Nicolas opened his wardrobe and picked out a green polo shirt from the rail. He removed the hanger and hung it back on the rail. He was almost dressed and the shirt was the last he had to wear. He got his hands into the armholes and was about to slip his head through the neckline when he heard a knock on the door.
"Nick!" The voice on the other side called.
He recognized the voice and knew it was Patricia. He quickly wore the shirt before she opened the door. The door wasn't locked. He was closing the doors of the wardrobe when she came in.
"Good morning, Mum!" Nicolas greeted coldly, without making eye contact.
"Morning, Son!" Patricia replied and observed his movement,
"I see you are going out."
Nicolas didn't respond and picked up his phone which was lying on the bed.
"I stayed up late, waiting for you to come home. But as usual, you'd rather come home whenever you liked. Is this the way you have everything under control?" She said.
"Mum, I'm not in the mood for this. I've important things to do " He said plainly as he put on his wristwatch.
"Can you hear yourself? You barely have time for your son and yourself. And you've rejected all the help I offered you..." Patricia said and paused.
She was interrupted by his ringtone. Nicolas accepted the call and answered. He ignored his mother's presence.
"Hello?" Nicolas said plainly,
"Is the flat ready?"
"Okay! I'll be there in a few minutes. Send me the location of the place." He continued and hung up the call.
"I'm leaving now. We can talk when I get back."
He glanced at her and walked past her. The door was open during their conversation and he walked through it.
"A flat? Why is he looking for a flat?" Patricia asked curious,
"Something isn't right."
Nicolas was halfway down the stairs and saw Ivan playing with his toy car. Ivan looked at the staircase and saw his father coming down. He kept the car on the sofa and stood up from the sofa.
"Good morning, Daddy!" Ivan said cheerily with a smile.
Nicolas replied in a nod and Sofia walked into the living room when she heard Ivan mention his name.
"Good morning, Mr Nicolas!" She greeted him.
"Have you had breakfast?" Nicolas asked Ivan.
"Mhm!" Ivan hummed and as well, nodded.
Nicolas noticed the toy car on the sofa and sighed.
"Nanny, please take the car back to his room." Nicolas ordered.
"Okay, sir!" Sofia replied.
As she was about to pick up the car, Ivan quickly did before she could get hold of it.
"No! I need it for show-and-tell today." Ivan said.
"Ivan, we have talked about this. I..." Nicolas said plainly.
"I know you're always busy at the company and work hard to provide for us. That's why I asked Grandma to come instead." Ivan said happily with his gaze at Patricia.
Patricia was still on the staircase and held onto the rail. Nicolas followed the direction he was looking at and saw his mother.
"He told me you never come for show-and-tell and how sad he gets when his classmates' parents are present. So l had promised that I'll come and support him." Patricia said with a smile.
"You do know it's not a fancy dress up party?" Nicolas said ironically.
"Nicolas can't you put your pride aside and look after your son. If you don't take care of him now, you might lose him in the future." Patricia said, coming down the stairs.
"To whom exactly? You? Mum, I'm not in the mood for one of your therapy sessions right now. I've things to do and need to drive my son to school." Nicolas said, annoyed by Patricia's advice.
"C'mon, let's go! I don't want you to be late for school."
Nicolas took Ivan's hand and led him to the door. He let him walk through the door first and followed. He closed the door and they both walked to the car. Nicolas unlocked it and they both got in. He drove Ivan to school and stopped at Prime Pictures Enterprises.
Nicolas got out of the lift and all eyes were on him. His employees were used to seeing their boss in a suit but never in casual outfits. They were shocked and got most of them chatting.
"Is that Mr Gonzalez or am I just seeing things?" One of the workers whispered to the other beside her.
"It's definitely, Mr Gonzalez! He looks kind of odd tho'. I'm used to seeing the boss in a suit and tie but never in a casual outfit." The latter replied.
"Could it be that he got drunk and was robbed by thieves at a bar?" The former asked as she arranged the papers she got out from the printer.
"The robbed part, I doubt it. But your drunk theory could be true." The latter said.
"Could be!" The former shrugged.
Nicolas walked straight to Mady's office. He had seen her at her desk through the glass walls and walked in.
"Mady!" Nicolas called.
Mady was focused on her computer and was surprised to hear his voice. She slowly removed her eyes from the screen and looked at Nicolas. She became nervous and quickly stood up from her chair.
"Good-Good morning, sir!" Mady stammered,
"I didn't hear you come in."
Her eyes left his face and were focused on his body. She was stunned by his outfit. She couldn't control herself and stared at his body. The outline of his broad chest was a bit visible. His shoulders were broad as well. The sleeves of his shirt were short-sleeved and revealed his muscular arms. He wasn't husky but his physique made him look like one. A little.
"Is the file I requested yesterday available?" Nicolas asked.
Mady wasn't paying attention to anything he said. She was hypnotized by his physique and lost in thoughts.
"Mady, didn't you hear?" Nicolas asked but got no response.
"MATILDA!"
He called and slapped his hand on the desk. The thud sound snapped her out of her fantasy.
"Huh? You were saying, sir?" Mady said, realizing he was still there.
"The file I asked for yesterday. Where is it?" Nicolas asked firmly.
"I don't have it, sir." She blurted nervously.
"What do you mean, you don't have it?" He said, raising his voice at her.
"I-I-I-." She stuttered,
"Actually sir, I-I..."
"I don't want to know where you last had it. Neither am I interested in listening to your pathetic excuses. All I want is to have that file by noon." Nicolas said flatly.
"Send it by fax."
"I'll bring it to your office." Mady said.
"No! Don't bother. I won't be in the office today." He said.
"Oh, okay! I'll fax it to your house. Is there anything else, sir?" She asked.
"No, that will be all." Nicolas said and left her office.
<
Alejandra and Judy left the hotel early and began their search for a new flat. Most of the flats they had been and seen were, either up to their taste but expensive or had nothing they liked. They were leaving the building of the last flat they saw and were heading to the next.
"Alejandra, my feet hurt!" Judy complained as they walked,
"We've been walking all morning. I think I'm losing my breakfast to all this exercise I didn't plan for."
"Well, you should've thought of that before stuffing that food in your mouth at the hotel. Plus, we need to find a place to stay. I don't think Mr Nicolas will continue to pay for the suite much longer." Alejandra said calmly,
"We are almost at the next place. So don't worry. I think after this one, we'll call it a day."
"Oh! Finally! I can't wait to go back to the hotel and have a nap. My legs are sore from this walking." Judy said cheerfully
"That's after we go to the hospital and visit Mum." Alejandra said.
"Yeah! I totally forgot!" Judy replied.
"Mr Nicolas does seem nice. Doesn't he?"
"I doubt it!" Alejandra muttered and rolled her eyes.
They went to the next flat and checked it out. The rent was u der their budget but the flat didn't look too welcoming to them.
"No wonder it was cheap." Alejandra said quietly to Judy, displeased with how the interior looked.
Judy nodded in support.
The floor finishing was carpet and had some stains on it. There were cracks in the plaster on the ceiling and the walls had colourful handprints on it. From the living room to the corridor. Seemed like the previous tenants had children.
The water supply was poor; the kitchen needed some renovations because some of the appliances and cabinets needed to be repaired and few, probably replaced. The tiles on the bathroom walls and a few on the floor were missing. The sink was clogged and the tap was broken.
There was a leaking pipe in the walls of the flat and most of the window frames were attacked by termites. The window panes could fall out at any time. Even though the rent was cheap, it will cost Alejandra a lot of money to fix the damaged items and repair them as well. Alejandra noticed a small hole in the kitchen. She saw a mouse sticking its head out. Judy caught a glimpse of the mouse too.
"Ah! Mouse!" Judy squealed.
The mouse was terrified by her voice and went back to the hole.
"Don't worry about it. It's completely harmless. It will be gone by the time you move in." The landlord said.
He had been with them the whole time. He was an old man, probably a septuagenarian, dressed in a coloured T-shirt. Which used to be red and a pair of white shorts. Which weren't white anymore. He had a bald hairstyle. He wasn't completely bald and had some hairs at the back of his head. He had a moustache which was properly trimmed. All grey in colour. When he smiled, he showed off his yellow teeth which for some reason were incomplete.
"We'll come back later and let you know if we want to rent the flat." Alejandra said politely, despite knowing the horrible conditions of the flat.
The landlord nodded and escorted them to the door. The building had no lift and they used the stairs.
"You know you can be really funny sometimes." Judy said as they walked out of the building.
"How exactly?" Alejandra asked.
"That flat is a mess. You could have boldly told him, sorry but we won't be renting your flat. It looks unstable." Judy stated the facts.
"And what would you have me do? Do you think I enjoyed being homeless? Yes, it is worse than a stable." Alejandra said.
"Pig sty actually." Judy added.
"Whatever! The flat is on short notice. It may cost me a lot on the repairs and replacements and renovation but at least we'll have a roof over our heads." Alejandra said.
"If we are going to live there, that mouse better be gone before we move in. I wouldn't hesitate to use kung-fu on it." Judy exaggerated.
"Kung-fu? On a little mouse?" Alejandra chuckled.
"Uh-huh! Small mammals like them are cunning and dangerous." Judy replied.
"Let me guess, another one of your mystery novels you've been reading?" Alejandra asked with a smile.
"No! It's a sci-fi movie I watched two weeks ago in the cinema. It's called, 'Circuits over Bones'." Judy explained.
"I think I'll pass. Any movie you watch alone, you'll end up spoiling it for me. You're such a spoiler." Alejandra said jokingly and they both laughed.
They were close to the road and Judy waved down a taxi. The taxi didn't stop and drove past them.
"Uh? I guess it is full!" Judy muttered.
While they were waiting for another taxi, a car pulled up in front of it. Alejandra recognized the car and knew it was Nicolas'. Judy wasn't paying attention to the car parked in front of them. Alejandra rolled her eyes when she saw Nicolas at the wheel.
"How did he know where we were?" Alejandra thought.
Nicolas wound down the window on the driver's side and looked at them. Judy's attention was drawn to Nicolas when she caught a glimpse of him.
"What's your friend doing here? Did you call him?" Judy whispered curiously.
"No! I'm just as surprised as you're." Alejandra replied, in the same voice.
"Where are you going?" Nicolas asked and looked at them.
"We are..." Judy said.
"We are going somewhere." Alejandra said coolly, cutting her sister off.
"Does the place have a name or is it anonymous?" Nicolas asked ironically.
"We are going to the hospital." Alejandra muttered.
"Get in! I'll drop you off." Nicolas offered.
"That won't be necessary. We'll take a taxi there." Alejandra declined, not happy to see him.
Although Nicolas was helping them out, his attitude pisses Alejandra off.
"There aren't any taxis available. You might stand here for a long time." He said confidently.
"How do you know that? Your demigod instincts?" Alejandra said airily, not surprised with his behaviour.
"Maybe!" Nicolas replied flatly.
"Taxi!" Judy waved down but it drove past her.
Nicolas smirked and Alejandra wasn't happy with it. She folded her arms and glared at him. She suspected he had something to do with it. Judy gave up calling a taxi and looked at Alejandra and Nicolas. The two seemed to be having a stare down. The only difference was that one was angry while the other didn't care.
"You know that face you're making will only scare off the drivers." Nicolas said and turned off the ignition.
"I wish it scares you off instead." Alejandra replied.
"Come on, Ale! Let's just go with him. It does seem like we'll get a taxi anytime soon. They all seem to be ignoring us." Judy said.
"You should listen to your sister." Nicolas said flatly.
Alejandra heaved and gave in. She didn't want to accept defeat easily but wanted to know how Pilar was doing. It's been hours since she had last seen her. She sat at the front while Judy, at the back. Nicolas started the ignition and drove off.
"How did you know where we were?" Alejandra asked curiously, breaking the silence in the car while he drove.
Nicolas didn't respond and kept on driving.
"Oh! Don't tell me! Your psychic radar showed you where we were, right?" Alejandra said sarcastically.
"If I had psychic radar like you claim I do, I wouldn't have thought twice and simply drove past you both." Nicolas said as he drove under a flyover.
"You...you... you..." Alejandra said but couldn't figure out the right words to describe him.
Nicolas didn't want to debate with her and made no further comment. They were still on the road and Judy became curious about their route.
"This isn't the way to the hospital. We should have been there minutes ago." Judy stated.
"Yes, she is right! Where are we going?" Alejandra said.
"It's a surprise!" He muttered.
"Surprise?" Alejandra blurted out confusingly.
"Did you know about the surprise?" Judy asked her.
"No! I'm just as curious as you are." Alejandra said.
Alejandra glanced at Nicolas, who had his eyes on the road, and had second thoughts about the deal she had with the billionaire.
"No CEO would do as much as he is doing. More especially for a fake fiancée. None that I know of tho'." Alejandra said inwardly,
"What are your intentions, Mr Nicolas? Is there more to this contract that I don't know about?"