NOT THE SAME AGAIN.
1309 Words
AUDREY POV.
Pulling out the last suitcase from taxi trunk, I thank the airport taxi before dragging a screaming Chloe out of the back seat and to my waist.
She had started crying ever since we got here, yelling and kicking about for no reason. It had to be the jet lag, it had to be the only reason to explain her outrageous behavior right now.
“Choco. Baby, let’s go, let’s go get candy okay?” I say, trying to woe her one more time but it all falls to deaf ears.
Signing in defeat, I wrap her legs around my waist, keeping her hands steady around my neck before proceeding to ring the bell switch at the large black gate ahead of us.
This is the address I last remember. Maddon Mansion on 37th Street. Madison lane.
No response.
My heart starts racing in fear of the unknown, panic setting in as realization finally hits me. I didn’t call him to ask about this or for that matter communicate about my arrival.
What if he wasn’t living here anymore, what if he actually wants nothing to do with me, and kicks us out because—
“Can I help you?” A voice spoke through the intercom next to the bell switch pulling me out of my day dream.
It wasn’t him.
“Ahh. Yes, I am looking for Xylon Calloway. I.. I was told I could find him here.”
There is silence for almost a full minute until he speaks again.
“Who are you?”
“I am his sister, his step sister.” I answer, raising my voice alittle over Chloe’s crying.
He gets quite once again, much more longer this time that I start to think the intercom died or he has left me here.
After what felt like twenty minutes, the large gate gradually opens making a loud noise in the distance and a man wearing shorts walks out.
He looks all buffed and tall, he has black hair sprouting around his face in a messy but good kind of way.
He looks good and I have to force my eyes to focus on his face and not below to his glistening ripped chest.
“Come with me.” Is all he says while looking at Chloe and i like weirdly like we weren’t supposed to me here then turns around on his heel and heads inside.
Holding Chloe closer to me, I follow him inside the large gate, reminding myself to come back for the suitcases incase I succeeded in getting a place to crush.
But stepping past the large steel gates, I gasp in disbelief as greedily take in the view of the house.
Looking on, I realize the word house is an understatement.
“Wow.” Chloe whispered, her tears drying onto her red checks as she also stared ahead.
I only heard in rumours about how good Xylon was doing in his dads’ oil company for the past four years but I didn’t think it was actually this well.
He had changed the entire scape of his previous home into something that resembled royalty.
We are standing at the beginning of a driveway that sweeps long and wide, immediately making his property feel more like a private country estate than just a large house. It has large oaks line in the gravel path, their branches wide and tall.
As we move in closer, the house emerges more as a collection of connected wings in a mansion not as a single house. The outside architecture has mismatched stones and soft plaster makes it look like it has weathered decades of changing seasons.
The porches wrap around the sides, filling with oversized chairs and potted plants, giving his home a surprisingly welcoming feel.
To my left, there are lawns that stretch out towards a walled garden and with a detached carriage house at the far end of my sight.
The scale of this house was undeniably impressive that it now felt less like more like a generational family estate built to last.
He had really done well for himself, much more compared to me.
The guy ahead of us opens the front large glass door before letting us in and quickly walks towards the sofas in the large space of what seemed like a living room or hall.
I sit down in one of the sofas then gently put Chloe next to me, trying not to feel so eaten up in a house like this. Being in a house this huge and grand made me feel much more self conscious than before.
I cant even look around the house to take in its surroundings and beauty out of fear.
I hear footsteps coming out ways followed by a pause.
“What are you doing here.” A rough voice hissed at the other entrance of the room.
Hearing him, that voice after a long time, my blood seems to start to drain out my face as I try to process my rushing thoughts, memories from from years back all closing in on me as I turn towards his direction.
My mouth opens and closes as I try to say something but also take in his appearance at the same time.
“I...” I stutter, afraid that he isn’t going to want to hear another word from me.
Taking a deep breath, I master up some courage and look up at him.
“Hey stepbrother.” I say.
He was wearing a black cotton t-shirt along with black dress pants. He has his sleeves cut up revealing his arms that are covered in ink, with new tattoos he didn’t have years back.
“I thought I was loud enough telling you to never ever call me that.” He grunts, keeping his piercing blue eyes on me like a hawk watching its prey.
“Am so—
“What are you doing here Calloway?” He hisses, taking calculated steps towards me like he is ready to throw me out now.
“I need your help.”
“Do you? After six years do you really?” He snaps instead, taking a step closer to me but pauses when he notices something move behind me. Chloe.
His eyes search while his head turning to look more at her and I can see confusion and something else cloud his eyes.
“What’s going on?” He asks, much lower this time.
“I.. Ambrose and Michele. They—“ I start but saying that out aloud from the first time feels much more harder than I had imagined. I could already feel tears starting to burn at my eyes once more.
“This is not a place for someone like you, and that a toddler. You have seven days to sort out your life and be on your way.” He says, his voice void of any emotion as retorts, looking everywhere but into my eyes. Like he was displeased with me being here and even more displeased in himself for agreeing.
“Thank you so—
“It’s for my peace of mind, not for you.” He adds before disappearing up the stairs, taking two steps each time like he needed to be away from me as much as possible.
“Mummy.” Chloe calls me while tugging at my skirt, something she always does when she’s scared or nervous.
Swooping her up in my arms, I whisper sweet nothings to her while kissing her face in genuine happiness for the first time since yesterday.
Seven days weren’t going to be enough for me to find a job and a place to live but they were much more than I expected.
Smiling at a giggling Chloe, I take a deep breath, happy that the difficult part was done.
- Writer
