Chapter 7: Budding Concern for the Middle Man

CRYSTAL

Sundays were my favorite day of the week because I didn't have to get out of bed very early or at all. I was content to stare up at the ceiling—my mind was scattered everywhere while curled up under a blanket.

If only I had the power to slow down the time or stop it for a while, it would surely be on weekends. You couldn’t blame me. Although I was getting paid for my work, it was consuming a lot of energy or work, less pay as they say. I had no choice, though. That’s why most of the time, I wondered if I deserved a life like this. I was still young. Girls my age usually go to school, cry over their impossibly tough homework, stupid bully classmates, or cheater boyfriends. I, on the other hand, needed to give up my schooling to help my mother deal with our countless bills.

But, like what I said, I had no choice. But when I get enough funds, I’d definitely go back to my schooling. That wasn’t impossible, right? I just needed to work hard… bloody hard.

I didn’t mind wearing a strapless hanging top and very thin panties when I went to the kitchen a couple of minutes later. This was my usual house attire and Mama was the only one with me in this apartment. Now she wasn’t around though. But she left a note on the tabletop beside the plate of pancakes, telling me that she went to work. Even on Sundays, she would rather go to her shop than rewarding herself with a little day off.

“Thanks for the food, Mama,” I said under my breath as I helped myself to a slice of pancake. Her thoughtfulness was touching. She could still prepare breakfast even though she was very busy.

However, she was quite forgetful too.

“Oh, she left it here…again,” I chuckled when I noticed the black purse resting above the fridge. I took it to the living room together with my hot chocolate. Our apartment might be a bit smaller compared to our neighbor’s units. But our place had decent divisions. Who needed a huge unit when all the things I needed were already in this house?

Getting back to Mama, should I call her about the wallet since her cash and keys were all inside of it?

A series of knocks made me turn to the door. “It’s her. Finally, she figured out what's missing in her items,” I grinned, putting my steaming mug on the coffee table and getting up on the couch.

Not even checking into the peephole, I grabbed the knob and pulled the door open. “I think you must discontinue using the pills prescribed to you…" I began my lecture to her. "Because I’m starting to worry about the side effects it’s causing to… You?”

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw the person outside my apartment. What I noticed first was the dark suit and gray necktie. When I raised my face higher, my nerves froze upon gazing at those deep sets of emerald green eyes.

“E-Erik Jimenez?” I managed to chant his name, although I started to become a bundle of nerves.

“Oh, please. You can call me Erik for short,” he said, smiling.

My grip on the cold doorknob tightened. I breathed as deeply as possible to avoid myself from panicking. “The last time I checked, when I refused to go with you, our business that day had also ended.”

“Oh, is that how you see our last conversation?” he asked, one brow arched up. “I’m afraid I have to oppose your expectations. Because my business with you will continue until you fulfill your father’s plan for you. So, whether you like it or not, you’ll be seeing more of me than you ever wished.”

I wanted to shut the door right at his gorgeous face. But before I could even tell him to get lost, he walked in. With his broad back on me, he surveyed the room and nodded in silent approval.

“W-wait, you can’t just barge into someone’s house!” My hands on my sides began to ball into fists when I stepped toward him. “How did you know I’m here, anyway?”

“It’s nice to see you too, Crystal.” He turned around to face me. “And to spare you from more confusion, it’s your father who's told me your address. Remember the necklace I gave to you?” He suddenly frowned. “Where is it, by the way?”

“My mother doesn’t even know about the necklace,” I whispered, turning my sight away.

“It’s your family’s legacy that you should be proud of. You are a Wayne.”

“There’s no Wayne in this house, not even in this building or in this city!” I ranted. “Have I forgotten to mention that I live by the name Crystal Bretz?”

“No one forbids you to use your mother’s last name. But your father’s blood is flowing in your veins so the least you can do is accept it,” he said, sighing and lounging on the couch without tearing his gaze at me. From there, a smile curved across his face when his sight shifted to my body. “Fewer clothes maybe, but you look cute overall.”

“What are you talking about?”

My blood had turned to ice when I looked down at my body. Why on bloody earth didn’t I realize I was still in my sleeping clothes? Since I had no bra, my nipples could be easily seen behind my thin top.

Oh, shit!

“You stay here. Don’t move and don’t touch anything while I change clothes!” That’s what I told him as I raced to my room. My cheeks heated when I heard him chuckle.

I returned to the living room after a couple of minutes. I pulled on more presentable clothes—a plain tee shirt and cotton shorts below the knee. Simple it might be but at least more decent for entertaining a visitor, well an unexpected one.

Erik was not on the couch when I returned. I frowned when I spotted him standing by our mini gallery—it was a collection of framed pictures on the countertop above my bookshelf.

He smiled at me, in his hand was the picture of me and Mama at the mall on my eighteenth birthday. “You look so happy in this photo. Not happy, though.”

“Put it down! Have I told you not to nose around?" I warned him and tried to snatch the picture frame in his hand, but he only raised his arm over his head while looking down at me as though I were a little child!

“I don’t see any problem appreciating the photo.”

“But, I am! Now put it down or else I’ll call security to escort your ass out of this building!” I hissed.

“Why do you seem so agitated?” he asked and placed the wooden frame back to where it belonged but his eyes remained fixed down at me.

“Because you are so full of yourself, Mr. Jimenez. You may be a bit graceful but you’re arrogant at the same time!”

“I don’t understand. How did I become arrogant in your eyes?” he chuckled and walked around, inviting himself to the kitchen while I continued to follow him like a puppy. He was so comfortable that he even sat down from across me and served himself a mug of coffee.

“Have you forgotten what you did just to get to me?” I slammed my hands on the tabletop. “You had your man drag me into your car! Do you have any idea how scared I was at that time? I thought it was the end of my life, for heaven’s sake! And now you’re here, acting as though you’re visiting a good old friend and convincing me of the same old shitty things! Well, guess what, Mr. Jimenez, I’m still not buying your offer. So better leave now while I still have a little patience for you.”

He continued to drink his coffee. He even stripped his trouser jacket and hung it on the armrest for him to move more comfortably while enjoying the steaming beverage. Where in the hell was he taking his coolness?

“God, you’re driving me insane,” I hissed under my breath and stomped to the fridge, and drank a bottle of water so my temper dropped. What would I do to this man? Yes, I warned him to be kicked out by the building’s security officers, but the truth was I couldn’t do it. The act just didn’t suit him since he looked respectable in his corporate attire.

“Don’t you have any ambitions, Crystal?”

I turned to him, narrowing my eyes. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I have ambitions—my fingers aren’t even enough if I am going to count all of them.”

“Then you need to be with your father more than anyone else’s,” he said, his eyes digging deep into my eyes as I stepped toward him. I wished he was only joking, but his tone was serious, and his posture became firmer on the chair.

“I don’t need him! How many times will I have to say that?” I yelled, my hands on the table as I leaned toward him. “I can fulfill my dreams by myself, you understand? I don’t need the help of some stranger! I survived without him and will continue to survive with only Mama around. So, once and for all, Jimenez, tell Mr. Wayne that I am not interested in his wealth. Not even close!”

“You heard my daughter...”

My shoulders stiffened, turning my head to the kitchen door to see Mama standing there and glaring at Erik. “M-mama?”

“I’m glad I left my wallet here. The universe is so kind as to let me know that my daughter is in danger,” she said and I gasped when she shifted to me. “Go to your room, Crystal. I’ll talk to this man privately and I’ll make sure this will be the last time he’ll talk to you.”

Confusion filled my mind as I rose from the chair. The way my mother treated Erik, it seemed like she knew him already.

“Hurry,” Mama said and gave me a warning look which made me frown. “And after I send him out, you and I are going to speak as well. You have so many explanations to do regarding your connection to the Waynes.”

“You know Erik, indeed,” I said. It was more of a statement than a question because it was really obvious.

Mama seemed to take off guard. She was about to speak when Erik interrupted. “Why, yes, Crystal. Because I’m the middle man between your father and mother. And guess what—Mr. Wayne is the one who pays for this apartment. Not to mention…” He paused, folding his arms over his chest. “Bills.”

“That's not true,” I whispered.

I was about to ask Mama when she stomped towards Erik. Shock washed over me when she grabbed the steaming mug and splashed the coffee onto his chest.

“Mama, what have you done?” I grabbed her shivering hands and put the mug away from her hands. Then I stared at Erik in horror. I might be pissed with him. But he didn’t deserve to be humiliated like this. “I’m… I’m badly sorry, Erik.”

He didn’t say anything. But the way he gritted his teeth as he wiped himself with a handkerchief, I could tell he was controlling to burst out his shock and anger.

“Don’t say sorry to that jerk. He deserves that for butting in our life!”

“But Mama—”

“It’s time for me to go,” Erik muttered and folded his wet handkerchief before sliding it into his pocket. Then he gazed at me and gave me a small smile before walking out of the kitchen.

Goodness, how could Erik make such self-control?