The Proposal

Leonardo continued observing this large room. it was luxurious like those mansions of artists that appear on TV shows, with large sofas and two armchairs near the huge fireplace. There were paintings on the walls that reminded him of royalty. even with the curtains closed, he noticed that the windows in the room were enormous. Looking closer, he saw that the entire decoration was in golden details, on the frames of the paintings and the statues that adorned the place. Even the details of the white curtain were golden. he found all of it somewhat strange. On the ceiling, a large lit chandelier illuminated the place.

After admiring the entire room, he sat on the sofa which was very soft. He had never sat on such a comfortable sofa before. The one at his home was old, hard, and torn. He couldn't help but desire a sofa like this in his own home.

A few minutes passed, and Leonardo was already becoming impatient, in addition to his great urge to use the bathroom. He stood up, looked around, left the room and returned to the grand entrance of the staircase. He saw a hallway with doors to his left and right, right next to the double staircase. Inside one of those doors must be the bathroom. He followed the left side and stopped in front of the first door. He turned the doorknob, but it was locked. The next three doors were also locked.

As he turned the doorknob of the fourth door, a cold and deep voice startled him, and he turned to look at the big man in black suit with stubble standing in front of him.

"You shouldn't be snooping around other people's houses," the man said, his eyes meeting Leonardo's. His expression was serious, and his hands were tucked in his pants pockets.

"I wasn't snooping, I need to use the bathroom," Leonardo replied, still looking at the man.

Frank, still serious, turned and walked to the end of the corridor. He stopped in front of the second-to-last door.

"This is the bathroom," he said.

Leonardo walked towards Frank who was looking at him. He entered and closed the door. The bathroom was clearly luxurious and still enormous. Leonardo judged that it was almost the size of his own room which was so small that it only fit his single bed and a small two-door wardrobe.

After washing his hands, he dried them with a fluffy white towel and left the bathroom, only to come face to face with Frank still standing there.

"Wow," Leonardo said, startled by Frank who was looking at him expressionlessly.

"Come, we have an unfinished matter," said Frank, walking down the corridor with firm steps.

Leonardo followed Frank down the corridor and they entered the third door, leading to an office. Leonardo looked at the office with its large bookshelves, sofa, and big window. Near the window was a desk with an open laptop. Everything in that office had touches of gold in its decoration.

Frank extended his right hand, indicating for Leonardo to sit on the sofa, and so he did. He looked anxiously at Frank, hoping from the bottom of his heart that this man would forgive the debt. Frank, still silent, served himself some drink, which Leonardo recognized as whiskey by the color of the liquid. Frank then sat down on the sofa next to him and stared at him.

"Mr. Guerrero, your father's outstanding debt is here, which is why I have a proposal for you," said Frank, looking at Leonardo.

Leonardo looked at him, disheartened but not surprised. With his legs swinging anxiously, he was eager to know what the proposal was. He was indeed very upset with his father, but he would do anything to avoid his death. His father was his only family, and he would fight to keep it that way.

"And what would that be, Frank?"

"Mr. Gold, please. Call me Mr. Gold."

Leonardo laughed, and Frank looked at him, confused and irritated.

"What's so funny, Mr. Guerrero?"

Leonardo noticed that Frank was now looking at him more seriously than usual, if that was even possible. There was a crease between his eyebrows, the kind someone gets when they furrow their forehead while questioning something in their mind.

"Sorry, but..." He searched for the word in his mind. "It's funny, you know, everything here has a touch of gold just like your name. It's intriguing."

Frank pondered over those words and took a sip of his drink while examining Leonardo with his black eyes. He hadn't examined this short guy before. he seemed skinny and his hair was messy, even though straight yet rebellious.

Leonardo's fair skin made his cheeks stand out with a slight rosy hue, and his eyes were neither blue nor green, but gray, making him stand out from all the people Frank had ever seen. How could such a fragile man have the courage to throw himself to take the bullet?

"There's nothing intriguing about it."

He placed the glass on the coffee table, over a coaster, and leaned his arms on his knees, still staring at him.

"I want you here serving me to pay off the twenty-eight thousand your father owes me."

Leonardo looked in wonder and tried to understand what he meant by serving him. Working for him? That would be easy. If there was one thing Leonardo didn't run away from, it was work. He was used to it and had been working since he was thirteen to help at home.

"Alright, I think it's fair. And what would I do? Cleaning? Cooking? Being your driver?"

Frank laughed ironically. Leonardo hadn't seen him laugh yet, but he didn't like the way this laughter came about.

"You haven't understood, have you? You will serve me. Like a personal slave. You'll be at my disposal for whatever I want, regardless of what it is."

Leonardo was shocked by such a proposal. Millions of thoughts came up on his mind: What is he thinking? What did he mean by personal slave? Regardless of what it is? Was I going to become a sexual slave too? This was a great insult. He would never lower himself to such a thing.

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