Chapter Six
Hailey's POV:
It had been a week of living with the Edwards. Everyone in the house had been very nice and friendly with me except Kate. Kate was Chase's twin sister. She always gave me death glares, which scared the hell out of me. She made snide remarks about my appearance and clothing. For me, she was like a second version of Emily.
Every morning I would wake up at eight, so I could see Chase before he left for his classes. I hurriedly got ready and went downstairs to the kitchen to give my mother-in-law, Eva, a helping hand while she prepared breakfast for us.
When I reached the kitchen, she was almost done preparing breakfast. I asked her if she wanted me to set the table and she nodded with a small smile.
I took the coffee tray from her hands and put them on the table.
It had been my routine; helping Eva in the kitchen while she prepared breakfast for everyone.
I picked the coffee cups and placed them on everyone's side of the table. Kate liked to drink orange juice during breakfast. Everyone came in the dining hall and took their seats.
"Good morning," I said with a small smile.
My father-in-law replied. "Good morning, dear."
"Good morning," Chase said, and I smiled then put the plate of toast and cheese omelet in front of him
Kate didn't reply to me. Sighing, I picked the bowl of cereal and put some milk in it then started eating.
We all ate in the silence. After breakfast, my father-in-law left for the office. Chase and Kate went to their rooms to get ready.
I was cleaning the table when they appeared, ready to leave.
Kate was wearing black jeans with a white crop top and knee-length black boots. Her straight brown hair was left open, and her face was flawless as always. There was a black bag dangling on her shoulder while she was busy talking to someone on the phone.
Then my eyes moved to Chase, he was wearing a dark blue fitted shirt with blue jeans. His face was perfect, clean, and handsome. His brown hair was a mess, giving him look like he had just rolled out of bed. The sneakers he was wearing were black with some logo in white on it. The simple black colored bag was hanged over his left shoulder.
My mother-in-law told me that Chase and Kate were both studying in NYU. Kate was studying fashion designing while Chase was studying business and it happened to be his last year, more like three months left before his graduation.
They both said goodbye and left in a hurry as they were getting late for their classes.
After cleaning the kitchen, I went to the backyard, which was kind of a small decorated garden. It was the part of the house that I often went to read in the peaceful and calm atmosphere.
I took the empty chair that was in the corner and sat down on it. When I opened the book, I found myself lost in the story as it was really interesting.
The book I was reading didn't belong to me. It was Chase's elder sister's book. She didn't live in this house with us because she was already twenty-eight years old, happily married, and had two beautiful kids.
It was evening when I finished reading, so I got up from the chair and made my way inside the house. My mother-in-law was watching TV, and when she saw me, she asked me to join her. I didn't tell her that I was tired and wanted to rest instead I sat down beside her.
After one hour of watching her favorite show, she asked me to help her in the kitchen, and I did without complaining. She told me that Amy, her maid was on leave because her cousin died and she will be back soon.
When dinner was ready, I excused myself and went to my room. I took a shower then blow-dried my hair. I took out my blue jeans and red full sleeves top from the closet and changed into it. Then I went downstairs and heard the doorbell. I opened the door and found Chase and Kate standing there.
I took a step back and opened the door wider, giving them space to come inside.
"Hi," I said to them and tugged the strand of my hair behind the ear.
Kate entered first, purposefully hitting my shoulder with her bag and making me stumble back, but Chase's arm circled around my waist and stopped me from falling.
I stared into his beautiful grey eyes. They were simply magnificent.
"Sorry," Chase said, removing his arm and helping me to gain my balance back.
"It's okay," I mumbled.
I shut the door then we made our way to the kitchen.
"Hi," Chase said, planting a kiss on his mom's cheek.
"Hi. Go freshen up and come downstairs before the food gets cold."
He nodded and went to his room.
Chase came downstairs changed in a fresh set of clothes. He told his mom that his dad called and said he couldn't join us tonight for dinner.
When I was done setting the table, all of us took our seats and started eating. We were almost done eating when Chase's cell phone rang loudly.
He picked up his cellphone and said, "Hello, dad."
Suddenly, he was up from his chair and mumbled a hasty "Okay," before ending the call.
"Mom we need to go to the hospital. Granddad needs us," he said, looking scared and upset.
I started to worry about him, but I couldn't do anything more than stare at them. In a few minutes, he and his mom left for the hospital, leaving Kate and me alone in the house. Kate and I waited for them to come home, but they didn't come back.
After hours of waiting, Kate was sleepy and went to her room while I stayed in the living room, waiting for them to come back. At some point, while waiting, I must have dozed off because when I woke up, it was midnight. I heard the noise of someone entering the house and sat up on the couch. I rubbed my eyes to see clearly and found Chase staring at me with a dazed look on his face.
"Why are you sleeping in the living room?" he asked me.
"I was waiting for you to come back."
He looked taken aback at my response.
"I am going to my room. Mom and dad needs some time alone so they might come late home tonight. You should go to your room and sleep there," he said, making his way upstairs.
I nodded my head, but I wanted to know what happened.
"How is your granddad?" I asked him.
"He is gone. He left me." His voice sounded hollow.
I was shocked and looked upto see Chase, but I found him standing on the stairs making his way to his room. I wanted to go after him and comfort him. I wanted to tell him that everything would be alright, but I knew he needed some time alone.
After doing my night routine, I changed into my nightshirt and pajamas then went to my bed. I fell asleep while thinking about Chase and what he must be feeling at the loss.
The dream started with me standing in the middle of a beautiful garden. It looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen this place. Then my eyes caught a silhouette standing behind the tree, hiding someone from my view.
I took a step forward and looked closely to see my dead grandma standing there. I stepped faster towards her, but she started running away from me, making me follow her deep in the forest. I followed her into the deep woods, but some kind of force pushed me down on the sticky mud of the forest. Then I heard the ear-piercing scream of a woman, and my eyes snapped open.
I was breathing hard and looked around the room, taking in my surroundings. I was in my room, not in any woods, but my body was trembling with shock.
"It was just a dream, Hailey. Just a dream!" I repeated the same words in my head hundreds of times to calm myself.
I pulled off the quilt from my body and got up from the bed. My throat felt dry, so I looked for a water bottle and found it sitting empty on my bedside table. I groaned in frustration because now, I had to go downstairs to fetch some water.
Opening my bedroom door, I made my way out of the room but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard weird noises. I followed the noise, and they took me to Chase's bedroom. I twisted the doorknob and entered his room to see him standing on the balcony dressed in shorts.
He didn't notice me, and I stared at his bare muscled back in astonishment. I had never seen a barely dressed man before if you don't count the time when I accidentally entered my cousin's room, and he was lying on his bed only in shorts, but he was eight years old. I guess he was more embarrassed after the incident.
My eyes followed his strong biceps then my train of thoughts got wrecked when he turned around and punched the black bag. He repeatedly threw punches on the black bag that was hanging in the middle of his balcony.
The expression on his face was murderous while he threw punch after punch. I noticed the rigidness and tightness of his muscles. My eyes moved from his arms to his hands and widened in horror.
Bloody hell! He was BLEEDING!
Without thinking twice, I rushed to his side and placed my hand on his biceps making him freeze under the touch of my extremely cold hands.
"Chase, please stop," I pleaded him, staring in his anger filled eyes.
His body relaxed, allowing me to assess the injury of his hand. I felt sick to my stomach when my eyes caught a large slit in the middle of his palm, bleeding. My hands started to shake, but I pretended to be calm. His right hand was heavily bruised, bloody, and swollen.
I didn't know where he got that slash from, but my question was answered when I saw a broken vase on the floor on the left side of his bed. I dragged him to the right side of his bed and forced him to sit. Then I went downstairs to search for the first aid kit, and when I found it in one of the cabinets, I ran back to his room.
I knelt down on the floor and took his hand in mine then cleaned it with some wet towels that I fetched from his washroom. Then I poured some alcohol on the cut. Chase hissed in pain. I felt the tears brimming in my own eyes but kept them from falling down. I applied the ointment on his cuts and wrapped the bandage around them. My horrible past taught me how to patch up cuts.
I looked up at his face. His face was free from any sort of emotions except pain. My heart was crying for him, and I wanted to do something to make him forgot all the pain. I hugged him, and he stiffened in my arms. I waited for him to feel some comfort, but his body was still rigid like a statue. I pulled away from him and got up to leave the room when he stopped me.
He hugged my waist, snuggling his face into my stomach and that was when I felt him shaking and crying. The tears I was holding back started to spill out. My hands went to his head, and I ran my fingers through his hair to calm him down.
I didn't know how long I stayed still and let him cry while holding my waist. He was like a little kid who didn't want to let go. After some time I found myself stepping away from him and pushing him on the bed.
When he was lying on the bed, I pulled the quilt on his body and sat beside him.
"Chase, go to sleep," I mumbled, making him close his eyes.
"Don't go."
I sat beside him and put the quilt on my body. He placed his head on my lap and closed his eyes. My hand was shaking, but I took the risk and started running my fingers through his soft hair. He said nothing to stop me, silently crying on my lap.
Later, he fell asleep while I stayed awake. When I was sure, he was in a deep sleep I removed his head from my lap and placed it on the pillow then I slipped out from the bed.
I was not sure why I did that, but I placed a soft kiss on his forehead.
"The pain will go away with time. You just need to be strong. And I know you are really strong." I mumbled.
Picking up the broken pieces of the vase, I dumped them in the trash can and cleaned the floor so he wouldn't get hurt because of the broken vase when he woke up in the morning.
I didn't see him as a wimp for crying in pain over his granddad's death. I felt like he trusted me enough to show me his honest emotions, and it was his way of giving me a chance to be with him when he was in such a fragile state.
I knew very well how it felt when someone you loved left you.
I was glad that he let himself broke down in front of me because keeping all these emotions pent-up in his heart would make him miserable, just like it did to me.