Chapter 1 - Chaos, Clean-Up, and Captivating Eyes

Yavannah Constantine

"Yaskier!" I yelled, gripping the phone tightly as I struggled to balance the boxes in my left arm. The door's pin pad buttons shone tauntingly as I stared at them, unwilling to drop my boxes to open the door.

"I've told you not to call me that, Anna," he sighed exasperatedly. I heard voices chuckling in the background of the call.

"Well, it's your name, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically, imagining him rolling his eyes at me in reply. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young man!" I shouted, making him cackle from the phone.

"How do you know I'm rolling my eyes?" he asked sarcastically.

"Because I'm your twin, you brat," I said, gritting my teeth when he echoed me annoyingly.

"Have you arrived?" he asked, and I nodded, forgetting that I was on the phone.

"Yes," I said begrudgingly as I reluctantly dropped the boxes on the floor and input the pin on the pin pad.

"Don't mess up my house. I'll be back in a few hours," he shouted, and I rolled my eyes. As if I was the one known for scattering things.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" he shouted, and I scoffed.

What a petty 22-year-old.

"Get out," I cursed, and he chuckled. "See you soon, baby sis."

I hissed audibly as the dial tone went off. I was literally older than him, but he seemed to make it a habit to call me his younger sister. Even if it was just a few minutes, I was still older.

Slipping the phone into the pocket of my sweats, I gathered the boxes back into my arms before wobbling into the open apartment.

Heaving a great sigh, I dumped the boxes onto a nearby armchair and reached around to close the door shut.

Resting my arms on my waist, my eyes scanned the wide area of the apartment, and realization settled in. It was actually scattered. Within just two days of arriving at his apartment in Italy, I had successfully wrecked it. Clothes were strewn all over the dining chairs and the living room, empty packs of Doritos and cans of beer lay on the floor from last night's binge-watching of my favorite Chinese drama. My eyes snapped to the digital clock on the television stand.

2:56 pm.

I had approximately two hours to clean this house and still prepare something for that brat to eat.

Resisting the urge to run up into my room and curl up in bed, I grabbed my phone, turned on the Bluetooth, and connected it to the house audio system.

The catchy intro of "In the Night" by Fly by Midnight set me in the mood, and I found myself looking forward to cleaning up.

Time seemed to fly, and before I knew it, two hours had passed. But as awesome and productive as I was, I had not only sparkled the whole apartment but prepared a sumptuous meal of pasta, risotto, and Italian sausage rigatoni. Store-bought tiramisu was the best option for dessert.

Now the only scattered and dirty thing left was myself. The ends of my dress shirt dripped with water, wetting my knees and dripping down my legs. I had a very big issue with washing dishes. Whenever I washed the dishes, I always got soaked despite wearing an apron.

Reaching out to untie the knot of the apron from my neck, I strained my eyes, trying to read the time from where I was at the dining table.

5:32 pm.

Yaskier would be here any minute, and I would rather be damned than let him see me like this. I wasn't in the mood for his taunting this evening.

My feet moved quickly as I turned away from the dining room and towards my room, stopping to throw the apron into the washer before scurrying inside.

Slipping off my wet clothes, I threw them into the hamper before running into the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the room lights.

Hot water spewed over me as soon as I turned on the shower. I grabbed my loofah and vanilla-scented body wash. More like vanilla and lavender-scented body wash because I mixed them into one bottle. Why, you ask?

I love the mixture of the two scents; it was quite intoxicating, dare I say.

My hands moved fast as I scrubbed from my neck down to my toes within a matter of seconds, not forgetting my feminine intimate body wash for my coochie.

Who doesn't like a sparkling vagina?

Rinsing off the loofah and hanging it back on the rack, I grabbed my lavender-scented shampoo and lathered it onto my hair, cringing slightly when the foam obscured my vision.

The sound of tires screeching in the driveway made me stop dead in my tracks. I struggled to clarify the sound I had just heard.

Realization registered slowly before I scrubbed off all the soap from my hair. Running my hands vigorously, I managed to get all the soap out in record time before jumping out of the shower, my wet foot almost slipping against the dry tiles. I grabbed my towel from the rack as I ran, hurriedly towel-drying my skin and hair.

The sound of the doorbell rang throughout the whole apartment, and I turned towards the door of my room.

Flinging my towel to the other side of Africa, I hurried towards my closet, grabbing a pair of underwear and a sports bra before slipping them on and grabbing a random nightdress.

The doorbell rang again, and I heard the familiar tune of my ringtone echoing from the dining area.

My eyes seemed to have lost focus for a few seconds as I passed through the doorway, jamming my knee into the drawer beside the door.

My lips spewed out my frequent string of curses as a sharp pain vibrated through my knee.

Ignoring the pain, I increased my speed, exhaling softly as I ran through the passageway and into the dining area, skipping over the small step that demarcated the living room from the dining area.

"Anna!" I heard Yaskier yell from behind the door, and I replied immediately.

"I'm coming!" I yelled, grabbing the latch and unfastening the lock.

I swung the door open finally, and familiar reddish-brown hair came into view.

His youthful face chuckled as he gathered me into his arms. "My sweet baby sister."

I forced the smile that was threatening to break out on my face back into the depths of Narnia as I grabbed his hair harshly from behind him.

"Ow, ow, that hurts, Anna!" he exclaimed, letting go of me immediately to grab my arm. "You're embarrassing me in front of my friends," he muttered, forcing me to let go of his hair.

I stared at him in confusion, wondering what friends he was talking about.

"Hello, Yavannah," a deep and authoritative voice called out.

My eyes flew immediately to the figure emerging from the doorstep, only to land on familiar green eyes.

Sensuous and enticing green eyes.