Chapter 24 I will
After dropping the children at school, Aurora found her way home, while Arthur headed to his office.
He settled down and got busy with work almost immediately, but he couldn’t pay attention for so long after Derick showed up.
“Hey, man.” Derick uttered as he walked into his office.
“Derick?” Arthur called in surprise as he raised his head to look at him.
Though they were both in town, they hardly saw each other anymore. They were both busy and stuck with work.
“You’re surprised, aren’t you? Well, I figured if I didn’t make any to visit you, you’ll never do the same, and then we’ll never see each other again, and I don’t want that to happen. That’s why I’m here this morning.” Derick rapped as he settled down on his office couch.
“What are you even saying?” Arthur scoffed, shaking his head.
“You know exactly what I’m saying. You’re so bad when it comes to keeping relationships. One has to work harder to make it work, and I happen to be that guy. But don’t worry, I’ve grown to be used to it.” He added, stretching out his hands on the backrest and placing one leg on top of another.
Arthur scoffed and shook his head as he turned his gaze to his computer again.
“Why are you here this morning?” He inquired as he continued punching his keyboard.
“I heard something new. Who the hell is Danielle?” Derick asked, causing Arthur to abruptly take a halt.
He creased his brows and raised his head to look at him. “How do you know her name?” He asked in confusion.
“C’mon, was it supposed to be a secret? It doesn’t matter where I heard the name from. Who is she? And why is she with you?”
“Aurora told you, didn’t she?”
“Is that a crime? She didn’t say much though. Only that you finally brought home a lady…”
“So she’s cool with that?” Arthur inquired, cutting him short.
“Do you expect otherwise?”
“Can you please stop answering my questions with more questions?! She didn’t mind me having a woman over?” He further asked, standing up from his chair.
“I don’t think so. She just said it because she believes you’re finally out of your cold shell and is now in love.” Derick explained, making Arthur scoff.
“In love? Oh please. I’m not in love with Danielle.” He muttered as he slammed into the couch next to Derick.
“Really? Why are you with her then?” Derick asked, and Arthur answered with a deep sigh.
Derick furrowed his brows for a few seconds and all of a sudden, he raised his brows in awe.
“You did it to get her attention, didn’t you?!” He uttered in a loud tone.
“Hey! We are at the office! Stop shouting! And no, it wasn’t to get her attention.”
“Then why? Because it seems you are so concerned about what she thinks about you having a woman.”
“Danielle was just to show her she wouldn’t need to act like the mother of my boys forever.”
“Hun? And is that even working?”
“No! The boys still call her mummy. It makes me sick! They don’t even like Danielle. And the crazy thing is Danielle wants something serious from me now! I told her it was just for a while but now she is catching feelings…”
“Hold up! Hold up! You’re going too fast. I’m beginning to lose focus. You mean you hired Danielle?”
“Yes! Why can’t you just fking pay attention?!” Arthur muttered in frustration.
“You really it would be easy to replace the children’s mom with another woman? They’ve been with her almost their whole life and they are grown now. It would be hard to do that.”
“I know, okay? I figured.” Arthur answered, letting out a deep breath.
“So it doesn’t mean you are ready to be with another woman?” Derick asked teasingly.
“Of course not. You know I would never be with another woman. I made that promise to myself.”
“I know, but I’ll advise you to break that promise right now. Your children would suffer because of this promise if you aren’t careful. I see nothing wrong with being with Aurora. That lady is super pretty and hardworking. She loves your kids like they are her own. What else do you want?”
“She’s my surrogate, nothing more.”
“Oh please! The day you see she’s more than that, the better for everyone. You keep suffering yourself because of a lady that is probably with three kids already. She doesn’t even care about you anymore, and here you are still living on what she did to you.”
“Enough, Derick.” Arthur stood up with a frown on his face and headed back to his desk.
“Well, my parents are meeting Carter tonight. I’ve decided to take a step and move forward, not letting anything or anyone stop me from doing what I want. If I were in your shoes, I’d do the same. Aurora is a great woman.” Derick added, standing up.
“I need to go now. I have to get ready for tonight’s dinner. I can’t wait to see the shock and disappointment on my parent’s faces tonight when I tell them.” He added with a smirk as he headed out of Arthur’s office.
‘She’s a great woman? But she’s having this thing with Theo! How does that even make her great?’ Arthur pondered, shaking his head in frustration as he found it hard to concentrate anymore.
Getting home from work at night, Arthur sat in the living room weakly, pulling off his tie from around his neck.
“Welcome, Mr. Arthur.” Theo greeted as he reached for his briefcase. He turned to leave immediately because he wasn’t expecting a response, but to his surprise, Arthur responded.
“Thank you, Theo.” He answered, and Theo raised his brows in surprise.
He turned to look at him and gave him a slight bow.
“You can leave the bag for now. We need to talk.” Arthur uttered, pointing to the couch in front of him.
Theo creased his brows as he slowly settled down on the couch Arthur pointed at.
“What is between you and Aurora?” He asked plainly.
“What?” Theo asked in shock.
“What’s what? What’s going on between you two? I’ve noticed something is off between you two. So spill your guts.” Arthur ordered.
Theo gulped hard and shook his head, his heart thumping against his chest very fast and hard. ‘Was it that obvious?’
“There’s nothing, Mr. Arthur. We are just having our bad days. It’s nothing serious.”
“Are you going into her room again tonight?” He further asked, and Theo’s jaw dropped.
“Erm.. I…”
“Stay away from her and her room. I don’t care what is going on with you two. End it.” Arthur's words came out direct and cold, hitting Theo right in the chest.
“Why though?” He asked without thinking, causing Arthur’s eyes to widen.
“What?!” Arthur questioned.
“You like her, don’t you?” He further asked, causing Arthur’s jaw to drop in awe.
‘Where the hell did he see such courage to speak back at me like that?’
“Theo…”
“I can help you out, if you want. I’m very good with women.” He added with a grin, cutting Arthur short.
“What the hell.” Arthur cursed under his breath.
“Theo, the boys are asleep now. Can we…” Aurora uttered, walking to the living room, only to be cut short when she saw him talking to Arthur.
“Oh… Mr. Arthur.” She called, gulping hard.
“Theo won’t be entering your room tonight or any other night…” Arthur uttered, standing up.
“What? Why?” Aurora mumbled.
“Because I will.”