❁Words don't have the power to hurt you, unless the person who said them means a lot to you.❁

Sometimes I think my hands would do my signature even when I'd be dead. That's what happens when you sign thousands of papers and cheques everyday. A donation cheque for one the churches catches my eye as I move my pen over it to sign.

In every six months, a one hundred thousand dollar cheque is donated to this church for the orphan kids but I never went there by myself to see if the sum is really being used in children's welfare.

They're having a fundraising event today, and have invited me as well. I didn't think I would go but perhaps I should. Maybe this time I should handover this cheque by myself.

***

Sheltering my blue eyes with black shades, I stand proudly at the church's fundraiser event for orphan kids.

Holy Jesus Christ.

“ Mr. Anderson, we're honoured to have you here. ” Pastor John comes cross to shake hands with me. “ Sir, please this way. ”

He first gives me a tour of all of the arrangements they have made for kids then takes me towards the special guest's seat, in the grass area. “ Sir, the event is about to start. ”

I'm honestly satisfied with the arrangements they have made for the kids. Kids hold a special place in my heart. Those little innocent faces, no lies, no worries. Just like the cute little versions of Jesus Christ.

There's a different kind of peace in this noisy place.

The host makes an announcement for the first performance while I make a quick attempt to check my recent mails.

“ This world is as big and as small as you want to dream,

And the people here, are as mean as pretty they seem.

They are strange, and weird, and selfish, and their forever is limited,

How come the love that once overwhelmed them, they can no longer feel it?

They take decisions, then back off, then act like saints,

But consequences are more about who's to be punished than who's to be blamed.

I'm a little girl, still carrying the punishment of a sin I don't own,

Am I not little too young to learn I will have to stand for myself when everyone else is gone.

Heavens, if ever given a chance, I'd rather choose to be blamed than to carry this punishment,

Because every hurtful word hurts a little less than being called abandoned. ”

I think I recognise this face and the voice. What the heck is Noriana doing here? At a fundraising event for orphan kids? She hates kids, doesn't she?

Not bad, I knew she writes some stupid chick lit kind of books. But this poet version of her is definitely something new. There's a reason why I always say, Noriana 2.0 is full of surprises.

Her tongue stutters as her eyes meet mine. I sometimes really pity her. Poor she, everytime she tries to avoid me, our destiny makes us confront each other.

The glow on her face loses its shine however she properly finishes her poem. And walks off the stage.

Dear Lord, no. I didn't want to stress her out.

“ Sir, meet Miss Nora Williamson. She's one of the most kind hearted person. I don't think I even need to state how much she loves kids. ” the Pastor introduces Noriana to me being oblivious to our relationship.

“ Miss Nora, this is-- ”

“ Hans Nicholas Anderson. I know him. He's a famous businessman who masters at making deals and screwing up a beautiful day. It was lovely meeting you. ” she taunts after cutting Pastor off, leaving me dumbfounded.

She's super mad at me this time.

“ Pastor John, I'm sorry but I've got some urgent job to take care of. ” she says and leaves without waiting for any consent from him.

“ Um-- Mr. Anderson, she- she's not like this. She's generally very polite, I am-- ”

“ That's fine. I've got some urgent work too. I anticipate you won't mind.” without waiting for a second, I run like a bat from hell after Noriana.

Lord, I need to clear everything. I'm sure we both have been living under a big misunderstanding.

“ Nora! Stop. ” I shout as I see an English girl in peach colour dress. It feels very weird to call her Nora but I reckon she doesn't like when I call her Noriana.

I expected her to continue walking away but on the contrary she stops. Turns towards me, crossing her arms against her chest, she waits for me to cross the distance.

Why am I nervous?

I decelerate my speed and slowly walks towards her. “ I- I wanted to ask--”

“ Seriously? You have the courage to stand here and question me. Hans, I'm so done with you. Can you just, for a day, leave me alone. ” her cheeks turn red out of anger. “ Hans Creepy Anderson! ”

“ Nora, let me just-- wait what did you call me? ”

“ Yeah that's right, you're the biggest creep I've ever seen. Mr. Creepy Anderson. ”

“ You're forgetting whom you're talking to. ”

“ Oh really? But why do I doubt that? Oh yes, because I know that I'm talking to Mr. Male Bitch who has been the pain in my arse since the second my fate crossed yours. ”

Ouch. This Male Bitch doesn't sound sexy at all. How dare she? Now where the heck is she going. The taxi stops right in front of me, she slides in, and leaves and I keep standing like a ghost.

Noriana, now my next move will be the consequence of your actions.

***

Church's fundraising event for orphan kids. Where else could I be when my roommate got married last night and moved to her husband's place. That implies, I've got no one to hang out with on the weekend.

So volunteering for those innocent kids who don't even know why would their parents bore them and then left them like this, seemed to be the best option.

But the shocker is, how on earth did I not know that Hans was coming to the event. I'm his assistant for heaven's sake. I schedule all his meeting and visits.

Throwing my bag on the table I lie on the couch hugging my little teddy, Mr. Henry. Let's just watch a movie or something. I don't want to remember anything that he told me yesterday, on Josie's wedding.

I stretch my hand to grab the remote when the door bell of my apartment rings.

This man got no chill.

“ Oh Mrs. Doris. Hello. Welcome. ” I welcome the Landlady, who rang the door bell. Guess Creep Male Bitch finally thought about his self respect. But why is she here?

“ Nora, I wanted to tell you something. ”

Okay, everybody needs to stop telling and asking me things.

“ Yeah, sure. ”

*Ding Dong*

The bell rings once again. I open the door to find the most expected human. Mr. Hans Creepy Anderson.

“ What now? ” I ask rudely.

“ Someone called me creep. I thought why not be one. ” he pushes me aside and enters inside like he owns the apartment.

Oh heavens. Let me just talk to Mrs. Doris first. Mr. Creep's drama can wait.

“ Mrs. Doris you were saying something? ”

“ Yes, actually I want you to vacant this apartment. ”

Wait what!?

“ W- why? I- I paid the whole rent, in fact a month in advance. ” I blurt. “ Yes, and I'm returning it to you. ” she hands me some cash.

“ You paid rent for previous three months very late. I can't tolerant this lack of punctuality. ” she explains being so kindly cruel.

“ Yeah because I lost my job but as soon as I got my salary from the new job I gave you the whole rent. ” I reply.

“ But I can't trust you anymore. ”

“ You can't what? Mrs. Doris, last time when I met you, you said it was fine, and we're cool. ”

“ And now I'm saying we're not. What if you lose your new job? ”

“ Why would you say that? I'm-- ” before I could complete my sentence Hans jumps into the conversation.

“ Can I say something here?” he asks.

“ No. ” I say.

“ Thank you. Hello Mrs. Doris, it's really nice to meet you, I presume you're the landlady of this apartment. ” he takes her hand and places a kiss on her knuckles.

“ I'm Nora's boss. And I think it's relevant to mention it here that she's very arrogant and rude in my office-- ”

“ Hey, what the hell are you saying? I'm not arrogant and rude! ” I yell in frustration. Seriously? Now? I'm about to get homeless and he's bitching about me to my landlady.

“ See, see, that's what I'm talking about. She's rude, always late, and she's super messy. I'm a fan of cleanliness, you know. I can fire her anytime soon. So now the decision is yours. ” he gives a full smirk and I stare at him with my mouth dropped open.

“ Nora, you just have one day. I want the keys by tomorrow. ” Mrs. Doris declares and leaves.

“ Oops. ” Hans gives out an evil scoff.

“ Do you have any idea about what did you just do? What am I gonna do now? I've nowhere to go. How am I gon-- ”

“ Move in with me. ” he says being as calm as he can be.

No wait. I heard it wrong.

“ What? ”

“ Yeah, move in with me. You can stay at my home. ”

“ Hold a second. I think you're trying to say ' Yeah, that's how I take my revenge ' but honey that's not what you're saying. ” I mimic him in a heavy accent.

My heavens, am I dreaming or what? What on earth is happening?

“ You said you have nowhere to go? ”

“ And which one of my words meant I'd go with you? ”

“ You can't find a shelter in a day where you can shift all of your luggage, including this tiny old bear Mr. Henry. ”

Valid point.

“ I Am Not Going With You. ” I spit every single word as clear as I can.

“ Come on, love. You know it's too boring here without that doctor roommate of yours. ”

“ So? ”

“ So it will fun to live next door to your enemy, 'tis I. ”

Another valid point.

It's actually so boring without Josie. And I don't even have a place to go. Maybe, I should go with him. My life can't be screwed anymore, anyway.

“ Just one month. ” he speaks like he's trying to negotiate.

“ What? ”

“ Live at my place for just one month. And in exchange you'll get your freedom. After this one month, you can work or leave my job according to your will. I will never intervene in your personal life. Just one month with me. ” he elaborates.

Wow. Does he really mean that? Will he really never intervene in my personal life? Will he really leave me just like that? Am I feeling hurt? Is it really that easy to forgot someone in one month?

“ W-why? I mean--”

“ I'm done with you. I want something new in my life rather than ruining yours. I'm bored. I want to finally end this. ”

Oh okay. He's bored, of me. He wants something new. Some new toy. Great. Guess I'm done with him too.

“ Fine. Just one month. ”

***

Fantastic, now I can finally search for her diary in her room as she's busy talking to the packers and movers agency.

Where is it? Where is it?

Oh Lord, her bookshelf is filled with thousands of stupid chick lit books but where is her diary? Looking for her diary my eyes fall upon a random book instead.

What is it? Seriously? Noriana Williamson reads Scarlet Snow's books. The same author Andrew told me about. What is so special in her writings that every women loves to read it? Without thinking much I slip the book in my coat's inner pocket.

Hans, focus. I think she wouldn't place her personal diary among these books.

I should check it in her cupboard.

“ What are you trying to find in my room? ” My eyes shut close tightly and I mentally facepalm myself as her voice reaches my ears, while my hands inside her cupboard.

“ I was- um-- ” I turn towards her slowly in order to buy some time to think of an appropriate answer. “ I was looking for my photo. ”

“ In my cupboard? ”

“ Yeah I mean, you took all of our photos when you left Manchester. But considering the fact you can't resist my charms, you must have hidden them somewhere here, haven't you? ” I bluff, just to cover up the situation but she seems to be taking it quite seriously.

“ Shut my cupboard. Leave the book on bed, that you stole from my bookshelf. And get your bloody arse out of my room. ” her face is turning red and her rage is fuming. I better back off this time. Since I will have plenty of it when she'd be living in my house.

❤❤❤

Hello, gorgeous ٩( ᐛ )و

❁ I wrote that poem, just in case you wonder. 👉🏻👈🏻

❁ Nora will be staying at Hans' home. You're going to love the upcoming chapters.

❁ How are you?

Wipe your tears by yourself. They mean nothing to the ones who don't care. And they break hearts of the ones who care.