Chapter Two

Leon

Obnoxious...

Spoilt...

Entitled...

Many years ago, I'd lived with the queen bitch of the obnoxious, spoilt and entitled rich girls club and after I severed all ties with said bitch, I vowed never to come across one, talk or even let my shadow get close to the other person's shadow until today.

Maybe the world would really be a better place if everyone learned to apologize for the wrongs they did but some people's brains weren't just that developed. Like the... lady I met today.

Mom told me never to be disrespectful to ladies and I tried my possible best to be polite to the undeserving ones but this lady today topped the charts.

I alighted from my car and slammed the door shut as one of the young mechanics at the auto shop rushed up to me with a smile on his face.

"Good afternoon sir." He greeted.

"Hey Mike. What's up?". I shook hands with him. "Where's Victor?".

"In his office." Mike replied. "Whoa! Who was the monster that did this?". His eyes widened when he saw the badly dented rear bumper. 

"Starts with W and ends with N." I rolled my eyes. "Our female counterpart."

Mike chuckled and shook his head. "Women. They hit your car and sassily tell you to go and fix it yourself."

"You guessed right." I patted him on the back. "I'll see what that dude is up to."

"The wife is back there with him." He informed me with a grimace. "I'll suggest you wait sir."

Right. Vice president of the Obnoxious, spoilt and rich girls club was in the building and I absolutely did not want to cross paths with her. Philomena wasn't from a rich family but landing a well to do business man like Victor Biggs who was my friend and business partner had made her mouth grow wider, her nails long enough to sink her claws in him and very very greedy.

She was like a goblin who loved anything gold.

"Thanks for the heads-up." I nodded at him. "I'll see to the others then."

"Okay sir."

I walked off to another part of the building where I met Hussein who was working on the car he'd picked up in a junkyard and was assembling. I was very impressed by his determination to resurrect the junk that was once a car and now that he was almost done, I couldn't wait to see how well it'd work. 

The car had been brought in with no doors, seats and the wheels were goners but that wasn't the case now.

"You're working really hard on this thing." I remarked when he pushed out from under the car.

"Since I can't afford to buy my wife a brand new car just yet, this is the next best thing." He grinned.

Hussein had relocated from the northern part of the country some years ago to the west in search of greener pastures and I'd found him wandering around hopelessly. He'd begged me money for food and I'd treated him to the best meal he'd ever eaten then he'd launched into a sad tale of how his parents had died in a house fire and how he had been left to fend for himself. 

I took pity on him and asked him if he knew anything about repairing cars and he told me that he couldn't even spell his name. Well that had floored me but I didn't let it show. Long story short, I hired a private tutor for him, took him to Biggs Auto shop and within six months he could converse with me very well in English and he was becoming a pro at repairing cars.

I'd like to think of him as my brother from another mother and Lord knows I didn't have any.

"That's good." I said. I'd offered to loan him money to buy a car for his wife Winner but he'd politely turned me down telling me that he'd get her a car before her birthday and he was doing just that. 

All the car needed was waxing, paint and it was good to go.

"You okay boss?". He asked me. "You're not your usual jovial self."

I shrugged. "I had a bad day." I said. "A lady rammed her car into mine and told me off."

Hussein snorted and shook his head. "No woman can ever compare to my Winner."

Winner was the sweetest, kindest woman I'd ever had the opportunity of meeting. She was just like Mom and she reminded me of... 

I shook my head to clear it. It'd been years and I tried not to bring up memories of her. It hurt physically, mentally and emotionally whenever I thought of her so I never bothered but certain dates brought back those memories to my mind like a tsunami making its way into a city.

"Philo is in the building. You seen her?". Hussein asked me.

"God no." I made a face making him laugh. "I'd rather drink poison."

"I've always wondered whether Victor had his eyes closed when he met someone like her." Hussein said. "She's the worst. Loudmouthed. Ugly... all the works."

I threw back my head and laughed. Hussein always knew how to get me out of my moods which was why I loved the guy.

"Better now?". He inquired.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I needed that."

He nodded and went back to work and I left him to get on with his work.

Biggs Auto repair shop was the biggest and most sought after repair shop in the state. It had expanded when I became Victor's silent partner and he was planning on opening several others in different states.

Now that Hussein was a pro at building fairly used cars from junk, we were hoping to start employing youths who'd be interested in learning as well. I'd sent the guy to school to learn more about mechanical engineering and he'd graduated with first class so I had no worries there.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out, checked the screen to see who was calling, sighed and answered the call.

"Hey Mom." I drawled.

"Leonidas Alexandros Sebastiani." Was all she said and I knew I was in trouble with Jean Anna Sebastiani.

"I was just about to call you." I said in defense.

"Of course." She said but she wasn't convinced.

"How are you Mom?". I asked. "And Dad?".

"He misses you." She replied in a somber voice. "When are you coming home?".

I sighed and didn't say anything. I didn't want to go back. Ever. I didn't want to be greeted with memories of her and fall back into that darkness I'd uprooted myself out of. I wished they'd understand but they couldn't. Didn't.

No one could.

"It's okay." Mom said after awhile. "Your siblings are coming down to celebrate with us so we'll send your birthday gift."

"I wish you wouldn't." I blurted out. I bit my bottom lip when I realized that came out harsher than I'd intended and I muttered my apologies.

"You may have cut us off out of your life Leonidas but we still love you very much." Mom told me in a shaky voice. "Happy birthday in advance baby."

I said nothing and hung up. I clutched my phone in my hand so tight as the tears gathered in my eyes and threatened to fall but I didn't let it. The last time I'd cried was ten years ago in front of her grave and I'd promised myself that I'd never shed another tear... because of her or otherwise.

"Look who we have here." Philomena's scratchy voice grated on my nerves but I was too polite to let her know never to speak in my presence again. "The Crown Prince himself."

I turned my head to glare at her but she didn't even flinch. Instead her grin widened knowing she'd finally gotten a reaction other than polite indifference from me.

"Don't ever say that again." I growled. "Ever."

"But that's who you are right? The Crown Prince of..."

I wanted to smash her face in. Knock her the fuck out as she droned on and on about how much she'd love to know what it'd feel like to be married to a Crown Prince. She didn't give a damn if her husband was listening to her or not but I did and I politely walked away from her before I did something I'd regret.

"Your Highness! Are you walking away?". She called out to me.

Between the "lady" I came across this morning and Philomena, I didn't know which one was more annoying. I didn't want to slug that lady when she made me feel like I'd wronged her instead of the other way around so it was definitely Philomena 'bitchiest bitch' Biggs. 

My day was ruined and nothing could make it right. Nothing.