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Fifty-two
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2021-10-05 07:07:00The house feels empty without the girls. By Monday morning, I’m rushing out of the house like an intern on his first day of work. Once I walk in through the doors, the familiar walls of the office and the minty smell eases some of my discomfort.
I will always be welcomed here.
Minutes after settling in, I dial Sophia’s number. It goes straight to voicemail. She went out with Vincent twice. On Friday and Saturday. She needs to have good news for me. I need some relief in this storm.
El is still mad at me. I won’t get to see my girls till Friday morning. I redial Sophia’s number but it’s the same response. Eyes narrowed at the door, my fingers drum on the desk. She is a paediatrician, she’s busy. But she told me she will be here this morning. I wait another five minutes, then try again.
Sophia picks on the third ring. I hear nothing from the other end and an uncertain feeling fleets through me. &ld
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Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-three
Brianna is awake.I race out of the office with Sophia hot on my heels, desperate to know what’s up. El’s voice swims in my head, forming a thick cloak over me. Anticipation curls my insides, I almost miss a step on my way out.My baby is awake.At the garage, I pat my pockets for the keys. Nothing. Where’s my briefcase? I groan, patting my pockets for the second time with more care as if the keys will magically appear. It does. I pull the bunch out, arm trembling as I try to hit the unlock button on the fob. I miss it the same way I missed the keys the first time.The fob drops from my hand, Sophia picks it to open the door. Inside the car, shook and unable to move with my hands tightened around the steering, I stare into space. By awake, she means not asleep, right? Not the false alarm that happened last time.“What happened?” Sophia asks once she slides into the passenger seat.&
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-06Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-four
The neurologist Sophia referred to us is kind. The test results and brain scans came back okay. No brain damage which is something to be thankful for but the bulk of work lies on us. We have to retrain her to do the littlest things. She can’t even hold a spoon. Walking is impossible for now. She’s a human jelly.Brianna might be fourteen but her brain is not, same as her body. It’s like having a kid in a teen’s body. On some days, the coma seems like a better option. And it gets harder to follow the sequences. Sitting education comes before standing, I didn’t realise how tiresome it would be to teach a person to sit.Sitting is so normal for an average human that I’m stunned each time I have to hold Brianna up in her wheelchair. She can’t sit straight. But the occupational therapist promises it’s normal. It will take time.I have a newfound respect for everyone, especially the therapists we have been working with.
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-07Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-five
Boundaries. I am respecting boundaries. It is what I tell myself as I pick my phone to call Lydia and have her dismiss the applicants waiting. It is the same thing I say as I tuck Brianna in bed. I smoothen the hair out of her forehead and place a kiss on her cheek. Her head rolls to the side, she blinks sleepily at me.“Hello,” I murmur, pushing back the urge to crawl in bed with her. “Daddy loves you.”“Hello,” she whispers in a scratchy voice. Her eyelids droop and her breathing evens out. She is asleep.Wait. She spoke.Brianna spoke.The realisation washes over me, my breath rushes out in shallow puffs. I thread my fingers into my hair and stare at my baby girl in awe. She fucking talked. If I left with El, I would have missed this.Tears of joy stand in my eyes, I bounce out of her room to mine. Holy fuck. She spoke to me.After a phone call to the physiotherapist and a
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-08Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-six
El spins to face me, eyes ablaze with fury. She crosses her arms under her breasts, giving me a healthy glimpse of them. A lump wedges in my throat. I miss sucking her boobs. Playing with them.Can’t we fuck and make up?She stretches her hand to the door. “You should leave.”I cock my head, my eyes do a lazy sweep across her body. Her muscles lose some of their tension. “No.”She scoffs. “You can’t be in here.”“But I’m already here.”“Brandon.”“Elna.”A frustrated sigh leaves her, she grabs her purse and I cover the distance before she thinks of escaping. Trapping her between my body and the sink, I trail a finger across her collarbone. She sucks in a breath and looks up to me. The heat from her body warms me, sends a burning sensation pulsing through me.“You danced with T,” I whisper, p
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-10Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-seven
We are back to zero point. I am back to living in my house. The doctors said it was okay to move Brianna so I brought her home with me. She needed to leave that place anyway. It holds bad memories.My fingers tangle in my hair as I try to make sense of the designs staring back at me. It made sense in my head until I put it down. Ed attested to its nicety or did he say that to please me? I slide down the seat, hands dangling from the sides of the swivel chair. There’s a lot of adjustments to make. But I don’t feel like doing anything.The walls of my office seem to close in on me, I loosen my tie and stagger to the girls’ empty office. The respite is short-lived as I lower myself to the couch. I squeeze a toy frog as the memory comes rushing back. El was pissed. It didn’t matter what I had to say in my defense, she was not hearing it. That woman walked right out of that place with T.Dude didn’t even flinch when El came o
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-12Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-eight
The ride home is quiet. It’s always quiet but the silence leaves room for me to think. I don’t want to think.“Turn on the radio,” I tell Enzo. There’s a brief moment of hesitation before the voice of the presenter fills the air. “Thank you.”Raindrops pelt the window, rolling down to the floor. Buildings come into view as we take a turn into a residential street. A boy runs out of a brown house, his father catches him before he steps into the rain. His rambunctious laughter rings out after him. Given the chance, I am sure he will do it again.Why can’t I be a kid again? I miss the days Brendan was still Brendan and Brandon was still Brandon.“Sir?”My head raises. We are home.But the problem is the Porsche in the garage. Only one person drives a Porsche. I scamper to the house. He didn’t tell me he was coming today. Brianna is in the house. He doesn’t
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-13Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Fifty-nine
“He was my brother too, you know?” Joshua continues in a whisper. Sweat breaks out on my forehead despite the cold, so I remove my jacket. “And no matter what he did, he was still my brother.” I swallow that painful truth with a deep sigh. “When I was in boarding school, he would always call. Even when they never did.” They. Our parents. I never called either. “One morning, he’s there being his usual arrogant self. The next morning, he’s not there. How in God’s name was I expected to deal with that?” His words wash over me. Long buried guilt and resentment rouses. Shame sinks its claws into my skin as I stare at his hunched frame. At his feet. At the tiles that are wet with his tears. My eyes are too dry, I can’t bring myself to share in his sorrow. The guilt has drowned other emotions. I can only watch him. “I was trying to find closure and somehow I found myself in your room.” We all lived together in Salford. It was a rule then, one we followed because we ha
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-14Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Sixty
Coming here is my little way of earning Joshua’s forgiveness. He didn’t ask but I want his forgiveness.I look out the window of his room to the garden with guests. My eyes follow the girls as they mingle with strange faces. They are happy to be here. They chatted nonstop on our way, bolted as soon as we got out of the car. I can’t say the same for me. And I dread every second until I have to face my parents.Joshua’s hand settles on my shoulder, he offers me a glass of wine and I set it on the windowsill. He sits across from me and we watch together. We came in this morning. If the girls told my parents I am here with them, they are doing a great job of dodging me too. I smile at Joshua. Talking to him feels good. Better than therapy. I didn’t hold back anything but he hasn’t said a word since my outburst. No accusations.“Do you forgive me?” I ask without tearing my gaze from the girls. They are danci
Dernière mise à jour : 2021-10-15
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Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Valentine’s special
ElnaI shut the door to our bedroom and tiptoe inside. Brandon doesn’t stir. He’s dead asleep. Or so I think till I near the bed and drop the package—his valentine gift on the nightstand. He puckers his lips for a kiss and I gladly indulge him. His hands grasp my butt, he pulls me up to straddle him and I move slowly against his erection without breaking eye contact. “Are they asleep now?” “Yeah. Finally. Alleluia,” I reply with a laugh. “Maybe I shouldn’t have given them the day off.” Silly me thought it would be great to give the twins nannies Valentine’s Day off so our family could do something special. Bad choice. With two one-year old attention demanding kids, I need all the help I can get. To make it worse, this year’s valentine fell on a Sunday and most of last night was spent trying to quiet the babies. “Maybe.” Brandon captures my lips. The kiss is lazy but it soon grows urgent. His tongue searches for mine, twirlin
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire In the end (II)
The girls are dancing in a circle. Wyn is in the middle of the circle trying to perform a break dance. I laugh at her failed attempts, holding El closer to me as we sway gently to a rhythm in my head. El wrinkles her nose in disappointment, her fingers intertwine with mine and I spin her in a lazy circle.“You’re not supposed to be laughing at them,” she says as their mother dearest. “You cheer them up.”True. But it was funny. Wyn waves, Bren does the same. Brianna does not spare us a glance. Like me and El, she has two left legs. She can’t dance but she is better than us. I wrap my arms around El from behind, tucking my head into her shoulder. She smells delicious. I can’t wait to have her alone.The music filters into my ears, I close my eyes and the lyrics wrap around my heart.“What’s Josh doing?”My eyes fly open. Josh is at one of the two canopies with Joy. Most of the g
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire In the end (I)
It’s today. Our vow renewal. To be honest, it feels like we are getting married again. This time, we have the people we care most about to celebrate the reunion with us and it makes me anxious. Joshua claps my shoulder. “Relax.” It’s so easy for him to say that but he doesn’t get it. The love of my life is out there. I haven’t seen my wife since yesterday because her mother believes it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. We stare into the floor-length mirror, our matching charcoal grey suits are differentiated by our ties. He’s my best man. “Is Joy coming?” he asks. Sophia will be in attendance but I can’t speak for her friend. I don’t say a word to him but I know this won’t work. Joy is older than Joshua. If her attitude towards him on my birthday is a sign to go by, she doesn’t like him. Some parts of me feel like this is an infatuation that will die soon. It is taking too long for him to get over her but I hope
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and ten
The cries of our newborn babies snap me out of my sleep. I jerk up and check the time on the alarm clock. 7 pm. I groan into my hands.My life has changed since their arrival. My sleeping pattern has worsened and my knowledge about babies has increased.Babies poop a lot. They cry too damn much. They don’t need a reason to cry, just existing is enough reason for them to cry. It is exhausting.Brandon Langalethu Stark is the louder one. Brendan Lelethu Stark is quieter. Annika gave them their middle names with approval from their godfather, Joshua. Lelethu means ours while Langalethu, short for Langa means our sunshine. I must admit, he hasn’t been a ray of sunshine for a while. He’s a big ball of noisy energy. El rouses from her sleep at the incessant sound of her crying babies. I love my sons but they cry too goddamn much. Their cries are coordinated. Once one of them starts crying, the other twin is bound to join in.
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and nine
Chaos breaks out. Everyone is all over me and El, saying so many things at once. The smile sitting on her face disappears. Tears fill her eyes, her nails dig into my shoulders so hard I’m sure it will leave a mark.She is hurting.Annika is speaking so fast, asking about the baby things. Mother is telling everyone to calm down. El is crying, she doesn’t want to go to the clinic with a wet dress. I don’t know what to do. I wasn’t present for the first pregnancy. Mother pushes me aside and helps El to her feet. I almost scream. Is she allowed to stand? What if our kids fall out?I rush to El’s side. Mother guides her through a breathing exercise as what she calls a contraction hits El. It must have really hurt. She balls my shirt and makes a pained sound that stops everyone in their tracks. More than six pairs of worried eyes pin her in a stare but she focuses on only me. My baby.“I’m okay,”
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and eight
Choruses of happy birthday fill the air. I am dragged away from El before I can kiss her back or utter a reply. I was so worried she would forget about today I forgot it myself. Mother nudges me with her hip and grins. Well played. Even the girls were in on it.Joshua claps my arm. “Happy birthday, brother.” This idiot. He called me during the day and didn’t wish me anything. “Many happy returns.”We cheers to my new age and Bren pulls me to the living room where the real party is happening. The place has been redecorated. There are balloons tied to the wall, a table with a bigger cake on it and the words, “Happy Birthday, my love” written on it.There’s another cake. Well, there are three more cakes. Instead of my love, one has son, the other has brother and the last one has Daddy written on it. A cake from each of the most important people in my lives. My wife. My kids. My brother and my parents
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and seven
El sneaks an arm around my waist. Her belly is bigger now. Our babies will be showing up soon. She leans on me for support while we wait for the private elevator. It was her idea to get out of my office to buy crackers. A little fun fact: We have boxes of crackers at home. If she wasn’t pregnant, her attitude would have been suspicious but with pregnancy, anything goes. Rule number 123432444: Never argue with a heavily pregnant woman. It will end in chaos. We enter the elevator with my hand on her lower back. Our reflections on the metallic wall smiles at us and El laughs. I set my suitcase on the ground and palm her face for a proper kiss. With the pregnancy due, her office has become mine. She spends more time with me than anyone else. I love it. Her lips taste like donuts. We ordered some an hour after she arrived to “pick” me. I will never let her drive in her state but she enjoys using that term even if she was brought here by a driver. She r
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and six
El won’t stop staring at her ring.We are in the backseat of the car heading to the hotel for dinner when she reaches up to give me a kiss. Leaning on me, she smiles at her ring again. I think I did right by her. Her mother will be happy. We had a long, loud, argument about this. About the vow renewals too but that will be after El delivers.“I have two rings,” El says, hand stretched out in front of her. She rolls Mother’s ring on her middle finger. “Does that make me Lord of the rings?”“Lady of the rings, maybe.”My phone vibrates with a text from Joshua. He wants to know if I did it. I facepalm at his request of a picture. It’s one more thing I have to get better at. Capturing the memories on camera. I nudge El with my elbow to show her the text. Her hand eventually lowers, she nods eagerly and strikes a pose, flashing her teeth in all the selfies. She knows she is pretty.
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and five
I tilt the laptop and the girls’ faces occupy the screen. Wyn is on top of Bren but her twin doesn’t seem to mind. Brianna is on one side of the bed, smiling at the camera. They are all lying on their stomachs. El settles down beside me, I prop the laptop on my knees and slip my hand into her shirt from behind. She shoots me a warning look. I bat my lashes like the cute baby daddy I am.“I miss Mummy,” Wyn says.My back meets the headboard and El rests her head on my shoulder. “What about me?”Again, she and Bren are rocking the same gowns. Wyn frowns. “I miss you too, I guess.”El bellows out a laugh. Evil girls. In a few months, I’ll have my boys. She wraps an arm around my waist to soothe me. It works for only a second before my attention returns to the laptop. Bren is grinning.“How are you?” El asks.“Fine,” three of them chorus.&
