Chapter 23: Chapter 23

There was no way to pretend that she had not been crying so Carol did not even bother to do so. She sniffed, wiped the remaining tears off her cheeks, and then smiled shakily at him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. James. What on earth are you doing here? I didn't know that you were coming here. It's a pleasure to see you." Carol said, trying to hate the man, but finding that she could not really summon the energy to do so. It wasn't his fault that her father had a gambling problem.

"I can't say the same about you, my dear."

"Huh?"

"I surely did not expect to see you crying. What on earth is the problem? Is my dear nephew not treating you well?"

"Oh no. It's not that. Sebastian's nice."

"So what then is the problem?" He asked, gesturing at her to make room for him on the bench on which she sat. Carol quickly did so, wishing she could get away. What on earth did she have to say with Mr. James? She barely had anything to say to Sebastian, whom she lived with as it was.

"It's just some issues I'm dealing with my family."

"Hmm. I see." He said, although his tone implied that he did not see at all.

"Yeah. How was your trip down here."

"Oh, it was fine. The flight was delayed a bit, but here I am at last. Where's your husband?"

Carol, who did not know what the hell Sebastian did with his time or how he spent his days, blushed to the roots of her hair and stammered.

"He's...he's at work."

"On a Saturday?"

Carol wished the ground could open up and swallow her. How could she have forgotten that today was a Saturday? Mr. James must think that she was stupid.

"Um, I... I..."

Mr. James shook his head knowingly and looked her over. "You don't look in the least bit happy." It was not a question but a statement. Carol did not know what to say in response so she kept quiet.

"Since you don't even know where your husband is at the moment, I take it that you are not abiding by the terms of the contract."

There it was. This contract issue again. Carol decided that as soon as she was done here, she would go and see what it was about, but for now, she had to answer Mr. James, although she was not sure what on earth she was supposed to say.

"Um. I..."

"You've not read the contract yet, so you don't even know what you're supposed to be doing." Mr. James stated. Again, it was not a question. His tone had changed and was no longer friendly.

"No, I have not sir, but I'll do so this night before I sleep."

"May I know why you have not done so yet? Now, honey. I might look very nice on the outside, but I can be very mean when crossed. I don't need to remind you that I've done a lot for your family and require just these little things in return. Any other woman would jump at the chance to be in your position, but I chose your family because I wanted to help save your father from the mess he put himself into, considering I was the one who introduced him to gambling in the first place. It's not my fault he got addicted and did all the dumb things he did, but out of the magnanimity of my heart, I chose to help him. Just to sound a note of warning, there'll be dire consequences if you fail to fulfill your part of the bargain, so I suggest you familiarize yourself with the contract and start to work on it immediately." He warned, looking anything but the pleasant man that had walked in on her crying some minutes ago. Carol listened to him in silence and some fear, wondering what on earth she had gotten herself into.

"Do you understand me, Carol?"

"Yes, I do sir."

"Good. Let's go inside and get something to eat. It's getting late." He said, offering his arm to her as calmly as though he had not just threatened her and her family seconds ago. She took the proffered arm and they went inside the house together. Mr. James rang up the cook and asked her to bring supper for them. He made light conversation with Carol while they waited for their food and even while they ate, keeping her more entertained than she had been since she came here.

Carol found that he made a good conversationalist, and she enjoyed every minute of the time she spent with him. He made her laugh with different funny stories, most of them about Sebastian and his antics, especially when he was a child.

"I raised that boy, you know, and he has my heart." He said after he had finished telling her the funny stories, his face taking on a somber look.

"Wow! I didn't know that you were the one who raised him."

"Yes, you see... Sebastian is the son of my kid sister, her second child. She was nine months pregnant with him and was in labor. Her husband, my brother-in-law, was rushing her to the emergency room when their car had a brake failure and ran down a hill, somersaulting several times. Sebastian's father died instantly. The little boy, who would have been Sebastian's elder brother, died of his injuries an hour after they got to the hospital. His mother was able to hold on to life until after she had given birth to him, and then she died two days after. Naturally, I took my little nephew in and raised him as my own. He was the son I never had, and he has done pretty well for himself." Mr. James finished. The tone of his voice was strong and matter of fact, but she could feel the pain buried somewhere within him. Carol supposed that it was impossible to totally let go of such hurt and pain.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. James." She said, meaning it.

"Anyway, my Sebastian has been through a lot, the latest of which is the disappearance of his fiancée. My boy loved that ungrateful girl so much and her disappearance has been doing a number on him. That is why I had you come into his life, and I'm glad it was you now. I have to admit that at first, I thought that your sister would make a better choice, but now that I look at it, I realize that Victoria and Jessica are very much alike."

"Um, thanks?" Carol said, wondering what kind of compliment this was.