Chapter 4: She Must Be Crazy Part 1
Ariana fell onto her bed with a sigh and peered up at her hamster, Sir Ham Ham, as he ran in his wheel. The incessant squeaking made her head hurt more and she grabbed her pillow to shove it over her head.
"Do you have... to run in that wheel right now?" Ariana groaned at her hamster as she yanked her pillow off of her head.
She stood up and walked to her kitchen to take pain killers. "When did I sign that I would live with him?" She rolled her eyes and yanked open her cabinet to grab a clear glass. "Why did I sign that?" She groaned and filled the cup with water before she tossed back two Tylenol.
Ariana sat down on her couch and turned on the television. Carter's face appeared on the screen, and she realized it was some interview that he had recently done. She brought her knees to her chin as she sipped her water and zoned out on his voice.
"Carter Anderson. We heard that you are, currently, the number one wanted man. I'm sure we all want to know why you haven't settled down yet. What does it take to be your special someone?" The woman interviewing him leaned on her elbow and waited for him to answer with the cue cards in her lap.
"Currently I am trying to focus on my father's vision. We are currently working on a new way of printing books to make them appear more vintage and have some exciting companies working hard with us on it." Carter skirted around the question and the interviewer smiled at him.
"But surely you have time to date." She wanted the answer to the question, and he wasn't giving it to her.
"I lack time to do many things, Ms. Conner." Carter smirked at her, and it seemed forced and fake.
Ariana stared at his smile and analyzed it. Again, it seemed forced and more like he was in pain. Something was off and wrong about it. "What do you mean you lack time for many things?" Ariana set her glass on her coffee table and walked over to her leather book bag that held all of her things for her job, tripping on her work clothes that she had thrown off in her haste. She opened it and ripped out the portfolio that held his schedule. "Alright, Mr. I'm-Too-Busy, let's see how busy you really are."
She slammed the book onto her black kitchen table, pushing her mail away from a spot to set it on. She flipped it open and began to look it over. There were a few meetings here and there. A couple events. And some mask symbols in the corner of a couple of days, but other than that... he was a free man. There were plenty of opportunities to date.
The mask symbols caught her attention though. She opened her laptop and checked her email, seeing one from Carter. "Must be that email he spoke of." She rolled her eyes and opened it.
'Hello Ms. Adams,
I hope this email finds you well. Within this email I have enclosed the information that I had previously told you about. I do hope that your thigh is okay since you hurt yourself. Also, don't forget to pack your things for tomorrow morning. My driver will be by to help you lift anything heavy. He is going to bring your things to my home. I'd rather you have all of the comforts of home with you while you stay with me. I am sorry that you didn't realize what the job offer entailed. I guess I should have made that more clear. I'm terrible at communicating. I do hope that you don't mind. You are free to leave and stay as you please. You're not held here. You can go out with friends and live life normally. I just need someone to be around when I need them. Think of my home as your home. Your friends may come and visit as well. I have no issues with it. Just let my guard know and that is it. Of course, if you want to turn down the job offer after meeting with me, I understand.
I hope you have a good night,
Carter Anderson'
Ariana rolled her eyes and shot him a reply. Her heart caught in her chest as he continued to skirt around dating questions on the television.
'Hello Mr. Anderson,
I understand what I am to do. I had a wonderful time with Adalee learning how to do a lot of things. My head hurts from being overwhelmed, but I can manage. What do you mean by your driver is going to be here in the morning? I can't just pack things up myself? I already got my best friend to come over and help. If I am free to live life normally then I would like to say no to living with-'
She stopped typing as she heard him speak on the television.
"Yes. My mother passed away when I was a teenager. It was hard for my father and I, but we made do. Christmas was particularly difficult, but I tried to bring cheer during that time. Even now, I find myself not looking forward to my birthday or holidays." Carter shrugged as he played with the hem of his grey dress pants. His ankle was crossed over his thigh, and he was leaning back in the massive armchair.
"Your mother was an amazing actress with a kind heart. We all miss her. A real classy woman. Do you find that you see a lot of her in yourself?" The interviewer lacked a heart if she was going to pry about this subject.
"Don't we all see a little bit of our parents in ourselves, Ms. Conner?" Carter searched her eyes as the camera panned around and got closer to his broken gaze that was hidden behind his fake smile.
There it was. The pain that he was hiding. It was right there plain as day, but no one seemed to notice it. Ariana suddenly gasped and reached up to realize that tears were streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away and cleared her throat before she went back to typing her email. She erased the last sentence and started again.
'I look forward to moving in with you and I thank you for this opportunity. I will see you in the morning.
-Ariana Adams'
She shut her laptop and set it off to the side before her phone went off. She stared at the screen to see Rosalyn's name pop up. Her thumb slid across the screen to answer it. "Hello?"