-Caterina
She looks at me expectantly, but I just return it with a blank stare. I'm not exactly sure what she's expecting of me or waiting for.
She raises her eyebrows, but I just shrug in return. What the hell does she want?
It's as if we're having a staring contest. I haven't had one of those since I was a little kid, but I remember being pretty good at it. I'm sure I can win from her. She doesn't seem like the type who can sit still for too long or keep her mouth shut, for that matter. She's gonna break within the next few seconds and maybe then she'll actually tell me what the fuck she's waiting for. Cause in all honesty, I haven't the slightest clue.
I'm a little disappointed when my prediction gets proven wrong, as she's still wearing the same expression close to a minute later. I'm very tempted to break this contest myself and ask her what she wants, but I'm no quitter. However, it is starting to get a little bit uncomfortable. I don't even know her! And here she is starting into my soul with such intensity, it's almost as if I can feel her studying every little crook and fold of it. And I don't even know what for.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go," she finally breaks the silence with a groan. "Get in the car," she reaches her hand out to help me off the ground. "Gosh, I didn't realize you could be so stubborn," she mumbles more to herself then to me. I don't even know what she's complaining about. How was I supposed to know that her expression meant to get into her car? Which, mind you, I don't even know what it looks like. As if she expected me to just be able to read her mind! Maybe next time she should write it out on her forehead, it'll give me a better chance of figuring it out before she gets annoyed.
I'm pretty sure it won't be the last time her nerves start boiling because of me though. She's just proven to be easily bothered and I'm already known for being one to easily ruffle people's feathers.
So boy is this gonna be fun. Whatever the hell 'this' exactly is.
After checking that I'm following her more times then I could count in the short 2 minute walk to her car, she graciously opens the passenger door for me- after so kindly reminding me to brush off any remaining dirt off my ass from having sat on the dirty grass, before getting into her car. But not before taking my bags off me and placing them in the trunk, of course. Cause there's no way I could've done that myself, right?
"Don't forget to put on your seatbelt," she says, ever so kindly, as she closes the door for me once I'm seated. Cause I don't think I could've done that myself, either. Honestly, I'm surprised she doesn't help me put on the seatbelt, you know, just to be sure I actually know how those things work and what I'm supposed to do with it to secure it correctly.
She then takes her own seat and puts on her seatbelt, as she starts the car. She turns my way, to give me a big smile, before looking forward and pulling out of her parking spot. "It's not a very long drive," she says, not taking her eyes off the road. "It's only about like 15 minutes, but the view is pretty nice. I mean, I can take the faster route, which is only like 10 minutes, but it's through the city. So I like to take this route cause I get to see some of the nicer parts of the nature that's surrounding the city. I don't like walking there as much," She admits. "Certain parts can be a little scary to walk on. But if you follow the path you should be fine. I used to be very into adventuring the scary parts, but it turns out to be pretty dangerous, so I decided to just stick to the well walked paths and not risk my life trying to be cool," she lets out a little laugh, as she continues taking mostly to herself. I'm a little surprised at how much comes out of her mouth, when only five minutes ago it took her almost five minutes to tell me to get in the car. "But when I go for like my morning run and I don't have much time, I stick to the more traditional park that's right close to my house," she rambles on. "This I will only do when I don't have anywhere to be and I can actually enjoy the fresh air and the nice view."
I do have to agree with her that the view looks really nice. Even though we're kinda zooming past it pretty fast and I can't really see much, whatever I do manage to see looks beautiful. Definitely a place I'd like to explore.
"I don't know if you're into that stuff at all," she quickly casts me a glance before facing back forward. "But if you're ever interested, I would love to take you here. There's a couple of trails that can take a couple of hours, depending on which one. And then there's just the few that don't take very long and are only there to pass through for people that don't like taking the car. But all of them are great to have walked at least once in your life. It's like you learn how to appreciate the world much more when you're walking through these."
The rest of the ride gets passed in silence. She's very softly humming to herself, but I'm not at all focused enough to even try finding out which song she's singing. She seems like a very bubbly person, though. And to be completely honest, I have no idea why I agreed to come with her. A happy jolly person is definitely not what I need right now. But she's also so convincing, it is hard to say no. "Here we are," She interrupts my thoughts, as she parks the car. "Come on, let's go in," she gets out of the car and I follow her to the front door. She turns the key in the lock and opens the door, stepping aside to let me pass. However, I stay standing firmly where I am. I can't go in in front of her! It's her house! I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, which direction I'm walking in and what our destination is. I'm just blindly following instructions and I'm not even sure why. I literally have no fucking clue what got into my head when I nodded my approval to this lady and just followed her every command after that, but it definitely was not rational thinking- that much I do know.
"I'll lead the way," she says sweetly, realizing why I'm not moving.
I nod and follow her into the house, softly closing the door behind me. "Do I lock it?" I ask softly.
"Nah, it's okay," she waves her hand as a gesture to let it go. "Come follow me," she then turns back around and keeps walking deeper into the house.
I follow her silently as I look around. It looks like it's a very comfortable place. Not to small, but not huge either. Not too overly decorated, but not comeplety bare either. It's pretty simple looking, but it has a warm kind of vibe to it.
"Come sit," she smiles, as she walks into the living room and settles herself on a very cosy looking couch. "You can just leave your stuff on the floor for now, we're gonna get you settled soon. For now let's just relax and talk a little, yeah?"
I nod and let the strap of my bag fall off my shoulder, as it thumps to the floor right next to the couch. I then proceed to sit down, far away enough from her but not too far to make it obvious that I'm very unsure of what I'm doing.
"So, Caterina," she takes a deep breath and looks at me. "Is that what everyone calls you?" She furrows her eyebrows. "Or do you have like a nickname that you feel more comfortable with?"
"I have a lot of nicknames," I reply softly, not really looking in her direction. Why am I talking her? Why am I telling her anything?
"Any one you like in particular? Or you're good with your full name?" She continues asking. "I'm not asking because I don't like your name," she clarifies with a little chuckle. "I actually love your name, I think it's beautiful and it fits you so well. I'm just wondering, cause I know for myself that I like my nickname more then my full name, so I never want people to call me by my full name."
"Cara," I sigh. "I'm not really sure how that even comes from my name, but it's what most people usually call me when they're too lazy to say my full name," I try to give her a toothless smile and push away the ache that's growing in my chest. It's not my favorite nickname. But I can't let her use my favorite one, cause only my family uses that one. And she is definitely not family.
"Well, I think that's a beautiful name too," she scooches a tiny bit closer to me. "So, anyway, Cara," she says with an obvious smile to her voice. "I just wanted to go over some basic rules that apply in this house, before we get you all settled. Is that okay with you?"
I nod my head. "Sure." No, not sure, actually. What am I even doing? Why am I having such an incredibly hard time saying no to this woman? I know I'm gonna regret this.
"Good, well," she takes a deep breath. "I'm a person that likes to let things slide and I'm a big believer in second chances. But these rules are important and not to be played with, okay? I'm good with a lot of things and I can easily give in. But not when it comes to this. These are things I will not tolerate. Understood?"
Again, I nod my head.
"Okay, so rule number one- no drugs or alcohol in this house," her voice already has a stricter tone to it. "What you do outside of my house, I can't control. And if you wanna get high and wasted, even though I very very very strongly do not recommend it, that's still your choice. But you do not come in here until it's completely out of your system. I will not tolerate that kind of environment inside of these walls. So if it's late at night and you're cold and tired- tough luck. And maybe rethink your decisions a little better next time."
"I'm not a drug addict," I strangely feel the urge to defend myself to this lady.
She shrugs and smiles lightly again. "I didn't think you were. I'm just saying what would happen if you ever did decide to try that nonsense. But again, I strongly discourage anything to do with either drugs or alcohol," she pauses for a few minutes.
"Rule number two-" she then continues. "If you ever want to bring a boy, or girl for that matter, that's more then a friend home, you let me know first. I'm not gonna give you the sex talk, or be involved in your sex life in any way whatsoever," she says. "But you let me know when you're bringing your partner home."
"Why?"
"Because even though I will not lecture you on what you do with your body, I'd like to be informed of who's coming close to and or touching it. I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but I am looking out for you. I will let you try to figure things out for yourself and explore your own options and I'll do my best not to say anything even if I want to. But when I feel I need to, I will open my mouth and step in. Because, as long as you are under this roof, you are my responsibility and I take that very seriously."
"Is that all?" I ask, after we've both been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes.
She lets out a soft laugh and shakes her head. "Not quite yet," she says. "Rule number three- never let any strangers in the house. There's a camera that turns on when someone rings the bell. If you don't know who it is, you do not open under any circumstances. If I'm home, you call me and I'll come check. If I'm not home, you pretend you're not either. But you never ever open for someone you don't know, even if they look familiar. Rule number four- I have a medical supply closet somewhere upstairs. I'm not a doctor or anything, but you don't go in there without permission. If you need anything, you ask me and I'll come help you. But you do not open that closet and rummage through it without me. And lastly," her tone gets softer again. "Rule number five-" she takes another deep breath. "You make yourself as comfortable as you possibly can. This house is your home and you make yourself feel as much at home as you possibly could. No being shy or scared or uncomfortable. Rummage around, explore the house, the kitchen, the living room, whatever you want whenever you want," she smiles.
"So, those are all the rules," she finishes her speech, as she raises her eyebrows at me. "Do you understand them?"
I nod my head slightly. "Yes, ma'am."
She rolls her eyes and lets out a little laugh. "And another rule I didn't think I'd have to mention," she then adds. "No calling me ma'am," she tries to sound strict, but the smile on her face is giving her away. "There's no such formalities in this house. And with that I don't mean that this place is a dump or anything," she raises her eyebrows again. "We do act appropriately and we are polite and all that, but it is also a home. A warm and loving home. So we enjoy each other's company and we don't call each other ma'am or ask permission to use the restroom. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," I automatically respond, before looking at her and letting a tiny shy smile form on my face. "Sorry, Mrs.." I pause, realizing I don't even know what to call her.
At this she starts laughing and shaking her head yet again. "No, no. No Mrs. either," she says. "Demi. Just plain, old Demi. That's what you're gonna call me."
"Okay," I breathe out. "Plain, old Demi. I can do that."
Again I see a slight smirk playing at her lips, as she keeps shaking her head. "You're gonna be a hand full, dear," I hear her say softly. "I can already tell."