Ambivalence /am-biv-uh-lence/
𝑛. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

AVELINA SLOWLY WALKED towards his shower. It was glass that quickly became a blur thanks to the condensation that coated the inside of it. Her breath was shaky as he undid the bun she had put in his hair and allowed the water to cascade through it.

"I'm not sure how I could help you when you're in the shower," she pointed out. He glanced over at her but returned to doing what he had been doing. There was something hypnotizing about him. Even when she would look off in the distance, she always seemed to find herself glancing over at him to see how he washed his hair and soaped up his beautiful body.

Asperger's was a form of autism, she knew that. She also knew that she wasn't an idiot. Adrik seemed perfectly capable of taking care of himself. The only question left in her mind was what he needed her for. He clearly wasn't in need of assistance like some of the elderly people she worked with.

"Why am I here?" She asked. Avelina was wishing that she could see his facial expression but the heat of the shower was making things beyond difficult.

"You're a caregiver," he answered as if the answer was obvious.

"You're right. I take care of people who need to be taken care of. You don't need help. You can cook, clean, bathe, everything-all on your own," she said. He turned off the shower and pushed open the door leaving her stunned. It happened too quickly. Especially when her eyes traveled down to his region. Her cheeks burned up as she quickly turned to look away.

"I can't do everything," he said. She wondered if he was angry. Based on the coldness that seemed to suddenly travel off of him in waves, she knew she probably struck a nerve.

"What can't you do?" She pushed. He turned to look at her before quickly looking away. She noticed the way his jaw clenched and his fist pulled together tightly. He was angry.

"I have Autism, Avelina. I'm a retard," he said. She cringed at the words. It wasn't kind of him to say that, and she only wished he knew the delicacy behind that word. He wasn't unintelligent he probably did know how cruel that word was, but he just didn't seem to care.

"That word is now deemed offensive, Adrik," she said. He wrapped the towel around his waist before walking right past her and grabbing his toothbrush from its holder by the sink.

Avelina watched as he placed his toothbrush back down onto the counter and turned around to look at the girl once more.

"You never really answered my question. What can't you do, Adrik?" She asked, genuinely interested to get into his mind.

"Talk, look, care," he listed.

"You're talking to me right now. You don't seem to have much of a problem with looking. As for caring, I'm sure you care about something," she said. He picked up his toothbrush before placing it back down and doing it once more.

"What time is it?" He questioned again. Avelina looked at her watch with a frown.

"Two minutes until ten," she answered.

"There's not a thing in this world that I care about. You don't know me, and you never will. Do you even know what kind of man I am?" He asked, his eyes suddenly putting up a front of stone.

"What kind?" She asked.

"Johnathan left that part out, huh?" He chuckled, nodding his head as he did so. "You're stuck with me for three months and there is no way out. Once you hear what you're about to hear-you can't run because it's in the contract. There was a confidentiality that you signed, and now you're asking to hear why. Are you sure that's what you really want?"

His words left her feared. She also couldn't deny the bit of curiosity that was swimming throughout her mind. Avelina knew that there was a saying that went 'some things are better off left unknown.'

"Tell me," she whispered confidently despite the fact that she was very much unsure.

"What time is it?" He asked once again. She glanced down at her watch to see that it had just turned ten. When she looked up at him, there was a look of patience in his eyes.

"It's ten," she answered. As soon as she said that, he brought the toothbrush up to his teeth and began to brush. There was one thought that kept occupying her mind-what he meant by his previous words. She picked up on how he mentioned that she couldn't run as if he were going to give her a reason to.

"You still haven't told me," she said, walking closer towards him. He glanced over at her through the mirror before spitting into the sink. When he finished, he turned around to face Avelina with a smug look on his face. Adrik then leaned against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she waited patiently for him to explain.

"Goodnight," he muttered. Her eyes followed him walk right past her and out of the restroom. She stared blankly at the place he was just at before he left the room. There was something off about the whole situation and it was embedded into her intuition. Her ambivalence was clear as day with the decision of pushing the subject more or just discussing it another day.

With a sigh, she walked out of Adrik's room and down the hall where she made her way to her own room.

Her brain was heavy with thought as she allowed her curiosity to loom over what had just been said. There was something that Johnathan was keeping from her. With that thought, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number she was quick to save in her cell phone-Johnthan's. The second she pressed call, the line was quick to be answered as Johnathan's smooth voice suddenly made its appearance.

"Hello?" He questioned.

"Hi, Johnathan. This is Avelina Santos, Adrik's caregiver," she began. He let out a small sigh. There was disappointment that seemed to loom within his exhalation.

"Are you quitting?" He asked sadly. It only caused her to be even more suspicious.

"I wouldn't be able to based on the contract," she reminded him before continuing, "although, I can't deny my suspicions, but I feel like something is going on that I am not aware of."

He let out another sigh, only this time, it was full of relief.

"I thought I told you everything you needed to know about Adrik," he said as if there was nothing to worry about. She glanced down at her hands in her lap as her mind replayed what Adrik had just told her. He was holding something back and she could easily tell.

"It would make it easier to help him if I knew everything I needed to know. So, I would really appreciate it if you told me what he was going to say," she spoke softly. There was the sound of some rustling on the other line of the phone as she stood up from the bed.

"What do you mean? He was going to tell you something?" Johnathan questioned. She bit down onto her lip. Based on the worry that was embedded in his words, she definitely knew something was up.

"He told me that after I learn what kind of man he is, I will run," Avelina explained.

"Look, Avelina, he is only trying to scare you. Adrik is a billionaire so does he has a lot of demons and enemies? Of course, but he is a typical man," Johnathan explained to her. She let out a sigh at the realization that he wasn't going to give up any answers. What he said made sense, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of there being more.

"Okay, I understand. So, there is nothing else that will cause me to no longer want this job, correct?" She asked, walking into the restroom. Her eyes met her own through the mirror as she played with the hem of her shirt.

"Avelina, I hired you because you are the strongest caregiver there is. If anyone can handle anything, it's you," he muttered. She nodded her head and began to pull down her jeans as she prepared herself to get into the shower.

"Okay, thank you. I'll talk to you soon," she said, ready to get off of the phone.

"Goodnight, and be nice to Adrik," he spoke just before hanging up the phone.

She placed her cell phone down on the counter and finished taking off the rest of her clothes. Then, she headed over to the shower where she turned it on. As soon as she stepped into the shower, she closed her eyes as the beads of water seemed to coax her skin.

Suddenly, she could hear the sound of her bedroom door opening. She quickly opened her eyes and looked up only to meet the gaze of Adrik whose eyes were fast to overlook her body. There was a smirk on his face as he gazed at her.

A gasp was quick to leave her mouth as she tried her best to cover herself. Adrik walked closer towards her leaving her to only stare back as her heartbeat seemed to make its appearance in her lower region.

Her eyes followed him as he opened the shower door. She was too shocked to even speak. He held out a hairband for her to take as her chest had risen and lowered at a fast pace to match her breaths.

The beautiful Adrik was in her shower with his gorgeous hair dancing on his shoulders and an elastic in his hand. He had this look in his stunning eyes that seemed to hold an innocence to them.

"I was going to ask you if you could do my hair once more."

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This is a very short chapter, but I promise that I will update part two very soon. I'm sorry for such a long wait. I had decided to take a small break that had turned into a huge one. Thanks to a lovely friend of mine, I was able to provide this update for you guys and get back to my scheldue.

thank you for reading. please vote!