15.5I nod firmly.No. I have no idea what their names are.“Name one.” He crosses his arm over the other."Screw driver." I say."Aside from screw drivers." He locks his eyes on me.I take a pause and notice that Hugo is starting to smile but he is just hiding it with his finger. "See?” He gestured his hand. “I think you need to study those things first before you start working on a hardware store.""I'll memorize it in no time." I say proudly. "Let's move on, shall we?"He smiles at me. "Tell me more about you." He continues while gluing his eyes at me.I exhale. "What do you want to know? What aspect of my life you want to know about?"I watch him tap his fingers on top of the mug's mouth. "You can tell me anything you want to tell me about you." He says.I bite my lower lip briefly and think about things that are about me because those eyes seem as if he was really curious. He really seemed like he wanted to know me, "Well, I was a consistent honor student back in the day."Hugo n
16H U G O"Really Ned. A hardware store!" I raised my voice at him.He groans.“Of all places?! A freaking hardware store?!”He groans a little louder as I hear a ruffling sound, "Hugo, are you really going to talk to me about this one right now?""Yes. I answered firmly.""It's two in the morning." He whines."I don't care. Of all job opportunities you could've given her, it had to be at a hardware store.""What's wrong with it?""She's a goddamn nurse!” I complained. “What do you want her to do there? Nursing the tools?"Ned laughs annoyingly loud. "Out of all the jokes you pulled off, that one was funniest. I swear to God."I groaned. "I'm not joking Ned."He exhales. "Relax will you? And hey, that was the only vacant job I could offer her and that my friends had. I’m sorry if it was not better than you expected."I push my hair off my face feeling disappointed with his plans."Did she whine about it?" Ned questions."No. I'm just concerned about her. She doesn't know anything abo
16.5"I won't mom." He smiles."Promise?" She sounds like warning him."Yes. I promise. Cross my heart." Ben really placed an x mark over his chestI chuckle inwardly.Miranda moves her head to me, "Thanks again for this.""You've been thanking me a lot of times and it's just the morning.” I say jokingly.“You have done so much and I owe you.” She smiles beautifully it’s frustrating.“I told you not to worry about it. Go, or else you'll be late on your first day." I tell her.She kisses Ben's forehead, "I love you sweetheart. I'll see you later.""I'll see you later mom. I love you too." He answers."Good luck Miranda." I tell her.She smiles at me, "Thanks Hugo."I watch her as she walks inside the doors of this huge hardware store and as soon as she disappears, I continued driving away from it. Last night I thought it was just a low class hardware store but I guess I was wrong. I glance at Ben and he was just silent on the back seat."Hey buddy.” I call out and he stares at me throu
17M I R A N D A"Mommy you're taking so long." I hear Ben over the other line."I'm already riding a cab honey. I'm coming there." I tell him.Ben whines for more."Could you hand uncle Hugo his phone back please sweetheart?" I ask.I waited for Hugo to speak from the other end of the line as I feel the cab finally moving on this traffic jam. The rain is pouring hard again outside the window pane of the cab's backseat while I glare at my phone. I notice that it is already five forty-five in the afternoon and I'm already starving, a little tired too."Hey Miranda." Hugo finally speaks."Hey Hugo” I greeted trying to sound alive. “I'm on my way to fetch Ben. I'm so sorry I picked him up late. It's just because..." I trailed off. The boss from the hardware store was a maniac and I had to be nice because it's my first day. I thought to myself."Because it's raining hard and there's really heavy traffic." I added, trying to find another reason."You could've called me. I could've picked
17.5I pull my phone out and tried to message Hugo to clarify things about it.HUGO: Penthouse South. I pulled my head up and faced at the smiling attendant and showed him Hugo’s message. Her widened eyes as soon as she stares at the conversation and gasped.I arched my brow at her, “It would be pretty much of an inconvenience if I talk to your manager and try to tell him about how you treated me as a guest here?” I ask her.She looks back at me for about a minute or two, “I-I’m so sorry." She recovers and forces a friendlier but nervous smile. "My mistake."“Yeah an intentional one.” I answeredI walked to the elevator and greeted the man who was operating the buttons who smiled at me. At least he's welcoming than that jealous front desk staff."What floor?" He asks."Penthouse South."He looks at suspiciously.I forced a smile and thought for a second that this one is a suspicious one too, “Hugo is expecting me."He smiles. "Ah Mr. Saintclare. They said he was expecting a visitor."
18M I R A N D A "Too bad I can't see the view from up here." Ben says while looking out at the spacious outdoor terrace while the massive rain were washing down on everything from the outside.I sort of love and hate it whenever it rains because there is always something about the rain. I love it because it's a good time to be snuggled up on the couch or in bed while watching a good tearjerker. I love it because I get to drink hot chocolate milk with Benny which is our own way of spending time together being inside. I hate it because if ever you’re outside then it would totally get you all soakedand your clothes get all soggy."You can always come here if I'm around town." Hugo speaks to Ben and how it causes a sting in my heart. "I'll allow you to watch from here the view of New York if it's not raining. And we can watch the sunset together." He promises."You promise?" Ben asked."Yes. I promise." Hugo smiles.."Ben takes promises seriously." I warned."Me too." Hugo smiles at me
18.5Hugo and I glance at each other in silence. Suddenly, he stands from his chair, walks to the counter and stopped right in front of the bar. He picked up the silver colored phone that hanging against the wall, held it to his ear and clicked one button while tapping his finger over the counter top. Ben and I were curiously looking at him."Mommy what's uncle Hugo doing?" Ben whispers as he moves his head close to my ear."I don't know baby." I answered."Yes, hello. This is Hugo from Penthouse South." He takes a quick pause. "Could you send me three flashlights and three mugs of hot chocolate milk drink with marshmallows and sprinkles on top."Ben was surprised and looked at me with joy in his eyes. “Mommy did you hear that?”I nod with a smile."No. I want marshmallows and sprinkles. Nothing else." Hugo instructs over the phone. He gazes at me but then stares back at his feet while listening to the person talking over the other line.“Will this make uncle Hugo happy?” Ben asks me
19H U G O“You’ve been making me happy too.”Her words puts a smile on my face and it’s just fucking nuts how she easily affects me.I sigh and thought to myself that this was wrong.Completely and absolutely wrong.I stare at Miranda sleeping soundly beside Ben who seems too comfortable. She's slightly snoring and I've never heard a woman snore aside from my mom. Audrey doesn't sleep the way she sleeps and for some weird reason, Miranda snoring is kind of sexy to me. I might be going out of my head but I am doing things and saying things which an engaged man must not say to other women. I should not be thinking about things that an engaged man must not be thinking about.If I only had a family of my own, I would want a wife who is as diligent, hardworking and caring as Miranda and a son that’s witty, smart and kind-hearted as Ben.Hugo what in hell are you talking about?As I take a good look at her, Miranda slightly reminds me of Rose for some reason. I don't know why, but they eer