The Call

"I don't think there's a need for all that, is there?" David said bluntly as he turned back to Natalie. He held her hands as he walked out of the restaurant.

Sebastian was not surprised. He was expecting it though deep down he still hoped that maybe, just maybe they would talk but as things turned out, he wasn't sure anymore. He disengaged from Britney's hand who did not speak at all. She was dumbfounded as a tear trickled down her face washing off her make up to make a path. She started walking towards the door as Sebastian followed closely behind her.

Natalie was confused yet she didn't bother to ask not because she didn't care but because she hoped that her friend could cool down.

The hotel chauffeur brought David's car and as they got in, Natalie did not feel at ease anymore.

"What's wrong? How do you know him and why are you two at loggerheads?" She asked full of worry. She had never seen David so raged.

"Can we not talk about it right now. I'll get you home," he didn't know how to talk. How could he speak of his scars? He had never wanted to reveal the incident to anyone but now that Natalie had seen him, he didn't know if he could hide it longer but at the moment, he wanted to bottle up himself, recoil in his worst nightmare. But for how long?

It was already 11 O'clock by the time Sebastian got home. She had taken Britney home and the silence between them had began to edge into him but e preferred not to speak. He preferred the silence. All the lights in their house were off so he assumed that everyone was asleep. He was heading to his bedroom when suddenly the lights were turned on.

He froze in his footsteps just below the staircase and looked back at the living room. His mother was sitting on the sofa staring at her like she was an 18-year old sneaking into the house. He had almost freaked out.

"Mum, you scared me. Why ain't you in your bed yet?" He asked wondering why she would wait up for him.

"How would a mother sleep when her child is not even bothered to pick her calls. Are you even my son. You don't care about my feelings, do you?" She said in between sobs and Sebastian suddenly felt the pain. He walked over to where she was and sat beside her holding her in his embrace. He had not seen her calls. He could not believe that he was too into catching up with Britney that he didn't hear his phone ring.

"Hush! It's okay mum. I'm really sorry. I didn't check my phone. It was on DNB mode as I was busy catching p with Britney. I promise it won't happen again," he kissed her forehead and caressed her back. She cooled down and sat again to look at him.

"So you had fun with her?" He knew she would ask that. She smiled at him with the expectancy of a date gone to the isle. Britney's family might had been friends with them for a long time but what his mother was plotting could never possibly work.

"Yes mum. It was fun. We had so much to talk about," He said surprised at himself but still comforting for how it had ended. He was so tired and in the dim lights, he could see that her mother had lines on her forehead. He thought that maybe it was from worrying about him and could think no more of it.

"Mom, I'll be sleeping. You should too. Have a goodnight," He said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead and stood up to head to his room.

"Son, I just want to find a good woman for you. I don't want you to suffer like I did," she said as she held back his hand and stood up. He could see that she was really concerned but he was not ready to have a relationship with anyone let alone marry.

"I know mum, I know. You're the best mum in the entire world," he looked at her and felt that it was the only face he needed to see every time he'd go to sleep or wake up. He needed nothing else.

"Have a good night," she kissed him on the cheek and went on to her room. He slumped his heavy self on the chair. He had meetings and interviews to attend to in the morning yet he already felt lazy. He walked up to his room and texted Peter to send him the final document. He had a shower and by the time he got back, he found an email sent by Peter so he decided to go through the document before getting some rest.

***

David got Natalie home safely and walked to the door.

"I'm okay, I can get by. How are you doing? Will you be okay?" She was worried about him.

"I will be fine. I just need to get home and rest," he said as he kissed her on the cheek and bid her goodnight as he headed for his car.

Natalie got her keys cause she knew her sister was asleep so she tried not to make some noise. She headed to her room and threw herself on the bed. Her best night had ended in a disaster.

She stood up to get her night dress when something caught her eye. She looked at the laptop to see a mail from Cooper Home Creators for the designer position. He was so thrilled that he jumped while sceeaming and forgot that it was night.

"The night didn't end that bad after all," she muttered joyously. She headed to the wardrobe to find his night gown. After wearing it, she threw herself into the bed and stretched for the clock to set the alarm. She slept this time, peacefully.

***

The morning was quite tiresome and Sebastian was woken up by a 7 o'clock alarm. He headed off to take a bath in preparation for the tedious day he was to face. Peter called him ust after he came out of the bathroom informing him of the schedule he had for the day.

"Peter, you can take care of the interview. I need to close the deal with Austin's group of companies. You'll get me the report of the interview and I'll check out their qualification after. Just tell them we'll call them in a few days," he finished the call and went on for his closet. He was not in the mood to handle trivialities that could be handled by Peter. He trusted his judgement and believed he would bring the best candidate.

He later went down for breakfast and as usual found his nanny in the kitchen and the smell was definitely welcoming. Her nanny knew how well he loved his burgers for breakfast.

"You're awake?" Martha asked as Sebastian sat on on Le of he seats in the kitchen table.

"So, are you," I said as I laughed off. "How's your morning nanny," she handed him honey water. She always did that in mornings that felt he was going to be too busy.

"Your morning will be okay after you take that. Mine is just okay," she went on to bring him some juice and burger. She sat on the opposite side of the table with her juice at hand.

"Has mum come down for breakfast?" She normally had charity meetings on a Friday mornings.

"She did but didn't eat. I'm actually worried about her. She received a call and left in a hurry. It didn't seem like work at all. What did you two talk about last night?" She asked and I could not remember any big issue we might have discussed.

"Nothing that I don't recall," Nanny Martha was in deep thought and Sebastian wondered what she was thinking so deeply about.

"She didn't tell you anything at all about... Never mind." She stood up to head to the sink and dispose the used dishes.

"About what nanny?" Sebastian was perplexed at her sudden dismissal of the topic.

"It's nothing son, I was probably just overthinking," he looked at her and saw how she struggled between two pieces of herself and felt that he had to insist.

"No nanny, that would not be nothing. What happened?" He asked eager to know whatever was troubling his mother. He had been too engrossed in his work and never bothered to really ask her how she was doing or spend some time with her.

"Yesterday your mum received a call from..." She was cut short by a hone call from Peter but decided to ignore because he felt that nothing was more important than knowing the real situation at home. Everything else could wait!