Chapter 29
Sophia Parker
“I hate him so much Lily! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!”
“Don’t talk like that Sophia, you don’t really hate him. You shouldn’t have pushed him into the pool. What if he couldn’t swim?” Lily said at the other side on the phone.
I wiped my tear filled face with the back of my hand.
“I don’t care! He deserved it! He’s so arrogant and rude! I can’t believe he would say that to me!”
“He wants you Sophia, he was just making that clear to you.”
“In the worst way possible! He doesn’t want me, he just wants to get into my pants!”
“No Sophia, he’s in love with you. He told me that himself.” She said and I rolled my eyes.
“You know I wouldn’t never believe that. He lied to you Lily!”
“Why would he lie about that?”
“Because! He would do or say anything to get what he wants. He wanted my location from you so he lied to you so you’ll give it to him.”
“I’m not sure about that.” She laughed.
“He’s a lying, manipulative jerk! I will never let him have sex with me.”
“He didn’t say he wants to have sex with you Sophia, he said he wants to make love to you. There’s a difference. One involves emotion while the other is purely based on lust.”
“They’re still the same thing Lily!”
“Not really. Making love is expressing his feelings and love for you through sexual activities. Like I said earlier, He’s. In. Love. With. You. And he just wants to prove it to you.”
“Oh Lily, please don’t say stuff like that to me. It makes me so angry.” I blew my nose with a tissue.
“But you used to have a crush on him. I recall one time when you admitted you were having dirty thoughts about him.”
“That was then. Now, I can never think of him in that way anymore. He’s a prick!”
She laughed at my outburst.
“I don’t know what I ever saw in Mr Wilson. He’s a certified womanizer and I witnessed this first hand when he used to being different women to the office all the time. He changed his girlfriends every week. Although I don’t see him bring anyone to the office anymore, that’s because he’s now after me too. He does that so I don’t suspect a thing. Instead, he takes them to his house after he’s done with me at the office. Just like that blonde girl.”
She laughed even more.
“Sophia, that picture is probably not what you think. Honestly, to me it didn’t look like they were kissing on the lips. It could have been anybody, maybe his sister.”
“Why would his sister send me that?! Are you even thinking?!”
“Okay. That was stupid. But you need to let go of that picture Sophia. It’s causing damage to your relationship with him.”
“We’re not in a relationship.” I said firmly.
And we will never be.
“You know what I mean. Or better still, call that blonde girl again, this time with a different number. Find out who she is. If it’s not he’s sister, then maybe it could be one of his crazy ex-girlfriends that doesn’t want to move on and is trying to make his life miserable.”
“And then, when I find out who she is… what next?”
“Talk to him about her, and let him know about the picture as well. He doesn’t even have a clue that you have it.”
She was right but I wouldn’t admit it to her.
“Whatever.”
“Gosh! I just want to lock you two together in a closet until you both finally admit your feelings towards each other! At least he’s trying, but you’re the one making things difficult!”
“I’m looking out for myself Lily! I don’t want my heart broken.” I said to her.
“Oh, Sophia I have to go. My cookies in the oven are burning.”
“I guess I’ll talk to you later then.”
“Love you.” With that she hung up.
Should I really call that blonde girl? I’m not sure I want to know who she is…
Who am I kidding? I need to know who she is!
I picked up the hotels phone and dialed her number from my phone. It ring a few times but she didn’t pick up. Instead it went straight into voicemail.
Hey it’s Charlene, please leave a message *beep*
Charlene???
The blonde girl is Charlene?! But Mr Wilson doesn’t like her anymore, why would he kiss her???
I suddenly had a massive headache. All this time, the blonde girl was Charlene!
What if Lily was right?
What if she’s just a crazy ex-girlfriends that doesn’t want to move on and is trying to make his life miserable?
Why did she even send me that picture?
How did she even know I was involved with Mr Wilson?
And creepiest of all, who took that picture?
So many unanswered questions! I needed to talk to Mr Wilson, to clear things out and find out what exactly happened that night because I know he would never kiss Charlene voluntarily.
I dialed him up but his phone was switched off. I checked the time.
9:57pm
He should be back in a few hours so I’ll wait for him.
Oh heavens! What if this was all a misunderstanding?
I’ve been so rude to him, he’s probably never going to forgive me for pushing him into the pool and all the mean things I’ve done to him. I should have showed the picture to him rather than keep it away from him.
Fresh tears began to fall from my eyes as I thought of all that has happened between us. Today was the worst. I can’t imagine how he must be feeling right now. It would be a miracle if he doesn’t hate me already.
I didn’t want to look like I was just crying so I had a quick shower and wore decent clothes. I sat down on the sofa and waited patiently in the living room for him to come back.
After an hour of waiting, he hadn’t come. I didn’t want to worry too much so I switched on the TV and watched a few reality TV shows.
***
I woke up from a very loud sound. I didn’t even know when I had fallen asleep.
“Ugh…” I heard footsteps and someone groaning.
I looked up to see Mr Wilson. His steps were faltered and he was being carried in by two men wearing all black. They looked like bodyguards.
I checked the time and it was 3:17am.
“What in the world is going on?” I asked the two men. Mr Wilson looked unconscious, like he wasn’t aware of what was happening.
“Hello miss, do you know this man?” One of them asked me.
“Yes I do, he’s my boss.” I replied standing up. I went closer to Mr Wilson and he reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
“Hello miss, do you know this man?” One of them asked me.
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Mr Wilson has been drinking. He doesn’t smoke so why would he smell of cigarettes?
“We’re from the Grand Prix Casino Club. We’re just making sure that our client gets home safely.” He showed me some sort of identification.
“We have a search warrant which allowed us to search him in order to find out who he is and where he resides and get him to safety, we assume his name to be Adam Wilson. Other information about him was gotten from his wallet and phone.” He handed them both to me and I took them.
“Thank you.” I said to the men. All the while Mr Wilson was still leaning on their shoulders, muttering incoherent words. The sight of him like this was shocking.
“Where can we place him to rest?” The other asked.
“Over here, just follow me.” I guided them to his room and they placed him on the bed.
“Do you know anyone related to him called ‘Sophia’?” One of them asked.
“Umm, I am Sophia. Why do you ask?” I smiled politely at him
“Oh… Okay.” He looked shocked. “Well obviously he’s drunk so he definitely doesn’t know what he did or said back at the casino.”
“What happened at the casino? What did he do?”
The both men looked at themselves knowingly but decided not to tell me anything he said.
“You have nothing to worry about, all you need to know is that he’s not in any trouble at all. He played some games and placed some bets and he won quite a number of them. The thing is… he placed the bets in your name, so you’re entitled to the reward.” He dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out some cash. “This is his total earnings, $7, 000.”
He used my name to place bets?!
I don’t know whether to be upset or not but I knew one thing. I was not taking that money.
“I’m sorry but I cannot accept the money.” I said to him.
“Okay, if you change your mind you could always come back and cash out within 7 days of your last earning. But you would need his membership card to do so.”
“Okay. Thank you so much for bringing him here.”
“No worries ma’am. Have a nice night.” They said and they made their way out.
Now I was left with a drunken Mr Wilson at 3am, which was not what I expected. He looked like an absolute wreck. He had cigarette burns on his shirt, his hair was wet and sticky, and his clothes were tattered all over. I placed his wallet and phone on the bedside table and went to his bathroom. I fetched a large bowl of warm water and found a face towel. I came back beside him and cleaned him up a bit with the water and towel. This would get rid of some of the stickiness before he has able to have a proper shower.
“H-h-h-heeeeey! Whaaaaa d’ya think yeeeeer doin’?” He slurred and started to sit up.
“Stay still Mr Wilson. I’m trying to clean you up bit.” I said but he didn’t listen. He moved away from me and I couldn’t reach him with the towel anymore. “Come back here, I need to remove the stickiness in your hair.”
“Nothing’s wrong with my hair. I’m perfectly fine in my hair,” He tried to sound as sober as possible.
I gave up and decided to tuck him in just like that. I helped him get out of his shoes and his destroyed shirt, something I seemed to be doing a lot lately.
Mr Wilson mumbled something but the only thing I caught was ‘glitter and pompoms’.
“What did you say?” I asked him, curious as to what he was talking about.
“Cheerleading. It’s moreee… She was a cheerleader.” He murmured.
“Who was a cheerleader?” I asked him. His eyes were closed but he was not asleep.
“Sophia.” He pronounced my name like a duck. I would have laughed but this was not a cute thing. This was a highly irresponsible thing of him to do. Being out by 3am was something I could never imagine him doing until now. Something suddenly occurred to me. Was I the cause of all this?
My heart raced at the thought of him doing all this because of me. Had I caused him so many problems that he resulted to drinking and smoking? And even gambling in my name?
I quickly discarded the thought as soon as it came. I realised it was a very silly thing to think, his world does not revolve around me.
“Sophia.” He looked at me like he just saw me for the first time. I saw his eyes move to my chest. “Your breasts are so big now. They’ll barely fit in the cheerleaders outfit. Why-”
“Hold it right there Mister!” I pressed my finger to his lips, stopping him before he could continue any further. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck because of what he said but I shrugged it off.
He was a tattletale when he was intoxicated. Was he always this honest anytime he got drunk? Maybe I could get to know some truth from him right now…
“I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me.” I said to him like we were playing a game. “What happened in your apartment that night you got back from the hospital?”
He paused for a minute not answering and I could hear my pulse sounding in my ears due to the silence. Then he looked at me like he finally figured out the answer.
“Charlene. I saw Charlene at my apartment.” He remembers!
“What did she want?”
“To trouble me as always.” His face was scrunched up in disgust.
I knew it! He wasn’t interested in Charlene anymore! So why would he kiss her? Or was it the other way around?
“Did she kiss you?” I asked cautiously.
“Well… I’ll say yes. But not on the lips. Why are you asking me so many questions Sophia? My head hurts!” He whined and closed his eyes.
So they didn’t really kiss! To say I was happy was an understatement. I was overwhelmed with joy! All this time I’ve been freaking out over nothing really. I still needed to know more, what he told me was not enough.
“I’m sorry Mr Wilson, I just need to know why she would kiss you?” And why you let her.
He took a deep breath, tired of my probing. “It was a goodbye kiss. She promised to stay away from me and my love interest.”
Love interest??
“Who is your love interest?” I asked carefully.
He finally opened his eyes and looked at me.
“You.” He said.
“Me?” I stared back, still trying to process what he just said.
“I’m in love with you Sophia.” He said before closing his eyes again.
This time I didn’t say anything or ask him questions anymore. I just kept thinking about what he said. The words replaying in my head again and again.
He’s in love with me.
He’s drunk. But a drunk man’s words is a sober man’s thoughts. Does that mean he really loves me?
Lily was right. He loves me. I don’t know why, but I totally and completely believe him. That’s why he took a bullet for me. That’s why he came to Richmond to get me. That’s why after all the harsh things I’ve done to him, he still treats me nicely. How did I not realize this?
I touched his arm lightly but he had already fallen asleep, and even snoring. I threw the covers around him and tucked him in to bed.
I watched him for a few moments as he slept, with a smile on my face, remembering that I had done the same thing when he was at the hospital. This time, I know that Mr Wilson loves me and tomorrow I’m going to tell him the same.