Sophie's hand was poised to ring the doorbell at the Adams' residence but her hands froze mid air.
It really couldn't be what she was thinking, right? There was no way it could be...
The door swung open suddenly and she came face to face with Angel who rolled her eyes at her.
"You've been standing there for ages already. Are you coming in or not?"
How did she even know she was outside? Frowning, Sophie stepped in. "Where's your dad?"
Angel shrugged as she shut the door and went back to watching TV, ignoring her.
Sophie sighed, walked over to his study and knocked.
"Yes?" His voice called from inside.
"It's Sophie," she called back.
"What are you doing here? Raymond told me you weren't coming in today."
"Yes, I wasn't but I have something to discuss with you. Can I come in?"
He took a moment before answering, "fine."
Sophie hesitantly turned the doorknob, nervous for some reason. There was only one chair but he had some books on it and he didn't make any attempt at removing them, neither did he invite her to sit so she was left standing in front of him, wriggling her hands. She had no idea how to bring the matter up.
He raised his brows at her. "You said you had something to talk to me about?"
"Yes, I...I was just wondering--"
"Is this about your sister's surgery?" he asked, cutting her off.
"It really was you?!"
"Yes, I'm the one that offered to fly your sister abroad."
Sophie stared at him, dumbfounded. Him?
"You? But why would you... How did you even know about her?"
"I overheard your discussion with Raymond."
"You were eavesdropping on us?" she asked, mildly offended.
"As if." He didn't offer any other explanation after that leading her to suspect he'd really been spying on them.
She didn't even bother asking how he'd found the hospital her sister was at. "Why would you want to help me? You don't even like me."
He shrugged. "I'd have done the same for anyone else. It wasn't personal, Sophia."
Sophia. No one really called her that. She liked the sound of her full name on his lips. Wait, what?
Sophie mentally chastised herself, she must be developing mental illness or something.
"Would you have though?" she muttered.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know, alright?" She said, her hands rising and falling in frustration. "I just don't believe you'll do so much for me without wanting anything in return."
"Have you been deceived your whole life?" He asked, rubbing his hands on his face. "Look, I'm doing this because I'm in a position where I can help you. Nothing more, nothing less. If you're uncomfortable with it, then..." He let his words trail off.
She didn't really believe he didn't have an ulterior motive but on the other hand, he was offering her the best medical attention her sister could possibly get. How could she say no to that?
"Thank you," she whispered so low she was surprised he heard.
He nodded.
"I'll be sure to pay you back."
He raised his brows at her but didn't say anything else. She turned around and walked out of the study, colliding with Raymond who was about going in. He steadied her with his hands. She was so close to him she could smell his cologne. She found herself inhaling, he smelled really nice.
She snapped out if it as she shrugged herself out of his arms, she really must be going nuts.
"Sophie," he said.
"Hi," she replied, blushing slightly. "I was just here to see your brother."
He nodded, "About your sister's surgery?"
"You knew about it too?" she asked, surprised.
He shook his head. "Not until today. I heard from Lota, the Secretary at the office today."
"Oh. Yeah, well..." Sophie blew out a breath.
"You don't have to worry, Alex might not seem like the nicest person but I assure you he'll make sure your sister gets the best possible care. I'll also make sure of that, alright?"
"Alright. Thank you." she said, smiling.
* * *
When Sophie got home, she met Ama and Daniel watching a movie on her laptop, munching on popcorn.
"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" Sophie said, extending her hand to Daniel, who tapped her hand with his in a high five.
"What's up, doll?" He greeted her.
"I'm dandy. You didn't tell me you were coming, makes me wonder if I'm interrupting anything here," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, come on. It was a spur of the moment decision. I was bored and Ama here was available."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Sophie teased. "I'll pretend I believe that." She winked at Ama who was glaring at her.
"Plus, I heard about your sister. How are you holding up?"
"About that..." Sophie proceeded to tell them everything that had happened.
"Wow!" Ama exclaimed. "Have you told your mum?"
Sophie nodded. "Apparently the doctor called her. She called me all ecstatic. She started praying so much when I told her the man who was helping us was my boss. What no one told me was that they're preparing to fly both my mum and Hope out of the country so they would be together."
"Wait, I don't understand. Why is he doing all this for you?" Ama asked incredulously.
"Exactly my question!" Sophie exclaimed.
Daniel scoffed, "Chill out, girls. He might just want to help you."
Ama turned to him, "Wait. You know these guys, right? Do you think--"
"Whoa whoa, hold on there," He cut her words short. "I don't know them. I told you Raymond's a friend of a friend."
"Yes, but you're a guy now. Guys chilling together and all of that...you know?" Ama argued.
He pretended to think about it a moment.
"No, I don't know," he replied.
"Point is..." Sophie said, interrupting their banter. "My sister's flying abroad for the surgery. Ulterior motive or not, that's what really matters. It seems surreal to me honestly, like I can't believe this is happening."
Ama hugged her friend. "I'm happy for you, love. You deserve this."
Sophie hugged her back. "Thanks, babe."
Ama pulled back. Her eyes lit up and she held a finger up excitedly, "Wait a minute, I think I got it. What if he's doing this so you can be indebted to him then you'd not be able to reveal his secret?"
Daniel groaned, shaking his head at her.
"What?! You have to admit it makes sense!"
Sophie was skeptical about that idea. "Yeah but that's too much money to be spending for something so trivial, don't you think?"
Ama cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Yeah, you have a point there..." She shrugged it off. "You know what? Whatever but babe, wait oh... When you tell the man say you go repay am, abeg how you wan take do dah one? (how do you intend to do that?)"
Even Daniel perked up at that, curious about her answer.
"Uh...I kinda just said that in the, you know...heat of the moment?"
Ama face palmed on behalf of her friend. "You're an idiot."
"Hey!" Sophie took a pillow and chucked it at her. Ama returned the gesture by throwing the pillow back at her. They continued back and forth, throwing and dodging pillows. Daniel snorted at their childishness. That got their attention though as they shared a look then turned to throw pillows at him instead.
"Hey!!!"
* * *
The saying that money can do anything might not be a hundred percent true but it was definitely a close ninety. In the space of two weeks, Hope and her mum had already been flown abroad, they'd found a compatible donor almost immediately and her sister had undergone surgery. Sophie didn't even want to think about how much money they must have spent.
Hope was currently recuperating but from the news she'd been getting, Sophie had every reason to believe her sister was really doing well.
Before they'd left, her mum had insisted on seeing the man who had helped them to thank him in person. Alex had refused to meet so her mum had met Raymond instead. They kept in touch through phone and video calls and Sophie could see the light was back in her mum's face and the mirth in her voice had returned. She was really happy for her. After all she had been through, her mum deserved to smile again and Sophie was determined to work very hard so her mum never had to worry about either of them anymore.
She'd already spent over a month working for the Adams' and had been very surprised when at the end of the month, Raymond had made a transfer of two hundred and fifty thousand to her account. After everything they'd done for her, she definitely had not been expecting anything for the duration of the three months she had to work for them.
When she'd told Raymond that much, he'd shrugged it off telling her she was being ridiculous. She'd insisted and he had reminded her that they'd still be needing the money because her sister would have to live on drugs for the rest of her life.
She'd relented when she'd realized he wasn't going to renege on his stand. When she'd brought it up with Alex, he had told her that he wasn't her direct employer and he had no part in the payment of her salary.
If there was anything Alex wanted in return for helping her family, he hadn't mentioned it yet. In fact, he seemed uncomfortable whenever she brought up the issue or tried to thank him again. He had told her that if she really was grateful, she shouldn't speak to him about it anymore. Occasionally though, she told him about the progress of her sister and he'd just nod and mutter something along the lines of 'That's good'. After a while, Sophie had began to believe that he really didn't want anything from her.
Sophie wasn't entirely comfortable with all they were doing for her. She wasn't used to freeloading or accepting handouts from people but her family meant the world to her and she'd do anything for them. Though she had lingering doubts in her mind and a voice in the head kept telling her nothing in life was free and sooner or later, she'd have to pay back all she's been giving with interest, she decided to ignore it. She'd be Cinderella as long as she could and when midnight came, she'd go back to her reality.
**********
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