CHAPTER THREE

APOLOGIES

GREEN HOSPITAL, 8 PM

Robin Jane Stevens sat beside her brother who remained unconscious on the hospital bed in the ward where lots of other patients were receiving treatment.

She couldn't help but feel angry at herself for making him this way, if only she was fast enough to come out of the lodge to receive him at his arrival, he wouldn't have been at the mercy of that egotistic jerk.

Thinking of Andrew Grey made her blood boil, he was extremely obnoxious and insufferable. She had never met anyone who had no regard for others like him before. He treated the accident as though he had merely stepped on an ant and not almost killed her brother, her only close relative.

The fact that Jack had almost died brought tears to her eyes and she wondered how long he was going to remain unconscious and how she was going to cover the hospital bills.

"There was no way she was going to make use of that bastard's money, she had dignity and would get her revenge, nobody messed with her and got away with it," she thought.

Jack was her older brother and despite the three years gap between his twenty-two years of age and her nineteen, they were pretty close and had each other's backs. After their parents died when Jack was sixteen, the only money available in their trust fund was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for educational welfare, which was to be supervised by their father's brother Thomas Stevens, a money lover, who found a way to manipulate the whole thing and took all the money for himself as soon as Jack turned eighteen which was the requirement for access to the money.

The both of them had to depend on part-time jobs, which they took up at cafes and convenience stores and the little money Jack got from taking photographs of people. He had always been good at photography and had taken pictures of many people in their neighbourhood before he realized that he had talent in it. And after graduating from high school, he passed the entrance exam for a scholarship to study Software engineering at NYU.

A supportive neighbour of theirs, Mrs. Stacks, had housed them after their uncle deserted them and had taken care of Robin while Jack was away in school and now that she was in her first year in college, he just wanted to check up on her and how she was handling her studies. He had always been overprotective, just like a father figure.

A snap of fingers interrupted her chain of thoughts and she looked up to see a tall guy with ice blue eyes and dark blonde hair staring at her, he looked about twenty or thereabout with a grey T-shirt and black jeans on, he was quite lanky and she wondered where she had seen him before as he looked very familiar.

"Hi, sorry to just come in here like this, we met at the cafe this morning. I'm Joe Anderson, Andrew's roommate and friend, I just..."

"Hold it there Joe or whatever the hell your name is. I don't wanna hear anything else from you. So you've come here to mock me, to insult me just like your rich friend already has? If that's it, then please get out of here I don't wanna see you, and if you don't leave, I'll call the doctor to see you out!"

"It's alright okay? I simply came to apologize. Drew is my friend and I know sometimes he does some rash things but he's a nice person when you get to know him."

"Well, I don't care to know about his character. All I know is he treated Jack and me like crap. Just as though we were beneath his designer shoes. He thinks he's almighty. I'll make sure to ruin him, do me a favour and pass that message to him okay? Now please take your leave."

"I can understand your anger, but you can't just conclude on his character without getting to know him. Last night it was our friend, Evans birthday and we went out to celebrate, but we had a little too much to drink and Drew was the soberest one out of the three of us, so he took the wheel. I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused, it wasn't intentional. I promise to pay all the medical bills necessary for treating him."

"That's not necessary. Please leave right now, she said gesturing towards the door.

Joe turned to leave but stopped and asked, "I didn't get to know your name yet, can I know what's your name at least?" He asked with a smile, his pearly whites teeth on display.

"I'm Robin, now can you leave?"

"It was nice meeting you Robin, I'm Joe once again. I'll get the bill, please let me pay it's the least I could do, I'll check on him tomorrow, I'm sorry once again, bye," he said and took his leave. While Robin kept staring at Jack, lying on the bed.

★★★★★★

ANDREW'S HOUSE, 8 PM

"Drew, I can't believe this, this is the same reason why we broke up before. How could you harass a girl like that and the news is everywhere. I don't want to ruin my clean reputation in this school by being linked to a pervert. I only permitted you to flirt with other girls but not to sexually harass them for God's sake Drew!" She yelled as she pointed at the picture of Robin pointing at him in the cafe earlier that morning.

"Would you calm down and listen to me first? You know very well and last time, it was also a lie and Jenny had framed me, I thought we've moved on from that and I don't even know this girl, she just stormed into the cafe this morning and accused me of running her brother over. Someone must have shared those pictures and changed the story, babe it's not true okay. You know me, I've never been aggressive with any girl before, you've got to believe me, babe."

"Drew, my father is not going to like this, you know very well by now, the nature of our relationship. We agreed to come together to unite our families because of business. My father's not going to like this at all. I've worked so hard and avoided parties and clubs, so I can graduate with no blemish on my family name. But, I'm afraid you are going to drag me down too."

"Yes, I admit I hit her brother, but I gave her money for his treatment, okay and I promise that was just it. You've got to trust me. I and the guys were wasted and I can't even remember everything clearly. It's all a blur."

"I'm sorry, but I think we need a break to straighten things out. I'm getting mixed feelings here."

"Fine, you don't believe me then let's break up right now. Let's end it already, let me do the needful and break this off."

"Okay, goodbye Drew," Jenna said as she sashayed her way out of his room and his apartment. For ten minutes, he waited to feel a void in his heart, but there was nothing instead he felt extremely free. Jenna had been a pain most of the time and he had only tolerated her nagging and insecure attitude because of his dad, but now that they had both broken up on a mutual basis, he was sure he could go back to his previous lifestyle.

Damn, he had missed playing the Conquest List with his friends, sure Jenna was a steady part of his life almost like a responsibility to him since high school when his dad had introduced her to him as his business associate's daughter when he was fifteen.

She had been really pretty, but that wasn't enough to ignore her selfish attitude. As he sat studying for the upcoming semester exams, his phone rang showcasing his father's contact ID and he knew something must be wrong.

Silas Grey never called him unless there was a problem or a new business function to attend. He picked the call and his father's thundering voice came bursting through the speaker.

"What is this that I just heard Andrew? Did you harass a young lady in the university? Is that what I sent you to school for?"

"No father, it's not true. I'd never do anything like that, it..."

"Listen, I don't care if it's true or not, all I want is for you to do whatever it takes to take that post down, now!" Silas yelled and then the call ended.

"I'll deal with you ocean eyes, just wait and see," he said to himself.

He went to bed later in the night and was awoken early at 7 am the next morning by the sound of his phone ringing. It was Harry calling and he was sure that it must be with news concerning the girl.

"Good morning Andrew, I got her profile and I'll send it to you via email."

"Thanks, Harry," he said and ended the call, within a few seconds he received the mail.

The document read:

Name Robin Jane Stevens.

Nationality: British.

Parents: Jane Stevens And Harvey Stevens.

Sibling(s): Jack Stevens.

Hair Colour: Ginger red.

Eye Color: Aquamarine.

Height: 5ft 10 inches.

Sexuality: Straight.

Religion: Christian.

Birth Date: Wednesday 22nd Of May, 2001.

Disability: None.

Education: Currently In Her First Year Of Studying Graphic Designing.

"Well, well, well, so her name is Robin, huh?" he said to himself and laughed.

"Robin, I will ruin you, it's a promise, you just wait and see," he said while looking at the photo attached to the mail.