I Will Stay... Until It Fades Away

"Well, he didn't show up. When I needed him the most, he didn't show up," Phoebe grumbled in front of her father. She was totally irritated of the fact that Evan didn't go to the mansion for two days already. Not being able to understand the whole situation, she went straight to her father's office right after her classes today just to know what happened.

"I presume he is very busy these days. He's taking care of a lot of reports," his father explained, standing up from his chair.

"But how about my assignment? I needed to finish it by tomorrow," she said, pacing in the room.

"Last time, agapité kóri, if I remember, you were apprehensive to this tutorial thing. Now, do I sense total accordance with it?"

"Oh, you don't know how much I need your 'best guy in maths', Ba-ba, just for me to be able to finish this assignment!" she said, pausing in the middle of the room.

Pacing towards Phoebe, Hector laughed. "So glad you're starting to value now your maths subject. Is this the Evandros Xenakis' effect to my daughter?"

Evandros Xenakis' effect? Did his Ba-ba just label it as Evandros Xenakis' effect? Gods, yes, definitely! That Evandros Xenakis had affected her so much and his effect was more than influencing her on mathematics! It was a way, way more than that if her father only knew.

"I need my assignment now, Ba-ba," she said instead.

"Okay, don't worry. If you need him today, I'll tell him to go to the mansion tonight. Just be patient, agapité kóri."

She crossed her arms in her chest. "I need to talk to him now," she said softly yet firmly. That Evandros couldn't just reject her like that after what happened that night on the ship.

"Okay, you go ahead to his office."

"Where is it?"

"Go straight. When you reach the end of the hallway, turn right and you see a door. You'll see his staff inside. One of them is his secretary."

"So I will see only the secretary?" She asked impatiently.

"No, agapité kóri. When you meet the secretary, tell her you want to talk to Evan."

"Why can't you just demand him that I want to talk to him now."

"Agapité kóri, no special treatment here, okay? He's into something important right now. If he has time to entertain you right now, that's his right to decide."

Oh, she couldn't understand her Ba-ba sometimes!

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Evan was facing his computer when a call came from his secretary.

"What? The master's kóri is here to talk to me?" he exclaimed, really surprised.

Oh, Phoebe, what are you doing? He asked, bringing his reddened face to his left palm.

"She's insistent. She wants to come in, Mr. Xenakis. Shall I let her in?"

He breathed deeply first before he answered back. "Okay, yeah... let her in."

Putting the phone down, he again placed his face, now on both of his palms. The girl was starting to cause him a problem right now. What was he going to do? If she only wasn't a Perkos, then he wouldn't care a bit. He would ravish her with kisses anytime he'd like to. But, she was a Perkos... and her being a Perkos was already the biggest barrier for any love interest. She was his master's daughter. That was the craziest fact! He very well knew that Hector Perkos would definitely forbid it! Even the gods would forbid it! Heaven would forbid it!

Hence, what happened during her father's party was a big mistake. He couldn't let it happen again... and how could he stop this strong attraction to her when he would be seeing her everyday? He needed to have a break from her! Definitely!

He was still burying his face on his palms when the door opened and shut.

Oh, gods, Phoebe! He groaned and closed his eyes as he felt her presence inside the room.

"Know what? I can't decide right now if an apricot plus an apricot is still two apricots," she started saying. Her voice was a bit shaking, almost crying.

He didn't look up to her. He couldn't afford to look at her especially with her shaking voice.

"I'm confused... really confused..." she said.

This is why we have to stop seeing each other because I am confused, too, Evan wanted to say.

"Look at me, Mr. Xenakis," she challenged him, wanting to see his face. She really needed to get this thorn out of her chest by saying what he needed to know.

Finally, he looked up to her. He immediately saw the anger in her face.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Right this moment, you are supposed to be with me in the mansion. What happened?" she said frankly, walking closer to his table.

"Eímai polý apascholiménos," he said softly.

"Very busy with work or very busy hiding away from me?"

He stood up, leaned down and pressed his palms on the table as he met her gaze. "And why should I hide from you?"

Phoebe was shocked. She was thinking of the kiss that they shared! She couldn't believe that he was acting as if he forgot what happened on the boat.

She formed her lips into a frown. "Okay, let's act as if both of us have a terrible amnesia. If that's what you want, let's forget what happened. Just... Just..."

"Okay, tomorrow, I'll be there..." he said, wanting the conversation to immediately end so she would finally leave. He couldn't afford to see the girl in that manner --- sad, angry, disappointed.

"And then we both could act like dumbs and pretend as if nothing happened!" sixteen-year-old Phoebe cried out, stepping closer to him in his table.

Evan's ears heated up. This girl was getting crazy! Did she really want both of them to recall what happened between them? Would she really want to remind him how stupid and imprudent he was?

"What do you really want from me?" he said, grabbing her arm.

She pressed her lips together. That night was very special to her. How could he act as if it didn't matter to him at all?

Neither of them spoke this time as their eyes made a contact. She was on the verge of crying. Evan, on the other hand, was suddenly lost into her sad eyes.

Finally, she declared, "Right... I guess, I don't need anymore a maths tutor. I'll tell Ba-ba that you're too busy to have time for me. Bye, Mr. Xenakis." She pulled away her arm from his grip so she could go.

She immediately headed to the door to go out.

Realizing that the young Phoebe was walking out on him, Evan made a quick move running after her. For the first time, he felt a gnawing fear in him. He caught her arm again before she was able to grab the door open.

"Mr. Xenakis!" she squealed when he brought her to his arms. She was surprised and her heart leaped a thousand times as her chest crushed to him.

"Call me, Evandros, Phoebe," he said hoarsely, feeling his heartbeat. This girl would definitely be the only reason that he would cross borders... and betray his master.

"E-Evandros..." she spoke his name for the first time. It sounded nice to her ears.

Hugging her, he whispered, "Okay, I'll be there today... after work. Wait for me."

Hearing him say it, she let a tear fall her cheek... and she didn't also expect him to embrace her like this.

"Any important algebra assignment to do?" he asked, still in a whispering voice, to her ear.

"Nothing. Just want to be with you," she said, also in a whisper.

"Okay," he said, pulling her face to his chest.

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Truly, that afternoon, right after Evan's work, he went to the mansion as he told her. But there was no tutorial session that occurred. It seemed the moment was spent only to clear up some things between them.

"Don't you feel awkward?" Evan asked the girl who was sitting on the floor with him. They were not settling near the coffee table where they usually used to. Both of them were leaning their back on the foot of her bed, just sitting next to each other, not doing anything but just saying words to each other.

"Are you talking about the kiss?" she asked back, not looking at him. She was playing with her fingers.

He was not looking at her, too. He leaned the back of his head on the edge of the bed and fixed his eyes at the ceiling. "We both know that we are not supposed to do that. We shouldn't have done that."

Phoebe bit her bottom lip. "Is it because of Ba-ba?"

"Your Ba-ba is someone that I look up to. He's done great things for me. I wouldn't be who I am today without him. I can't frustrate him," he spoke out, trying to explain to her the reason why.

"Do you like me?" she asked, playing with the hem of her miniskirt this time.

"Define 'like', Phoebe," Evan said.

"You know better than I am. You're more intelligent than I am. You can define it yourself," she retorted back. He could have just told her 'Yes' or 'No'.

"If things were that simple, as X+X equals 2X, then, perhaps, I could go on liking you. But they aren't," he said. "Everything's so complicated. It's not as simple as algebra."

"Why is it complicated?" she asked, totally confused, now looking at him.

"You're an intelligent girl, Phoebe. You've improved well in algebra faster than I expected. Thus, you can also figure out why 'you' and 'me' is complicated. We're like an X and a Y. We're like a peach and an apricot. We're unlike terms. We can never be combined."

Phoebe was surprised with what she heard from him.

"What do you mean 'unlike terms'? How could you and me like X and Y?"

"There are a lot of reasons. I hope you can figure it out," he said, turning his face to her.

"Well, I can't quite comprehend it. Help me figure it out." She was disappointed with him. It appeared like he liked her but for several reasons he wouldn't.

He stretched his back now, pulling his head from the edge of the bed. He drew back his legs from the floor and raised both his knees in front of him, placing each one of his forearms in each of the knees. "Phoebe, it's like this... Let's consider factors... Social status, for one. It's like you're there," he said, raising his right hand up, "and I'm down here," he added with his hand down. "Age... it's like I'm up there and you're here. See?"

Oh, so he had factors to consider on love? She gruntled to herself.

"Intelligence..." Phoebe appended with a bit of an angry and questioning tone, "it's like you're up there and I'm down here?" She imitated his hand gestures by raising her hand and bringing it down.

"No, it's not what I mean," he argued. "You're an intelligent girl. Don't think of yourself as someone intellectually inferior. You're perfect."

"Perfect... yet you can't even like me..." she complained.

"Your Ba-ba... He won't allow it. He will never allow it," he said finally. "I'm his trustee. I should not lose that trust. What do you think he will think if he knows I'm being romantic to you? Do you know the reason why he has to assign me being your tutor in spite of my tight schedule in the office?"

"Why?"

"Because he trusts me so much. He believes I will never screw his daughter... come what may... especially in this situation... you and I inside the four corners of this bedroom. See? That is how he trusts me and I cannot lose that trust," he said, feeling something heavy in his chest.

Suddenly, she felt the pain in her young heart. Evandros was true. Her Ba-ba would never allow it.

"Are you going to stop tutoring me now? Will this be your last visit?" she inquired, feeling the fear of being left.

"It will be both hard for both of us if we keep being this way..."

"But I want to be with you," she gasped, preventing her tears. "You're my apricot, Evandros. You're the guy I'm having a hardcore crush on," she revealed to him at last, "and you've become a routine to me."

Evandros closed his eyes. Oh, the young Phoebe! The young Phoebe was indeed crushing on him. Should he be happy or sad?

"C-Can you just stay... until this fades away? For sure, this will just fade away... This will just pass..." she said in a cracking voice, "So, can you remain my tutor? Can you just be a friend to me? Just a friend... and stay with me... until this fades away... because... because if you'll stop seeing me today while I'm still feeling this way, it's... it's going to be very hard for me... Will you just please wait until this fades away?"

She was certain that it would just fade away and be forgotten just like how her feelings for Zarkos faded... She wanted to live in the moment... just stop minding about the future...

Hearing the girl's cracking and stuttering voice, Evan felt so down and low. What would a man do when a girl was battling her feelings for him? For Evan, it was unbearable. He wanted to bring her to his arms and comfort her. Slowly, his hand travelled to his left side on the floor and seek for hers. Then, he held her hand tightly. Phoebe shut her eyes when she felt him.

"I will stay..." he responded... because, in his heart, she had become a routine for him, too. He had become a part of his weekday life. Her two-day absence in his life was a torture to him. "I will stay, Phoebe... as a tutor and... friend... until it fades away..."

Evan was already looking forward to that day when Phoebe's feelings finally would fade away and she could finally let him go...

At the moment, he also wished to himself that his feelings for her would also fade away... and that, someday, he could also freely let her go...

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A/N

Please, react! Let me know how this chapter affects you... If that Evandros Xenakis' effect could even be possible... Hehe...

VOTE, COMMENT, SHARE!

Alwayz,
(sapphiregirl22) ~_^

Translations:
Agapité kóri - dear daughter
Eímai polý apascholiménos. - I am very busy.