Faury up there guys! Enjoy! 💓
It's him, the doctor from the other day...
Those were the words echoing through her mind, all through the five seconds that she stood there, looking eye to eye with them, even though they were separated by a considerable distance.
"Miss Coleman?"
"Ss—sir? I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor"
"Forgive her Mr. Rogers, apparently, some people still haven't mastered the simple art of knocking" he said sarcastically, infuriating Maldives even more.
"I didn't know the door was open" she said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, you don't happen to be visually impelled do you? Or perhaps long-sighted?" he suggested with another hint of sarcasm.
"I would never open the door without his permission" she defended.
"Of course you wouldn't"
"I—"
"That's enough Miss Coleman! Mr. Regan, I apologize for her rudeness, youngsters these days can be quite... ignorant you know"
"It's alright, I'll be on my way now"
"Thank you Mr. Regan, we look forward to seeing you on that day"
They exchanged pleasantries and bid each other farewell, all the while Maldives had been standing at the entrance of the door. Taking his leave, he approached the entrance where Maldives cleared her throat as she made way for him to pass through, trying as much as possible to avoid eye contact with him.
When he finally made his way through, she released a breath she didn't know she had held in all the while and took in the full smell of the cologne his absence left hanging in the air. It was strong and intoxicating, the kind that only came off of those expensive Armani suits the big men in all those charity events wore.
For some weird reason, she felt bad that he didn't say anything to her on his way out, even if it was one of his usual sarcastic remarks, but whatever!
"You may come in now Miss Coleman" she heard his voice say. Taking a deep breath, she walked in, "Sir, I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.... "
"That's alright Maldives, I know how loose my door can be these days. I'm also sorry for using those harsh words earlier on, it's just that man, his name is Mr. Regan. He and his family are owners of a multinational gold mining company, and he happens to be the commencement speaker at this year's upcoming graduation ceremony. Their contributions to this school and this country at large cannot be overemphasized and it took a lot of convincing to get him to take on the role for us this year, apparently he's not very good with being in the public's eye so I was just trying to make a good impression"
"That's fine sir, and I'm sorry for sounding the way I did to him, I only got so defensive with because my last encounter with him was not so... "
"You've met him before? You two did appear to have known each other, the way you spoke "
"No—I mean yes, I saw him, but it was just a--um quick encounter at a coffee shop"
"Hmm...I see...alright, so what brings you here? Have a seat"
"Sir I—err—I was hoping to"
"Hoping to do what?"
"A--a lot happened in my life these past few months and for that reason, I couldn't meet up with the deadline for the submission of my project, and so I was hoping... "
"What happened in your life these past few months?" he asked stoically.
"Um—I had a—a health issue, and it prevented me from being able to..."
"What was the health issue?"
"With all due respect sir...that's private"
"Fine. Did you submit a medical report? Or a letter at least, informing me of your intended-leave as a result of the said health issue?"
"I was going to sir, but it all happened so suddenly, I didn't have enough time"
"Hmm..." was all that came out his mouth as he sat in his chair, swirling back and forth within an angle of 45 degrees. Everyone in college who knew him knew he only got into that position when he was about to issue a death sentence to whomever those intimidating grey eyes of his pierced through at that moment.
"You know Maldives, at your age, you're at a stage where every single action you take, could be the defining factor in your future and as such, you shouldn't afford to make such silly mistakes"
"I know that sir, and for that I'm truly sorry"
"The world isn't as simple as 'sorry'. 'Sorry' doesnt fix everything, that's something you should learn. I've learned that for the young people of this generation, it's become sort of the ordeal to do things without having to feel sorry for them, but here's a piece of advice, coming from a man who's seen more than fifty decades; in life, instead of doing things without having to feel sorry, try doing things in a way that prevents you from needing to sorry in the end, there's a clear difference you know. What I'm trying to say is, as humans, we are prone to make mistakes, but we should always as much as we can to get it right the first time, cause in life, there aren't a lot of second chances, but that's that. Now, you do know you're one of my favorite students, and I know the hard work you've put into having your 4.7, so I wouldnt want all that going to waste. You have one more week to bring in the project, all-good, no errors, no room for second-chances, or third in your case and we'll see if we can pick it up from there"
"Oh my God! Thank you so much sir! I promise you I won't ever let you down again!"
"I hope not. Now get to working and go make me proud"
"Yes sir! Good bye sir!" she thanked him as she raced out his office, so overjoyed that finally, life had at least shown her some kindness in a long while.
She face-timed Brenda and Christian to tell them about the good news. They talked for a while on phone and when they were done, Maldives headed straight home to get back to her project.
~~~~~
"Son, please call us when you get this, your father and I are worried sick about you, we miss you, so does Faura. We called Faury and he said that he hadn't seen you since you moved over there. We're your family you know, and we want you to know we're always here for you!"
That was the second replay of the voice mail sent to him by his mother, on his home cell. For some reason, it had kept him pondering over all the incidents that had transpired in his life over the past few months and receiving that mail from his mother, only reopened old wounds, wounds he had been trying so hard to cover, and heal from.
In all honesty, he had never actually felt like he had had a lot of success with either, considering how mean he knew his relationship with the people in his new neighborhood was (evident from the fact that he had not managed to make even a single friend in the whole of NYC), which was why he was more than grateful that his childhood best friend, Nico, was coming over in a months' time on a business trip to NYC and he couldn't wait to have him over before he wrecked of boredom.
Although he was well aware that chose this path for himself, he still wasn't sure why he had made the decision to move from LA to NYC, in some sort of solitary confinement. He had hoped that he would be able to distract and drown himself in the busy-ness of New York City, working as a medical doctor, yet here he was, having his mail box as the only partner for small talk, even though most of the talk was one-sided.
Of course he had his brother in New York too, but he didn't exactly know how he was going to react to seeing him, after he had missed the opening of his club Fringe or Fridge? Goddamn it Fai! You don't even know the name of your brothers new nightclub! That's how messed up you are!
Who could blame him? After the incident with Hailey, it felt like his life had lost every sense of meaning. It was why he chose to move here, to see if he could start afresh, new life, new people, new career, yet, none of it seemed to be working. He felt himself sinking deeper into the very dark phase he had been trying so hard to escape from. Yes, his bachelor pad was fairly sophisticated, with white walls and glass doors that often did a wonderful job of elevating his mood, but this particular day, they just weren't doing it for him.
He missed his family. As hard as that was to admit to himself, it was the simple truth. It wasn't like they lived in the same home, but they weren't always hours of kilometers away from him. He missed his mum Martha, and how she always showed up at his office to babysit him about being careless with his inhalers. He missed going to the court with his dad and brother to watch the LA Lakers, and Faura? He missed how she always found a way to bribe him into getting her whatever she wanted.
Most of all, he missed their monthly Saturday Family dinners, when everyone got together, regardless what part of the world they were at. It was sort of their mother's way to keep the family intact, no matter what they were doing, in whatever part of the world that they might have been, you never miss the Sunday Family Dinner! His mother would say, but he had broken the rules. He had missed the three previous ones, and he didnt plan to end the streak anytime soon.
REGAL Corp, the family's gold mining company, wasn't exactly an easy place to leave too. He also missed it there. Sure, it was a very time-consuming and energy-derailing because of the stiff competition in the gold-mining industry, but he loved it there. He worked there as the Chief Financial Officer, growing under the wings of his father who was CEO and chairman of the board. It was their family's legacy.
Even though he had attended Med school and studied medicine as a crazy act of rebellion towards his father who loved to control his life and that of his siblings', he couldnt deny the fact that life as a business management student was much easier than one as a med student, and the career afterwards.
It wasn't that he didn't exactly like life as a medical doctor, he always enjoyed helping people in any way he could, but he couldn't deny that the profession was quite a boring one. He missed the usual rush he felt, each time he was on his way to sealing a new business deal. He missed seating in front of the computers all day, trying to find new solutions to every financial obstacle he encountered. Not to mention the fact that it paid a whole lot more, but money wasn't an issue, he had enough of it. He had more than enough of it. So much that he could sponsor five people on a whole shopping spree, without his bank account flinching.
Somehow, his father had found a way to control his life like he always did, informing the Vice Chancellor of NYU of his presence in New York, who in turn requested him to be the commencement speaker for their upcoming graduation ceremony. He was going to decline the offer, but for Prof. Rogers, who happened to be the father of Nico and had somehow found a way to convince him to agree to it.
Apparently, his father offered to place two of the most outstanding students, who studied in the Engineering and Surveying departments, on scholarship, as well as secure jobs for them, for as long as was possible. He knew it was his strategy to create more awareness, as their factory over there in New York was soon to be completed and ready for operation.
Although Prof. Rogers was his best friend's father, there was still so much about him that he didnt know. Partly because his very face was somewhat always expressionless, but mostly because he never was part of Nico's life. He was an estranged father who only until very recently, started building a relationship with Nico. He had contacted him, not only to talk about the offer to make him the commencement speaker, but to talk about his son. They had been had been having a rather sensitive conversation, which had already begun to make him extremely uncomfortable when that girl walked in.
That girl, the same one from the hospital, who had the face of an angel, but was so sure her heart was of the devil's . He didn't know her name, nor did he ever want to. For what was worth, he didn't think he wanted to set his eyes on her ever again. He knew it was going against his professional ethics, hating on a patient for deciding to undergo whatever medical procedure they wanted it, but he just couldn't bring himself to look past it. He couldnt, no matter how hard he tried, each time he saw her, she reminded him of his own pain, the pain he tried to bury everyday but couldn't. But God how beautiful her eyes were! By far one of the most beautiful I've ever seen!
He thought about how she had held him captive with them when she walked in unannounced. For a moment, his pain didn't matter. It felt numb. He felt numb. It seemed as if taking a spiral swim inside her eyeballs would be the best feeling in the world, but no, I'm too sure the color of her eyes and that of her heart are total opposites! BLACK, that's the color of her heart! It could only be black for that's the color of anyone, who had the heart to hurt an unborn innocent baby.
Deciding he was not willing to spend the remaining hours of the day, thinking about someone who he had already carved out in his mind to be the devil herself, he picked up his phone and dialed the number of the one person who he was sure already had the devil's wrath pent up for him.
Dialling...
"Hey Faur--"
"Oh bloody hell don't you dare!..." He caught him off before he could even complete his statement.
"Faury, let me expla—"
"Explain shit! Hell, I don't even know why the fuck I'm talking to you right now!" he roared.
"Because I'm your brother and you will fucking listen to me!" Fai shot back at him.
"Alright! Go on, explain yourself, explain your fucking self! "
Sighs "Listen I know you're mad at me for missing the opening of Fridge"
"Wait what? Fridge?! Did you mean FERGE? Jesus fucking Christ, you don't even know the name of my club! My own brother, doesn't know the name of my club, just wonderful!
"Listen I'm sorry, okay? I know I haven't exactly been the best brother ever since we got here, but..."
"Pfft, like you ever have been the best brother" Faury mumbled beneath his breath.
"Hey! Who fixes and cleans up your mess each time you make one?" Fai critiqued.
"Whatever" he said reluctantly.
"Yeah, that's right, and who snuck you into the club all the time when you were barely 19?"
"Alright alright....alright fine! You were a good brother, but that was while we were in LA. It's like ever since we got here, we lost every DNA resemblance. You barely call, barely pick my calls, and all the time I go over to your apartment to check up on you, you're never there!"
"I know, and I'm sorry, sighs that's exactly why I called...to invite you over"
"You didn't go to work today?"
"No, I kind of took the day off"
"Hmm, alright, but why should I even come? Give me 'one' good reason why I should come over"
"Because I'm your elder brother, and I'm asking you to" he rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. Always with the drama smh...
"Elder my ass! You are not playing that card with me"
"I am five years older than you Faury, that's facts" he stated.
"The hell you are! It's four years eight months Fai, not five years!"
"Approximately five, now are you coming or not?" he rubbed his temples, feeling drained by the ever-familiar banter of his brother.
"Fine! Make lunch available!"
"W—what?"
"Home-made meal, I'm on my way!"
"Faury! I am not—"
(Call ended)
Fucking urrrgh! Fai exclaimed as Faury cut him off before he could even complete his statement.
He went to his kitchen to see if there were enough groceries to put together a decent meal , but found none. Siblings! He muttered to himself as he grabbed his wallet and car keys to head out to the grocery store.
~~~~~
"Damn man, you should really give mum cooking lessons" Faury said as he licked his fingers over the Italian aracini con ragù Fai had prepared for them.
"Yeah and you should pray she never hears that from your mouth"
"Oh come on, you think she doesnt' know her cooking skills are malfunctional? Name one time she ever made aracini this good" Faury said through muffled mouth.
"Well, her cooking...isn't...that bad" Fai furrowed, as he tried recollecting the number of times their mother ever made a decent meal.
"Uh-huh, tell that to yourself. Have you seen Faura's face each time mum announces she's the one making the meal for the day? Pure perfection!" he joked.
"Yeah...mum does suck at cooking" Fai nodded as if just realizing a fact.
"No, I'm telling you, if you ever decide to change a career for the third time, you should do cooking next" he threw sarcastically.
"And I hope you choke on that sauce" he threw back as Faury ignored his remark as if he hadnt just teased him.
"Praise God we do not live together, else I'd be a fucking bouncing castle by now...ooof bye bye modeling career" he said rhythmically, as he rubbed his now- bloated belly.
"Speaking of that, what's going to happen now that you're in New York? To your modeling career?"
"My agency called yesterday, said I already got a couple offers here in NYC, but I asked them to hold on on that for now, at least for the next one month. I want to be able to concentrate on FERGE, at least till I get it running properly and probably find someone to hand it over to, to manage for me"
"Well how's it doing so far?"
"It's good, but you know we're sort of on this 'free margaritas for the first twenty people' kind of program, it'll go on for the next two weeks, so we've got people rushing in like crazy now, but I want to see how we fare, when the program is done...I'm kind of scared of that phase you know"
"Don't worry, if it's good quality, people will come back, I'm sure of it. Maybe not as much as when the program was still on, but I'm sure you guys will be fine. Besides, I trust your capabilities, you've always known your way around a club" he winked, referring to how Faury used to sneak into clubs, right from the age of seventeen.
"Yeah, I hope so. Anyway, enough about me, how about you? How's life as a medical doctor?" he asked, Fai sighed. "One word; Boring"
"Seriously?! What exactly were you expecting? Booze and trips?" he asked sarcastically.
"Of course not. It's just, sitting down all day, hearing different people talk about the different issues bothering them, dealing with the smell of disinfectants all day, wearing nose masks, sweating it out in the theatre, not so fun. You know, you would think all that would help me escape from my problems, but all they really do is just mentally derail me, especially when it comes to dealing with women who come to seek abortion, it's like...I wish I could strangle them!"
"Woah dude! Do not head over there, I'm telling you, besides, you're a medical doctor, isn't there like a moral ethic in your profession that governs you guys against judging people, especially your patients?"
"Yes you're right. I know that me judging them because of whatever their choices are, is wrong, but you need to understand, this is hard for me, you know my past"
"Yes I do, but you also need to understand that you can't go round punishing others just because..."
"That's enough Faury, you made your point, let's not talk about it anymore"
"Hmm... alright then, as you wish" he surrendered and resumed eating his food.
"Did you know that dad made the NYU contact me and ask me to be their commencement speaker at their upcoming graduation ceremony?"
"Really? I didn't know that. You do know that's his way of getting you back into REGAL Corp. right?"
"Yeah, I know"
"So, what was your response?
I was going to decline them when Nicos father, Mr. Rogers, contacted me and I couldn't turn him down"
"Oh wow, never knew he worked here in NYC. You know Rita is also graduating this year?"
"Rita your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, so we could go there together"
"Sure we could"
"Also, I plan on proposing on that day"
"Are you fucking serious?!"
"Yeah, why not? We've been together for almost two years and it feels right"
"Well then, congrats to you two!"
"Thanks, but you're the first person I'll be telling this to, I haven't even gotten a ring yet, so no spilling!"
"Don't worry, my lips are as sealed as mum's jewelry box"
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