Nicole got out of her room after getting ready to see both her parents and Natalie in the dining room, she greeted her parents and sat beside her sister, it was the first time in a long time their whole family had sat together to eat breakfast and it felt good, especially with the holiday spirit in the air.
“This feels like a dream,”
Her mom said clearly liking the atmosphere too, Nicole smiled at her mom.
“Why do you say so, honey?”
Her dad asked.
“Isn’t obvious? When was the last time we all sat like this? I don’t mean this year, I mean for Christmas, we are always away and they have to celebrate on their own, this year, I wanted it to be different but a lot of things happened and I thought we might get even more apart but thank God, we are a family again, these past months have been hell but here we are gathered together for our first Christmas as a family in a long long time,”
Her mom said, she looked really happy and emotional, Nicole didn’t even realize that it has been that long that they sat together during the holidays, other times, it would either be just her and Natalie or just her alone when Natalie goes out but they were all sitting together, Thanksgiving had been great too even though Natalie hasn’t been here.
“I know right, and the best part is Nicole and I made up,”
Natalie said holding her hand and showing their parents, their mother got off her seat and came to hug them both close, she looked at her dad who looked emotional too, the moment was so beautiful that she wanted to keep it in her heart forever.
After breakfast, she waited for Gavin to show up, she had wanted to go see him in his office but he said he will come by and that she didn’t have to come to his office still had to meet with Aron but she was thinking of canceling to be with her family but then Natalie and her mom had to leave so she decided not to cancel since her dad who was at home will be meeting up with Gavin after she talk with him.
Gavin, a very upright and time-conscious man showed up at exactly eleven, she was grateful that he kept to time which is one of the many reasons she was using him anyway, she knew just how loyal and punctual he was.
“Thanks for coming around Gavin, I would have gone to your office,”
“There is not a problem, I am just using the opportunity to have a talk with your dad, so what’s the plan?”
He asked going to business mode immediately, she sat with him and told him everything she plans on doing with the hotel.
“You have a good business sense, there is almost no error in your analysis, and I must say I am proud,”
“Thanks, Gavin, I had help from the internet too,”
She said blushing at his compliment.
“I will go over this and get you feedback but I guarantee that you are on the right track,”
“Thanks, Gavin, another thing I would need your advice on,”
“What’s that?”
“The mansion, I don’t know what to do with it, should I just sell it? I checked and the market value is great,”
“My honest advice is that you shouldn’t sell just yet, in fact, don’t consider selling at all,”
“Why? I mean, it’s not in use and is just there wasting away, it would go to a good family if I sell”
“It might not be in use now but you can use it in the future,”
“I can’t live there Gavin, it’s too big for me, do you how many rooms it has?”
“I mean it will come to use when you start a family,”
Gavin replied, Nicole couldn’t tell him that she had no plans of starting a family anytime soon, the only family she wanted right now were are parents and her sister, she didn’t even think she would ever get married again, not when her chances of giving birth was pretty much zero, she would stay alone, it was better that way.
“I won’t sell now as you advised but I am never going to use that house, it has done many memories that I want to erase,”
She said feeling sad all over again, she hasn’t been to the mansion since the day she moved out and she won’t go there either, her time there was pleasant, thru were great, heavenly, if she goes back there, she would only be reminded of the things she had and lost and she didn’t want to keep counting her losses, if she did decide to remarry with her spouse knowing her maternal state, she won’t still live there, she couldn’t imagine herself living there with another person that wasn’t Rafael.
“Alright, are there any other questions?”
“Not really, if I have any I can call you right?”
“Of course, you can do that,”
He said as her dad walked him, she watched the two men greet each other and a thought came to her, the more she thought of it the more it felt like the perfect idea, it would remove a lot of burden from her shoulders, she trusted both of the men and knew the would do a good job.
“Dad?”
She called as her dad sat down, he looked at her and smiled.
“Yes girly,”
“Could you maybe help with the hotel?”
She asked hoping he would say yes.
“Help in what way my dear?”
“You know I am not really good with business, yes I am doing fine but still it would be better if you handled the employment and other stuff, I don’t want to waste the funds or employ the wrong people if you don’t mind helping with it, I will really be grateful for it,”
She said in a pleading voice.
“If you want me to, I will gladly help, that’s what you were talking to Gavin about right?”
“Yes dad, he said I am doing well but I don’t think I can do better than you,”
“That’s a good choice dear,”
Gavin said and she smiled waiting for her dad to agree.
“Okay, I will help as much as I can,”
“Yes, thank you so much, dad,”
She said standing up to hug her dad, he hugged her back-patting her back.
“You are welcome my dear,”
She thanked him again and thanked Gavin before she excused herself, she felt like a huge weight that she didn’t even know was there has been lifted off her shoulders, she was almost in her room when her phone rang, she didn’t have the number saved but she picked up anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Josie and we agreed to meet up, can we do that today?”
Nicole thought of just canceling on the woman, she didn’t have anything to say to her, and she didn’t like that she was so rude towards her for no reason at all.
“Huh, do we have to meet? You can say whatever you wanna say to me on the phone, and I don’t think there is anything we have to talk about, I am Rafael’s ex-wife, you are his new girlfriend, that’s it, so why do we need to meet?”
She asked sitting on her bed.
“Are you chickening out? We agreed to meet, I told you I had some things, to say if you knew you were going to be a chicken you should have just said so from the beginning,”
The lady said which reeled Nicole up, who did she think she was that she couldn’t face.
“Text me the address again, I am on my way,”
Nicole said getting up to get dressed, no one was gonna make her feel less of herself, what a chicken? She will show her that she wasn’t and would never be.