister's face.
The white door with its black handle had reached the range of her eyesight, she lifted her hand to turn the cold surface slowly, then pushed it to reveal a dark black room that received light through the translucent tinge of the window curtains. Mallory's eyes took in the entire room which wasn't very large but enough to accommodate all her belongings despite making a tall pile in some corners of the room, her breath came out slowly seeing that there were shoe boxes scattered neglected everywhere when she forgot to clean them before going to school. School bag unburdened from the pile of books in her hands, Mallory lifted and flew the bag in the air for a split second before it landed right on her bed, and afterward she followed by throwing her body on the pile of soft pillows.
The subtle glow of orange light radiated a calming beauty, the suburbs of Los Angeles drew the sounds of vehicles passing by on the streets in peace. With nothing to distract her for the time being, Mallory felt like she could breathe freely without so many thoughts filling her head. Mallory's cell phone placed at her side was seen ringing briefly, indicating that a message had just come in. The girl thought about ignoring feeling sure that it was probably from Claire or Victoria, she didn't completely ignore it, she could reply to their messages later.
The more Mallory decided to silence her phone to ignore the sound of notifications, somehow more and more incoming messages rang. Mallory was still by the window listening to the chirping of a flock of birds flying around warming her heart. Her mind game reverie was broken when the cell phone sound changed from a message notification to a call. Mallory was finally disturbed enough to reach for her cell phone, which was lying not too far from her position, to see who was sending her repeated messages and calls. The multiple messages and voice calls were from a number that was not listed in her contacts. There were dozens of unread messages, only skimming the last one. 'Papa will pick you and Marzio up tonight, get your clothes ready'.
The message immediately earned a glare from Mallory's eyes that rounded to hold back the boiling feeling inside her head at the moment, knowing full well who the number was from. "Who does he think he is?" Mallory ignored the incoming messages open without showing her intention to reply any response, and quickly searched the settings menu to block the message.
The number turned red indicating that it had been completely blacklisted from her phone. A bit of satisfaction from doing so led her to switch to looking at the incoming messages from the school group, which contained her and her classmates. The joking messages of throwing around dime jokes with the occasional emoji message in between, at least relieved Mallory of what had just happened today. However, the price paid for Mallory to get a moment of peace seems to be something very expensive indeed. A voice call from the same phone number came in calling Mallory's other number, making her cell phone emit a ringtone in front of her very eyes.
The air temperature in the room suddenly dropped pressing the warm weather from outside the window to feel down a few degrees, Mallory felt like something was touching her body from behind. The voice call was still on ringing over and over again without being interrupted. Until finally in one slow breath that was already very tired, Mallory put pressure on her thumb to slide the green phone symbol up to answer the call, after which she pointed the bottom speaker of her cellphone near her earlobe.
There was silence for a while before the distinctive low coughing sound of an old man appeared. "Hello, Mallory. Papa's beautiful daughter, how are you now, dear?" His voice came out in a soft, calm tone.
Mallory looked down at her phone feeling her heart freefall inside her own body as the voice came out of nowhere. The look on the girl's filler face changed from one that showed no expression whatsoever, to one with a deeply furrowed forehead and both eyebrows raised high. "Hey, old man. I asked you not to talk too much. I'm already so fed up with all the trash talk coming out of that disgusting mouth of yours."
The flat object that was the silent witness to the intense communication Mallory made floated to the other side of the mattress. Its head was undulating giving a slightly painful throbbing hauntingly inside her own head. Her gaze was sharp as a dagger ready to slice through anything in its path. She lifted both hands to brush her black hair back and gave her scalp a little massage with her fingertips, at least relieving the pressure inside even though her anger and dislike for the short conversation still lingered. Mallory quickly decides to drag her feet off the mattress onto the floor, stepping up with her body to grab the towel hanging conveniently by the window.
"I strongly suspect that actually that old man, his brain has evaporated. Who does he think he is to micromanage my life?" she grumbled to herself, "Weird."
Mallory continued walking even though her mouth made mumbling sounds to channel her displeasure, until she finally reached the side of the room standing in front of a white door. Her hand turned the door knob stepping inside the bathroom towards the warm water faucet, letting the warm water steam up to fill the bathtub. While waiting for the water to begin to pool on the surface, Mallory turned her body around to grab a few bottles of her own soap that had the scent of fragrant flowers and sweet gum from the shelf. Pouring a few drops in her usual ratio until the sweet and fragrant scent of the soap came out perfectly broke through her smell which immediately lightened her heavy head a little.
In the serenity that she rarely gets these days, Mallory felt the weight of her soul slowly lift. The hustle and bustle of school, assignments, and other troubles that had been suffocating her seemed to fade away, replaced by the warm freshness that soothed her mind. More than half an hour had passed while she soaked, her body sinking comfortably into the water while her head rested on the edge of the bathtub. Her eyes were closed tightly with her breathing regular.
But her tranquility was shattered instantly.
Knock knock.
The sound of knocking on the door, although faintly audible due to the pop music coming out of the speakers nearby, but managed to force Mallory to open her eyes back to reality. Mallory moved to straighten her body to stare at the door, turning down the music that was still playing to disguise the sound of knocking. "Oh my God, who's bothering me?!" Mallory sharpened her hearing, waiting for the person out there to knock again.
"Mallory, what are you doing inside?" At the sound of Marzio shouting outside, Mallory immediately took a deep breath feeling angry and threw the man using the item.
"What's wrong? I'm taking a bath," she replied.
Marzio could clearly hear his sister's irritated tone, meaning she had come at the wrong time. "I was going to say that in 25 minutes, those two old men will be here, I don't know what they're going to do. So when you're done soaking if you could just not leave the room,"
Marzio's shouted reply outside made Mallory hit the surface of the foamy water in front of her. She grunted as her plan to calm her cluttered mind failed miserably, and now she had to figure out what she would do if their parents showed up unexpectedly like this. "So you're saying I stay in my room until they both leave?" Mallory shouted a little louder to make sure Marzio was still outside.
"Maybe... yes? I can't say for sure either, Ry." replied Marzio, the volume of his voice slightly lowered at the beginning.
Mallory didn't answer for a few seconds letting her brain think for a moment. "I'd rather just go to Claire's house, it's safer."
"Suit yourself!" said Marzio followed by the sound of footsteps sounding away before the door finally closed.
Mallory moved her body which felt very heavy to leave the warm bath which, although brief, managed to calm all the chaos in her mind. It felt like she wanted to spend more time or maybe until the evening. With so many unexpected events coming at Mallory in rapid succession, there was only one word that she felt could explain what she was feeling all day, annoyed.
For now she might be okay with being temporarily upset, but she also had to get ready to go to Claire's house, before the person who should still hold the status as her 'Daddy' came barging in unexpectedly.
Finished preparing her belongings such as several stacks of novels, which could at least help her get rid of a little boredom when going to Claire's house, Mallory carried the book bag on her back out of the room. Although her attention was fully focused on the phone screen rather than watching her footsteps down the stairs.
Her phone rang several times in the same notification sound, sounding from a messaging app. Opening the homepage of the app, her attention was immediately drawn to one of the unfamiliar id's that she seemed to be seeing for the first time. Before actually opening the message, Mallory felt intrigued by something taking the time to look at the profile of the person who contacted her.
Mallory's eyebrows met, "Lorenzo? Who did he get my id from?" Mallory said faintly to herself, thinking for a moment, and raising her eyebrows as she realized. "Oh, I believe he got my id from Claire," her thumb moved to press the chat room.
- Lorenzo Jefferson
"Hello, Mallory. It's me, Lorenzo Jefferson. I got your id from your close friend, Claire Delaney if I remember correctly. Tonight I was planning to ask you out, what do you think?"
Mallory exhaled her breath staring at the screen without showing any expression, though trying to hold back her slight dislike for Claire's actions. "You Claire." she said. "But it's actually a good thing, isn't it, Mallory? You were able to get information on whether Lorenzo was really Dalton's man or not. There's always a good side, even if there's a lot of bad." She spoke to herself.
Her footsteps that had stopped halfway down the stairs finally stepped down again, with her attention still on her phone, typing a reply message to Lorenzo that she agreed to the invitation. The slight scratch created on her cheek sticking out, Mallory unconsciously carved a smile replying to Lorenzo's message, until she didn't realize what happened afterwards.
Bug!
"Walk with your eyes, leader Randzion,"
Mallory's forehead felt like it hit something hard like a barricade in front of her face. Her footsteps came to an abrupt halt and she almost fell backwards losing her balance right before a tight grip held her wrist. Marzio held her weight standing in front of him even though one hand rested on his waist. Mallory flung Marzio's hand away forcing him to let go before regaining her stance, staring at her brother with piercing eyes.
"You already know yourself that your body is like a tower, don't stand in my way suddenly, Marzio Halloran!" Mallory grumbled sarcastically, and then gave her hand the power to push Marzio away from the stairs.
Marzio didn't give any response, instead he took two small steps back to stand in front of Mallory, but his calm eyes scanned the clothes Mallory was wearing looking very neat to him. "Where are you going? You look very presentable," he said.
"I said I was going out to Claire's. Uh, just now, Lorenzo asked me out. I canceled my original intention to go to Claire's, and will go with Lorenzo." said Mallory holding up her cell phone showing the screen to Marzio. "I need to find out more about Dalton's plans. Although Dalton has now quit his own gang, and relinquished the position of leader in Black Aoudra, we don't know what's really going on, or his plans behind the scenes."
Marzio's head nodded in consideration of his brother's words. "You have a point too. If you really want to quit, Chaopard Diamond I will hold." he said raising his right hand asking for the item he was referring to, Mallory smiled briefly before taking the item out of her pocket.
Mallory stared at the blue light glowing with a subtle glow in Marzio's palm. "Take good care of it, I don't want anything to happen to it. Remember, Anthony won't forgive you if you get--"
Marzio raised his hand to cover his sister's mouth to stop everything. "That's it, you better get going, didn't you hear the car horn up ahead?"
Tin tin.
Mallory's eyelids opened wide sparkling with surprise, Marzio turned to look at the door lowering his hand from Mallory's face. Without looking at his sister's face again, he hooked a handhold on her arm to pull her through the living room out of the house. A brief honk sounded again as the two opened and stood in the doorway.
The black sedan had just turned onto the sidewalk before the speed of the tires stopped completely. Marzio glanced over his left shoulder, tracing the small changes on Mallory's face even though she was completely expressionless. The left door opened and a body with a large, broad back emerged covered in a dark gray t-shirt. Lorenzo turned to stare at Mallory's yard and walked in with a big smile on his face. For a moment, Marzio shook his head, vaguely understanding the true dynamic between his only brother and Lorenzo.
"The man you like has arrived, you're on your way." Marzio said, tilting his body closer to Mallory's ear.
Mallory's whole body was so tense that she couldn't say anything back to Marzio, who she knew was mocking her. Her hand only briefly hit his arm with a push of her elbow, after which she stepped closer to Lorenzo. The man opened his arms to welcome Mallory who approached him giving him a smile.
"It's that your brothers?" asked Lorenzo, averting his gaze to throw a friendly smile towards the door, where Marzio was still leaning against it while trying to keep his mouth shut from laughing at Mallory's antics.
Mallory looked briefly at Marzio, then back at Lorenzo. "Don't mind him, he's a little strange." Mallory said. Hearing that Lorenzo chuckled and nodded his head, while still maintaining a smile looking at Marzio. "But if you want to be weird with him, go ahead."
Lorenzo's head lowered for a split second to cover his chuckle, which didn't stop at Mallory's every word about his brother. Although his laughter still left a little residue at the end, he finally led Mallory to the car after raising one hand towards Marzio, and Marzio returned it. Mallory deliberately pushed Lorenzo's back intending to tell him to go first, but Lorenzo turned his back stopping his legs from swinging and pulled Mallory's waist closer to his body walking side by side. Lorenzo opened the passenger seat door for Mallory, after making sure the girl was completely seated comfortably, he ran a little into the driver's seat. The engine of the black car ahead roared, then slowly moved away from the yard and onto the highway.
Marzio's eyes continued to watch the car until it was completely out of sight, maintaining a face that was too relaxed from knowing who Lorenzo really was. He wasn't worried about Mallory being with the enemy in the same car, Marzio knew and understood Mallory's capabilities. The most important thing for him now was to make sure that the blue-colored diamond he had requested from Mallory, would be safe with him now.
"I don't know what's in Professor Papa Anthony's brain that he can create technology like this," Marzio spoke to himself still standing at the door, floating the small diamond lightly in the air.
See you in the next part!
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