Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024

*INNOCENT TEMPTATIONS || 18+ šŸ”„ šŸ”„ šŸ”„ šŸ”„*

_Episode 7_

“I don’t really give a f**k and my excuse is that I’m young.”

 

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My sleep was interrupted when my phone blared its ringtone. Harry Styles’ voice filled my room and if it had been any other sound, I would have thrown the device across the room but because I may or may not have a soft spot for the singerā€”I let it ring just a little longer.

 

After a few more seconds, I picked it up and groaned at the time displayed across the screen.

 

11 a.m. way too early for me to be up considering the headache I was sporting.

 

I read the screen, the name ‘Sarah Moritello’ displayed across it. I sat up in my bed and clicked ‘accept’ setting the phone against my ear.

 

“Hello?” I answered groggily, stifling a yawn.

 

I heard small cries on the other end of the line and paused, attempting to listen to what was happening in the background like the nosy person I am. It was quiet on the other end of the line for a few more minutes and I felt myself wanting to fall back asleep.

 

“Sarah?” I asked, “You there?”

 

A loud bang resonated from her side and I cringed, something must have fallen and she finally spoke out. Cursing, most likely at the fallen object which sounded like It was now broken on the ground.

 

“Gianna? Oh honey thank you for picking up so early it’s just I -“she struggled to finish her sentence as she let out a frustrated cry and all the previous fatigue I felt had slipped away.

 

“I need you to come watch over the kids for a bit? Is that okay? I’m sorry it’s such short notice, my husband isn’t here right now and I really need to go look for him and everything’s a mess I just don’t know what to do.” Another frustrated sigh escaped her lips and I got out of bed in a rush, ripping the covers off my figure while she continued speaking.

 

I hadn’t known Sarah or her family long enough to form real opinions on their relationship but from what I’d observedā€”they seemed to face marital problems every day and I couldn’t see why. Sarah seemed like a wonderful woman and her husband seemed to be a great man. What could possibly be going wrong for people like them who had everything?

 

“I sent a text to his sister but she hasn’t replied yet and I can’t wait any longer.” She explained, her voice furthering away from the receiver.

 

She managed to rush out a sentence in between her constant tears and hiccups. I decided not to pry, knowing my place and accepted the offer, telling her I’d be there in an hour.

I hung up and set my phone on the table next to my bed, a dozen thoughts running through my mind. I decided to ignore them and went over to my bathroom, freshening up and heading downstairs.

 

The first thing I came face to face with was a sleeping blonde, who passed out on the couch. Some Netflix series playing quietly in the background. I walked up to her and threw the small throw blanket over her frame, silently giggling at her soft snores.

 

My feet made a slight padding sound as I walked over to the kitchen and started up the coffee machine, my mouth already watered at the smell of the coffee. I made a batch separately for Celine and added ice cubes into mine, preferring iced coffee over the usual hot beverage that everyone seemed to like.

 

I grabbed a bagel and some cream cheese, toasting it and spreading around the delicious substance. By the time I was done, Celine had woken up and joined me at the counter, thanking me for the coffee and slowly sipping it.

 

I spoke to her about my sudden plans for the day, apologizing that I couldn’t watch movies all day with her like we initially did on lazy days like this. She waved me off with her hand and told me to ‘go look after the sĀ£xy guy’s kids’ to which I laughed and rolled my eyes, making sure to clear my schedule for tomorrow so I could make it up to her.

 

After I had cleaned up, I stepped back into my room and changed into my outfit for today. A pair of high jeans and a strapless black top, something simple in case I got some sort of mess on myself today. My makeup was minimalā€”I was too sleep deprived to put in any real effort so I decided on some simple mascara and a quick swipe of my lip gloss. I looked back at my reflection and shrugged. It was good enough.

 

I bid my goodbyes to Celine and closed the door behind me, not before hearing her shout out a quick ‘safe sĀ£x is always the way to go!’ but I ignored her and rolled my eyes, entering the elevator on our floor.

 

As soon as I reached the mansion they resided in, memories of the last time I was here came crashing back onto me and I cringedā€”trying to push the endearing thoughts away. I didn’t want Alex to look at me like some irresponsible teenager but that was exactly what I did and I couldn’t be more embarrassed even if I tried.

 

I got out and made my way to the front door, pushing the thoughts into the back of my mind to dwell on later. Upon climbing up the steps, I noticed the door was slightly ajar and a confused expression settled onto my face.

 

What the hell? I thought.

 

Pushing it open, I stepped inside and glanced around, not noticing anyone or anything out of the ordinary, the house looked as spotless and pristine as it usually did which made me calm down a little, if I was walking into a burglaryā€”it would be messier. I hope.

 

“Sarah?” I called out, but got nothing but an echo in return. My confusion grew by the second as I silently walked around the kitchen and playroom, expecting them to be in there but stillā€”nothing. I clutched my purse tightly in my hand and continued wandering around the house.

 

The last place I decided to check was the living room and I made my way there in a hurry. I was about to walk out again when I noticed movement in the corner of my eye and rushed over to Maria, grabbing ornaments off the table and attempting to stack them over eachother, the tower was slightly leaning to the left and I hurriedly grabbed them before the glass shattered onto the floor. I pulled her away from the table and perched on my hip, she was grinning from ear to ear as if this was the most normal thing ever.

“Where’s your mom love?” I asked, and she shrugged . reaching out to grab my hair, tugging on it as if I were a doll and I tried to ignore the sting of my scalp.

 

Children had an extremely strong grip.

 

Before I could do anything else I heard small footsteps speeding behind me and came face to face with the two other kids and I frowned blankly. Elena had what looked to be concealer in her hair and a whole bunch of lipstick smeared all over her face. I looked to the left and quirked an eyebrow up at Luca who had makeup smeared in the exact same placesā€”including some eyeshadow where the blush was supposed to be.

 

“Gianna! Luca let me do his make-up!” she squealed, wrapping her arms around my legs. She stepped back and pointed at her brother who stood there shyly and I smiled despite how weird this all was. “See, look how pretty he looks!” she beamed. Luca grinned at his little sister and I smiled.

 

“You both look great!” I complimented, ruffling his brown hair which made the boy groan in protest and I chuckled. I smiled at them but it instantly faltered when I remembered the rest of the house was vacant.

 

“Where’s your mom?” I asked, more directed at Luca, who seemed more focused than his sister who was now staring at herself in the nearest mirror.

 

“Oh she left. Said we shouldn’t open the door for anyone but we were playing outside anyway.” He said sheepishly. “We aren’t going to get in any trouble are we? I swear nothings broken.” He pouted in my direction and I sighed.

 

“Not unless we keep this between ourselves. Can you do that?” he nodded eagerly and I stuck my pinky and he hooked his finger through mine, sealing the deal. “Why don’t you go get you and your sister cleaned up and we can bake something after?” he agreed and beckoned his sister up the stairs so they could clean up and I turned around with a huff, my mind going back to Sarah.

 

She left her kids here, all alone?

 

“Gianna! Can you come help me get this off my face? It’s super sticky!” I hear from upstairs. I sighed and trudged up there to see the mess.

 

Elena had spilled water all over the place, attempting to get the makeup off. Her brother stood over her, swiping at it with a tiny cotton round. I smiled at the visual and Maria laughed at her siblings, hoping down from

arms and stalking closer. “Pretty El.” she commented, giving her a toothless grin.

 

“Thanks! I can do yours too if you want, here let me grab the lip-” I intercepted her little fingers and held the tube away from her.

 

“Absolutely not. Let’s clean this up so we can go downstairs and find something fun to do.” they both pouted but listened anyway. And within half an hour, both kids had been showered.

 

The two had on a fresh set of clothes and a clean face, all previous signs of the mess were gone. I dragged the three of them into the kitchen and they set next to each other on the large stoolsā€”Elena leaning onto her brother for help and I smiled.

 

“Mommy and Daddy were fighting again” she announced, staring up at me with wide eyes.

 

“Is it because of us?” she asked. “Did we do something to make them mad?”

I grabbed her face and peppered little kisses all over it, causing giggles to erupt from her small lips. “Of course not! Sometimes adults don’t agree on everything, completely normal.” I tried to placate her, hating the sad look on her face.

 

“So.” I began, clasping my hands together. “Who wants to bake cookies?”

 

I regret ever asking that question.

 

We were only thirty minutes in, but they managed to get cookie dough everywhere. From the counter, to their hair.Ā  It was splattered all over the once clean white walls and if I wasn’t confident in my cleaning abilities, I would’ve been freaking out by now.

 

We barely got around to baking them, filling ourselves up with just the dough, which probably wasn’t healthy but it tasted too damn good for me to care and as long as they were happy, so was I.

 

“I feel like that really fat guy in the Disney movie I always watch.” Elena groaned, dragging a chocolate chip through her hair and eating it despite complaining about how full she was.

 

I laughed at her and took the rest out, smiling at them in the process. Her brother laid on the floor, patting his stomach with a pained expression on his face.

 

“Me too. I feel like the cookie monster!” I helped Luca off the floor and he dusted the back of his shirt, swirling his finger along the edges of the empty bowl once more.

 

“Okay, okay. Let’s get you guys washed up. I’ll finish cleaning up here and you go take a bath yeah? I’ll come help you get dressed.” I told them, shaking the cookie crumbles off my clothing.

 

They nodded their heads simultaneously and slowly walked up to their rooms.

 

Two too many showers. Kids were messy.

 

After I finished doing the necessary chores, which included scrubbing the walls extra hard. I heard the doorbell and stood up to go open it, hoping to find either one of the kids’ parents. But instead, I opened it to come in contact with a girl who looked to be about a decade older than me, that I had never seen before. Her face looked familiar and attempted to wrack my brain to figure out where I had seen her before but she interrupted my thoughts when she spoke.

 

“Who are you?” she asked, mimicking my confusion.

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