ROWAN
The moment I stepped into the living room, the door opened and April strolled in. I turned towards her direction and our eyes met, she gave me a stoic face which I returned with the same expression. I’d never seen her smile and that made me wonder if she’d never been happy or something, not like I smiled that much except when Ailey and Ava were around but still…
Anyway, as she approached me, I could see she wasn’t wearing an oversized dress like yesterday but a tank top and jeggings that hugged her body like a second skin and I must admit, it did look good on her though it showed how small and thin she was but it was still appealing. She caught me checking her out and raised her brows then I noticed how puffy her face was and without thinking, I blurted out.
“Did you cry all through the night?” I questioned as I took my seat on the sofa. She stopped in her tracks for a second before her face turned to a scowl.
“What made you think I cried?” She asked in a rather calm tone, extremely different from what I expected because of her scowl.
“Your face is puffy,” I pointed out and she touched her cheeks before stopping in front of me.
“That doesn’t mean I cried, maybe I didn’t get enough sleep or something,” she told me and I shrugged.
“Whatever. I smirked as my eyes ran through her body again before talking, “Looks like you listened to my advice.”
Her brows just barely lifts but it arches into that perfect brows I noticed the other day, to me, she had the prettiest brows I’d ever seen, even Ailey’s couldn’t compare.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not wearing an over sized cloth today. This is pretty nice but don’t you think it’s too tight, looks like you plan to seduce me,” I shook my head before continuing, “But sorry, I don’t do skinny girls,” I teased but the sharp look she gave me made my smirk disappear that instant.
“I don’t appreciate you talking about my body. We are not close to that extent. We are not even good neighbours. We only have a doctor-patient relationship and I would appreciate it if it stays that way,” she fired. Apparently, she didn’t take it as a joke. Looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Not like I actually familiarize myself to people that quick, I was what my employees referred to as aloof and cold but then I was the exact opposite when I get comfortable with people. How I got comfortable with her that quick was beyond me, maybe because she saved me or the fact that it was somehow fun teasing her as she was someone that didn’t allow others talk to her anyone but I guess what made me so comfortable with her was the fact that she reminded me of my little sister, Ava. She was the last child of my father and my mother and also the only one not in the country, she was schooling in Paris as she didn’t want to be the only one left in that house with my father and his wife. They were almost the same. Cute, small and tiny. I believe that was what made me free with her.
I opened my mouth to talk but she beat me to it.
“Mind you, I’m not interested in dating you. You’re not even my type too. The fact that I’m skinny doesn’t mean I’m not appealing to others and…”
I could feel the pain in her voice. It was pretty clear that my words hurt her but were they that deep? It certainly wasn’t about what I said alone, looks like she’d been having a hard time before and somehow it made me feel bad.
“I didn’t know you were this sensitive,” I cut her short. That wasn’t what I meant to say, the words came out of my mouth without permission.
Her look became sharper. “Well, now you know. Henceforth, please regard me as your doctor, nothing more.”
“Doctor April,” I teased and she shook her head before sighing.
“Let’s get to work. I have to get to the hospital soon,” she said before walking away.
“We’ll be doing arm exercises today.” She stated before picking up the mat beside the centre table then she moved the table to the other end so there’ll be enough space for the exercise. I picked up my crutches and then joined her at the centre of the room.
Following her instructions, I did everything she wanted and with her help, we were able to achieve its aim, while I tried bringing up a few discussions, she maintained her stance to remain professional. Almost an hour later, we ended the session for the day.
“I won’t be coming until Friday,” she stated and I raised my brows.
“Why?”
“Thrice a week. If I remember well, the days weren’t stated so I believe it’s according to my schedule,” she replied and I nodded.
“Why can’t you come tomorrow?” Somehow, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be seeibg her the next day as I’d gotten used to seeing her in the mornings even though it had only been three days.
“I won’t be returning home until tomorrow morning and I need rest. See you on Friday, Mr. Rowan,” she laid more emphasis on her last words before heading to the door.
“I’ll be expecting you,” I uttered as she took her leave. If she heard, she didn’t acknowledge it all. I stared at her retreating figure until she closed the door and was no longer in sight.
My phone blared beside me and looking down at it, my face broke into a smile as Ava’s face flashed on the screen and without much thought, I picked it up.
“Hey brother,” her tiny voice came from the other end and that reminded me of the lady that had just left, no matter how hard she tried to raise her voice or sound fierce, her voice still came out like that of a little child.
“Hi sister,” I replied.
“Are you okay? How come I didn’t know you got injured until I decided to go online and check the news about my country, you can imagine the shock I felt when I realised my brother was shot on the internet. Why did you all hide it from me? Is that fair?” She shrieked and I almost burst into laughter but controlled myself.
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Are you better now or should I come over?”
“What of school?”
“I can just take a break. It’s not a problem.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m no longer in the hospital so I’m doing better now.”
“Are you sure? Is anyone taking care of you? What of Ailey?” She knew about Ailey since we grew up together, though they never agreed on things but they still tolerated each other.
“Ailey is taking care of me. I’m currently taking a month break so, don’t worry about me,” I assured her and I could hear her sigh from the other end.
“That’s good. BUt do you know the person behind the shootings? Are you sure it’s not our step-mother? You know, she never liked us and always feels like we are threats to her sons, most especially you, she surely would want you out of the way especially when dad wants you to take over and not any of her sons,” Ava said and that really got me into some thinking. How come I never suspected her that much? I mean, she was meant to be the prime suspect and not her son.
My dad’s wife as we always referred to her never tried to hide her hate. She showed it to both Ava and I that she clearly hated us, not giving a damn or caring about us, it was always in her agenda to get in our ways; one she’d tried several times but never suceeded, she almost did when Ava decided she would study in Paris but with my interference and Alex’s, she couldn’t accomplish her aim. At a point I tried understanding her since she knew how to play the victim well, yeah, Dad had cheated on her and got someone else pregnant, not once but twice but that didn’t mean we were not his kids too. It doesn’t give her the liberty to treat us like trash or stop us from doing what we wanted. If mom hadn’t died in that car crash, we certainly would be doing fine without living with our father.
“I’m not sure about it. We are still investingating it,” I replied.
“I have a strong belief that she’s behind it. I hope the truth comes out soon, anyway, do take care of yourself, I’m almost late for class.”
“Oh okay, have a nice day.”
“And you too.” The call ended after that and Maggie walked up to me with my breakfast.