Chapter 4

Isabella's pov:

"Where are you taking it?"

Mr Martinez asked me while I was eating lunch at the dining table so I turned and looked at the direction he pointed and saw the guitar lying near the door.

"My friend is participating in the freshy contest so he needs a guitar."

"But I bought it for you."

"I'm not using it so it's better to lend to him for a few days than keeping it aside by one corner leaving dust to form all over it."

"Why aren't you playing it then?"

I ignored him and finished with my food and tried to leave the dining hall.

Mr Martinez asked, "Where are you going?"

"To give the guitar to him."

"I have some business to do so I'll take you there."

"It's fine. I'll go with Mateo."

While I was wearing the shoes, Mr Martinez took the guitar and left the house. I tiptoed with one leg and asked, "Where are you taking it? I have to give it to my friend."

"I'll take you there." And he got into the car.

I let out a sigh and put on my shoes.

In the car, Mr Martinez was sitting in the driver's seat.

I asked him, "Are you going to drive? Do you know how to?"

"Haven't you seen me driving before?"

I shook my head and said, "No. Never once."

"Get in the car."

"Do you have a licence?"

"It's getting late for my meeting. I have to drop you and get to my office so get inside."

When I opened the back door of the car, he closed it and ordered, "Take the front."

I took the front seat and asked him, "Do you really know how to drive, Mr Martinez?"

He started the car and asked, "Are you ready?"

I gripped the handle tightly and said, "Yeah."

He made a smirk and started the car and took it out of the house. To my surprise, he was driving pretty smoothly. Since I never saw him driving the car, I got scared in the beginning but he's doing it well. I heard Big brother saying something like Mr Martinez doesn't know how to drive so he always takes a driver along with him. Did Big Brother lie to me?

I asked Mr Martinez, "Um… Big brother said that you don't know how to drive, is it a lie?"

"Yeah, in the beginning. But I learned it."

"Oh, okay."

"Where's your friend's house?"

I said the address and showed him the way through the map.

While I was sightseeing outside, I asked him, "By the way, How many cars do you own, Mr Martinez?"

"Don't you know that?"

"I always took Mateo's car so I didn't pay attention to others. Coming to the cars again, how many do you have?"

"Maybe around 6."

"6? Are you kidding me? Why do you have six cars if you're going to drive in one? Are you that rich?"

He smiled and said, "I think so."

"So you could buy anything you want, right?"

"What?"

"You don't have to wait until you save the money for something you wanted to buy. Sounds fun."

"What are you blabbering?"

"Nothing."

I continued sightseeing through the window. Even though I started staying at his house, his money made me awkward around him every time I was beside him. He runs a company, owns a house… a really big house, a lot of cars. I don't know how to get over this inferiority complex inside me.

"We've arrived."

"Huh?"

I looked around and saw Jose's house on the right side of Mr Martinez's car.

I got out of the car and tried to take the guitar from the back of the car.

Mr Martinez took it before I did and said, "I'll take it."

I walked around the car and tried to get the guitar from him but he didn't let me.

I said, "It wasn't that heavy. I can carry it."

"It's fine. I'll take it."

"You said you have some business to do. Go and do it."

"This is my business." And carried it to Jose's house.

I walked behind him and asked, "What if he asks about you? How will I introduce you to him?"

"I'll take care of it."

"What if…"

Before I finished, he said, "No more what ifs. If you want to help me, go and ring the bell."

"Why are you always speaking in an orderly tone? I'm not your slave."

"Okay. I'll take it back to the car."

I stopped him, "Wait, wait. I'll ring the bell."

I pressed the doorbell and said, "And, Remember that I'm not your slave."

Someone opened the door, it's Jose.

"Hey!" I waved at him.

He gave me a hug and said, "I thought you would bring it tomorrow."

"You know that I don't back away from my words. And, I had free time today."

"Come inside."

When I looked at Mr Martinez, he looked kinda irritated. What's with his expression?

I walked inside the house and Mr Martinez followed me carrying the guitar in his hands.

Jose took the guitar from Mr Martinez's hands and said, "I'll take it to my room. You two have a seat." And left upstairs.

Mr Martinez and I sat in the living room together waiting for Jose to come down.

"Mr Martinez, why are you still here?"

With his fierce face, he asked, "Why are you chasing me out?"

"What's up with your attitude? And, why do you look mad?"

"Do you hug every guy friend like that?"

I burst out into laughter and said, "Don't say that you're jealous, Mr Martinez. You can't get jealous over me."

"Why do you think like that?"

When I was about to answer him, Jose came downstairs which made me look at him.

Jose poured three glasses of juice and gave it to us and took one for him.

I picked up the glass and said, "Why can't I see anyone in the house? Where's your parents?"

"Dad and mom are in their studio. It'll take almost 6 or 7 hours for them to finish their work. It's all me for now."

"Ah, huh…"

He punched my shoulder and said, "Don't tease me."

"By the way, have you decided the song that you're going to play during the talent show?"

"Not yet, I'm kinda stuck in the part choosing the song. What about you helping me?"

"Actually, I can do that for you but don't blame me if you lose the competition because of me."

"Is your choice that bad? I want to know how bad your selection is. Come on, tell me." And made fun of me.

Mr Martinez interrupted and said, "Her choice has never gone wrong."

I almost got flattered by his answer. Where did he learn to talk like that?

Jose asked me, "Really? Then, you're the one who's choosing the song for me."

Wow! Jose was teasing me just a few minutes ago. Now he wants me to choose his song after hearing from Mr Martinez. Did he get influenced after Mr Martinez said to him?

I smiled and looked at Mr Martinez. He was still having a grim face. What's with him?

After talking with Jose about the songs, Mr Martinez and I tried to leave.

Jose asked me, "Is your brother always like that?"

"Brother?" I laughed when he mentioned Mr Martinez as my brother.

Mr Martinez said with an irritated tone, "I'm not her brother."

Jose gave a confused look.

While I was figuring out what to tell him, Mr Martinez held my hand and said, "Let's go."

What is he doing in front of Jose? What will Jose think about us? What if he asks about Mr Martinez? Why is Mr Martinez being like this?

I said to Jose who was looking at our hands, "Hey! We'll see on Monday. Call me if you need any help."

He gave a nod and waved his hand at me.

After getting into the car with Mr Martinez, I remained silent when he talked to me.

He asked, "What happened? Why aren't you speaking?"

"Why do I have to talk to you?" I asked while looking outside the window.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why are you asking me like you don't know anything about it?"

"I really didn't know why you're mad at me."

I let out a sigh and asked him, "Why did you grab my hand in front of Jose?"

"I didn't grab it. I was holding it."

"Whatever. Why did you do that in front of him? He's not someone I see in college. He's my friend who's going to stick with me everyday."

"Is he only a friend?"

"Don't act like you're jealous. Tell me why did you do that?"

"I don't like him."

"Why? Is it because he hugged me?"

He gave a stare and continued driving the car.

I asked, "Why are you making my everyday life so complicated? Wasn't it enough when you're fooling me? Wasn't it enough when you lied to me?"

"What do you like to eat?"

I remained silent after hearing him talking with no sense.

After a while, Mr Martinez stopped in front of a diner. He got out of the car and walked around and opened the door for me. I ignored him and stayed in the car.

He ordered, "Get down."

I folded my arms and said, "I won't."

"Let's eat. Get down."

Is he thinking he can boss me around? Who does he think he is? I'm not going to do whatever he says.

Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and made me get out of the car.

I asked, "W-What are you doing?"

He closed the door behind and locked the car. I tried to remove his hand from my arm but he gripped it tightly.

"Let go of my hand."

"Let's get inside first." And took me inside the restaurant.

Wow! The infrastructure of the diner was so diverse from its outside layout. It looked ancient when I saw it from the outside but inside, it looked so traditional and fashionable. I wonder how a traditional diner can look like a classy one? I bet they put a lot of effort into interior design.

Mr Martinez asked me, "Like the restaurant?"

"Not bad. Let go of my hand first. I'm not running anywhere."

He let go of my hand and made me settle on a table and sat in front of me. He passed me the menu and said, "Choose what you like to eat."

"Don't think you can bribe me with food."

I took the menu card and looked at a lot of dishes. The name itself tastes delicious. I ordered some out of curiosity to taste it. After the food was served, I started to dig in since I felt thirsty after seeing the dishes.

While I was eating, Mr Martinez asked, "Do you like the food?"

"Not bad." And continued eating the food.

After finishing the food,

Mr Martinez asked, "Is that enough or do you like to order some more?"

"I'm good."

"Fine. I'll pay the bill."

When he called out to the waiter, I said, "I… I want to try some ice cream."

When the waiter came, he asked for the bill.

"If you're going to ask for the bill then why did you ask me?"

Another waiter came and placed the ice cream in front of me.

"I already ordered it for you."

I rolled my eyes and started eating it. While I was eating, he poked the ice cream with a spoon and took some from mine.

"Why did you take mine? If you want it, then order for yourself. Don't take mine."

While I was giving a death stare at him, he ignored it and took a scoop from my ice cream cup and ate it.

"That's enough. Stop taking mine."

"I don't like ice cream."

"Then, why did you take mine if you don't like it?"

"I always see you eating ice cream heartily so I wanted to have a try. To know why you like it so much."

"And, did you get your answer for that?"

He said, "No."

Hmph! I continued eating my ice cream.

In the car,

"Argh! Why do I feel tired already?" I leaned back in the seat and looked through the window.

Mr Martinez tried to pat my head, seeing him I flinched back and said, "W-What are you doing?"

After a while, he said while driving, "You can sleep if you want to."

"Don't need it." And continued looking outside.

I let out a sigh and thought about tomorrow. What am I going to do on the weekends? After joining college, I dropped every part time job since Mr Martinez mentioned it in the contract. Because of that, I hate every weekend that comes. And, It's been months since I met my high school friends since I joined college. Should I go and meet them this weekend? Let's ask them if they're free when I get to the house.

Because I dozed off many times front and back in my seat, Mr Martinez said, "Lean on me and try to get some sleep."

"Don't talk weird." And leaned on my left side of the car.

"I learned it for you."

"What?"

"I learnt how to drive because of you. I wanted to take you on my own without a driver. I wanted to drive for you."

"Mr Martinez, what's wrong with you? Did you hit your head on something or what?"

"I think so."