...
The next day, the sun came up, and he was still in bed, sleeping deeply after being up for hours while his mind was processing all the recent events that had changed everything—his past, his present, and he had no idea how to deal.
Steven was sitting on the floor near his bed, knees up, looking at Taylor in silence. He was thinking about their conversation from the night before. Then he sighed and stood up.
He was about to leave Taylor's bedroom when the phone lit up. He thought it was a message. He was curious, so he took the phone from the bedside table. He furrowed his eyebrows when he didn't recognize the name. He whispered, "Who is Aiden?"
He looked at Taylor and then checked the message, reading it.
(Hey, when you get a chance, give me a call. I'd love to meet you in person to give you a letter from your mother. I know I'm not supposed to be getting involved in your life, but if I were you, I'd give her a chance.)
He took Taylor's phone with him and left the room. He closed the door and immediately called Aiden, who quickly responded, "Thanks, God."
He was about to speak when he heard someone else's voice. Steven's tone was annoyed. "Who are you? What do you want from Taylor?"
Aiden didn't say anything for a second, then he finally answered, "I'm his friend. Is he here?"
"Stop bothering him, and don't call this number again!" He was about to hang up when Aiden said, "No, I'm not trying to hurt anyone. Let him figure out the truth on his own, and then he can decide what to believe. His mom is really sad, so please don't wrong her."
Steven thought for a second, then looked at the phone. He bit his lip, then put the phone back to his ear. "I'll send you the address. Just slide the letter under the door and go. He's not in the mood to talk to anyone."
...
Veronica was in her company, sitting on her chair and playfully running her fingers along the pen, but she couldn't focus on her work.
She decided to go to work to take her mind off things, but she found herself going round and round.
She threw the pen on the desk and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes. She pinched the skin between her eyes to ease the headache, and then she heard a light knock on the glass door. She said, still without opening her eyes, "Go away, Lily."
She got annoyed and opened her eyes when she heard the door open. Then she froze in place when she saw him for the first time after so many years. Then Lily, her secretary, entered and said, "I apologize, madam. He informed me that he is your friend and then entered your office without first notifying you that you have a visitor."
"Lily, call the police!" Veronica said that when she stood up from her chair, her eyes widened and her heart was beating so fast. Seeing him there made all her memories come rushing back, as if they were on a video that you can't erase, not even by burning it.
Lily was about to head out of the office when Albert grabbed her by the arm and threw her on the couch. He closed the door with the key and kept it in his hand, looking over at Veronica, who put her hand on her mouth, feeling really scared of him. "Don't make a fuss; it'll be a quick visit, dear Veronica."
He approached her, and she stepped back until her back hit the window, and they were facing each other. He said, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I recently found out while I was in jail that you became a successful designer who owns one of the biggest companies in Washington, you got married, and you have a beautiful daughter too."
She slapped his hand away when he was messing with her hair and said to him, "Don't you ever come close to my family, especially my kids!" She was breathing heavily.
A tense silence fell over the place. Albert raised one eyebrow and stared at her, confused. "Your kids? Do you have a secret child, or have you finally found your lost child?"
He narrowed his eyes while he waited for her to respond. She widened her eyes, and then her neck went numb. He wasn't supposed to know about Taylor. She'd put him in danger after struggling to bring him back to her, and now, she was about to go back to square one.
"Get out of here! I'll kill you!" she screamed as she started pushing him away. He stopped her by grabbing her wrists. His eyes brightened with enthusiasm as he found something more interesting than her to focus on. "I understand from your reaction that I'm right. Wow, how surprising."
"Leave us alone and come back to jail, you piece of shit. I'll make you suffer more than the last time if you touch one hair of my family members. I'm warning you," she said, her teeth clenched in anger and deep hatred, and tears gathering in her eyes.
He pulled his fingers away from her wrists and started laughing like he just heard a joke. He ran his index finger under his eye, wiping an imaginary tear, and put his hands in his pants pockets, looking at her with a sarcastic smile.
"Look at you, trembling like a chick. You're still afraid of me, Veronica. Don't act brave in front of me."
He opened the door and threw the key on Lily's lap. Then he waved his arm to Veronica and smiled big, saying, "See you later."
As soon as he left the office, Veronica lost it. She sat on the floor on her knees, covered her face with her hand, and then made a fist with her other hand and hit the floor while crying bitterly. She couldn't believe that he came back to ruin her life again when she thought he would never appear again.
"Shit!" she yelled. When Lily rushed over to check on her, Veronica prevented her from approaching, saying, "Just leave me alone."
At the same time, Catherine was in the hallway, on her way to show some of her work to Veronica. She was there when Albert appeared. She realized that he had left Veronica's office. When he saw her, he gave her a little smile and walked past her.
She stopped walking when she detected a strange smell coming from him. She whispered to herself, "What's this? It's like he was swimming inside a pool full of ashes."
...
She went into the office and, when she saw her looking pretty upset, rushed to her and knelt in front of her, saying, "Are you all right, Madam Garcia? What happened?"
Veronica didn't say a word. She just got up from the ground with Catherine's help, hurried to her bag, took out a key, and stood in front of Catherine. "Take the key and stay in my mountain vacation home. Don't come back until I call you. Take Ashley and Taylor with you and tell them it's just a few fun days between friends, okay?"
Catherine was still looking at her, confused. She didn't get why she'd made such a weird decision all of a sudden. She said, looking at the key on Veronica's hand with her eyebrows all scrunched up, "But why?"
"Please do what I say. I promise I'll explain everything later. You'll still get paid as if you were here, so don't worry about that," she said, grabbing the girl's hand and putting the key in it. She looked at her with wide eyes, begging her to agree.
Catherine had a hunch that something was wrong when she saw Veronica's panicked face and her strange behavior, like she was trying to hide her kids from some kind of danger, even though she had no idea what it was.
"Alright," she said, and then Veronica smiled faintly at her while putting her hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."
...
At the same time, Steven put Veronica's letter on the bedside table in Taylor's room without even reading it. He wanted Taylor to be the first one to read it, since he was the one concerned.
He hadn't left his bed since he woke up. He was just lying on his side, staring into the void, not having any motivation to begin his day; he heard Steven sigh. Then he said, "You haven't eaten anything since last night, Taylor. What do you want to eat? Tell me, and I can make something delicious for you."
"Just leave me alone," Taylor replied in a tired tone, then covered his head with the blanket.
This made Steven even more upset and worried about his situation. He ruffled his hair and said, "Alright, if you need anything, just let me know. I'm here all day."
...
In less than an hour, Aiden was standing in front of Taylor's bedroom, with Steven right there with him. He looked like he was afraid of what was going to happen and wished he hadn't agreed to the idea.
"I can't believe I said yes," Steven said, looking over at Aiden, who smiled big as if he was sure that Taylor would go with them on a surprising vacation.
"Come on, Aiden, you're my man. You're coming in first." Steven said, feeling super nervous because he knew his friend very well.
He breathed out, turned the doorknob quietly, and looked through the door. All he could see was the faint daylight that had just barely filtered through the dark curtains of the balcony window.
He let out a soft sigh and turned to Steven, nodding for him to follow. He moved the curtains aside, letting in some sunlight.
Taylor's room had become like a dark cave, perfect for a grizzly bear to spend its winter hibernation.
The owner of the room, who was curled up on his bed, wasn't happy about it and lifted the blanket in annoyance, shoving his whole body inside and saying in a muffled voice, "Go away, Steven!"
The guy standing next to the bed raised his eyebrows and gave him a cold stare, then crossed his arms over his chest. "It's me. Get off the bed before I kick you out."
Taylor got a shock and sat on his bed, looking at Aiden with wide eyes. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at Steven, who swallowed hard and said, "He insisted."
Aiden took the blanket off Taylor's body and threw it on the floor. Taylor stood there like a statue before dropping to his knees and hugging himself. He looked like a little hedgehog trying to protect itself.
"What are you doing, you villains? Get away from me!"
The victim screamed as he looked at Aiden's dark smile. He ignored his screams and his attempts to get away. He grabbed Taylor's arms, and Steven grabbed his feet. They finally lifted his body, which was stuck to the bed, and carried him to the bathroom.
"Leave me alone, you idiots; you won't make me take a shower!" He kept flailing around, going back and forth like a swing, trying to get free.
"No, you're going to do it whether you like it or not. Your scent smells like a rotting buffalo, damn it!" Aiden said, and then Steven hurried to fill the tub with warm water.
They both started to take off his clothes and threw his body into the tub, which was only covered by his underwear. He finally gave up and calmed down, frowning as he felt the warm water on his skin.
"Stop being stubborn," Aiden said, then put the shampoo on his hair and washed it gently.
"Ouch! You burned my eyes!" he groaned, wiping the foam from his face and falling silent. While Steven was rubbing his back with shower gloves.
Taylor kept frowning as he looked at Aiden's smiling face, right next to his own. He gently patted Taylor's cheek and said, "Such a sweet and obedient child."
He helped him out of the tub, sitting him on the edge and putting him in a bathrobe. "Let's give him some nice clothes," he said to Steven, who nodded and hurried to the closet.
...
Aiden grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the apartment. Taylor stood in place when he saw Aiden walking towards a car parked near the building. He went over to the car and looked at the driver.
"You?" He was surprised when he saw her. She smiled and waved to him. "Hey," she said.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he felt something happening around him. Then Aiden opened the back seat and pushed him inside. "We'll take you for a nice walk to change the stifling atmosphere a bit, that's all," he said.
He sat down next to him, and just before Taylor started screaming while trying to escape, Catherine closed the car doors and started the engine.
"I don't want to go anywhere; I just want to be alone! He started pushing the door while grumbling, then he stopped when he saw Steven's face behind the window. He said in an angry voice, "You traitor!"
Steven gave him a smile and then waved as the car drove off.
...