“Are you two really brothers?” She suddenly asks out of the blue, and the atmosphere becomes tense as he only stares at her with a blank expression on his face. He wasn’t expecting the question to hit him too hard. For years, this is the question he has also been avoiding. Although he and Max may be siblings, for once in his lifetime, he never felt the spark of siblings between them. He has always felt neglected and rejected by him, which was why it always saddened him to talk about that jerk.
“Yes, we are siblings. We’re not so close, and that is because we don’t like each other. Gosh! Your boss is annoying, yet looking like a gentleman he’s not. He doesn’t have my time, he’s always busy with his work, so we just have to give each other space,” He shrugs, trying to sound convincing.
“That’s sad. Max is a good person. He…”
“Is that the lies he has been feeding you with? Don’t believe any of the things he says to you. He just wants to deceive you,” He smirks at her, while she just rolls her eyes.
“Whatever!” She scoffs.
“Thank you for bringing me here. I’m grateful,” She breaks the awkward silence that has lasted for seconds.
“It’s fine. You looked depressed, and I couldn’t have watched you like that as the good man that I am. You don’t have to thank me, just be a good friend, then we’re cool,” He smirks at her, and she scoffs.
“Who wants to be your friend? That I agreed to go out with you doesn’t mean that…”
“Oh, please. Don’t be a stubborn girl. It’s not that I’m going to harm you, so there’s no big deal being friends with me. I promise you’ll enjoy every moment with me,” He says to her, and she chuckles softly.
“Anyway, I haven’t said a proper thank you for taking me to the hospital days ago. I’m grateful,” She changes the topic.
“If you want to appreciate me, then a dinner with you won’t be a big deal, yeah?” He smiles at her.
“Sorry, but I don’t have money,” She smirks at him.
“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or next, it can be anytime…”
“And I won’t ever have money to treat you to dinner, anytime…”
“I’ll treat you to dinner then. How about that?” He cuts her off, and she scoffs.
“It’s not proper. You helped me, and I should do that for you. But since I don’t have money, I think it’s just best if we leave it…”
“I insist…”
“I have lots of work to do. Don’t push your luck,” She cuts him off as she munches on her pasta.
“You’re so mean,” He rolls his eyes, and starts eating the food that the waiter served them in the middle of their conversation.
After hours of visiting places with Jeffrey, Shirley finally waves Jeffrey’s car off before taking a cab home. He was going to drop her off at home, but she insisted on going home by cab, so he allowed her.
‘I’m not here to see your pathetic cries, Ariel. Just give me some money for food’ tears stream down the corner of her cheek as her mom’s words keep replaying in her head. She has been trying to forget it and move on, but the more she tries to, the more it seems to her that it’ll never leave her head.
As the cab drives down the road, she keeps staring out through the window and feeding her eyes with the empty space, as her thoughts zoom off.
‘I love you, Ariel. Mommy will always be here, OK?’ Recalling her sweet words then, she can’t help wondering what changed her over the years. As much as she was convinced that it was because she got married to Gregory, a part of her still believes that there’s more to her sudden change.
“We’re here, ma’am,” The cab man’s voice pulls her out of her deep thought, and she tilts her head to see that they’re already in front of the gate.
“Thank you,” She says to him as she hops out of the car and pays the driver, before heading to the big iron gate.
She strides to the entrance door and pushes it open, walking in afterward. Walking into the living room, she stops on her track as she is welcomed by an elderly man sitting on the couch while having all of his attention on a newspaper. He raises his gaze to her as soon as she walks in.
“Who are you?” The man asks, but she pulls a puzzled look instead. Maybe the question is supposed to be directed at the man.
“Dad, that’s Ariel Williams, our new housemaid,” Max’s voice sounds from the stairs as he descends it, and her heart sinks into her stomach. She slowly clenches her fists beside her and bites her inner lip. Housemaid? When did she become their housemaid?
“Housemaid?” The man asks after staring at Ariel for seconds.
“Yes, dad. Alicia is pregnant, and I don’t want her to stress about anything in the house, so I thought it wise to get her a housemaid,” He further explains, trying not to stutter.
“Ariel, meet my dad,” He says to her, finally earning a glance from her. Seeing the hurtful look on her face, he feels his heart tightens in pain as waves of guilt spur through him.
“Good evening, Sir…”
“And where are you coming from at this time of the day? I have been here for hours and didn’t see you,” The man asks her, and she glances at Max that’s been avoiding her gaze.
“Oh, dad. Her mom had a fever, so she took some hours off to visit her. I gave her permission to,” Max chips in like he was the one that was asked the question.
“Alright. Make me some orange juice then, Ariel,” The man says to her before taking his attention to the newspaper again.
“I will do that, Sir. I’ll come back to it as soon as I change my clothes upstairs,” She manages to say, holding back her tears.
“Hmm,” The man only hums.
Glancing over to Max one more time, she finally drags her feet to the staircase and climbs it. Her tears finally find their way down her cheeks as she drags her feet along the hallway. Pushing her door open when she gets to the front of it, she walks inside and slams it behind her. She crashes against the wall and breaks down in tears. It seems to her that her life will never get any better…