Chapter 9 Fault Lines
“Son… you are late,” my mother said smoothly.
She didn’t get up, she just sat there and gestured to the lady sitting beside her as if she was showing off a new and expensive piece of furniture.
“This is Cassandra, the daughter of the CEO of Sterling Group… she called you this evening when we arrived,” she added, smiling sheepishly.
Cassandra stood up and extended her hand to shake me.
“Hello, Alex. Your mother has told me so much about you,” she said with a practiced smile.
I ignored the hand she offered and walked towards my mother.
“I need to see you, mum.”
My mother’s eyes widened, and I immediately knew that she was annoyed. But she kept her smile fixed for Cassandra.
“Excuse us for a moment, darling. Alex is always so intense when he’s stressed.”
With that, I moved towards the kitchen and she followed right after me.
Then I turned to her the moment we stepped into the kitchen.
“What’s this, Mom?” I hissed, keeping my voice low but firm.
“And why is there a suitcase in my living room?”
“Don’t be dramatic, Alex,” she said calmly as she examined her nails.
“My house is being fumigated and I decided to spend a few days here. I brought Cassandra because I knew you would be busy with work, and I needed company. She’s a lovely girl.”
“I don’t care if she’s a lovely girl. She’s a stranger to me, and bringing a stranger to my home without my permission is uncalled for, Mom,” I countered.
“Will you calm down?” she said, her voice sharp.
“We both know you aren’t here because of bugs. You are here to play matchmaker,” I replied, matching her energy.
“I’m looking out for your future,” she said, her voice low again.
“You need someone stable. Someone with a great background. And that’s why I’m going all out to find a decent girl for you,” she explained, holding my hands softly.
I jerked my hands off hers forcefully and snapped.
“I already have someone.”
Silence followed.
My mum straightened her back and stared at me as if she had just gone through a betrayal.
“Who could that be?” she asked, her gaze still fixed on me.
“I will bring her to you when the time is right,” I replied.
Disappointed, she looked towards the living room where her perfect and polished mannequin sat, then back at me.
“Fine,” she sighed.
“I can’t exactly kick Cassandra out into the street tonight. Don’t worry, we will stay for five days and leave after that,” she said, her voice terrifyingly calm.
I knew she wasn’t ready to retreat. She just wanted to re-strategize.
“Five days!” I repeated, my voice almost loud.
Five days were enough to make her ruin everything I was trying to rebuild.
“I promise,” she said.
I walked out on her angrily and looked past at Cassandra who was gracefully scrolling through her phone in my living room.
I could feel their eyes on my back, but I didn’t look back.
I reached my bedroom and shut the door, anger surging within me.
I removed my tie forcefully from my neck and flung it towards the armchair. It missed and slid onto the floor, but I didn’t care. I just needed to breathe.
I paced around my room, my mind still filled with anger.
“Five days? Five days of dodging my mother’s trap,” I whispered, running my fingers through my hair.
Then, I moved over to the glass window and leaned my head on it. The coolness helped, but it didn’t stop the anger rumbling inside me.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and saw Joan’s name in my recent calls. I wanted to text her, but I thought she could have slept and put my phone back into my pocket.
JOAN COLE’S POV
The morning felt strangely good. It was the day we started working together on the site.
I got up from bed, took my bath, and dressed for work.
As I stepped out of my room, I met Lena sipping her morning tea as usual.
“Good morning,” I greeted with a bright smile.
“Hmm… Good morning. Someone looks happy and energetic this morning,” she teased, glaring at me as if she was looking for something on my face.
“What?” I muttered, taking a few steps back from her.
“I forgot to ask yesterday. Did you leave your car somewhere so that Alex could bring you home?” she asked.
“No!” I countered, my voice sharp.
“I had a flat tire. I’m sure it would have been fixed.
I will bring it back home today,” I added.
“Okay,” she replied, clearly not satisfied with my answer.
“I have to catch the bus,” I said and dashed out of the house.
After a few minutes, I got to the site. The smell of sawdust and damp earth filled the air.
I moved to the temporary drafting table with a hard hat tucked under my arm.
A few moments later, Alex’s car pulled up, kicking a cloud of dust. He stepped out and instantly made my jaw drop. He wore a crisp white shirt and rolled the sleeve up, his veins slightly visible as he moved. My mouth went dry and I had to tap myself back to reality.
I closed my mouth so fast that my teeth clicked, praying that he hadn’t noticed that I was staring.
“Good morning, Joan,” he greeted me with a forced smile as he reached me.
“Good morning,” I replied.
“Are you okay? You look like you didn’t get enough sleep. Did you stay up to work?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied.
“I’m just so anxious about this project,” he added, reaching for the blueprint.
He was avoiding looking into my eyes.
Then I noticed a slight tremor in his fingers as he was tracing the blueprint.
He was clearly lying about being anxious about the project. That happens anytime he lies.
I reached out and placed my hand over his to steady his fingers. He didn’t pull away, instead he let out a long sigh.
“I’m fine, truly,” he smiled.
“What am I doing?” I thought to myself.
Just then, one of the workers interrupted.
“Sir, your attention is needed.”
By evening, we were done for the day and ready to leave the site.
I removed the helmet from my head and clamped it under my arm as I walked towards the road.
“Joan,” Alex called after me, walking as fast as possible to meet up with me.
I paused and turned back.
“I will take you to your office,” he said, breathing heavily.
“You don’t have to. I can get a cab, and thanks to you, my tire has been fixed,” I replied.
“I will take you. I just have to stop by for a moment at my office, then we can go to your office together,” he insisted.
“Thank you,” I muttered and we both walked back to his car.
After a few minutes’ ride, we got to his office. He stepped out and looked through the window.
“Would you like to follow me in?” he asked.
“I will just wait in the car,” I replied with a polite smile.
“Okay. I will be back in a few minutes,” he said and walked into the building.
Moments after he left, his phone started ringing incessantly.
“I think the call is important for the person to continue calling like this… Should I take the phone to him?” I asked myself.
I hesitated for a while.
“I won’t be doing anything wrong by taking the phone to him,” I told myself.
Then I checked the screen.
It was his mother.
“This woman,” I scoffed and stepped out of the car with the phone in my hand.
On getting to the door, I heard his friend mention my name.
Then I decided to stop and hear what they were talking about.
That was when I heard something stupid and ridiculous.
“What if she finds out that the party was fake?”
Angrily, I opened the door and I could see the shock in their eyes.