Second Chances

4. Elton

"Who the hell is here so early in the morning? Where is the staff?" Elton groaned as the doorbell rang again. "God damn it, the sleeping beauty wouldn't even f*****g get up to open the door," he grumbled angrily as he shoved his duvet aside and got out of the bed, only to sit down again as his head started spinning. He should have exercised restraint last night and not downed so many shots. He was definitely paying the price for being wild last night. The doorbell soon stopped, and he thanked God for small mercies. The moment didn't last long though as his phone started ringing. Groaning loudly, he answered the call without looking at the display.

"Hello?" He grumpily responded.

"Elton, we are at the door. No one is answering, have been ringing the bell for quite some time now. Aren't you two home?" Came his mother's concerned voice.

"Oh! It was you. Give me two minutes," he disconnected the call, and got up from his bed. After managing to freshen up without feeling dizzy, he made his way out, all the while mumbling why hadn't Adrianna bothered to open the door. Wasn't she at home? Of course she had to be! She wasn't the one to leave the house. So why hadn't she answered the door? And where the hell was the staff?

Despite so many questions running through his mind, he made it downstairs and opened the door, not missing the judgmental look on his father's face.

"What took you so long?" His father grumbled as they entered.

"I didn't know you were coming, seeing that you failed to inform me," Elton tried to mask his annoyance.

"What do you mean by that? We had informed Adrianna that we would be coming over today. Are you both not talking to each other?" His father raised an eyebrow as he waited for Elton's response.

"Oh stop it, you two!" Lisa admonished them. She turned towards Elton and asked, "Are you two done with your breakfast? I hope not! We have got some piping hot and yummy breakfast! Come on, let's settle down," her tone was joyous.

"I... uh... sure... I will call Adrianna," Elton reluctantly responded as he immediately turned to leave, wary of his father's questioning stare. Once he was away from their presence, he let out a sigh of relief as he walked towards Adrianna's room.

He knocked once, twice, thrice, but there was still no answer. His patience was wearing thin now and his parents' presence in the house wasn't really helping. Where the hell was she? How could someone sleep so soundly, without any care in the world? Irritated, he almost banged on her door, making his mother come upstairs to check what was happening.

"Is she okay?" Lisa asked, concerned.

"She has to be. I mean she could be sleeping. It was quite late when we reached home last night," Elton lied.

"Oh! That's okay, let her res... Hold on. Why aren't you two sleeping in the same room?"

Elton's eyes widened in realisation. "We... I... Ummm... Yeah, we were a bit too drunk l... last night. Didn't realise we weren't in our room."

Lisa simply shook her head and turned to leave, not before asking him to let Adrianna sleep.

***

"Is she still resting?" Marvin didn't hide the skepticism in his tone. It had been more than a couple of hours since they had arrived, and it was almost time for lunch. There was still no sign of Adrianna, and Elton had been quite fidgety. The staff had also arrived some forty minutes back to make preparations for lunch.

"Lisa, why don't you go and check if everything is going fine?" Marvin stated rather than asked, his gaze on his son.

Lisa understood the underlying meaning of his words but she also knew what that would mean for her son. However, even she was worried for Adrianna. She simply nodded and left the two men alone.

"Why don't you take out your phone and call her?" Marvin suggested, though he sounded like he hardly cared.

"I... uh..." Elton seemed at a loss for words. What the hell was Adrianna doing in her room? And if she was actually not in the house, where was she? As if worrying about her absence wasn't enough, his father's stares were getting on his nerves.

"Save your excuse for someone else. You guys have been married for almost a year and you don't even have her number? What in the bloody hell is going on here? And where is she? Did you do something to her?"

"Dad! That is ridiculous! How..."

"Shut up!" Marvin thundered. "I have been waiting for you to man up and tell me the truth, but I guess my son doesn't have a pair to face the consequences of his actions! How many more months till you drop this pretense? I know things are not fine between you two, but I still gave you time. I can see you are still being stubborn, have been treating her badly. And here I was, foolish to think better of you!" He almost spat out.

"Did she..."

"So my assumptions are right! Look at you... just look at you. You couldn't recognise a true gem when she was with you. She has been miserable, if your defenses and expressions are anything to go by..."

"THEN ASK HER TO DIVORCE ME IF SHE IS SO MISERABLE!"

"NO ONE IS GOING TO DIVORCE ANYONE!"

Elton got up from his seat angrily, pacing around to calm himself down. "Had it not been for your foolish idea, no one would have been miserable. Do you hate me so much that you like seeing your only child miserable?"

"This. This is exactly the problem with you. Always self-centred, always entitled, always selfish." Marvin shook his head as he looked away from Elton. "I don't want to argue with you. I simply want you to know that the Morgan name is doing wonders for our business. If you want me to hand over the business to you, you need to know how your actions could have dire consequences. If this continues, there might not be a business for me to hand over to you."

"Wow. Just wow. I told you I am not happy, miserable in fact, in this marriage and like a good father, what do you do? Simply ignore that and worry about business. Of course, business has always been more important to you."

"Watch what you are saying. This is the same business you have been eyeing for years now, so do not blame me. My family matters more to me than my business but the case seems different with you. Adrianna's happiness is more important than anything, including your tantrums. But you wouldn't understand that. So at least think from a business perspective."

"I am capable enough to make the business grow by mys..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE! Had it not been for your poor decisions, Scott Enterprise would still have been a force to reckon within the business world. It was your poor decisions that drove it to the ground! You and your stupid love for that woman. You refuse to see anything beyond her! Do you even look at your wife? How unhappy is she? How could you behave so coldly towards such a pure soul? And don't even be so ignorant as to think that her parents haven't notic..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all about that. Her father has been enough pain in the..."

"YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT HIM LIKE THAT!"

DAMN RIGHT I WILL!"

"Marv, El, what's going on? Please calm down both of you," Lisa came towards them with hurried steps, their loud voices echoing in the house. They both listened to her but refused to look at each other, angry with the way the other was behaving.

"Come on now, stop being upset. So, Eli, any plans for tomorrow?" Lisa tried to be enthusiastic, hoping to distract them from whatever it was they were arguing on. Though she was sure it had to do something with Adrianna's absence.

"Why? What is it tomorrow?" Elton responded gruffly.

And that was all the confirmation she needed. So her husband's assumptions were right, things were horrible between her son and Adrianna.