The Sergeant and The Billionaire [Publishing November 21, 2022]

CHAPTER 3

Four days. 

It's been four days since I've returned, and I think I'm gonna go crazy. After Dad and I sat silently for hours that night, I still couldn't find it in me to confess anything. 

But I did end up crying my eyes out, and like the super Dad he is, he held me until my eyes could no longer produce anymore tears. I asked him to give me some space, since I couldn't even look him in the eye. 

It was the first time in so many years, that I voluntarily cried in his presence. I felt weak and washed up.

The evening after, I took a cab to Harlem so I could get a tattoo, it was of course, a spur of the moment decision, but each time I glance at the new ink, I don't think I could ever regret it. Things seemed to be flowing normally as Gina, our housekeeper, made spaghetti and meatballs which turns out to be my favorite thing to eat to this day. 

I ate in silence last night, and like the wreck that I'm slowly turning into, I locked myself in my room with a bottle of Jack Daniels.  I had no nightmares.

The next day, I woke with a raging headache, I didn't need to give Gina any instructions as to what to make for me, I smiled softly as I she placed a plate with blueberry pancakes before me, along with some well-needed Advil. Why couldn't Dad marry Gina instead? 

The housekeeper always understood me, she could always pick up on certain shifts in my mood, and right now, no words are needed to be exchanged between us. Gina knows I'm going through hell, and she knows I'll talk when I'm ready.

After a well-deserved shower, I lazed around in the penthouse in my sweats, and so I tried to entertain myself with a copy of Water for Elephants. I got myself in the reading mood by settling down with it, but I only made it through the first two pages. 

Reading was never my forte, I always preferred numbers, something about calculations always put me at ease. I found my iPad among my things, and as soon as it booted up, I hopped onto Netflix  where I settled down with some old war movies until dinner time.

The first thing which exits my mouth the next morning was a low groan, I don't feel like moving at all, so I lay like that for a while, and before I knew it, I succumb to a deep slumber once more. I awoke to the faint sound of women's chattering, and without a doubt, I know that Louisa must be here with her high maintenance seventeen year old daughter.  

The thought of spending the rest of my day in bed doesn't feel appealing, so I pull myself from underneath the sheets and head for the bathroom. If it's any consolation, I tried to make my morning face look at least fifty percent presentable, not that I need anyone's acceptance, but I guess I still have some manners in me. 

I carelessly stumble into the foyer, I had to hide the sneer which threaten to show up on my face, as my eyes fall upon the circle of socialites. It's rather impossible to avoid them, and so I learnt that Monday's Louisa's book club meeting, and just like that, I think I have to find somewhere to be on a Monday morning.

Like a sole leaf floating down a moving stream, I mindlessly made it through the second day of the week, right now it seems as if doing nothing at all will be fun, but when the day came to an end, I knew that that's all a lie. 

"Sergeant Wells." 

I sigh deeply. Today marks the first day of therapy, and much to my discomfort, I'm scheduled for three days a week. 

Tuesday morning, Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening.

What the hell am I even going to say to this guy? I blow out a breath before knocking on the door, a warm but rather stern-looking man greets me, and as I study his profile, he seems to be around the same age as my father.