non-existent family

Stranger! Please be my Child’s Father

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Chapter 5: non-existent family

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[FROM Louis Avian MANAGER: 

Gael i swear to god i’m going to fucking sue you for stress, i’m about to drop dead with all this goddamn STRESS you’re giving me. I’m going to die from heart related issues, and then i’m going to put the blame on you, and you only, and then take the workman’s comp for my non-existent family, and rob you of your millions. And then i’m going to make sure the next manager you get is the most insufferable bastard you’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. I’m going to make sure he’s loud, chews loudly and doesn’t leave you alone. And also i hope he thinks that rap is just speaking fast. This would be prevented if you could just OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!]

 

[UNKNOWN NUMBER:

Mr Laurent? Please help.]

 

THIS CONTACT IS NOT IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.

BLOCK?

 

oOo

 

Gael blinked at the unknown number--sure, there were always spam calls and those people that trolled the system and ran numbers to get to his, but this one seemed like the other person actually had his contact. 

 

[to UNKNOWN NUMBER: 

Who is this?]

 

[UNKNOWN NUMBER: 

This is Arabella Miller. We met earlier today. At the school.]

 

[Arabella Miller (school): 

Is this Mr Gael Laurent?]

 

[to Arabella Miller (school):

Yes, that’s me. I’m assuming this is about the article? Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s small, my PR team can cover it up in no time.]

 

[Arabella Miller (school): 

Mr Gael, my son and I were chased home. There is a horde of people outside my apartment. We are the biggest trending tag on Twitter. It’s not small. You promised that it wouldn’t get out. Now our safety is compromised.] 

He could practically envision the other woman’s expression, those pink lips pressed into that thin line of disappointment.

But shit. What the fuck? It had gotten that big?

Gael would have assumed that there was a buffer period, that the second Louis had seen the article that he had taken care of it. Now, he didn’t necessarily like the other dad, but he had given him his word that it wouldn’t become anything big, so he felt a bit responsible. 

 

[to Arabella Miller (school): 

We’re going to fix this. Can I know your address? I think an in-person plan is much better.]

 

oOo

 

Maybe when he had initially sat down for the day and decided to take a call for a kid that wasn’t his, Gael had thought that he’d go have some fun, come back with the inspiration and lightness that was needed to take care of that pesky track seven.

He was not anticipating this sort of outrage and needing to sneak through the back of a set of apartments, just to sit in Arabella Miller’s kitchen as the woman glared down at him, viciously serving him spoonfuls of pasta. 

 

“Um.. that’s good. Thank you.” Gael hesitantly murmured after the 45th serving, his plate looking more of a disheveled mountain. Said mother glared, putting one more spoonful on the plate before whirling around and heading into the kitchen. 

 

Hudson, however, was markedly more excited to see him than his mother was.

He bounced in his seat next to Gael, fork already filled with his mother’s creamy pasta. 

 

“Dada, dada! If we’re good, momma will give us ice cream! But we have to finish all of our vegetables.” Hudson grinned, compelling Gael to reach across and pat his head. 

 

“All of the vegetables, huh? That’s not very fun.” 

 

“Mm-nh. It’s not, but apparently vegetables help us stay strong.” Hudson pouted as he speared a piece of eggplant on his utensil. “I dun’ like eggplants. They don’t taste like eggs.” 

 

Gael watched in amusement as the child stared at the offending vegetable like it was going to grow legs and jump at him.

Damn it. Hudson was so freaking cute--cuter than all the kids Gael had had to interact with before. The kids in the industry were usually too shy or too spoiled, but Hudson seemed to be at the age where everything was genuine. He was raised well. 

 

Maybe that was why after checking that Arabella was still in the kitchen, he reached over with his fork and took the eggplant from the child, winking as Hudson grinned up at him with absolute adoration.

He pressed his finger to his lips in a shushing motion, and Hudson copied him, nodding vigorously. 

 

Arabella eventually sat down, and leaned towards Hudson, asking about the younger child’s day. Hudson was more than happy to tell the two about what he had done up until the pushing incident, talking about learning about cats and what they mean in other cultures.

Slowly, slowly, they talked through their meal, and once Hudson was done, Arabella nodded. 

 

“Dada and momma have to talk a little, ‘kay? Can you play and I can give you the icecream later?” 

 

Hudson was quick to nod, but not before flinging his arms around Gael before sprinting off into the bedroom. Arabella watched him go with a fond look that melted away immediately as her head swiveled around and she pinned Gael with a stern glare. 

 

“You promised.” The accusation was there. 

 

“I know. I’m sorry, Miss Miller. I didn’t anticipate things to blow up so quickly.”

 

The apology seemed to make the other woman deflate for a moment, but apparently wasn’t enough to soothe her. “That’s not enough! Look, Gael Laurent. There was a reason that I said I could not be seen with you. My privacy is compromised. My safety is compromised. And I could care less about mine, but I’m focused on Hudson. Does this mean that when he goes to school, people will flood and swarm him for pictures? Does this mean that we can barely go out and he has to live inside during his most important years? Do you understand the gravity of the situation?!” Arabella ranted, but there was something in her eyes that Gael was able to understand. 

 

Fear. The other woman was very, very, scared. And Gael wasn’t quite sure he knew the full story of why. 

 

He wasn’t going to press now, there were more important matters to take care of. 

 

Like, the whole fucking mess he had gotten into. 

 

“Okay, okay, Miss Miller. I hear you. I’m going to call my manager right now and put him on speaker. He probably knows what to do. We’re going to figure it out.” Gael tried to soothe, tried to diffuse the situation, because the other woman was gripping the butter knife a bit too hard to the point where her knuckles were going white, and the last thing Gael wanted was to be taken out by a fucking butter knife. 

 

“Don’t bother with your bullshit platitudes, Mr Gael. That’s what you told me the first time, about your finest PR team or whatever. And here we are.” 

 

Oookay. Time to get Louis on the phone before he stabbed Arabella with a butter knife. 

 

He set his phone on the table between them, tapping quickly on Louis’s contact. Luckily for him, Louis picked up on the first ring.

 

“Gael,” Louis’s voice came out very measured, very controlled, and Gael knew that the other boy was probably clenching his jaw right now. “You better have a damn good explanation.”

 

“Listen, Louis. Look. It’s all a big misunderstanding. I got a call from the school for Hudson getting in trouble,” Gael started. 

 

“Who’s Hudson?” Came the confused voice. 

 

“My son.” Arabella growled, head slumping forward to bang on the table. 

 

“Who the hell is that?”

 

“That’s Arabella.” Gael rushed to say, glaring back at the woman herself, who had raised her head to glare balefully at Gael. 

 

“Your wife?! YOU’RE WITH YOUR wife?!” Louis shrieked.

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TBC