MEETING III

As I stood outside our front porch, a side of my lips curved while listening to the beautiful laughter coming from inside my home. It had been a while since I heard this beautiful combination, and I'd never felt so happy in months.

A smile broke from my lips when I heard the quickening footsteps approaching the door from within immediately after I placed a slight knock on it.

Dylan, my younger brother opened the door with a broad smile, "What took you so long, Abby? Dad's back home," he said in excitement and quickly stepped inside, creating space for me to enter.

Quickly shutting the door, I hastily followed my brother into the room, and my eyes instantly went to my dad sitting on the couch, cuddled up with my mum. He smiled as his eyes fell on me and I rushed to where he sat to embrace him.

As if sensing my next action, he unwrapped his arm from my mum's waist and opened it wide to receive me.

"Hmm," a soft moan escaped his lips as our bodies came in contact, "I forgot you were a tight hugger," he said in between a soft chuckle, and the tears of joy I fought hard to suppress rolled down my cheeks.

"I thought I would never see you again."

He pulled me away from himself to take a better look at my face, "I can't believe you ever thought your father was a wimp." He brushed away the tears that rolled down my cheeks.

I chuckled.

I would never harbor such petty thoughts of my father. He's the greatest fighter I've met in my entire existence, he proved this to me when he was admitted to the hospital and he fought for survival against his cardiovascular disease.

"You're not a wimp, Dad. You're the bravest man I know."

He smiled, placing a soft kiss on my forehead, "Your flatters are what kept me going while I was there, cause I wanted to hear them again."

More tears streamed from my eyes, "Oh Dad... I thought I'd never see you again."

"Stop crying, I'm here now, with you," he continued brushing the tears off my face while I embraced him tightly like a child who didn't want to let go of her favorite toy. My mum watched me with a smile.

I nodded, "Okay."

He waited till I dried my tears with the back of my hand after letting go of him, before saying, "You alongside your brother and mother are the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life and I'm forever grateful."

"Thanks, Dad," Dylan and I said in unison.

My mum bent over and placed a soft kiss on his lips, and I also leaned into him once more, embracing him. I didn't know what else to say after hearing those beautiful words, and I bet my mum didn't know how to express her emotions with words, so we let our little actions speak for us.

Dylan who sat on the other couch also joined in the hug, and we stayed that way for a while.

.

Evening came by quicker than expected since we spent the rest of the day together and soon, it will be another day. The thought that the next day was fast approaching made me sad, but I tried hard not to think about what it held.

Just as Khloe had said, my father has been released thanks to the contract I signed, but it also meant that everything, as stated in the contract will be done accordingly, including my family members moving.

I moaned.

Ding!

Ding!

My phone beeped.

I left the rest of my family members to my room to check the message I had just received. I didn't want to know the information the text conveyed in front of them.

The door of my room made a squeaky sound as it opened, and I shut it right after I got in. Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my cell phone from the back of my pocket and opened the message.

As my eyes skimmed through the text, my brows crumbled slightly. I knew Khloe said I would be contacted soon for my job, but tomorrow seemed so sudden. 

The text was to inform me of a gala I'm to attend tomorrow evening, and how my schedule has been prepared to follow the necessary preparation for the gala. Things were going too fast and I'm not certain I'm prepared for this job.

I let out a soft sigh.

This whole thing felt like a joke to me. Never in my wildest dream would I have guessed that I'd be asked to seduce a man, and even worse, I wasn't given any information on the man I was supposed to carry out my job.

Was he perhaps a man in the higher society?

Was that why his info wasn't given out to me?

I sat slowly on my bed before lying down partially with my feet still on the floor. My head was in chaos as I gave my job a serious thought.

The doubt of the man not being in a higher society clouded my head, and I decided to stop making silly assumptions since it would only worsen my anxiety about my first job tomorrow.

It's not like I could reject the job, so I should go with the flow. If I keep thinking about it, I would start having crazy ideas about freeing myself from those people, and that would only cause me harm. 

These people were very powerful and resourceful, this was a fact, and I don't think I'll be able to run away from them even if I wanted to.  The generous benefits and how they freed my father from those debt collectors were evidence, plus I am indebted to them, and I have to repay them.

A knock on my door brought me out of my daydreaming, and I sat straight on my bed when I heard my mum's voice. 

"Come in."

The door opened, and my mum walked to where I was seated with a faint smile on her face. Her eyes were beaming with joy, but in all that I could see another emotion. 

Uneasiness?

She only had this emotion when she was suspicious. 

She sat close to me on my bed and placed one of her hands on my thighs, "I thought since he came back sooner than we expected, we were going to spend the rest of the evening together. If you keep your distance, he might think you're not happy to see him."

I smiled. Dad was dramatic most times when the situation was uncalled for. "Dad's a drama queen, Mum. I'm used to him having those silly thoughts. He'll probably dismiss the thought when I go back downstairs."

My mum chuckled, "This is one of the reasons why I fell for him." Her eyes wandered into thin space with a wry smile, and I could tell she was having a beautiful flashback.

"I'm so grateful he isn't hurt but came back in one piece." My words brought her back from her memory lane, and she returned my smile.

We remained silent after that, and for a minute, she kept staring at me. I could sense her suspicion, but I acted naive and avoided her gaze.

She noticed my wary behavior and asked, "How did you manage to get him out?"

I met her intent gaze. 

"I know you're connected to his release. How did you pay the debt?"

My heart skipped a beat as I stared into her eyes, but I calmed my already-shaking nerves with the thought that she didn't know anything about my contract with Khloe.

"I got a job."

One of her brows rose in confusion.

"A new job in one of the companies I applied for and I happened to know someone in the higher-ups who spoke on my behalf for me to be lent the money by the company," I said the first lies that came to my head.

"What? How come I'm just finding out about this?"

"I wanted to tell you about this yesterday, but with yesterday's whole situation, I couldn't."

She fumed. "I'm happy that you finally got a job honey, but everything about you borrowing the company's fund is just disheartening. How can you borrow money from a company you just started working for?"

"Mum..." I held her shoulders, turning her to myself, "This is better than leaving Dad in the hands of those monsters. I have three years to pay back, plus It's a large firm, and the pay is really good. A year's salary can cover the debt-"

"Abigail! Listen to yourself."

"Mum, stop! I'm an adult and I chose this. You can't keep shouldering all our debts by yourself. I'm happy to have taken care of this one, so please, let me take care of it to the end."

"How is this taking care of anything? You're making another debt to pay for our debt. This isn't taking care of anything, this is creating more problems for us."

"Would you have rather preferred me leaving Dad in the hands of those brutal people?"

She didn't utter a word.

"Mum... I have three years to pay back and a year's salary can cover the debt. I took this loan cause I know this is heavy on you. You can't keep acting all tough, it'll only break you. Just this once, let me handle it just this once, I beg of you."

I stared at her face wondering what was going on in her head as she still didn't utter a word. Her next action surprised me as she held me tightly.

"Thank you, Abby," she said with teary eyes, and a side of my lips curved. I thought I was going to say more words to convince her.

She dried her eyes after pulling away from me while I kept staring at her.

This would be a good opportunity to tell her about the new residence they'll be moving into.

I took her hand in mine, and she returned my gaze. "I have something else to tell you, Mum"

She nodded with a smile, urging me to go on.

"The company provided a residence for all its staff, and I want you guys to move in with me."

"No, Abby," my mum pulled her hand from mine, "that's too much. You have your life to live and that life requires your own space. I won't allow us to be a burden."

"Why would you think you guys are a burden to me, Mum? You're my family. Yes, I know I want my personal space, but do you think I'll be comfortable if my family isn't?"

"And who says we're not comfortable the way we are?"

I rubbed her shoulders gently, "I know you guys are comfortable, but I won't be if you guys are not around me. Don't you understand? I can't stand being separated from you guys."

My mum smiled, "You silly girl. You're always acting tough but you're so soft." She took my hand in hers, "If moving in would make you feel any better, then okay..."

"Thanks, Mum. Would it be too sudden if I told you we're moving tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"You promised..."

"I know, but it's too sudden."

"You can't go back on your words, Mum. You always taught us this..." I linked my arm around hers, resting my head on her shoulders.

Hesitantly, she agreed. "Okay."