“No, we were born and raised in Minnesota. Our dad opened a new branch of his company over here and we decided to move down,” Blair said. “What about you Eric, are you from around here?”
“Yes, born and raised,” he replied.
“Your sister is a spitting image, like is she your twin sister?” Emma asked.
Eric smiled. “Yes, she is. She arrived on earth three hours before me. Though we look very much alike, people say we have different characters. In time, I’m sure you’ll spot these differences.”
Emma chuckled. “I think I already have. She seems resereved. It’s all good anyways. I get along better with boys more often than girls,” she said. Blair stared daggers at her sister, as though Emma shouldn’t have talked about liking boys.
They continued eating and once it was time for their next class, Blair and Emma left the boys and headed to the ladies room. Stefan and Nick noticed the girls leaving, so they jumped in and sat with the boys on the table. “Hmm, I see you’ve made friends with the new girls. I must say that’s a very smart move, even for you,” Stefan said.
“It’s not what you think. She’s my neighbor,” Eric said
“Oh, that’s even perfect. Today might just be your lucky day Michelson. All you need to do in order to be welcomed into our league of extraordinary jocks is hook me up with Blair. There’s something about her I admire, and I want to find out what it is,” Stefan replied.
“Why don’t you just ask her yourself?” Luke said.
“I’m sorry did he just ask me a question?” Stefan confirmed with Nick. Nick remained quiet and stared right at Eric. He was like a soldier waiting for orders from his commander. His tall and broad shoulders were an obvious sign that he loved the gym. “All right, listen to me. You have a week to make her come to me, or at least want to talk to me,” Stefan said.
“And if I don’t help you?” Eric asked.
“I knew you would say that, thank God I prepared a response,” Stefan replied. In a flash, two boys ran with a bucket of water and poured it over Eric. He shuddered as the water soaked his shirt down to his pants. He felt miserable and annoyed. Miserable that he had entered such a mess, and annoyed that he couldn’t do anything about it. “Just sleep on it. I’m sure you’ll be able to think clearly afterwards,” Stefan said, as he jumped up and headed to the exit door.
Jessica had observed the incident and ran to meet Stefan and Nick. Megan pursued her. “Who do you think you are?” she asked, before slapping Stefan right across the face.
He winced causing Nick to raise his hand towards Jessica, but Stefan signaled him to back off. “Leave her,” he said. “She’s not worth it.” He turned around and left the room. There was no way Jessica would sit back and watch her brother receive such humiliation. Even though she was nonchalant about most aspects of her life, she didn’t joke around with her twin brother. Now the deed had been done, she began to reflect on her actions. Stefan wasn’t one to endure such public humiliation. He must have an ulterior motive, or why else would he stop Nick from hurting her?
Chapter Three
Julian King sat behind his office desk, resting his back against the oak colored leather chair. He could hear the sound of birds tweeting across the road. He glanced at his wrist and grimaced. It seemed as though the birds knew when to drive him from the office. It was a few minutes to closing time and he had to return home, where his betrayed-wife lived. As he prepped his suitcase for departure, a lady in knee-length silver jacket walked into his office. He flinched.
“I’m sorry, am I intruding?” Martha asked sarcastically. She held an envelope in her hand and kept switching it between both hands, as though she wanted him to notice what lay between her fingers. Then she moved to sit down on the couch at one end of the room.
“What do you want Martha?” Julian replied.
“Is it a crime to check on my husband?” she replied
“No,” His eyebrows were raised in suspicion. She hadn’t spoken to him in days, and all of sudden she was sitting in his office with a warm smile across her cheeks. Something must be up? he thought, as he stood up and approached her.
“I brought this over for you to have a look and sign over the dotted lines,” she said, handing the envelope to him. He stared at it for a full minute, contemplating if he should open it. The suspense grew intense, but Martha couldn’t wait any longer to see him open the envelope. “They are the divorce papers. My lawyer has taken out time to go through them. You can ask Miguel to have a look if you wish. I believe he would be thrilled to find out about our recent situation, that’s if you haven’t informed him already.”
“Why are you doing this? I’ve already sent Angelita back to her country, and tried my best to make things up with you. I’m truly sorry for hurting you,” he said.
“Sign the papers Julian,” she replied. She stood up and walked out of the office leaving him stunned, as his eyes bulged out of their sockets.
He remained in his office for an extra hour, going through the divorce papers. Miguel was walking past his office and noticed the office lights were switched on. He reached for the doorknob and pushed the door, only to find Julian still seated behind his desk. His furrowed face convinced Miguel to stay back and check on his friend. “What’s the matter?” Miguel asked.
Julian passed the documents over to him. He was still in a state of shock. He gazed at the ceiling as Miguel skimmed through the documents. “I’m sorry Julian. I never knew it would come to this. Have you tried talking to her?” Julian nodded. “No, I mean really talking to her?”
“Yeah, I’ve done everything within my power. I sent her letters, flowers, gifts, you name it. It’s pretty obvious she doesn’t love me anymore. What about our boy Stefan? I don’t know what this would do to him,” Julian said.
“I think it’s time I have a word with her. Remember, she listens to me and will have a rethink once I’ve spoken with her,” Miguel said. “I can imagine the amount of pain she could be feeling right now, but we need to come together and find a way to prevent this divorce. She can’t have 75% of your assets. That’s ridiculous.”
Julian cleared his throat. “Sorry, what do you mean by 75%?” he asked.
Miguel flipped through the pages of the documents and showed Julian the section where Martha was entitled to 75% of his assets. Julian had skipped that section of the document, because he was more concerned about the idea of a divorce, and who would gain custody of their boy. Now, the thought of losing more than half his assets flitted through his mind. Nothing could be worse than losing your family and your hard-earned money.
* * *
Eric knocked on the Miltons’ front door and waited for a response. He glanced around, admiring the beautiful flowers that span across the house. Still, he could barely compare it with his families’. Sandra was always redecorating the surroundings of their house. One moment she would decide to design animal-shaped stack of flowers, and another moment she would prefer to create zodiac sign patterns on the leveled grass. Whenever Ben found his house in a different décor, he often called it the effect of an idle house wife. But he appreciated it nonetheless.
After a few minutes of waiting, Emma opened the door. “Hey Eric, please come in,” she said, as she led him to the living room.
“Is Blair home?” he asked.
“Yes, give me a minute, I’ll go fetch her,” she replied. She returned to the living room with her sister beside her. Blair moved over to sit on the single sofa near Eric’s. “We heard about the incident in the cafeteria,” Emma announced. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure, that was nothing,” Eric replied.
“Are you sure about that?” Blair asked. “What about Jessica? Is she okay?”
“She’s good, a bit curious as to why Stefan didn’t allow Nick to hit her. I’ve told her not to worry about him, and asked her to stay away from smacking anyone in the future,” Eric said.
“I’m glad everyone’s okay. I was thinking I sh
ould approach the head teacher and report the incident. Stefan should be punished,” Blair said.
“You have a point sis, but he wasn’t the one who poured the bucket of water on Eric. I think we need to cut him some slack,” Emma said.
“You’re kidding right?” Eric asked with raised eyebrow.
“I don’t think she is,” Blair confirmed. “I think she’s crushing on him. Emma, do you think he’s someone you could call a friend? He is arrogant, proud, self-centered, not to mention, a big pervert. I saw the way he looked at the brunette that stood near the door of the cafeteria.”
“Still, I think we should give him a chance,” Emma said.
“Not in this lifetime. You’re free to do whatever you like, just don’t come crying to me if anything happens,” Blair warned. She grimaced at her sister in disgust. All Emma liked about Stefan was his handsome features and family’s money. She was ready to worry about other aspects later.
“All right, we shouldn’t get worked up about Stefan. Emma if you like him, it’s okay. It wouldn’t change how I see you,” Eric stated. “Anyways, on to more pressing issues, I came to invite you guys to the bonfire coming up in a couple of weeks. Here’s the flyer, I don’t know if you’ve already heard about it.” He pulled out a folded paper from his denim pocket and handed it to Emma. He had a feeling she would be more receptive to the idea of the event.
“Will Stefan be there? Emma asked
“Ugh,” expressed Blair as she shook her head. She glanced at Eric. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks,” he replied. “Will you be able to make it?”
“Hmm,” Blair pondered. “I don’t think I have a choice. I know Emma will be going and I need to look out for her.” She scowled. “But it might be fun. I think.”
Eric already knew the elder one between the two sisters from the first day he met them, mainly because of the way Blair carried herself. She behaved as though she had a huge weight of responsibilities on her shoulder. “Is Jessica going?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, her boyfriend Antonio is a member of the committee that organizes the event,” Eric stated.
“And do you have a girlfriend?” Blair asked. “If you don’t mind me asking,” she added.
“No, it’s okay. And no I don’t. I broke up a few months ago, my girlfriend moved to Spain and I couldn’t deal with the distance,” Eric said.
“Aw, sorry to hear that,” Emma replied, and Eric smiled back.
“Do you still hear from her?” Blair asked.
“Yeah, she sends postcards, but we both know it’s over. Not like she’s coming anytime soon,” he revealed.
“You’ll be fine,” she replied.
Eric smiled.
He remembered he was expecting Luke to show up at his front door in any moment, and jumped out of the single sofa. “I’ll be on my way now. Luke should be at mine any minute from now,” he said. Blair escorted him to the front door. On their way, he saw a picture of Emma, Blair, a man and a woman. “Are these your parents?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Blair replied.
“You’ve got your mother’s eyes,” he said. “I hope to meet the lady that deals with Emma’s huge personality.” Blair grinned as she opened the door for him. She couldn’t tell him her mother had died a few years ago. It was too early to share such information with him.
Chapter Four
Ben walked into the shopping mall and headed straight to the stationary aisle. His friend and colleague, Michelle Iris followed him. She was one of Ben’s oldest friends and Jessica’s Godmother. They went to the same elementary and high school, and even studied together at the same college and were lucky to land jobs at the same company. Not that any of them planned it, they were just lucky to have each other over the years. The two friends had left the office to pick up certain items for work.
“Do you have a list?” Michelle asked.
“Nope, I don’t do lists,” Ben replied.
“Oh, okay. Today’s going to be a long day then,” she whispered under her breath. She believed he needed to write a shopping list whenever he visited the mall, especially when he planned to buy a handful of items. This is because she feared he’d end up forgetting to buy one or more items and then realize it when they return to the office. “So how did the meeting go last week?” she asked.
“The one with the board?” he replied.
“Do you have any other meeting worth mentioning?” she said, her eyebrow rose.
Ben chuckled, saying, “The meeting went well I guess. It felt more like an interview to be honest.” He searched around for staples. “I really don’t know why my secretary called in sick today. I don’t know how she buys these things.”
“Don’t change the topic Ben. Why do you feel you were being interviewed?” Michelle asked.
“Sue and Mike kept throwing questions at me. The meeting was mainly to discuss my chances in making senior editor when next month’s promotion board meets,” he said. “Instead, Rachel wanted to know if I ever took my clients’ work home. I felt insulted to be honest.”
“It’s okay. They are just trying to cover all angles Ben. I can remember when I was called by the members of the board to discuss my chances in becoming Senior Sales Analyst. I was even asked if my husband and I were still in good terms after the divorce.” She sighted the folder he’d been looking for and reached for it.
“Thanks,” he replied, taking it from her grasp. “How are the kids? Did they spend last weekend with their dad?”
“Yeah, I plan on making it every weekend from now on, because they are now used to him and his bimbo of a wife,” she replied.
“That’ll be good. You’ll have time for you, and maybe look for a man,” he muttered.
“Very funny, I don’t need a man,” Michelle reminded him. “You, on the other hand, need to spend more time with your woman.”
Ben frowned as he dropped a pack of printing papers in the shopping trolley beside him. Michelle had touched on a sensitive subject. “I’m trying my best, but it seems she’s not happy with it. You know I really want to become a senior editor, so I stay back at the office to work extra unpaid hours. When I return home, I’m often tired and I won’t have the time to sit down and watch a movie with her or something. I check on the kids and jump into bed. On weekends, I have golf practice with several members of the board. I try to map out time, but it hardly works. I believe after the promotion board meets, everything will be back to the way things were a few months ago.”
“Let’s hope so,” replied Michelle.
She followed Ben to the self-service section once he finished picking the items he wanted to buy. As he arrived at the machine he was going to use to scan his items, he remembered he’d forgotten a pack of highlighters. “I need to get the highlighters,” he informed.
“All right.” She paused. “I know I may be wrong, but don’t we have all these at the office store?” she asked.
Ben froze placing his hand under his chin. “Oh no, you’re right. Come to think of it I’ve never heard my secretary saying she came over to the mall to buy items. She would say she picked up some items from the store. I just assumed she meant the shopping mall, not the store in our office. How foolish of me, but why didn’t you tell me all along? You know I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he said.
“That’s the main reason I wanted you to get out of the office. What better excuse than shopping?” Michelle said.
“Ugh, but we could have gone for lunch or something,” he said.
“You’re always with Sandra during lunch, besides this felt good,” she replied, smiling.
“I’ll get back at you, I promise,” he teased, as he pushed the shopping trolley to one end of the mall and walked out of the building without any item in his hand. Michelle followed, still laughing at his mistake.
* * *
On a cold autumn night, Stefan returned home from a friend’s house party and parked his car adjacent to the marble s
tairs that led to the front doors. He knew one of the drivers in the estate would re-park it for him. He approached the double doors and opened it, his left hand dipped in his denim pocket and his right hand scrolling through his touch screen phone. As he passed the lobby, he heard a familiar voice call out his name. “Stefan, please can I have a moment,” his mother, Martha said. He shuffled into the living room and found his dad sitting a few sofas away from her.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
“Take a seat,” Julian replied. Stefan scowled as he shambled to an empty sofa. He wasn’t prepared for any lecture from his parents, and hoped he wasn’t the topic of discussion. He had stayed away from his father’s expensive cars and stopped bringing girls to sleepover in the house, because he hated this little family gathering. “I’m sure you must be wondering why your mother and I called you over,” Julian added.
“Yeah, I’m curious to find out what I’ve done this time around,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.
“It’s not about you Stefan, it’s about your father and me.” Martha replied. “You’re our only child, and we want the best for you. I need you to understand this.”
“Okay, I understand. So what is it?” he said.
“Your mother has prepared a pile of documents, insisting I sign them. She wants a divorce and has gone through several routes trying to make sure my ink is displayed firmly on those pages,” Julian said, as he glanced at the envelope on the center stool.
Stefan cleared his throat. “What about me? Who do I get to live with once you two are separated?” he said. “I’m still a minor and can’t afford to make such decisions on my own.”
“I know what you mean, and I believe you’ll stay with me during the week and then with your father during weekends once everything is sorted,” Martha said.
“All right.” He rose from his sofa. “Would that be all for today?” he asked, as though the news had not sunk into his subconscious.
“Yes Stefan, that’s all we wanted to discuss with you. You can go to your room if you don’t have anything to say,” Julian said. “But just to inform you, I don’t plan on signing any document that has divorce written on it. I married your mother for better – for worse, and we are going to work it out, at least for your sake.”
Sandville High (Season One) Page 2