Page 24 of Teach Me How To Fly

“Good night, Anna.”

I smiled before ending the call, and then I put the phone on the bedside and snuggled in between the blanket’s cozy material.

I closed my eyes and I noticed that my lips were still curled up in a smile as I fell asleep.

Guess that’s what Maksen did to me.

I sleptin late and the moment I opened my eyes, I saw that the sun rays were strong enough to lighten the entire room.

As I stood up, I frowned as I heard some familiar voices coming from downstairs. They seemed to be Maksen’s and my father’s, but I wasn’t sure.

I got up from the bed and stretched my body, yawning and rubbing my forehead as a strong headache was announced to appear.

Great. That was a good start to a bad morning.

I led my feet to the bathroom and tried to do my routine, but the dizziness made my view go darker as I headed out of the room.

I made my way to the living room, but as soon as I heard Maksen’s voice, I felt as if my soul finally found its peace.

“She needs a psychologist, not surveillance cameras to be monitored, Lukyan!”

Was it because of my bad nightmare last night?

“I don’t care what you think she needs. You’ll do exactly as I say, no other useless comments!”

My father’s voice came out harsh, almost like he was ready to punch Maksen without hesitating. I mean, he did shoot him once, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.. I coughed so they would notice my presence when I stopped under the door frame.

“Why are you two yelling?” I briefly asked, gazing at the two men in front of me.

I usually don’t dig my nose into situations that do not concern me, but now it was something that included me, so I needed to know every little detail of it.

“We are not yelling. How did you wake up so late, my little Anna?” he told me as he offered me a smile.

His question came to me as a glimpse of the father I used to know before he shot my best friend and the boy he saved. For a moment, I hoped I wouldn’t ever have lived that day, because I was aware that he was not the same man I thought him to be. And it scared me because I loved him and I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do anymore.

I gazed at him, then moved my attention to Maksen who wasn’t even looking at me. I knew he was trying to avoid any situation that would prove to my father that we were close to each other. But I also knew at that moment he was a volcano ready to erupt and burn everything around.

He was tapping his foot nervously against the floor and biting his inner cheek, trying so hard to keep silent.

I didn’t know how I sensed that something was going on with him, but I simply did.

I felt him.

“I just needed more sleep,” I replied and massaged my temples, hoping to get rid of the headache that was starting to intensify.

“Go and eat your breakfast, and tell Olivia to give you a pill. You don’t seem so well today,” he said and the moment he spoke the last word, Maksen turned his head to me and looked me deeply in the eyes.

“Sure will.”

And with that being said, I turned on my heels and headed straight to the kitchen where I met Olivia. I wasn’t in the mood for any conversation, because my mind kept flying to what my father wanted to do with the surveillance cameras.

It wasn’t something I was really happy with, but I guess I had to accept and live with it. Just as I live with every other thing he does to me.

“Can I help you with something, Miss Annalise?”

“No, Olivia, thank you,” I quickly replied and took the bowl of granola with milk from the kitchen counter. “I’ll need a pill for a headache.”

She looked at me carefully, trying to figure out what happened to me exactly. I knew she was worried for me, but I didn’t really want to talk. She opened the cabinet and took out a bag of pills. She poured a glass of cold water and gave me one red pill.