The next morning was not a good one for Preston. He woke up to Tyrell's text.
Tyrell: Skipping today
Preston: Ugh...you are leaving
me high and dry?🥺
And when he replied, his message went unseen. His best friend had been secretive since he went MIA for a year. Preston had full faith in Tyrell. If the man wanted to share, he would.
As Ty was his ride and he would not be going, Preston asked his mother's chauffeur to drive him to school.
At school, it was yet another boring day. There was leftover hype from the previous day but it did not do anything to lift his mood. The cherry on the top was Will Stone. For Preston, the man was a constant pain, not passing a single opportunity to meddle in his business.
As he walked out the school gate, Will hurried to him with a smirk plastered on his ugly face.
"Preston, I was waiting for you." Preston cannot stop himself from rolling his eyes.
"To what do I owe the suffering?"
"Suffering? I am barely one-tenth of what you are, Mr. Beckett. Moving on, I believe you would need a few phone numbers and a list of don'ts for your first location. The man is in his mid-fifties and is a little aggressive like any other good old American neighbor. The soft copy is already in your email and here is the printed one. Good luck."
Preston snatched the paper and did a quick scan. Suddenly, it clicked him. His principal did not simply want him to get into trouble, he wanted to expel him. The last line inked on the paper – that had the school's seal at the top left corner – was proof.
If Mr. Richard Homes faces any of the issues related to his health in the presence of Mr. Preston Beckett, the latter will be expelled from the school for the negligence of his health.
Any health issues? The man seemed like a connoisseur of diseases. You name it and he had it. Diabetes, low immunity, dementia, and thousands of allergies. At least his job with Mr. Cabot was better. He had always enjoyed cooking.
Ignoring life, Preston jumped in his car – even when he was desperate to jump in front of someone else' speeding one – and headed to Mr. Richard's. The place was on his way to home.
Once there, he knocked on the door. A cute young girl greeted him on the other side. Turned out that he had no job at their house for the day. Richard was given meds that would keep him knocked for hours and the girl was his nurse.
"Can I have your number, please? I'll text you and you can save mine. Inform me beforehand for days like these."
The nurse blushed before typing her number into Preston's phone. With a charming smile, he left toward Cabot's. Turning on the GPS, he entered the address in the system. Seeing the distance, he cursed up a storm. It was seven miles further from his home. He sped up, hoping to be able to finish early and get home to his music.
Ringing the modern doorbell, he waited for someone to open the door. Meanwhile, he looked around. It is said that the house is the reflection of the one who lives in it. Cabot's residence was painted white with a gray roof, plain square-shaped glass windows and a black door. The judgment had come. A minimalist. In his opinion, Mr. Cabot would turn out to be someone who saw beauty in simplicity.
The door opened and he was greeted by a man in his forties. Blue eyes, slightly pudgy belly, average height, bald and donning formal wear.
"Mr. Cabot?"
"No, I am his assistant at work. Sam Williams." Preston shook Sam's hand and introduced himself out of politeness. "He is upstairs in his reading room. Please go ahead, I'll call him for you."
Preston could only nod and follow Sam inside. They went through the hallway that was divided into two parts near the end. They took the right and reached a big hall. In better words, it was an open house layout, with dining space, kitchen and a den. It was impressive, very bachelor-type and cozy. Taking one of the chairs, he perched on it and let Sam call his boss down.
In a few minutes, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Sam entered along with a man with blonde hair. Blonde seemed to be in his early twenties and by looks, he was average. He was wearing a formal shirt and pants like his assistant but with a blazer on.
"Hi Mr. Cabot, I am Preston Beckett. I am from Hazelwood High and here for the community service."
"Were you not supposed to come an hour later?"
Preston knew he was early but does this man have to be rude about it? Surely not.
"The last place told me that I was not needed today so I got free early. And it's better early than late, right?" He delivered back equally rudely.
The man simply scoffed at him like he was not worth wasting his words. He wanted to punch the blonde in the face for being an ass. He couldn't though. Containing his anger, he tried again. "Are you going somewhere?"
"No, I am wearing sunglasses inside the house for fun. The suit too."
Calm down, Preston. Think about Mom and Dad.
"I am sorry if I caught you at the wrong time. I can always come tomorrow if you are busy?"
"Come back in an hour."
"What? Why?! I am here now."
"Yes, you are but I do not want you here now. I want you to come here after an hour. 60 minutes."
"But I can cook now."
"I am not leaving my house to a high school kid. Please see yourself out. Thank you."
Preston hated stupid high school brawls, hated his parents' good nature, hated Will Stone and he hated Alastair Cabot.
Hello everyone,
As promised, I delivered this chapter on time. I am not very sure about this chapter, so I want feedback and tips on how to make it better. If you find that the chapter was good enough, let me know by leaving comments.
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And I have news! I am on Discord with all the sneak peeks, updates and behind-the-scenes. You can find the link to the server I am in is on my bio 😉
Love,
April Skyes