Chapter Six - Announcements are in order 2

"I'm so sorry" My hands flew to my mouth in an attempt to stop another embarrassment from pouring out of it.

Elizabeth was awfully calm, she moved backwards far away from me as fast as she could and requested for a cleaner to come upstairs to clean the mess and without even a glance at me, she walked through a door at the side of the office.

A bathroom probably.

"Take this" A water bottle appeared in my face as soon as she was gone. It was from Anthony who gave a small smile to accompany the bottle of water.

"Look at me messing up the advice I gave you" I said as I took the bottle from him. I needed to wash my mouth anyway and it looked like Elizabeth was in the only bathroom in this office.

"I need to use the ....." I didn't finish the sentence before he understood what I was trying to say.

Anthony told me to follow him and I did just that, he was always leading me somewhere when we were younger and I would follow him to places where no one would expect to find a couple of children.

He opened the door and stepped aside for me to walk in. It was a private bathroom for the hospital staff probably. There was no time to think about who used the bathroom though, I was on a tight schedule because I still needed to be at work later today.

I poured a generous amount of water in my mouth and gurgled on it before spitting it out. Another generous amount, did the same thing and then drank the rest of the water.

My reflection caught my eye and for some moments I just watched myself, the blue eyes I graciously got from my mother staring back at me. I had a lot of missing patches of hair in my eyelids as a result of anxiety but I did not mind.

I took another look before leaving the bathroom and almost into the arms of Anthony who was leaning against the wall close to the door outside.

"So are you pregnant already or what" He asked, his face expressionless and he stared straight ahead.

I chuckled "I wish, I think it was probably something I ate this morning or yesterday coming up"

"Well mother would be absolutely delighted if she knows you were ready for the tests"

"Or she'll have my head for vomiting on her really expensive shoes"

We were almost back to the office but I could already make out Elizabeth's figure looking at me without those eyes that would make one confess all their sins without knowing.

"That is a behavior that is quite unacceptable of a young girl that might become a member of the Thorn family...."

"For two years" Anthony coughed out at my side.

His mother narrowed her eyes at him "Yes for two years and carry the Thorn family heir, you have to learn to keep your food in your stomach where it belongs" She continued.

I nodded at that but decided to ask some questions "How do you know I was not pregnant"

This time she rolled her eyes before answering like she couldn't believe the question "I am a doctor Vanessa and quite an old one too, I know when females become pregnant before they know it themselves"

Since there was no more questions and we all had a busy schedule, Elizabeth hurried us along. She took us to another doctor who she introduced as one of the best in her hospital, he was a rather happy man which was good. He was the one that explained all we were to do.

"Do you know your genotype?" He asked.

"We're both AA" Anthony answered.

The doctor nodded, wrote a couple of other things in a sheet of paper and passed them to lady he called in. She took our blood samples which honestly was a very funny situation because Anthony was scared of needles.

"I'm still conducting a genotype test but nothing to worry about, I'm just conducting all the tests" The doctor said cheekily. He laughed at his own words.

Today was going to be a long day.

****

Ten hours later and most of the tests confirmed our compatibility, I did some invasive test that made me a little bit sore but that was alright.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Anthony asked. He wasn't staring at me and was trying something on his phone furiously.

I gave him a small yes and we left the hospital without telling Elizabeth goodbye, I didn't give it that much of a thought though.

Anthony took me to this fancy restaurant where the owner happened to be his friend or something. A lot of people knew him here and I caught the quiet laugh and gossip whenever I turned a certain way.

"Why are they looking at me like that?" I asked Anthony when I couldn't take it any longer.

Anthony looked up from his phone and looked around. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to go back to his phone when something caught his eyes behind me. Or someone.

"Ronald, wasn't expecting to see you here"He said, he looked genuinely happy to see him here.

I turned sideways to look at this Ronald who was here without a date. Dressed smartly in a grey suit, he looked like he left straight from work to come to this place. He took a seat from one of the empty tables and placed it on our table.

"Good day lovely lady, I'm Ronald and it is an honor to make your acquaintance" He bowed his head slightly. He had an almost faded away British accent and a nice smile.

"I'm Vanessa, lovely to meet you too" I said. I could still feel people staring at me and at a last resort, I asked if I had anything that wasn't supposed to be on me on me.

Ronald gave me a small laugh but Anthony was still face down in his phone.

It was Ronald who gave me an answer.

"They're probably staring because you're with him, the most eligible bachelor in the country and this is the first time they're seeing him on a date with a girl"

"What does he go on dates with then? Pigs" I snorted out a pig laugh without thinking.

Anthony dropped his phone at this point "I don't go on dates, I date girls but I don't go on dates"

What does that even mean? I wondered in my mind though.

Ronald checked his wrist watch and excused himself from us, his date was here and he needed to go get her.

"His date is a princess" Anthony finally said five words to me. He placed his phone on the table now and he was trying to focus on me.

I thought about the information he gave me and stored it in my head for future references. I could ask him if he was enjoying his food but that did not seem like the kind of questions he would enjoy answering. So I just settled on the good old classic questions.

"How's work?"

Eyebrow raised and a simple laugh, he answered "Work is great and I got a new secretary that's looking fine as fuck, might have to sleep with her before this contract thing comes to play" He said.

That answer shut me up and I did my best not to ask him any more questions concerning anything that had humans in it. I was not interested in knowing anything about his affairs and how he did them.

When we were done and it was finally time to see my brother with my sister in tow, I could hardly contain my excitement. We were to meet at the Thorn mansion and Anthony was taking me there.

"He misses you guys alot you know, I couldn't fill the space" Anthony said in the car, I couldn't understand his expression because he gave nothing away and he was watching the road.

I folded my hands on my thighs "I miss him alot too"

I missed the old you alot too Anthony.

"And I didn't mean what I said about my secretary"

Good to know.

I placed my head on the window pane and the next thing someone was shaking me awake with his face close to mine. Anthony was shaking me awake frantically.

"Christ! Woman!" He exclaimed, he ran his hand over his face and hair "Why are you sleeping like you gave up the ghost?"

I stared at him weirdly but said nothing, I honestly did not understand what was happening. Nobody told me I slept like a dead person before, probably because I woke up before everyone else and had done everything I needed to be done.

Anthony left me in the car and I had to find a way out by myself. The Thorn mansion was still the same way albeit a few changes here and there. It was still as magnificent as ever.

I recognized the pathways Victoria, Anthony and I used to run around until Victoria became too old for such games and it was just Anthony and I. He had kissed me for the very first time behind the maze at the side.

And now he had left me on my own to find my brother.

"Geez" He growled into my ears making me jump "You should be able to find your way around this mansion Vanessa, it's not that hard"

I turned around to hold his gaze which wasn't that hard even though Anthony was tall. His eyes had changed also from that gaze of a confident yet a little bit insecure high school teenager to a confident cocky CEO that was so sure he could whatever he wanted.

Would it be hard not to fall in love with this man? This twenty five years old man that wanted nothing to do with me if it wasn't for my younger brother.

The frown on my face deepened when I remembered everything him and his family did to me. I struggled not to just unleash every unhappy thought there.

"I would like to be taken to my brother now" I demanded, then on a second thought with a much softer tone I asked for my sister.

Anthony stared at me for a few seconds more than necessary before answering my question.

"Your sister is already in, with my father. Mother is no where to be found"

He walked towards the door and this time, my disoriented self followed him. The mansion was much more bigger and better on the inside. It still had this Victoria era vibe to it with the large chandeliers and staircases on either side. It was still the same.

They were in the kitchen which was much more modern compared to the rest of the house. Victor kept talking animatedly to Victor with all this hand gestures that I couldn't keep up with while she watched him, a finger on his cheek. Daniel acted as chaperone I guess, he was on his phone but every once in a while, he looked at them and smiled.

Anthony announced his return and my arrival much to my distain.

"Vanessa" Victor shouted. He was by my side before I could even react and gave me the biggest hug of the century.

I saw Victoria give me a thumbs up and I gave one back.

"Look at you Victor" I moved backwards to get the full view of my brother up close "The pictures and videos did no justice to you, you're almost as tall as Anthony here"

Victor laughed "Anthony is a giant, I can't be as tall as him" He said excitedly.

He was ready to talk my ear off and I was ready to listen to him forever. Finally, I was getting my brother back.

Victoria shook her head at me "I didn't know you were planning on getting married Vanessa" She smiled "Although I think you're still ...."

What does she mean? Anthony and I haven't confirmed anything yet.

My confused expression must have given her everything she needed because she immediately backtracked.

"I just ...as..umed you we.re getti.ng married because of the reports" She stammered a bit when she was nervous.

"What reports?" Anthony demanded to know.

"The report from the interview Elizabeth gave few hours ago"