“This is my house. Welcome to your workplace.”

“What the hell?” I yell as I enter, and my loud voice corrupts the sacred silence inside the huge mansion-like house. The place I’m currently at is a dream come true for anyone. “What do your parents do for a living?”

“My mother works in the sales department of a digital company that makes smartphones, and my dad is a chef in a big, restaurant chain." Spinning in the center of the living room like an overjoyed dancer on stage, Naomi Mitaki yelled, with a loud scream a lot more different than how she was talking back on the rooftop. "It’s not like I asked for it myself. They just realized that I wasn’t doing well, psychologically, back at home. So, they sent me here, for higher education, and a change of mood.”

She runs past the living room and dashes up the stairs as if it’s the first time she’s ever had a guest. She acts like a grandma. “Let me get your room ready.”

Wait a minute.

“Did you just say HIGHER education?”

“Yes.”

“As in a better quality of education services, right?”

“You tell me.”

“SO, YOU’RE A COLLEGE STUDENT?”

“University sophomore. I certainly don’t look like one. I was also surprised when I found out that you were still handling high school.”

Handling high school.

As if it’s a problem, which has some truth to it, at least for me; at least for now.

“Well, I guess there are people bigger than me everywhere I go.”

“Don’t worry about it, little one.”

“If you keep up the short girl bullshit I'm not paying you.”

“I apologize for my disgusting comment, master,” I beg for forgiveness. But on the inside, I am quite glad that my boss decided to merely cut my pay, instead of just “Letting Me Go”.

“That’s more like it.” She’s so easy to satisfy.

“Now that all is settled,” her tone suddenly changes. Her atmosphere becomes as cold as ice. Even though the heaters are on, I’m experiencing the shattering blizzard of winter inside this house. Her heavy gaze lands upon me and her lips move slightly; just like that time, on the building, my heart simply refuses to work, and I’m left, petrified by something I’m not even familiar with. This girl has the presence of a real boss; she probably takes after her mother in that sense.

“All that remains, is the final promise.”

“What promise?”

“Will you promise me, that you will never fall in love with me?” That’s all she wants. That’s all she asks for. It seems disgustingly cliché, like a redundant piece of plot a romance writer would put in just to make interactions between two characters spicier, but I can understand where this promise comes from. If the thing between us, whatever it is, develops into something more, it’ll change everything. It leaves nothing but harmful consequences. If I somehow fall in love with her or vice versa, she'll either end up spoiling me, and doing everything for me, and I'll end up pulling her down and causing her problems, if not abusing her love for more money. I don't know what she has in her mind, but that's something anyone would be worried about,

I stay silent.

No.

Not this time.

I won’t use the silence to my advantage this time.

This time, I’ll talk.

“I’ve been told many times that making someone promise something only increases the chances of them breaking it.” My retort is as rapid as a bullet; one she gladly receives but doesn’t respond to.

She says nothing but stares into my eyes.

What I said was true. It probably wasn't right, and it probably wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was honest. Because that promise, was already broken and making me promise that only made me realize it sooner than later; that I was already infatuated with her on the rooftop. Because her atmosphere is the closest thing I can call home.