4

I got out of the car.

"What are you doing?" I asked the men who were carrying furniture.

"Moving, miss. Mr. Grayson said to bring everything here."

"And where is Mr. Grayson?" I crossed my arms.

"Inside," one of them replied.

I hurried inside to find him. I heard voices upstairs, so I quickly climbed the stairs and found him in my bedroom, rummaging through the drawers.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I snapped. "Put that down," I said, snatching my babydoll from his hands.

"This is the master bedroom, right? It'll be mine."

Inhale, exhale.

"This is MY bedroom," I said through gritted teeth. "So go find the guest room or the janitor's closet, but you're not staying here. Get out! Shoo, shoo!" I pushed him out, but he was strong and didn’t budge.

"Hey, relax. The judge said we have to share everything. Half and half. So... why not? We could both sleep here."

Another mini heart attack was about to strike me.

"You want to kill me, don't you? Yes, that's why you're here. I die, and you get everything. Are you even listening to yourself? Sleeping with me? Not even in your dreams, mister." I slammed the table.

"It's already decided, Amanda. It's better if we start getting along because otherwise... you know what happens. This bed is a bit hard... I'll have it replaced with my mattress."

Defeated and tired, I headed to the balcony, wanting to jump off to end this once and for all. But I was too much of a coward and didn’t do it. I wanted to cry, but out of anger. He didn’t just want to take my house; now he wanted my bed too.

God, what did I do to deserve this? Is it because the other night I didn’t give alms to that man who asked for it? Is that why? If that’s the reason, I'll go find him right now and give him a decent job so he can be a working man and not continue begging. Lord, don't punish me like this.

"What are you doing?" Luke was behind me, and I jumped in fright.

I turned to face him.

"What? Do I have to share my thoughts with you too?" I crossed my arms.

He's so tall and handsome, the stupid jerk. I hate him for being so perfect.

"Maybe."

"But what we will share is the same bathroom," he says.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds before saying:

"There are like ten bathrooms in this house, and you decide to use mine," I muttered.

Luke headed towards the bathroom, so I followed him.

"Everything is pink," he complained. "It's very feminine." He looked at my creams, the flowers, the mirrors, the pink tub, my underwear... My underwear! I quickly took them off the drying rack, super embarrassed. Luke noticed and chuckled softly before clearing his throat.

"A few changes would be fine. It's spacious; I like it."

"You're a..." I sighed. "...better I leave. Do whatever you want." I left the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"Please don't touch anything in my room. If you want to change the rest, go ahead, but this place is sacred to me," I told him. "I'll be in the kitchen."

"Are you going to make me something to eat?"

"Of course," I said, thinking about putting some poison in his food. "Don't worry, I’ll do that." I smiled wickedly and stormed out of the room. My house was a mess. My house! It used to be my sanctuary full of peace and tranquility, but now it was turned upside down because of this handsome guy.

I'm in crisis.

I went to the kitchen where Lupita was preparing lunch.

"Miss, I’ve heard everything," she said. "My deepest condolences."

"Why are you calling me 'miss,' Lupe? I’m not old."

Besides, Lupe is my age, and we’re very good friends; she loves teasing me sometimes.

"Amanda, admit that Luke is... Gorgeous. I’ve never seen such an attractive and manly guy. Tell me he’s single."

"Single and a notorious womanizer. He’ll be living with us for a year."

"How lucky," she admitted, smiling, but quickly backtracked when I shot her a killer look. "I mean... how unfortunate."

"Now everything's going to change. He wants to sleep in my bed with me, Lupe! With me!"

Lupe gave me a flirtatious look.

"Out of all the rooms in the house, he decided to stay with you," she nodded.

"What?"

"It's very... strange. I mean, a guy like that would want to sleep alone, but he decided to stay with you in your pink room."

"Yeah... he’s doing it just to annoy me. This is war."

"I think he likes you."

I laughed.

"What? Of course not."

I bit my lower lip.

"I’m telling you he does, and time will prove me right, dear. Do you want something special for lunch? I suppose I also have to cater to Mr. Luke now."

"No. Just do what you always do, Lupe; that man is just an intruder."

"Ama, you know I can’t do that. Now he’s my boss too."

"No, I’m your boss because I hired you. If he wants his personal chef, he should get one."

Lupe gave me a terrified look.

"And what if he invades my kitchen too? That’s a no-go."

"Doesn't it feel awful?" I teased her.

"You’re mean, Amanda."

"Oh, here you are," the devil's voice chimed in.

Lupe stood up straight.

"Hello, Mr. Luke. I’m Lupe, the cook of the house, and I’m at your service."

"Nice to meet you, Lupe. We’ll have to coordinate the meals and all that. I’m very strict about my diet," said that idiot while I was munching on a bag of chips, making noises with my mouth. "I don't like anything fried, and I especially dislike junk food around," he emphasized the last part just for me. "If you have any issues with that, I can have someone come to help you in the kitchen, someone I trust completely."

I looked at Lupe.

"No, no, I can handle it. Don’t worry about that."

"Alright, but I’ll still ask my personal chef to come by just to show you what I like and what I don't."

Luke snatched the bag of chips from my hands.

"Hey!"

"This is really bad for you," he said. "Lupe, get rid of all this junk food," he ordered, acting like he was the master and lord of the house.

"Enough, Luke! You can’t just come in and start giving orders like you’re the only boss here." I confronted him.

Luke sighed.