Before Dylan and Scarlett showed up at Edric's door, he was warning his brother that the party and the related activities of his guests should be limited to the first floor and if by any chance, he saw someone flapping their wings around his room, he wouldn't wait for a second to oust him with his guests out.
While his brother was having the thrill of his birthday at his house, he decided to go out for a while, might as well visit the club and have some fun with anyone. Seeing the girl standing at his door, his mind started inching back from the idea of going to the club. But what would he do at home?
It wasn't that he would get himself slipped into the party on the first floor. The problem wasn't being unfamiliar to the guests. All of his brother's friends knew him as much as his friend and everyone, excluding his family, knew him. Let's say his hands were itching to touch someone just like he would do every night. It had become his bad habit. And bad habits died hard. Thus, he proceeded with his regular way. After some hours when he came back, he heard some voices coming out from his room. Alex was dead.
He politely told him to keep his friends from his room. Well, that was more of a threat. He was letting him use his house. If anything, he should be grateful. What else did his brother expect from him? Let his horny friends satisfy their needs on his bed? Well, he was also the one slamming harder into a girl in a private room of the club a few minutes ago. He just never bought someone home. No one was allowed to be in his room. Alex would pay for this.
He was about to turn around to dash to the hot spot when the giggles were louder. The voice...it sounded familiar. Grabbing the handle and turning it, he opened the door and saw the girl laughing to herself. The neon light was filled in the room but the flushed face of the professor was clearly standing out in contrast to the blue hue. Was she drunk? And that was when his brother's conversation replayed in his mind.
"What do you want?", ignoring Edric, Alex walked over to the fridge in his open kitchen and skimmed through the sections.
"Can I drink this? Thank you", pulling the orange juice bottle out, he didn't even wait for Edric's response before opening the cap and having his lips connected to its mouth. Letting him do whatever he was doing, Edric walked to the living space and flopped onto the couch.
It hadn't been that long but he was already used to his brother's antics, showing up unannounced at any time and surfing through his things. He wasn't very pleased with it. As long as Alex stayed within his limits, he wouldn't be bothered with him.
"Dad asked me to keep checking on you", with two slices of pizza on a plate that Edric had ordered last night, he sat on the couch across from Edric's.
"You don't have to. Tell him to not be worried for me. I'm not a kid", when did he grow this distance from his dad? Perhaps when his mom passed away. Or he was never too attached to him because the man was too busy expanding his empire overseas. However, they would talk every now and then unlike how they had turned out in the two years.
"You can tell him yourself and to him you will always be a kid", eating away the slices, Alex replied.
"He's been too worried for you lately. You should come home for dinners. Mom also wants to meet- -", cutting him off, Edric got on his feet saying, "If that's all you have to say every time you come here, I might not open my door for you next time."
It was true that he no longer felt the connection with his dad. Even if they wouldn't meet every day before his mom died, they were still closed. Things were never this complicated as they came to be after his mom was hospitalized.
"Why did you give your mom's necklace to Scarlett?", before Edric would disappear into his room, Alex shoot out the reason behind coming to his place, stopping the former in his tracks.
"I don't want to sound intruding but--",
"Well, that's exactly how you sound right now", turning around, he looked at his brother who had put the plate on the table.
"I might not know you too deep, I know you well enough to figure out what goes in your mind. That necklace was precious to you. Giving it to a girl indicates only one possibility", getting up on his feet, he cleared his throat.
"It doesn't have anything to do with you", now Alex was stepping over his limits. Edric hadn't even allowed his dad to interfere in his personal life. Would he tolerate his stepbrother entering his territories? Certainly not.
"I know. But you're related to me so indirectly the matter is also related to me", Alex and Edric weren't brothers by blood. After Edric's mom passed away, his dad married Alex's mom explaining that it would get tough to spend life alone.
The woman was kindhearted, always concerned about Edric. His dad didn't make a final decision before getting the consent of his son. When he told Alex that on his business trip to Oregon, he met a woman who would prove a nice lady for their household and he was considering marrying her but he wanted his son's approval and understanding, Alex walked out on him, yelling that he never cared for his mom as it hadn't been a year and he was talking about marrying someone else.
After too many heated arguments and Edric lashing out at his dad, he gave him his approval. That was what his mom forced him to promise her. Once getting hospitalized, she knew that her time was short.
She pleaded with her son that he would support his dad to move on and find someone else in his life and that he wouldn't try to stop him. Looked like he didn't need to force the man. Keeping the promise he made with his mom, he got agreed.
Only one week had passed since their marriage when Edric announced that he was moving to a new house. Despite the loving and caring nature of his dad's second wife, he just couldn't stand seeing another woman at his mom's place. It was natural to feel that way.
The woman also had a son who was around about the age of Edric. He had an animated and joyful nature. The two new persons who entered his life were loving but the bitterness her mom's death left was bigger than their love. However, as time passed, he grew comfortable around them. Though he stayed at his own house, sometimes he would come at dinners because of his dad's daily insistence.
Alex never had a sibling just like Edric so he would always find ways to get into the heart of the latter. He was a few months younger than Edric so first he put respect between them and would bring his little issues to the latter in order to make Edric feel that he was respected and needed. Months in and out, he became more friendly towards Edric. Surprisingly, Edric also didn't push him away.
Alex's dad left them when he was sixteen. They never heard from him ever again. The business his grandfather owned descended to his mom, the daughter of the old man, since he didn't have any son. His mom was a successful businesswoman.
When Alex graduated, his mom stepped down from the position in the company and let Alex handle the business. After his mom married Edric's dad, they thought to merge the company under Williams Inc to increase its profit and market value. That was when Alex became a little carefree.
Edric's dad's staff was trustworthy. Upon receiving the fatherly affection and support from the man, Alex also started calling him 'dad'. It felt good. He had never thought it would feel that nice to call someone dad. The hole that was created in his heart when his dad left them was written to be filled by another man, someone else's dad.
"You can't have a chance with Scarlett", looking at the botherless face of his brother, he uttered.
"What made you think I'm looking for a chance with her?", clearly not liking the bluntness of his brother, Edric raised his brows.
"I'm not going to waste your time by describing why I'm thinking this. You just can't have her."