The Phone Call

Allegra stared at her landlord with pure disdain. "How are you in my apartment?"

The old man flashed a toothy grin. "I am the landlord, child. I have my ways."

Allegra felt uneasy, was stood a reasonable distance away from Mr Archibald, who was sitting cross-legged on her arm chair. "Well, what do you want?"

"To talk."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait till daybreak. Why would you sneak into my home by 2am?" Allegra questioned, annoyed by the man's audacity.

"Your home? But you haven't paid rent yet." Mr Archibald laughed mockingly. "Oh, do not look so piqued, dear." He stood then started walking towards her.

Allegra felt compelled to take a few steps backwards but decided against it. She would not let the man show up in her apartment at such an ungodly hour and intimidate her. "What do you want?" She asked.

"You." He boldly stated, standing right in front of her.

Allegra scoffed. "You're pathetic."

"Don't act like you don't want---"

Allegra slapped her landlord's hand away before it could touch her lips. "I could sue you for harrassment."

The man laughed in her face, mockingly. She could smell the garlic on his brrath. "With what money? Stay and be a good girl." He wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You touch me again, I swear to God." Allegra warned.

"I can make you swear. I promise you'll like it."

The moment Allegra felt his palm against her abdomen, she lost it. She swung her fist at him, hitting him squarely in the face.

"Ah! You monster! This evil bitch! Help, somebody!" Mr Archibald screamed frantically. "She's trying to kill me! Help!"

When Allegra saw blood gushing down his nose, she looked at her own bruised fist and sure enough there was blood on it, except she couldn't tell if it was his or hers.

The old man unlocked the door and a crowd of neighbours rushed inside. They all started catering to him, asking what happened.

"I had stopped by to collect the rent and this wench assaulted me! She broke my nose! Call the cops! She's two months behind with the rent anyways!"

Allegra soon found herself cuffed in a police van. When they arrived at the precinct, she made a statement but soon realized it was of no use. Mr Archibald was a very influential man in the area, so words alone could not get her out of it.

She decided to call Trisha when she realized she might need a lawyer, but unfortunately, Trisha's line was unavailable. Allegra cursed the day she rented that apartment until she touched the pocket of her jeans and felt the prints of a card. She knew who to call.

Allegra watched how money and power really made the world turn. Nicholas Greyworth's name came with a lot of power, she summarized.

Nicholas called the station and Allegra was immediately released. In less than twenty minutes, his Deaton, arrived with two of Nicholas' security details and Allegra was led out of the station like a princess.

"Are you guys gonna take me home?" She asked Deaton as they walked towards the Rolls Royce Nicholas had sent to pick her up.

"What home? Your landlord has thrown all you own out of there. You're going to the boss' mansion."

Allegra got into the car, but realized Deaton was not going to join her. "Where are you going?" She asked, wary of having to be in the car with three strangers.

"Your former apartment. I've been tasked with collecting scarps." He closed the car door before and walked away Allegra could ask anymore questions.

The drive to her boss' home was a long one and Allegra hated that she did not have her phone to keep her entertained. The security details and drivers did not say a single word to each other and definitely not to her.

Allegra stared in awe at the mansion before her when they finally arrived. She had never seen anything like it in real life, only movies. It was a massive, modernized home and an impeccable work of architecture.

"Welcome to the Greyworth mansion, Miss." Allegra snapped back into reality to see a tall, older woman standing before her. "My name is Flora. Come with me."

Allegra followed the woman into the mansion. Each step she took, left her in more awe than the last. The Greyworth mansion was so magnificent that Allegra felt out of place in it.

Flora led Allegra to the main living area. "If you would sit here and wait for him, miss." She was courteous and direct.

Allegra sat for a few minutes, waiting and admiring the interior decoration of the mansion. Deaton arrived before Nicholas himself. When Deaton gave Allegra her phone, she inquired about the rest of her peoperty.

"Gone." He retorted, then left without an explanation.

Allegra noticed that she had missed fourteen calls from her brother. Her heart skipped. Something was terribly wrong.

Her phone rang in her hand the fifteenth time. "Nathan." She answered.

"I've been calling."

"I had something to deal with. What's wrong?" She waited for a response, but only got silence from the other end of the line. Her heartbeat doubled. "Nathaniel! What's wrong?" She raised her voice, almost forgetting that she was in the Greyworth mansion.

"Nothing, Allegra!" Allegra heard her mother's voice.

"Talk to me Nathan, please." Allegra begged.

"It's mum." Her brother finally spoke. "Mum's sick."

"Sick?" Allegra asked, knowing what to expect.

"The cancer's back."

Allegra's heart dropped. She was silent for a moment, trying to get a grip on her emotions. "Since when?"

"Two months ago. She hid it pretty well." Nathan answered.

"Mum---" Allegra choked on a sob. "God, why would you keep this from us?"

"Allegra." Her mother took the phone. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I--- you cannot keep doing this."

"Mum, stop--"

"No, Allegra. You paid all your dad's medical bills, you've paid for my chemotherapy both times I've been sick, you've done enough! I cannot put you through that again---"

"What about what you're going through? You should've told me from the start!" Allegra cried.

"Why? So you can take more loans for my sake? You took so many for your father and he still left us---"

"I would gladly do it again!" Tears streamed down Allegra's face as memories of her father's final days came back to her.

"Not this time. I'm not getting treatment, I'm not putting myself through that again." Allegra's mother insisted.

"If it's the money you're worried about, I would find a way---"

Her mum wouldn't let her finish. "I am not putting my body through that again!" There was a brief pause and Allegra could tell her mother was struggling to control her emotions. "Don't worry about me, worry about your brother. All his teachers say he has the potential and grades for an Ivy League School. But he doesn't have a trust fund like you did. All he has is you, do you understand?"

"Mum---" Allegra could barely get the words out as she sobbed. "Mum, I don't care how I will get the money, but I will. You can't leave us like dad did barely three years ago!"

"Honey, it's my life versus my son's future and no mother would even think twice before making a choice." Her mother said firmly. "And I have made mine, I need the both of you to respect it." With that, she hung up.

Allegra buried her face in her palms, sobbed. She might have been in that position for ten minutes or maybe twenty, but when she had exhausted her tears and her eyes grew sore, she looked up and almost yelped. Nicholas Greyworth was sitting before her, his beautiful green eyes were boring into her soul.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE WEDDING

"Would you like to see the gardens?" He offered, not commenting on what he had overheard.

Allegra followed her boss outside to see his extravagant gardens. She was sure a good number of people worked on it daily.

"Beautiful garden you have here, sir." Allegra remarked as she made herself comfortable on a bench.

"That is the aim. It sometimes serves as dinner ground for my business associates."

"You have people work on it often, then?" Allegra asked.

"Everyday. A hundred different plants are grown here. Just for the aesthetics of course."

"It's impressive. Was it your idea?"

He chuckled. Allegra noticed just how perfect his dentition was. "Ivy's. When we first met, this was just a regular garden. But as a lover of nature, she just had to transform it."

"You speak of this Ivy with barely hidden admiration." Allegra observed.

"She was my wife. The third one I ever married. But more importantly, she's my daughter's mother."

"I haven't heard much about her at work." Allegra said as she attempted to swat a fly.

"Ivy doesn't involve herself with the company." Nicholas replied, putting an end to that topic.

They were silent for a while until Allegra decided to break the ice. "Your home is magnificent, Mr Greyworth."

"Obviously." He said. "I have made all the required legal moves to sue your landlord. I do not believe you intend to go back there."

"I do not." Allegra concurred. She looked her boss in the face, hazel orbs against green. "My mother's had recurring cancer. It's back and we cannot afford chemotherapy. My family's home needs renovation. You already know about my loans, I am the breadwinner of my family, my father passed a couple years ago. Now, my brother is likely to land an Ivy League program and he doesn't have a trust fund." Allegra bared it all, so he would understand just how much help she needed.

Nicholas nodded. "Your mum will receive chemotherapy from the best specialist facility in DC, your family home will be renovated to your taste and I will cover all of your brother's expenses. He will also be guaranteed a job in my company if he wants it. None of these is a challenge."

Allegra nodded. "Then it is done."