Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Hi guys! I'm finally back! Exams are finally over and I can officially get back to writing! Sorry it took so long, my old phone decided to go into a coma Rip and I lost my edited chapter, that's why I had to redo this! Hope you enjoy! 

Chapter 16
          Eric didn’t budge from where he was standing until he heard the door behind him open, followed closely by the other door, that his father had exited from, and servants flooded the room from both ends of the room. 
          A sudden tap on his right shoulder made Eric jump. He sprung around so suddenly, it frightened the latter. She staggered a few steps behind before bowing apologetically. 
          Eric stared hard at her for a few seconds before realising what he has done. He snapped out of his trance, and only then did he notice a glass of water on the table that wasn't there prior to the servants' arrival. He immediately relaxed and told her to get up. 
          "I'm sorry for scaring you." Eric apologised, whist pulling her up from the hands. 
         Eric retracted his hands when the elderly woman in her sixties finally straightened her back. 
          "Are you ok, young master?" She asked, her face crinkled in worry. 
           Eric looked at the glass of water placed by her, saying, "I'm fine. Thank you so much for the water." He reached out to retrieve the glass but halfway bringing it to his mouth, it slipped from his hands. The moment the object came in contact with the hard ground, it shattered into a million pieces, water spilled. 
         Eric immediately dropped down on his knees, thinking of picking up the broken pieces with his bare hands. And so did the woman. 
         Before he could so much as pick up a piece, the woman lightly grabbed onto his hand and pushed it away. Eric looked at her questioningly. 
         "I can handle this young master, you might hurt yourself, your hands are shaking." She said. 
          Eric looked down at his hands. Surprise swallowing him as noticed that his hands were trembling ever so lightly. 
          He held onto his left wrist in a vain attempt to stop the trembling. Eric let go of his hands and dropped them to his sides in frustration as the trembling couldn’t seem to be stopped. If anything it seemed to only worsen by the second. 
          Eric watched the maid dissappear only to return with a broom and dustpan. She smiled at Eric assuringly and proceeded to cleaning up the mess. Eric could only watch helplessly as she swiftly picked up the bigger pieces and threw them directly into the dustpan while sweeping the remaining tiny pieces with the broom. 
         Feeling like a burden and cursing his uselessness, Eric uttered an apology as they both stood up when the mess was finally cleaned. The maid smiled understandingly before leaving him to his own devices. 
          By then, the table has been cleared, a fresh new linen cloth spread across the table. The room freshly lavender scented. 
          Not wanting to stay any longer, Eric tried to walk, causing him to almost trip over nothing. Looking down, he then realised that both his legs were shaking as well. 
           He furrowed his brows in disapproval. How was he acting like a scared toddler? 
          Didn’t he walk into the room all high and mighty? He had already threw away his pride the moment he decided to face his father. 
          Eric felt angry at himself, he wanted to forget everything and just run for it but he knew he couldn’t run, he knew a long time ago...... 
                        XXXXXXXXXX
          When he managed to finally conjour up the strength, Eric livelessly walked out of the dinning hall. He felt as though his entire body has been drained off its energy, every single fiber of muscle in his body aching. His chat with his father was stressing, Eric was so nervous, it was a miracle he didn't pass out there and then. He hasn’t seen his father in over a year and he had almost forgotten how tense and stressful it was to face his father. The father son relationship hasn't always been this sour and Eric would be lying if he said he didn't wish for everything to be different. 
          “Young master Eric.” Eric was about to reach for the front door handle, when a voice called out. His hand dropped back down to his side. 
          Every single servant was at the mercy of the most senior servant in the household but to Eric, Richard wasn't just a mere servant, Eric had spent a lot time when he was younger with the man, especially when none of his brothers were home and his father was off on another business trip. The steward was very strict yet there was a very soft side in him.  
           Eric turned to see Richard, the head steward, walking towards him. The man wasn’t in his usual work outfit, rather in plain clothes.
          “Richard, how are you feeling? I heard you fell sick.” Eric asked, out of concern. Richard isn’t young anymore, yet he refuses to retire or take any day offs. The man is probably the most dedicated and hardworking person Eric has ever known.
          Richard thanked him before answering, “Nothing life threatening, just a cold.” 
          “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be leaving then.” Eric said, a foot out the door already. As much as he wanted to linger and catch up, he didn't want to stay any longer.
          “Hold on young master, your brother, John rang up to tell you that he’ll be coming here to pick you up. I’ll arrange a room for you to wait in.” 
          Eric almost didn't catch what Richard said. Call him slow but John coming was the last thing he would have expected.
          It took Eric a while to register Richard's words and when he finally did, his jaw dropped in shock. 
          How did John even know he was here!? John never really cared to bother him at school, they are usually nothing more than mere strangers. Unless John went looking for him in class, he shouldn't have found out that he had skipped a day of class. 
         Eric didn’t want to see John, especially at a time like this. He felt vulnerable and hurt, John was the last person he wanted to see after just seeing his father.
         “Call him and tell him there’s no need for that, I’ll take the train.” Eric readjusted the bag on his shoulder and headed for the gates. He wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible. He could feel a huge headache befalling him.
         Eric faintly remember Richard calling out to him but he ignored him and continued out of the house, running.
                        XXXXXXXXXXX
          John was doing his very best to not go past the speed limit and traffic was giving him a massive headache. 
          Just then, his cell rang and he was pleasantly surprised to see that the call was from Richard.
          “John speaking.” John said as he picked up the phone. He held his cell to his ear with his left hand and maneuvered the driving wheel with his right.
          “Tsk!” John threw his phone mercilessly to the passenger’s seat the moment he heard that Eric had left the house despite being told to stay put and wait for John to come to get him.
          What train is the boy talking about? 
         The reason why traffic is so horrible is because the train had broken down this morning and is reported to not be in function until at least the next morning. 
          It hit John there and then that that must be the reason why Bea had asked him if he was going to get Eric, she must have heard the news of the train breaking down and guessed that John was going to get Eric because she was worried that Eric wouldn’t be able to take the train back.
         When John finally arrived at the house, he was greeted by a very worried strikened Richard.
          “John, we tried looking for Eric but he is no where to be found.” Richard said.
          John's heart slumped at that, he asked, a bit more hopeful, “What about the train station?”
          “We have people on the look out at the station.”
         John cocked an eyebrow. Sensing John's concern, Richard answered, "The men and women on guard are all dressed in plain clothing, Eric wouldn't suspect a thing." 
          John nodded in approval, wondering why he even doubted Richard in the first place, there is nothing that man can't do. He isn't the Letmere's head butler for no reason. 
          "Is father here?" John asked. 
          "He left about half an hour ago." 
          John wiped out his phone and very reluctantly dialled his father’s number. John was tapping his right foot anxiously on the pavement just waiting for the call to be picked up. 
         After what felt like an eternity, the call was finally answered “Who is this?” The person on the other line asked. John recognised the voice belonging to Steven, his father's bodyguard. 
          “Steven, I need to speak to Father.” John demanded.
           John waited as he was put on hold.
          “Your father is currently busy and asks of you to rely your message to me.” Steven said when he came back on the line. 
          Growing impatient, John asked rather rudely, “Tell father that it’s important and I need to speak to him personally.”
          Put on hold, John waited, again. 
          John was pacing the pavement anxiously, has he said mentioned that he was bad at dealing with stress? 
          John's feet came to a screeching halt when he heard the familiar voice on the other line. For the first time ever, John was actually relief to talk to his father. He really thought that his father would not pick up the phone.
           Wasting no time, John voiced his concern, “Father, what did Eric come to talk to you about?” he asked.
            There was silence for a moment and John was just about to speak again when he heard the sharp intake of breath and Mr. Letmere spoke in his low voice, “He finally came to his senses and is doing something right.”
          John felt goosebumps crawl his skin. “What are you talking about?”
          “I have a different task now for you to do as the principal. Make sure Eric holds true to his words and become first in the upcoming exams. I want only the best person in the entire school to represent in the event.”
          “Father! Eric just ran off! How could you be telling me about something like this at a time like this?!” Fuming, John yelled, startling Richard even, respect long thrown out the window. 
          “Why don’t you just let him run away?” His father asked. John could already picture the smirk on his father's face.
           “W-What?!” John thought for sure that his ears must have failed him. 
          “He’ll come back, just like your brother, Oliver did.” The man added, coldly. 
          If it was even possible to grow any angrier, John could literally feel the blood in him boil. He was pretty sure his hand holding onto the phone could snap the phone in half with the pure force of his grip tightening in anger. Something in John snapped when he yelled, “Aren’t you afraid one day he won’t come back?!” 
          “Then, I’m counting on you to get the school’s number 1 to take part in the event.”
          John was rendered speechless, he was mad, really mad at how heartless his father could be. Even at such a crucial moment, the only thing his father cared about was a damn school representative. 
          John couldn't bare to speak or listen to his father anymore. He was so sure he just might curse at his father so he cut off the call without as much as a goodbye. After taking a long deep breath to calm himself, he dialled Oliver’s number. 
          For the brief second, John remembered the promise he made to himself a day ago about being the first to call Oliver the next time. He had planned to, but he definitely didn't expect or want Eric's runaway to be the reason why he calls his brother. 
           “What’s up?” Oliver answered in a cirpish tone, clearly delighted to receive a call. 
          John hated to worry Oliver but having no choice, he asked, “I need the connections you have around the city, now.”
          “What happened?” The cheerful tone long gone, replaced with one of seriousness. 
          “I’m at Fathers, Eric ran off the moment he heard I was coming to get him. The train is down so he couldn’t have gotten far, do you think you can find him?”
           “I’ll do my best.” And with that Oliver ended the call.
           John dropped his phone into his pocket, and turning to face the still very worried but slightly hopeful steward, knowing that both brothers were working together. 
          “Richard, please inform me immediately if Eric returns. I’m going to look for him.” John instructed the man before running out of the house, swearing that he won't return until he found Eric.
                    XXXXXXXXXX
           Chris was walking up the stairs leading up to the hospital’s front entrance when the automatic doors opened and Chris saw a very disheveled Oliver rush out. Chris reckoned Oliver didn’t see him as the man was in such a hurry, completely disregarding Chris' wave of a hand. He watched as Oliver jumped into the backseat of a silver car and was off.
          Not thinking much of anything, Chris shrugged before turning around to carry on up the stairs. Not even a second later, Chris's attention was pulled back to the automatic doors opening yet again, he stared as a woman, wearing the same long white coat John had on, rushed out. 
          Stopping a few feet away from Chris, she placed both hands on her waist as she caught her breath, she barely made it in time to catch the silver car that Oliver had hoped into turn the bend and dissappear. 
          Chris recognised her to be the same doctor that had called Oliver back into the emergency room during his last visit. 
          “Jesus, that guy just does whatever he wants!” The doctor groaned in annoyance. 
          Chris knew that said 'he' was the Oliver that he just saw hurrying off. “Excuse me, but what’s up with him?” Chris walked up to her and asked. Curious after what he had witnessed. 
          Not even looking at Chris, the doctor started ranting, “That guy suddenly told me that he had important business to attend to and took off. Seriously, I don’t even remember how many times he has already done this. I swear this is the last time I’m going to be helping him out.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, the doctor let out a long sigh. 
          Finally tearing her eyes from the road to Chris, she asked, “Who are you?” 
          “I’m Chris, my mother is one of Doctor Oliver’s patients.”
          The doctor made a big 'O' with her mouth. “Oh my, I can’t believe that guy actually ditched his appointments with a patient.”
          Not wanting her to misunderstand any futher, Chris explained with a shake of his hands, “There isn't a scheduled appointment, I just come to visit my mother.” 
         "I'm a surgeon like Oliver, you can call me Claire." The doctor introduced herself professionally, even pulling out her name card and handing it to Chris. 
         Chris shoved the card into his pocket as they walked side to side into the building. 
        "I apologise for my colleague's incompetence. If you don't mind, I'll do your mother's checkup today in his stead." Claire stated as she picked up a folder from the counter, presumably Chris mother's, and started skimming through the details. 
         "Doctor Oliver is actually the most competent doctor I've known." Chris expressed his thoughts. He really liked the doctor, some part of him didn't like the way Claire had called him incompetent. 
          Claire looked up from the folder and started laughing, "You have no idea, boy! He''s a devil to his colleagues!" 
          When they arrived at his mother's room, Claire did the regular checkup in stead of Oliver while Chris waited outside like he always did. 
         “Well, I’ll be going now. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.” Claire told Chris before leaving him. He thanked her nevertheless, despite the long rant she had about having to take over Oliver’s patients, she still did it nevertheless.
         Chris sat himself down on a chair next to his mother when he entered. 
         He took a deep breath before baring out the one concern that has been on his mind the entire day to his mother.
          “A friend just told me that she couldn’t represent the school because the date of the event is on her parent’s death anniversary.” 
         “...... Not knowing her circumstance, I went ahead and promised the school’s principal that I’ll do anything in my power to convince her to participate...... " Chris could feel his voice breaking, he could feel himself clenching the blanket on the side of the bed. 
        "...... What should I do? I feel so bad...... " Chris dared not look up, he could only stare at his fists. His voice reducing into a whisper in shame. 
         Chris looked up at his mother, who laid there motionless. He swallowed loudly and even though he knows that he wouldn't get an answer out of his mother, he still hoped she that she would wake up and one day answer all of his questions. 
         Chris’s thoughts wondered to Eric, could he have possibly known about Bea’s situation? Could that be the reason why he got so mad when Chris supposedly made fun of getting her to fall in love with him just to gain her trust and convince her to participate in the event.
         Eric may have said that he doesn’t know Bea but Chris just got here a year ago, whatever that happened before he transferred, Chris had no idea.   
         What could they be hiding from him?

All Rights Reserved @ 2018 Anne Teng
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