Chapter 57 Jealousy
~The next morning~
Opening his eyes, Arthur felt Anita’s arms cuddling around him. He looked at her face and saw she was still fast asleep.
The swollen marks on her face were now flat, but they were still pretty red.
‘Why would a man lay his hand on a woman?’ Arthur wondered in anger and disgust. He needed Anita to tell him what really happened so that he could deal with the motherfker that kept maltreating her.
He slowly and carefully reached for her hand, moving it away from his chest. He placed her hand on the bed as he moved away from her.
He got out of bed and looked back at her. He succeeded in not waking her up. He couldn’t believe he could sleep with her in the same bed after so many years of hating her.
‘Does this mean I want her again?’ Arthur questioned himself as he made his way out of the guest room.
‘No, I don’t want her. I just care about her. And we have a common enemy and that happens to be the man that came into my office to threaten me.’ He convinced himself.
Instead of going to his room, he headed to the boys’ room first. Though the previous night was a lot for him, he didn’t forget that he owed his boys quality time.
Getting into their room, he found them still fast asleep. He looked up at the wall clock and saw it was just past 6 a.m.
‘I shouldn’t bother them now.’
He turned to leave, but then Ryan heard footsteps, causing him to open his eyes.
“Dad?” He lifted his sleepy head, staring at Arthur.
“Ryan… Hey, you’re up.” Arthur answered in a whisper, walking back to his bed.
“I heard your footsteps. Is something wrong?” Ryan further asked as Arthur settled in his bed.
“Oh… no, nothing is wrong. I didn’t realize it was still very early in the morning. I wanted to spend some time with you and your brother.”
Ryan nodded and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand so he could see clearly.
“Who was that woman from yesterday night? Is she still here?” He asked as he sat up.
“Yes. She’s resting. I’m sorry for ignoring you and the boys for days. Work hasn’t been taking it easy on me.”
Ryan heaved a sigh and nodded, looking at his brothers who were still sleeping.
“We have a list of what we would love to see at our birthday party. Should I show it to you? The three of us came up with it.” Ryan gritted, and Arthur chuckled, nodding.
“Of course, I’d love to see it.”
Ryan got out of bed and ran to their shelf. I picked up a small box and ran back to the bed. He sat next to Arthur and opened the box, revealing different colors of sticky notes.
“Anytime we remembered any, we’d pick a note and put it down. Here are some of them.” Ryan told him, as he began to read what they had written down.
“Balloons, lots of chocolate bars, ice cream, flowers, toys, money…” He chuckled, and Arthur raised his brows.
“Money? What do you all need money for?”
“We would be seven, Dad. We are not babies anymore. Being a baby stops at five years old.”
“Really?!” Arthur scoffed at his sweet mouth, and Ryan shrugged.
“It doesn’t have to be so much money, Dad. Just enough money for a taxi that will take us to mom.” He answered.
Arthur creased his brows and shook his head, trying to understand him. “Why do you need a taxi when there are cars available?”
“We don’t want to bother you and Uncle Theo everytime we would love to see her.”
“Well, I won’t let you get into a taxi and travel at this age. You may be smart boys, but you are still very young and there are evil people out there.”
“But…”
“Does she know about your plan?”
“No, she doesn’t. We haven’t told her anything about it.”
“I bet if she knew, she’d discourage you from doing such. You are still babies. Moreover, she promised to come and visit from time to time.”
Ryan breathed out deeply and nodded sadly. He picked out more notes and continued reading.
“More clothes, shoes, and lastly, Mom.”
“Mom? She’s part of the list too?” Arthur asked, and he nodded.
“Though my brothers act like they are not aware, we know you and mom aren’t on good terms. You don’t even call her.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because I’m not stupid. We want her at our birthday party.” Ryan insisted.
“Of course, she’ll be there. And Aurora and I are on good terms, okay? We just need a break because of her work.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and picked up the iPad Arthur got them.
“Then let’s talk to her on the phone.” He uttered, unlocking the phone and putting a call across to Aurora.
Arthur breathed out deeply as her line went through and began to ring. And just like they expected, she answered before it disconnected.
“Hey boys.” She muttered sleepily.
“Mom, good morning. It’s Ryan, and my brother are still sleeping.”
“Well, it’s still very early. Why are you up?”
“I’m up because Dad is here and I’d love that you two talk.” Ryan added.
“What?” Aurora answered in surprise, sleep disappearing from her eyes completely.
“Hi, Aurora,” Arthur uttered after Ryan passed him the iPad.
“Arthur? Hi! Good morning. It’s… it’s a surprise.” She stuttered, while Arthur nodded.
“Yes. Ryan believes we are not on good terms and this is me trying to prove him wrong.”
“Oh… right. Ryan can be so funny sometimes. Ryan, we are on good terms, okay? You don’t have to worry.”
“So you two talk well?” Ryan further asked.
“When I’m less busy, yes.” Arthur answered before Aurora could.
“Fine. I just want you to come back home. We miss you. My brothers and I.”
“I miss you too, Ryan. And I’ve promised that I’ll be there on your birthday.”
“Arthur?” They heard someone call from the door. Arthur looked back and saw Anita standing at the doorway.
“You’re up.” He uttered, giving the phone back to Ryan and walking towards Anita.
“Is that Aurora on the phone?” Anita asked, but instead of answering her question, Arthur grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the room.
Aurora creased her brows as she faintly heard the voice of a woman underneath.
“Who is that, Ryan? I heard a woman’s voice.” She inquired, and Ryan turned to look at the door again.
“I don’t know her, Mom. But she came in yesterday night. She seemed to be in an emergency situation because Uncle Theo rushed to get the first aid box.”
“What? And she spent the night there?” She further asked.
“She wouldn’t be here so early if she didn’t, would she?” Ryan wondered.
“So she slept there.” Aurora mumbled to herself. Jealousy instantly took over her body.
“Guess what, Ryan?”
“What?”
“See you soon. I’ll be visiting you today.”