Allison's PoV
I knocked on his door and waited. I was suddenly feeling very nervous. I shouldn't have persuaded Carol to go over to her grandmother's place first. She should have been here with me, doing this; whatever this was, with me.
"Hi" I said immediately the door opened, and moved back.
“Hi Allison” He smiled back and to my utmost surprise, he moved back to let me in and then he hugged me.
“I didn't actually believe when you said you were coming. How was the flight?” He asked.
“It was pleasant thanks” I said with a false smile.
“Look here Allison”. He said, placing his hands on my shoulders briefly. “Feel free okay. I know what you must be feeling. But trust me, I won't hurt you. I'm not my father's son. I've never been and never will I be."
I raised my eyebrows. I never expected him to speak such ill against our father.
"Yes. That man is a loser. He abandoned mum and me and left us to dry. He left when I was 8 and I never saw him again."
He explained, feeling almost teary-eyed. He wanted to explain more. There were stories he wanted to tell me, but then, he only smiled and collected my bag.
He held my hand and led me upstairs.
“When you told me you were coming, I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't even remember how you looked like. So I just quickly arranged a small room. If you really don't like it, We could go shopping this weekend and get things - You know - those girls stuffs” He smiled and I laughed.
“You're really baffling. I thought you were one of those arrogant hot billionaires” I said and stiffled back a laugh.
He feigned annoyance, and I smiled, looking around and marvelling at the elegance of this house. “Are you saying I'm not hot?”
I burst into laughter. “No, that wasn't what I meant. You're actually hot...”
He smiled “Whatever. Just wait till you meet my best friend”
"Oh my God!!!" I exclaimed as he opened the door to my supposedly small bedroom. This was in no way ‘small’. This room is bigger than our apartment back then
He frowned.
"What ??!!! You don't like it ???!!! It's okay . I have other rooms that you can ..."
"No jeez.... It's beautiful. I love it . Thank you " My eyes watered because I really didn't know what to say.
And then he hugged me.
"Look Allison. I'm really glad you called me. I wasn't expecting your call, but I'm glad you actually did call me. If you need anything, feel free to let me know, okay?”
“Yeah. Thank you so much Gabriel, really " I smiled.
He winked at me and then turned back "Oh.. and there's lot of food in the kitchen... you can pick out your choice, okay?And don't forget that I'm upstairs if you need anything at all”
I nodded gratefully and he left.
I brought out my phone immediately and called Carol. She picked almost immediately as if she was waiting for my call.
"So how did it go ???" She screamed
“Okay calm down” I screamed too excitedly. “I'm gonna ask my big brother if you can visit tomorrow and then I'll show you my new room”
“What the gospel f**k?!!” Carol shouted again.
“Jeez can't you just bring down your voice? You're gonna blow up my ear drums. Yes everything went well"
"Honestly I'm so glad. I can't wait to come over tomorrow and Is he really cute too?” Carol yapped like a little child.
I rolled my eyebrows “Gosh. Of course he is”
“What does he do for a living?”
“I don't know yet. I'd know that tomorrow. Carol I'm feeling sleepy. Can I call you later today?” I asked, with a yawn.
"Alright baby girl. Don't forget to call me. Bye. I love you”
"Yeah bye. Take care”
I replied and went to sleep on my new extra large bed.
Jimmy's PoV
It was already very late but I didn't want to go home. It was torturous to keep going to that same house. I longed for Sarah by my side . I longed to hear the twins voice as they welcomed me home. I longed to stop at Karen's store to get iced creams for Maddie and milk shakes for Marah. I really miss them so much.
I stood up and walked out to my car. Unlocking it, I sat down for about 30 seconds , not even doing anything. After a moment of silence, I drove home.
The following morning, I overslept and had to call in sick at work; not that I even needed to do it because that was actually my company and I was my own boss.
“Mr Cross, are you sure you don't want me to do anything for you? Have you had anything to eat? Will you be alright all by yourself?” Leah said.
“Yeah Miss Jones. I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern” I replied.
I stood up and made omelette. No matter how many YouTube videos and cookbooks I'd studied from, it couldn't be as nice as Sarah's. I really missed her.
After eating, I took my bath and then drove over to Gabe's place.
"Hey boss man. This one you showed up at my place today, I hope all is well." Gabe said , still holding his PS4 in his hand, without taking his eyes off the TV.
I went and switched off the TV.
"Hey. You can boss me off at work, but that's not allowed in my house" Gabe teased.
"Jeez. I ain't bossing you off. I'm just bored" I replied.
"What's up with you? Why the moody expression?"
"I think Leah's on to me " I replied offhandedly. I actually wanted to tell him to go with me to see the therapist as I actually had another session with her, but then I didn't know when my secretary's name came to my mind.
But then, Gabe burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I'm really glad you're moving on from Sarah. As hard as it seems, she's gone and you can't keep brooding over her continuously. She's in a state of rest now and she'll want you to experience love again” Gabe replied in a voice filled with emotions.
I smiled.
"When did you become a physiologist or even a therapist ? Well... there's never been any spark between Leah and me and there never will be. She's just one of my best employees and that's it” I replied.
“But she's actually beautiful and brainy too. She's just the perfect woman you want”
"Well...I don't want any beautiful or brainy person. I want Sarah !!!" I yelled.
Just then, a young beautiful girl walked in. As she looked at us, her expression turned to that of shock.
“Hi. I'm sorry to barge in. The door was opened. I really don't know if I'm in the right address. It's just that my best friend gave me her brother's address and I decided to pay her a surprise visit but then I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have made it a surprise after all”
“Oh yeah. You're in the right address. You're Caroline, right?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah and you're her hot billionaire big brother. Nice meeting you. Anyway, where's Allie?”
“She stepped out to...find you. Didn't you see her on your way coming? She told me your grandmother's place is nearby” Gabe said.
“Yeah and ... ” The shrill sound of her phone ringing interrupted her.
“Let me call you back” She said to whoever she was talking to on the phone.
And then she turned towards Gabe and smiled. "That was Allie. She's waiting for me at my grandma's place. I better go find her now"
With that, she turned and left.
Gabe still stood looking at her.
"Okay, so can you start explaining? What sister are you talking about and when did you start having sisters and when did you start admiring random women's a*s?" I asked because I was feeling confused as hell.
“Look Jimmy. You remember that time I told you I was going for my deadbeat dad's funeral...?” Gabe started in a cold tone.
“You need to respect the dead man's honour. He's your father Gabe!!!” I yelled, wondering why he hated his father so much.
“Yeah. Says the guy who stabbed his own father” Gabe scoffed.
I looked round to see if anyone was nearby and then grabbed him by the collar .
“You asshole. How dare you remind me of that? What brought about my dad in the conversation?” I asked with anger in my voice.
“Hey calm down... I was only saying. Did you think I meant it. Alright, if it makes you feel better, I'm sorry” Gabe said as he gently pushed my hand away.
"Whatever.... go on with the story." I said and he laughed.
"Alright. So I got there and met his already grown daughter. I told you he had extramarital affairs, right? So Allison is the product, but she's a very good girl because her mum also abandoned her. She practically grew up on her own. I heard she lived in the convent for a few years before coming out too " Gabe explained.
I smiled with suspicions.
"It seems like you've been doing a great deal of monitoring here. You've been keeping records of her”
"Look. When I observed that young girl that day and the fact that she had no one to turn to for compassion, I offered her my business card and waited for her to call me and she just recently did. I want her to feel cared for. I also want her to have a feeling of security."
"Hmm. So when am I going to meet this little sister of yours, that you've talked so much about?" I asked because I was so anxious and eager to see her.
"You'll meet her very soon, but not now. I want her to get used to the environment before she starts getting exposed to other people” Gabe replied. “And then, you really need to work on your relationship with Leah. The poor girl loves you”
I held my hands up. “Cut the bullshit Gabe. There's never going to be anything between Leah and me, no matter how hard she tries”
"Okay. Whatever, but I'm on the watch out" Gabe smirked.
I shrugged as he escorted me out to my car.
Allison's PoV
I had a nice time with my best friend that evening after she told me of her encounter with my brother and his boyfriend. I even laughed heartily when she told me that she was beginning to have a crush on my brother.
My schedule for today was to go shopping for things I need, with Gabriel's credit card. I called Caroline first and we went with one of his cars on a shopping spree. I was driving very slowly to avoid breaking a traffic rule.
“Jeez girl ...” Carol shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get off the driver's seat ."
“What ??!!!"I asked.
“I wanna drive” She said.
“Alright” I found a small spot to park and then came down. I had a feeling there was going to be trouble and that was when I realized what I'd just done. Carol was a reckless driver.
“Jeez Carol!! Can you not just slow down. You're gonna kill us both. I'm not ready to die”
“I'm gonna slow down on one condition” She said and increased her speed. I was literally shaking in my seat.
“Okay okay. Anything” I said breathlessly.
“We're gonna go to a Chinese restaurant first and eat something nice, then we're gonna go on with our shopping” She said.
“But..”
“No buts Allie. Your brother has the money so why don't we make use of this once in a lifetime opportunity”
I thought long and hard about it before nodding.
“Okay fine. I agree”
And immediately, she slowed down the car and brought it to an abrupt stop and I realized that we were directly outside a Chinese restaurant. I laughed and we both came down.
"Okay. So, on a more serious note, how do you feel about staying with your brother? Is he treating you nice? Are you comfortable?" Carol asked after three shots of tequila.
I sighed.
"Yeah I am. He's a real nice guy. But I just feel like being busy. He's going to work tomorrow too and he says he'll not come back till on Monday. Which means I'll be the only one at home all day and that's not just... normal for me” I replied with a sad smile.
“You could talk to him so you could go back to Art school or just further your education” Carol suggested.
"Well... that's not even in my agenda." I laughed. “I'm not interested in going back to school anytime soon. I just want to work” I replied.
“You could still talk to your brother or talk to his friend. I felt power, and money oozing from him. I think he's a great guy” Carol teased and I smiled.
“We'll see about that”
The shopping spree went on as planned and I got a lot of fashion designer clothes for myself and by the time I drove back home , I was physically drained.
Carol slept overnight in my room and the next morning, she was gone before I even noticed anything. It was actually really exciting to have a lot of free time on your hands. I was finally happy.