"Please help me with a cup of coffee, Jerald," said a young adult sitting at the dining table, reading a newspaper to a man who looked to be above his sixties.
"Yes, Young Master Luka", Jerald replies before going to get the cup of coffee from the kitchen.
Luka, with his usual blank and slightly saddened expression, turns away from the newspaper and looks at Jerald as he enters the kitchen and comes back out with a cup of coffee.
"Your coffee, young master," he says, placing the coffee on the table in front of Luka.
He picks up the coffee and has a sip of it before facing Jerald, "I've always told you not to call me young master anymore," he says, flipping a page of the newspaper.
Luka isn't actually interested in the news on it, but rather the various art forms that are on it.
"It's already been three years since Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been gone, and I've been telling you all this time to stop addressing me as that."
"I'm sorry, Young Master, I guess old habits die hard", the old man said while smiling, unsurprised at what Luka had just said.
"Anyway, isn't it about time you got retired?!" Luka said, still focusing on the newspaper and sipping his coffee at intervals. "Even though I want you to stay personally, I can't force you to live here forever. You should be spending this time of retirement, relaxing with your family or maybe going to live somewhere in the countryside or something".
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Master Luka",
"I had decided, the day that my master and his wife took their last breaths and were laid to rest that I would look after you until I see that you are ready to build a family of your own, with someone that you love and…" he keeps quiet suddenly, afraid that he might have said something that would dampen Luka's mood and ruin the atmosphere of the beautiful day.
Luka, without making a single expression, says, "If that is your wish, then you might as well be prepared to live out the rest of your days in this large empty mansion," then he closes the newspaper that he was reading.
"I doubt I would be getting married anytime soon, that's assuming I actually fall in love or someone actually likes me, talk of less if I get married", he sips the last bit of coffee in the cup and stands up from the table, about to leave the house.
"If that is what fate wills, then I would gladly serve you for the rest of my days in this very mansion," Jerald says gladly, then he bows, lifts his head, and takes the cup back to the kitchen.
Jerald has served the Anderson household for over twenty-eight years, and during that time, he has seen a lot of various things happen within the walls of the mansion.
He was aware of the predicaments that befell the Andersons seventeen years ago. They had lost their only son, who was in his late twenties. He was also on board the same ship where Luka lost his family. It was only fate that their paths crossed, and he was adopted by them.
Jerald saw them in pain after losing their son, only for them to adopt a boy a year later, who, from the looks of it, was in a state worse than them who lost their son.
Jerald, being a kind-hearted person, could not bear to leave Luka now because he had seen that whatever he passed through had left him traumatized and scared deeply, and the boy had shown no emotion for the past sixteen years. He was determined to help Luka in any way he could to regain himself and see how he would turn out, even if it cost him his life.
"I'm leaving now, Jerald. I'll be back by evening," says Luka, taking his bag from the couch, putting on his white headphones, and heading towards the front door.
Jerald comes out of the kitchen, "I look forward to your return, young master Luka," and returns to do his chores, and Luka steps out of the mansion.
The day was bright, but humid, and with dark clouds scattered about, it gave a sort of neutral, natural look to the environment.
Luka has always preferred to walk to school right from middle school, because it gave him more time to think, admire nature, and prepare the next idea for his next painting.
The morning winds, together with a little harsh breeze from the incoming rains, blew over his stoic face, pushing his dark blue hair into a mild frenzy, revealing his piercing ocean blue eyes and a face handsome enough to rival fictional characters.
"Huh, it'll be raining soon, I really don't want to be soaking wet on my first day of college," he sighs as he looks up at the clouds before opening the umbrella he brought with him in case of the very same situation, and he keeps walking.
"Oh, jeez, why did I have to forget my umbrella today of all days?!" Brianna says, panicked and pacing frantically under a bus stop stand while the rain had begun showering. Luka, fascinated by her looks, stares at her a bit before walking past her.
Brianna forgot her umbrella in a hurry, not to miss her first lecture of the semester in college, since she's a first-year student, and she really doesn't want to start by missing classes, so she had started becoming desperate.
"Uhm, excuse me." She said anxiously with her light-pitched voice.
Luka, noticing her desperately calling out, even though anxiously, turns back to respond to her call. A sudden gust of wind blows as he turns back, and it blows through his hair, and a little flash of sunlight refracted by the falling rain shines through his eyes, making a reflection of a cool blue sea.
Stunned by the handsome face and the whole action that just occurred within a brief second, she suddenly becomes too shy to speak.
"Uhm, please can I perhaps join you for a while?" she stutters and begins speaking out of anxiety, "Uhm, I'm kind of heading to Brookstone college nearby, but I forgot my umbrella."
She then stops talking after realizing that she had said so much without even asking the most important question.
Then she thinks to herself, "What is up with you, Brianna? This guy's gonna think you're a total weirdo."
So she calms down and sighs, "I'm sorry, I'm just feeling anxious. Are you by any chance heading towards Brookstone?!"
Without even flinching, He nods and moves closer to her so she can get under the umbrella.
The walk to school had just become very awkward, at least for Brianna, while Luka couldn't really care less. All he did was steal glances at her for an idea for his next portrait while she was busy being nervous about walking to school with someone so handsome.
As they approach the entrance to Brookstone College, the rain clouds begin to disperse, and the rain stops.
"Thank you very much for all your help", she says to Luka, who is closing up his umbrella. He nods lightly, confirming that he had heard her, and so she tries to speed up to meet her friends, who she could see standing at the gate waiting for her.
"Hey guys, I'm coming…" she says and waves while trying to move quickly, but then she mistakenly slips and falls backwards.
Next thing she knows after she slipped is that she's in the hands of the gorgeous, sapphire-haired, blue-eyed hottie she walked to school with.. He had caught her, and while looking at her in that position, they had locked eyes.
With his normal blank stoic expression, "Are you alright?!"
His deep vibrating voice sent shivers down her spine, though it wasn't as deep as a few people's; she felt his voice was more melodious than music to the ears.
"Try to be more careful next time," He helps her to stand up straight.
"Thank you," She Said, her face all red, both out of embarrassment and anxiety. Everyone around the area watches the two of them in awe, jealousy, excitement, envy, and a variety of emotions.
Then she walks away quickly but gently this time, to her friends who were waiting for her.
"Hey, who's that guy you were just with?" Brittney says to Brianna in excitement as they enter through the gates.
Luka stood on the spot for a moment, trying to capture that moment and envision a portrait of it before going into the school premises.