The Last Time

Andre couldn't bring himself to say anything, he had been hard on his mother for obvious reasons, but upon hearing what she had to say, he could only hope that she was speaking due the influence of whatever liquor she must have consumed, it had to be.

He lifted his eyes to look at her one more time and discovered that she had passed out in the car seat, she lay there, unmoving and unperturbed in her sleep. The fact that she could fall asleep so soon after giving him such reason to worry was all the more reason for Andre to doubt what she had just said. He thought about waking her, but decided otherwise, he would wait until they were home to discuss this, this wasn't the time nor the place.

He shifted his gaze from the sleeping form of his drunk mother to the buildings speeding by on the exterior of the chauffer driven vehicle, he allowed his thoughts wander through all that had happened today, it had indeed been surprisingly eventful. Almost everything that had happened today had surpised him; from Tanya, his consort trying to perform girlfriend duties to his encounter with Jane and her angry daughter. One thing that hadn't surprised him however, was his father trying to take credit for his hardwork, his sweat. The party had left a bitter taste in Andre's mouth because of this, and even as he tried to distract himself from thinking about it, he just couldn't help growing further annoyed as he remembered the smug look on his father's face as he proposed the toast.

Andre returned his gaze to his mother, she was still sleeping. He remembered how she had called for a toast on his behalf and he felt the smile that had serenaded his face on that occasion returning to grace his face once more.

"Buzzzzzzz!!!!", the vibration in his pocket interrupted his daydreams.

Andre reached into his pocket and removed his phone to check who it was, he found Tanya's name displayed across his screen. He sighed irritably before taking the call, as much as he no longer wanted to speak to her, he still needed to get his ring from her, it was important that he did.

" What is it Tanya?", he asked as he held the phone against his ear.

" You've kept me waiting here for a while hotshot, you can always let me have the ring if you no longer want it", she clapped back, barely waiting for him to finish.

Andre exhaled tiredly. There was no way he could avoid this, if he wanted the ring, he was going to have to meet Tanya in person to get it, she was doing all she could to make sure of it.

" Give me an hour Tanya, I'll be there", he let himself submit after several seconds had passed in silence.

" Alright then", she agreed, and then the line went dead.

Andre could tell that she was happy with the outcome of their conversation, he could picture her smiling as she ended the call. The car was beginning to slow down, and not long after, it parked in front of his mother's apartment, he looked through the window at the building. It was a luxury apartment complex that had been purchased in her name, she lived at the very last floor while the other floors were leased out.

" We're here sir", Stanley said softly as he waited for further instructions, the security detail attached to Andre had walked up to the car and were waiting for the signal to open the doors.

" I need someone to carry my mother, she's asleep", Andre instructed in a low tone as he knocked on the car window to signal to the men outside the car that he was ready to alight. The door was opened almost immediately and Andre waited until Stanley had made the necessary arrangements to see that his mother was carried carefully out of the car and into the building. Most of the security detail followed the bodyguard who had carried her into the building while two of them waited behind to accompany Andre into the building.

When he was sure that his mother had been carried safely into the building, he alighted the vehicle and took a look around before walking towards the apartment complex.

" Keep the engine running, I won't be long", he instructed Stanley as he walked away from the vehicle with the two bodyguards following him closely.

The lobby had a handful of people standing around, almost all of who knew who he and his mother were, he refrained from making eye contact with any one of them as they entered the waiting elevator, the closing doors offering him the privacy he craved. As the elevator began to move, he wished that there was a more private entrance to the building, this was the only flaw he could detect in the building.

The elevator dinged as they arrived at the last floor, the doors sliding open to let them out of the metal box. The rugged floor muffled the sound of their shoes as they walked through the elevator doors and into the luxury apartment. The apartment was clean and in absolute order, thanks to the live-in maid he had hired for his mother.

Maria walked into the living room as soon as she was aware that Andre was around, she had been occupied with showing the bodyguards where to put his mother and had only left the room to come and pay her respects.

" Good morning Mr Fernandez", she greeted as she genuflected towards him.

" Good morning Maria, how are you?", Andre asked in response. It had been a while since he had come here and having been the one who had offered Maria her job, it was a reunion of sorts.

" Give me a report Maria, mum seems worse than before. What's going on?", Andre enquired as he kept his gaze fixed on the maid.

Maria averted his gaze from him, almost suspiciously immediately he asked the question. Andre noticed this and his countenance changed, it appeared something was really wrong and he wondered if he was comfortable discussing this in the presence of his bodyguards who were standing at various parts of the apartment.

" Leave us", he instructed as he turned to the men who were standing in the room. They acknowledged his instructions immediately and walked toward the elevator in unison, stopping and standing just shy of the elevator door.

" Come with me", Andre instructed as he walked ahead of the maid into the room that his mother had been laid. There was too much speculation flying around in his head and right now, he needed to know for sure what was going on before he decided on what he was going to do. He walked into the room where his mother was laying on the bed and when Maria had joined him in the room, he closed the door behind her.

Maria had fear written all over her face as soon as the door was closed but Andre didn't give a shit, he wanted answers and she was the only one who could give them right now.

" Talk Maria", he commanded, his cold voice not leaving any doubts lingering in her mind about what she was expected to do.

" Your mother made me promise not to say anything sir, Please I beg you", she pleaded, trying to get him to reconsider his stance.

Andre walked over to the bed and allowed himself sink into one of the vacant seats close to the bed.

" I'm listening", he said, not paying any attention whatsoever to the pleas she was offering.

She stayed quiet for a while, and when she saw just how determined Andre was, she knew she had to tell him the truth. Andre had employed her primarily to keep an eye on his mom and report back to him, not telling him what he demanded to know right now was enough grounds for him to fire her and line up her replacement.

" You're not saying anything Maria", Andre insisted. He needed to make it absolutely clear that she was going to tell him alll that he needed to know and that there was no way around it.

She didn't say anything in response and instead, she walked over to the desk that stood at the far end of the room and opened a drawer. she removed a brown envelope from the drawer and walked over to Andre to give it to him. He snatched it from her and tore it open as fast as he could, removing the sheet of paper that was enclosed within.

Andre took some some seconds to piece together the information that was contained on the sheet of paper.

" How could you keep this from me Maria?", he yelled at her, immediately recognizing his error and lowering his voice to avoid waking his sleeping mother.

" She made me promise sir, I'm so sorry", she pleaded as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Andre felt the bile rise to his mouth and his irritation grow with each glance he took at the medical report in his hands, he was so pissed at the moment, but he couldn't bring himself to blame the maid, she had only done as she had been instructed by his mother and no matter what the arrangement had been before then, it wasn't her place to disobey. He sat back into the chair for the next few minutes, quiet and letting waves of anger wash over him.

" I want every bottle of alcohol in this house gotten rid off, I don't care what she tells you to do. If I return and i can find as much as a drop of bourbon in this house, you will answer to me. Do I make myself clear?", he snarled at her.

" Yes... yes sir", she whimpered, nodding her head vigorously as he spoke.

Andre got off the chair he had been sitting on and took one look at his mother lying on the bed, a deep scowl formed on his face as he turned toward the door, he paused for some seconds before he opened it and left the room. It turned out that she had not been lying when she told him that she was dying.

" One of you stays behind. My mother does not leave this apartment", Andre instructed as he walked past the bodyguards into the elevator. He still had a frown on his face and this alone caused the bodyguards to straighten, none of them would dare do anything to infuriate him any further.

They hurried out of the elevator ahead of him once they got downstairs, Stanley had already been notified and he was waiting as expected with the door open and waiting for his principal to arrive.

" The mandrake hotel", Andre said pointedly to Stanley as he got into the car. The door was closed by one of the bodyguards before he rushed off to join his mates who had already hurried to their own vehicle as Andre's car began to move.

The ride was quiet, just what Andre preferred at the moment, as he had a lot on his mind and would prefer not to be burdened by the nuances of a conversation at this point in time. The ride to the hotel was faster than it usually was, Andre was thankful for this, He needed to conclude his business with Tanya and get back home as soon as possible, Today hadn't gone according to plan at all and could easily make the list of one of the worst days of his life.

He didn't wait for the door to be opened as the car slowed to a stop, he alighted quickly and walked into the hotel, heading straight for the room he had left in the morning. He still had his mother's medical report in his hand when he got to the door. He raised his hand and knocked at the door.

He waited for a few seconds before he opened the door and went in.

The fast pace that had carried him into the room slowed as his eyes found Tanya, She was lying on the bed, stark naked. She had failed to get rid of the decorations from the morning and if anything, they were much more elaborate than he remembered. The door closed behind Andre and the medical report in his left hand found it's way to the floor.

" Come here", she whispered as she sat up on the bed, her perky breasts catching Andre's attention. His member twitched in interest as he watched her.

With everything that had happened today, he desperately needed to be distracted, he craved what Tanya was offering and he would have it, even if it was for the very last time.