Chapter 33: Chapter 33

She insisted on coming with her to his residence, they had tried to reach him through phone call but to no avail. There was no one Charlene could call, Javier was the only child, if at all he had a sibling she would have called to ask about him.

The car halted opposite the mansion, Charlene got her phone from her handbag. “Are we at his residence already?” Fiona was wondering but the ride duration from the campus to the mansion was five minutes, he didn't live far from the campus unlike Charlene.

“Yes, let's go.” They alighted from the car. James was going to wait, driving Fiona to her workplace before driving Charlene home. They crossed to the opposite side, Charlene walked ahead leaving her behind, she pressed a button on the wall.

“Who's there?” A lady's face popped on the screen. Before Charlene could reply she had called her name. “Mrs Sullivan.” The gate unlocked automatically, they trudged inside. It was hush, his parents hired only two maids.

“Do you think he's home?”

“I'm not sure. This way.” She called back when Fiona was going to the wrong place. She grabbed hold of the doorknob, handled it until it unlocked. “Let's go in.” She led the way inside, and they were welcomed in by a maid.

“Would you like glasses of juice?”

“Nope. Where's Javier?”

“Probably in his room. Let me inform him you're around.” The maid left the living room to inform Javier. He knocked gently on the door.

“What do you want, Emily?”

“Mrs Sullivan is waiting for you downstairs.” She divulged calmly.

“Charlene?” Javier asked surprisingly, he pushed his laptop aside.

“Yes sir.” She left his door.

Javier hurried to his closet, he grabbed a t-shirt, wore it, he grabbed his phone on the bed and exited the room. He descended the stairs hurriedly, he halted when he saw them.

“Hey.” Charlene called when he sighted him at the staircase. She scanned his body, from the head to the toes. She wanted to be sure nothing was wrong with him, apparently he seemed to be in a perfect state.

“Hi.” He walked over, stuffed his right hand in his trousers pocket.

“What's wrong with you? I called you but you didn't pick. I was wondering what could be wrong. You were not in school yesterday and today you also skipped school. What happened?”

He sauntered to a couch, he sat down carefully and gazed at her. “Nothing.”

“And you missed my calls?”

“I was busy. I'm sorry about that.” Charlene noticed something usual about him, he always reacted to her words with a bright smile but this time he kept a straight face, neither smiling or frowning, she wondered if by any chance she had offended him. That was unlike him really.

“Are you sure you're okay?” She was perturbed, she was trying not to assume the worst when she saw he was forcing himself to reply to her.

“I'm perfectly fine.”

“Alright. I just want to confirm, I'm glad you're okay.”

Ever since they entered Fiona hadn't uttered a word, she and Javier weren't close, and it seemed like he never enjoyed her company whenever she was around. Charlene rose, then Fiona did the same. “You're coming to campus tomorrow right?”

He nodded, without making a sound. “Thanks for checking on me. You two should take care of yourself.” They headed to the exit, and suddenly Javier called her. “Charlene, wait!” She abruptly turned around to look at him.

“Yeah?” She furrowed her brows.

Javier stared at her for a while before shrugging off. “It's nothing.”

She was perplexed, wondering why he called when he had nothing to say to her. She shrugged off with a smile that didn't reach her ears. “Let’s go” They exited the mansion, walking alongside.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“How am I supposed to know when he didn't talk to me?” Charlene asked with irritation in her voice. She knew it was a rude reply when Fiona sighed without uttering a word. The truth was she couldn't picture the whole thing, Javier ignoring her call, refused to read her messages, it perturbed her and she couldn't get it off her head. Has she offended him in a way she didn't know? Somehow it seemed right, or was he mad at her because she and Fiona were friends? The whole thing threw her into a state of confusion, yet she was unable to figure out what could be the matter. “I'm sorry.” She apologized when they reached the car.

Fiona hesitated with the door. Puzzled, she raised a brow. “For what?”

She moistened her lips, releasing a sigh. “Never mind.”

She knew why she apologized, however she still asked. She shrugged off when she noticed she didn't want to talk about it.

Fiona alighted when they reached her apartment, she waved at her as James drove away. Within fifteen minutes they arrived home, James parked the car in the garage. She grabbed her backpack as she alighted from the car. She made her way to the living room, unexpectedly she met her worst nightmares waiting impatiently for perhaps Richard. Charlene thought greeting them was a terrible decision, however she couldn't ignore her mother-in-law's presence.

She glanced around to see if Richard was anywhere in the living room but there was no sign of him. Luciana and Henrietta hadn't noticed her presence until she reached the staircase. “What a rude brat you are!” She seethed sternly.

She halted on the staircase, knowing well she was in trouble for her impulsive decision. She gnawed on her lower lip as she cursed underneath. She turned around abruptly. “Oh, my goodness! I didn't know you're here. I thought it's someone else...” She emphasized the last word, clutched her backpack while trying to suppress her anger.

“Someone else?” Luciana rose with determination to give her a piece of her mind. “That’s rude.”

She gulped, clenching her fists tightly. She looked around praying silently that he showed before she didn't something crazy. “I’m sorry, mother.” She apologized sincerely, hoping that she would let the matter slide as if it was nothing, however Luciana intended to impress Henrietta.

“Mother? I'm not your mother. Oh, you think because you married my son that makes me your mother—let be clear here, I'm not your mother and you're not my daughter in-law.”

Charlene looked at Henrietta who seemed to be enjoying herself as Luciana berated her, she was at the verge to explode. “I’m sorry, mother. You must have had a terrible day, let me excuse you.” As Charlene attempted to take another step from where she was she had a loud voice.

“If you dare take another step from where you are I promise you, you'll regret ever marrying my son.”

That moment Richard entered, just returning from work. He barely heard what his mother said but the sound was enough to convince him that something wasn't right. “What’s going on here?” He demanded sternly, the first person he made eye contact with was his wife, who was looking at him helplessly. Then he turned to see his mother and Henrietta sitting comfortably on the sofa.

Luciana rolled her eyes. “I thought you're going to ignore your mother.”

He wasn't interested in what she had to say when he saw that she brought Henrietta with her. “I told you, mom. Why can't you wait till the weekend.”

“That’s too far. I can't wait for that long.”

“Tomorrow is the weekend, mom. Well, whatever you want to discuss with me has to wait, and what's she doing here? I distinctly remember telling you not to bring a puppy with you.”

“And who's the puppy?” Henrietta snapped abruptly.

He ignored her as if he wasn't the one she was talking to. “Mom, let's talk tomorrow and if you can't wait till tomorrow, you'll have to wait till I'm ready to listen to all your cooked up ruse.”

Luciana blinked her eyes multiple times perplexingly, she wondered if it was rocbard that spoke or it was someone else. “Richard?”

“Your presence is making my wife uncomfortable. You should get the hell out of here Henrietta. I already warn you that I don't ever want to see you near my property again, or is it too hard for you to understand? Stick it to your brain, you disgust me.” He seethed in a calm tone, he ignored his mother's facial expression completely, he walked over to where Charlene was and took her right hand. “Let's go.”

She was completely surprised, again Richard went against his mother because of her. Although the first time he did that was because he never got along with his mother, now that he repeated the same thing she wondered why he did it again. They walked upstairs, ignoring Luciana's rants and Henrietta's fake sob.

“Thank you.” She uttered the moment they stepped inside their room.

“For what?” He asked as he was unbuttoning his shirt, he narrowed his eyes, looking at her with the corner of her eyes.

“For standing up for me.”

“That's ridiculous. Next time I won't do it for you so you should learn to stand for yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yeah.” She smiled lightly. “How was your day?”

“Pleasant. What about you?” She twitched her lips, looking at him with the eyes she rarely used because it was kind of childish. Richard could only conclude that something happened. He took off his shirt exposing his bare body to her sight. “Did anything happen today?”

“Not really. It's nothing.”

He stared intently into her eyes as there was only a few spaces between them. He cooked his head to the side. “Are you sure? Or someone bullied you?”

“Who would bully me?”

“Anyone can since you won't even fight back. I'm glad no one bullied you.” He paused for a while. “Today is really a shit day.” He murmured, however she heard what he said.

“Are you sure nothing happened today?”

He walked past her, heading to the bathroom. “I'm just tired.”

“Do you want me to massage your body?” She blurted out before she could get a grip of her words. She widened her eyes when he pivoted his head to look at her.

He furrowed his brows as if he wanted her to repeat what she said, perhaps it might be a mistake. When he waited for her to repeat the statement but got none from her, he chuckled quietly. “Fine.” He said then entered the bathroom.

She covered her mouth instantly when he entered. She hit her forehead and laughed demurely. “Massage his body? I know he won't let me do it.” She went to the closet, arranged her heels before returning her backpack to its spot. She exited the bedroom, she went downstairs to grab something in the kitchen, she tiptoed, thinking they were still around. Surprisingly they left. She saw only the maids walking around the living room.

”Is Miguel sleeping?” She asked a maid she encountered on her way to the kitchen.

“He’s awake.” She replied politely.

Charlene advanced to the refrigerator, she opened it and grabbed a bowl of ice cream inside, she closed it then left the kitchen. She stopped by his door, opened it.

“Welcome, ma'am.” She scanned the whole room till her eyes fell on a broken toy.

“You should dispose of that toy and replace it with a new one. He may hurt himself while playing with that.”

“Okay, ma'am.”

She nodded once, she opened the door and strode out, heading to their bedroom. As she entered, she intended to enjoy herself on the couch but changed her mind, she sauntered casually toward the bed. He was wearing trousers without a shirt or undershirt on. Charlene shook her head countlessly to stop herself from drooling over the sight of him. His flawless body sparkled under the spotlight above the bed. “You've been standing on that spot for three minutes, Charlene.”. He said knowingly, laying flat on his tummy while facing her.

She composed herself, cleared her throat before walking closer. Sometimes it was hard to believe they were actually married, the same man in the magazine, the man that was ranked first as the most handsome man. She blinked rapidly. “Um-huh.” She moistened her lips.

“Do you change your mind?”

“What’s that?” She asked, pretending as if she didn't know what he was talking about.

“Are you sure you don't remember?”

She placed the ice cream on the nightstand, then faced him at once. “What's that?”

Richard stifled the desire to laugh, her innocent countenance was literally hilarious. “Come closer. Let me remind you.”

Her eyes darkened with suspicion. She gazed intently into his eyes, searching for something to convince herself in his eyes. “O-okay.” She purred nervously. She sat on the bed and moved close to him but not too close. Richard sat up purposely, he smirked at the thought of what he intended to do to her. Charlene gulped as he leaned over, her heart skipped a beat and she became nervous when he was so close to her and their faces were an inch apart. Richard stopped to see how she was going to react. He lifted his hand to her face, trailed a finger from her forehead down to her chin. She shivered to his touch, clutched the bedspread tightly.

“You still don't remember?”

She widened her eyes to see a dirty smirk plastered on his handsome face. Her heart pounded as if it was going to explode in her chest. She shook her head vigorously, looked at her abruptly and parted her lips. “Miguel is hungry, I already told his babysitter that I'm going to feed him. I have to go.” She rushed her word, then she abruptly stood up. She didn't bother to look at him or see his reaction, she dashed out nervously. Of course, she wasn't ready yet for him.

Ricbard burst into delighted laughter. “What a terrible liar.” He chuckled, looking at the exit direction. He shook his head, returned to his previous position to take a nap.