15/12/2022 ( Part 2)
Looking at Kian as they sat in the back of the SUV, she asked, “How did you get to the hospital?”
“Oh, I asked my brother to drop me off. I was planning on staying with Gael for a bit, then head back to work,” Kian explained with a smile as he rubbed his thumb over Gael’s hand that he was holding.
Gael had stopped crying, but he was staring out of the window with the hiccups from crying too much. He wanted to pull his hand away so badly, but Kian was clasping it—and then again, he didn’t want to alert his mother and cause her harm.
“Where do you work?” She asked him, interested in one of Gael’s friends for the first time in a long while.
“I’m in my fourth year doing an apprenticeship at V&N Law Firm and it’s my first year working in the courthouse,” he explained.
Mrs Becker’s eyes widened, astonished and impressed. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight,” he answered, then looked at Gael.
She smirked inwardly. She was definitely telling her husband about this tonight. “Tell me, how did you and Gael meet?”
Kian raised a brow as he looked at her, “We met not too long ago.”
She remained silent, waiting for him to explain more, but it didn’t come. Chuckling, she said, “I need more than that, Kian. I can see that you are interested in Gael.”
He blushed and looked away. “You can tell? Well, I am very interested in him. Although our time together was short, we have enough memories together. It’s just a pity that he is already in a relationship with another.”
Mrs Becker scoffed and looked at her son—disapproving of his choices and taste in men—why couldn’t he have chosen someone like Kian, who has considerable success and at their bar on the approval?
Focussing on her son. “Why didn’t you tell us about Kian, Gael?”
He slowly turned his head to look at her and saw that Kian was watching him, too. Hiding his fright, he said calmly, “He’s still a stranger.”
She chuckled heartily, “Nonsense, he cares so much about you. Just look at the bouquet he bought, and they are your favourite white roses. But I must say Kian, what is this purple flower called?”
Kian smiled as Mrs Becker caressed the petals as she observed the colour of the bell-shaped flower, explaining, “It’s called a foxglove or else known as Lady’s glove. It’s my favourite flower—my sister has a garden in which she plants these and marigold flowers. They have a special meaning for us and I was thinking of getting Gael a bouquet of marigold flowers but the meaning isn’t the same as a foxglove.”
Gael was unconsciously curious about the flower and looked at it. He then looked at Kian and saw that he was as calm as ever, and looked back at the flower. ‘It’s a beautiful flower, but why give me the flower he likes? What is he up to?’
Sneaking a glance back at Kian, he called, “K, Kian?”
Kian turned to him with a pleased smile. Squeezing his hand slightly, almost assuring him he was there, “Is there something you need? Do you want to eat or drink?”
Gael shook his head slowly asking, “You mentioned your sister? You, you didn’t tell me you had one.”
He smiled brightly. “Did you forget? You weren’t interested in me, Gael.”
Mrs Becker was checking out the items in the basket when she heard this. She had noticed that there was a jewellery box inside the basket too, but she couldn’t get to it because the basket was sealed with plastic.
“Kian, I see you bought Gael non-alcoholic champagne, he loves his alcohol,” she said, testing him.
Kian was more curious about what Gael was thinking. He showed an interest in finding out what Gael was thinking, but Kian refused to disclose any information unless he intentionally wanted Gael to be informed.
Turning to Mrs Becker, he smiled. He was about tired of her but he couldn’t show her that, “I chose non-alcohol because I grew up in a household where we were strictly forbidden from consuming harmful substances and drinking alcohol.”
“Your parents certainly are right. I wish my children could listen. All they know is partying and spending money.” She complained with a smile on her face, “And between you and me, my husband blames me for spoiling them.”
Raising a brow, Kian asked, “Gael has siblings?”
“Yes, he is mine and my husband’s biological child. We have three others whom we adopted when they were babies. You see, Mr Becker and I were struggling to have children and Gael is our little miracle and he certainly takes advantage of that.”
“Did you think about trying for another child?” He asked conversationally.
She nodded her head, “Yes, I’ve always wanted a daughter, but unfortunately, Gael is the only one who survived inside me. I had to remove my womb after his birth, but it was for the best.”
Kian could hear the sadness in her voice, but he couldn’t care about it.
‘She’s telling him too much,’ he thought as he stared at Kian’s side profile.
*
They arrived at Gael’s apartment. Kian followed him inside and stopped in the living room. That was a mess with paintings and drawings everywhere.
Gael stopped in the doorway between his bedroom and the living room and stared at Kian, who was looking around. His mother was there, too. He doubted Kian would do anything to him.
Closing the door quietly and locking it. He quickly rushed to the window. Looking out of it, if he jumped now, he’d land in the pool below. As he climbed onto the windowsill, he suddenly remembered that his mother was here too.
“I can’t leave her.”
Jumping down, he walked up to the door, unlocked it and stepped back, surprised that Kian was staring there looking equally surprised down at him.
Gael opened his mouth to ask him what he was doing there, but Kian grabbed him by the throat and closed the door. Holding Gael against the door, who was struggling to get free.
Glaring at him, “I’ll ask you once and you better answer me honestly or things won’t end well for you and your mother.”
“What, what, what do you want?”
“How the fuck did the police find me?”
Gael shook his head frantically, “I didn’t. I didn’t tell them anything. He asked me about you.”
“Who?”
“Th, the officer,” he answered.
“Why would he ask about me?” He questioned sceptically.
“Lora, Loralei, she told him you and I had argued. You also barged into the room she was in with another guy,” he answered.
Kian observed Gael and could tell that he wasn’t lying. He was too afraid of him.
Letting him go, he walked over to the bed and sat down. Staring at Gael, who was panting on the floor, he asked, “Why would she mention me?”
“Because I was found unconscious, and you were suspicious.” He said in between coughs. “You also looked at her strangely. She doesn’t like people who don’t accept her.”
Thinking back to his friend, he recalled her naked on the bed, staring at another guy undressing. “Because she’s got a dick?”
He nodded his head as he stood up. “She’s majorly petty, and I am certain that she told the police about you because of how you looked at her and not because we argued.”
Thinking about the possibility of his words being true, he said, “The police wouldn’t have known that I existed if it weren’t for her.”
Getting up, he walked over to Gael, pinning him between his arms against the door. Getting up close in his face, he asked, “Did you do what I asked you to do?”
“Wh, what did you ask me to do?” He asked. His mind had gone blank already after being in the same space as Kian.
Brushing his nose against Gael’s ear, he asked, “Did you end your relationship with him?”
Gael shook his head, “No. He’s in a coma. I can’t.”
Kian started laughing. He rested his head against Gael’s shoulder and said, “How lucky for him! Well, it can wait until he wakes up, that’s if he wakes up. Now, I want you to stop being afraid of me in front of others. They might think I’m forcing you.”
Standing straight, he slipped his hands into his pocket’s saying, “And that friend of yours, if she acts up again, I’m killing her.”
Gael’s eyes widened. He suddenly recalled the picture of the man who was dead and the beaten up woman. He turned to Kian, asking, “Did you, did you kill that man and beat that woman? I know her? She, she’s the one who pushed me into you.”
Leaning down beside his ear, Kian said with a smirk, “The less you know, the better.”
Chuckling as he came up, Kian said, “Get your shit and let’s go. And I’ll warn you a last time, do not under any circumstance, do you give yourself and me away? Do you understand?”
Gael nodded his head unconsciously and scrambled away to get everything ready.
