Alex wasn't very thrilled with the idea of her moving in. If anything, he made it very obvious he wasn't pleased, at all. Well, she wasn't feeling too great about it either. He'd just have to deal. She also hadn't forgotten about the 'vomiting blood' incident, coupled with his charade of not being able to walk. She was determined to get to the bottom of it and this seemed like the best opportunity to.
Angel though had actually seemed excited. She'd hastily pulled Sophie up the stairs into a spare room where she'd be staying leaving Alex staring after them in disbelief. The room was spacious, painted in white like every other part of the house she'd seen. There wasn't much in it, just a wardrobe, a double bed, a vanity table and a door Sophie guessed led to the bathroom and toilet. It was simple yet more than Sophie had ever seen growing up.
Sighing, she flopped down on the bed, her mind occupied by way too many thoughts. On one hand, her thoughts lingered on Raymond. He hadn't even been gone a day but she missed him already, he was her one friend here and she wondered how she'd survive a whole month without him. Her thoughts then gradually drifted to Alex. Her thoughts were all sorts of jumbled when it came to him. She didn't have any idea what to make of him. She'd been so certain he hated her then he'd gone and paid for her sister's surgery. He also had secrets that for some reason, she really wanted to find out. But a part of her was also scared she didn't want to know what they were.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly and snuggled into a pillow. So soft. She didn't know how the next few weeks would be like but she hoped she'd come out of it unscathed.
* * *
"This smells really nice," Angel said, grinning as she sat down for lunch.
Sophie smiled black at her. "It tastes just as good, try it."
Angel nodded eagerly as she did as she was told, smiling from ear to ear. Now that she'd dropped the whole 'tough girl' act, Sophie found herself drawn in the more by the girl. She was just too adorable.
Alex had been watching their exchange with a slightly surprised and thoughtful look, as if he couldn't quite believe that his daughter actually liked her.
Angel finished her food faster than the both of them then let out a huge belch earning a stern glare from her dad and an amused chuckle from Sophie.
"Sorry," she muttered sweetly, not looking sorry at all.
Alex just shook his head at her.
"Dad!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Let's play scrabble after lunch. It's been a long time since you played with me."
He didn't look up from his food as he replied shortly, "No."
"But daddy--" Angel whined.
"I said no, Angel." He didn't shout at her but tone he used left no room for argument.
The girl's mouth quivered, eyes filled with tears as she ran up the stairs.
"Angel..." Sophie called then glared at Alex who sighed but didn't say anything.
When it was obvious he wasn't going to do anything, she stood up and went up the stairs to Angel's room.
Knocking, she said, "I'm coming in, Angel."
Seeing as there was no response, she opened the door and entered. The sight of Angel curled up on the bed, sobbing into a pillow tugged at her heart.
"Oh, baby," she cooed as she cradled the girl in her arms. "Shhh. Don't cry, Angel."
"H-He hates me. Daddy h-h-hates me." Angel sobbed as she clung to Sophie.
"Shhh, don't say that. Daddy doesn't hate you."
"But he does. He used to play with me every time but now he doesn't even like talking to me anymore. He hates me." Her crying had died down somewhat and was now reduced to sniffles, her voice tinged with resignation.
Sophie tried to soothe her despite the tears brimming to her eyes at the girl's pain. "Your daddy doesn't hate you, Angel. There's nobody he loves more than you. He's just going through a rough time right now and he's stressed alright? Soon, everything will go back to how they were, okay?"
The girl sniffed but didn't say anything.
"I promise, Angel," Sophie affirmed, placing a light kiss on the girl's forehead.
Angel finally nodded, making Sophie let out a sigh of relief.
She held Angel tighter to herself as her sniffles eased and her breath began to even out.
Sophie felt her anger build up as she stared at the girl in her arms. How could Alex do this to her? How could he treat his own daughter in a way that would make her think her father didn't love her?
After Angel finally fell asleep, she laid her down gently on the bed as she quietly left the room and went in search of Alex. He wasn't in the living room or dining so she went to his study and without knocking, opened the door. He was there, reading a book as usual.
He looked annoyed at her intrusion. "I thought I made it clear I don't want you coming in here without me asking you in."
His annoyance didn't put a dent in her anger. "Why would you treat her like that?"
"Excuse me?"
"Angel," She clarified. "She's your daughter for God's sake."
He raised his brow at her in that demeaning manner that infuriated her further. "Oh, really? Thanks for that enlightening piece of information." Her fists clenched but before she could say anything, he continued, "I'm glad you know that so you should probably also know that my relationship with my daughter is none of your business."
Sophie took a deep breath and counted to ten. In a tight voice, she replied, "she thinks you hate her."
For a moment, she caught a trace of vulnerability as his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a slight 'o', his voice was less stern as he said more to himself than her. "Why would she think that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Your perfect parenting is probably a good place to start looking for answers," she replied sarcastically, her voice biting.
The anger radiating from him as he stood up and stalked towards her scared her as she involuntarily took a step back. She'd never seen him angry before. For a moment, she actually thought he was going to hit her but he just turned away instead, his jaw working furiously.
"Get out."
On any normal day, she would have turned and hightailed it out of there but she stood her ground, surprising even herself. "No. You have to listen to me first."
He turned back to her, his face schooled back to his usually stoic expression. His voice was as cool as ice as he said, "I've heard all you have to say."
"I'm not done," Sophie insisted. She had lost the fire and all she wanted now was for him to listen. "You made her cry, Alex. I don't know what it is you have going on but no matter what, your daughter does not have to suffer for it. She's still young and the littlest things mean the world to her at her age. I know you're not as cold and unyielding as you make yourself out to be and I know you love your daughter. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was judging you. It just really hurt me to see her like that. Have you ever thought that maybe the reason she made life so miserable for your former helps was because she wants your attention? I know I don't know that much about the workings of your family but please think about what I said."
She didn't wait for a reply before she turned and left the study.
* * *
The rest of the day went really quiet. Angel had refused to come out of her room for dinner and when Sophie had been about to take the food up to her, Alex without a word had taken it from her and took it upstairs himself. He also didn't come out till she was done and went up to her room. She could hear the pair of them laughing as she passed by Angel's room. That brought a smile to her face as she made herself comfortable on her bed. Her smile brightened even more when her phone rang and she picked it up seeing it was Raymond.
"Hello?"
"Sophie!" He called delightedly.
"Hey, Ray. What's up?"
"I'm good, not upset at all that you didn't call to ask me how my flight was!"
Sophie laughed, feeling giddy. "I'm sorry, Ray. I didn't know when you were going to land exactly so I was planning to wait a while before calling. How was your flight?"
"It was great. I'm in my hotel room already."
"That's nice," she replied.
His voice became softer as he whispered, "I miss you already, Sophie."
She smiled as a warm feeling spread through her. "I miss you too, Ray."
Sophie could feel his smile through the phone. "Good," he said.
"You must be tired," She said after a few seconds of silence. "I'll leave you so you can rest now. Goodnight, Ray."
"'Night, Sophie. Dream of me."
She chuckled as she ended the call. She doubted she'd dream of anything else.
Surprisingly though, she dreamt of a man in a wheelchair.
* * *
The next few days flew by in a blur and she hardly had any more altercations with Alex, except on Sunday when she'd prepared to go to church and he'd looked as if displeased but hadn't told her not to go. Angel had piped up that she wanted to go with her but one glare from her father had shut her up.
That morning, Sophie was in the kitchen cleaning up when the doorbell rang. She went to answer it and saw a man holding a box.
"Hi, ma'am. Delivery for Mr. Adams," the man said.
Sophie nodded, stretching her hands to take the box but the man retreated and shook his head.
"I'm sorry but I'd rather deliver this to him in person if you don't mind?" He said, smiling.
Sophie raised her brows as if to say 'really?' but then shrugged and said, "Fine, I'll go get him."
She shut the door and went upstairs to his room. He hadn't come down at all and had even eaten breakfast in his room. She knocked repeatedly but there was no reply. She thought maybe he was asleep and turned the knob, surprised when the door opened. He never left his door open, ever.
She stepped inside tentatively and looked around but didn't see him. She would have immediately withdrawn but seeing the pictures on the wall stopped her. For a house that didn't have any picture in it, there was an awful lot of them on Alex's bedroom wall. What surprised her the most was that they were all of a woman who even though Sophie had never seen before was obviously Angel's mum. The striking resemblance between Angel and the woman was too obvious to be ignored. She stepped towards one picture that contained Alex, the woman and baby Angel. They were both smiling and Alex looked genuinely happy, in a way she'd never seen him before. Without even knowing, she raised her hand and gently caressed the picture.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Sophie jumped in fright, turning to Alex who looked absolutely murderous.
"I...I..." her words were cut short as her eyes widened at the state he was in. He obviously just had his bath because droplets of water clung to his body which was covered only by a towel tied around his waist and he was holding another one to dry his hair.
It wasn't as if she'd never seen a half naked man before or one that was freshly out of the shower. Daniel, when they were in school then had the habit of showering in their room, complaining about his being too crowded. She'd also seen a lot more at the pool. But seeing Alex like that for some reason sent her heart into gallops. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him as the butterflies she'd thought had traveled with Raymond came back fluttering around mercilessly in her tummy. His outraged voice in conjunction with her reaction to him froze her in place, unable to think properly.
"I asked you what the hell you are doing in my room!"
That snapped her out of her trance as she saw that he'd stepped dangerously closer. He was standing right in front of her in all of his six feet two glory, his perfectly sculpted chest right in front of her face. She let out a squeal as she stepped back in alarm, almost tripping over herself in the process.
She averted her gaze, breathing in and out rapidly trying to calm her furiously beating heart.
"I swear, if you don't answer me right now--"
"Delivery!" She exclaimed.
"What?"
She hurried to explain, "You have a delivery and the delivery guy said he'll only deliver to you personally so I came to get you."
She didn't have to look at him to see he was still angry because his tone was snappy as he said, "I thought I made it clear I didn't want you coming into my room."
"Yes. I'm sorry, I'll leave now," She replied hastily and bolted out of the room and down the stairs as though in a sprint.
What in God's name was that?!
**********
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