“Hello Angel? You there?” Damn it I’m not in the mood to talk to him right now. Trying my best to hide my sniffling, I wipe my tears and keep my voice from wobbling.
“Hey Channing. What’s up? Did I leave something at your place?”
“No, well yes you did but that’s nothing. My home is your home. I was calling because you never let my know if you made it home safe. I was worried.” He chose now of all times to say me casa es su casa. I wish, hell then maybe packing wouldn’t be so dreadful right now. Unable to hold back I let out a sob and sniffle. “Angel?.. are you okay? What's wrong? You sound like your crying baby.” Ugh much for trying to hide my dilemma.
“No, I’m fine. I’m sorry for not letting you know I made it home. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“No, forget that. Tell me what’s the matter? Don’t make me come over there. I can tell when you’ve been crying. Talk to me…” I’ve always been bad at hiding my emotions. I hate this. I’m all over the place.
“It’s really nothing for you to concern yourself with. I’m okay. I-”
“Angel Giles tell me what’s wrong. NOW!” The base in his voice had me pulling the phone away from my ear and cringing. So deep.
“I see that’s one thing that hasn’t changed about you. Ever so demanding. If you really must know, today I got some bad news and it’s put me in a bind I can’t afford to be in.”
“Like what?” So, fucking nosy. I blow out a deep breath and slump back.
“Today when I got back I found I’m getting evicted.”
“WHAT? Evicted how? Am I not paying you enough?” I shake my head even though he obviously can’t see me through the phone.
“No, it’s deeper than that. I put the financial responsibility on myself to help my little brother get through high school. He’s an exceptionally bright kid and he wants to be an architect. Seeing how all through elementary and middle school he had straight A’s and there was no challenge for him academically, we were at a loss until a private school reached out interested in him attending. They do offer scholarships but that only covers his classes. It’s mandatory for all students to stay on campus. My mom works and could probably scrape by but I don’t want her to be stressing about that, so I cover his cost of living.”
Expressing my thoughts and feelings to Channing is like a breath of fresh air that I never knew I needed. Being able to say how much of a burden this is to me without making my mom or brother feel bad is a huge weight off my shoulders to the point I can’t hold back the tears I so desperately have been hold back for a while now.
“Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that things have been so tough on you.”
“No, it’s nothing for you to apologize about. It’s just this whole situation sucks and now that I’ve been late consecutively on my rent and they’ve been bought out, they put my big black ass out on the curb. I have nowhere to go. Even with the salary you’re paying me I can’t afford to live here AND support my brother, and before you say it no, I cannot leave my brother hanging, so-”
“Angel stop right there. First, I’m offended you’d think I’d tell you to leave your brother hanging, when you clearly love him enough to go through all of this for him. Secondly, as much as I want you to know the real me, I doubt you do. Third, I’m on my way so pack as much as you can. You’re moving in with me.” At hearing that my babbling stopped, and I sit up confused.
“Wait…what?”
“You heard me. I’m coming to get you. You’re moving in with me.” I shake my head hard as if he could see me.
“That’s ridiculous. I'm not moving in with you.”
“Yeah, you are. There’s no way I’ll leave you without a place to sleep nor stay. I meant it when I told you I want you and give a damn about you. So, do as I say because you’re not going to win this one. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“No I’m-” before I could finish I hear my phone click and pull it away from my ear to see he hung up. The only thing I can do is stare at my phone screen in shock. He’s not serious… is he?
^*^
“So this is where you’ll put your clothes. When I had this house built, I made the “her” closet extra luxurious. Do you like it?” I could only nod barely comprehending what is happening now. “Good, you have no idea how happy that makes me. I’ll have the movers get your things situated and don’t worry about anything I’ll make sure this closet is full to the brim with apparel that suits your taste. Now on to the room. Obviously, you'll sleep with me since we’re a couple, so there’s no need for you to have your own room like you asked about in the car. You can have whichever side of the bed you want Angel.
Oh yeah and finally the code to the doors are 98543 and the alarm code is 783216. If those are too hard for you to remember please feel free to let me know and I’ll change them so something more suitable to you. Since the movers won’t be here until Monday shall we relax and have some dinner? I was just about to start cooking when I called you.”
Again, I just nod in a daze as Channing ushers me to the bed and sets me down, taking off my shoes. Soon I’m laid up in his… our bed with a remote in one hand and a decaf cappuccino in the other. I’m tucked in so snuggly with a heating pad on my feet as I wonder if I’m some luxury hotel resort and not ‘home’.
“You sit there and relax Angel I’ll bring dinner right up to you. I’m sure today was tiring enough for you. I don’t want you to lift a finger other than to call me if you need something.” I part my lips to protest but he smothers that with a searing hot kiss. “Welcome home Angel.” Before I can say anything, he hurriedly exits the room. What in the hell just happened?
Priceless
Channing
“Welcome home Angel.” Before she could say anything, I run out of the room and skip in the hallway. She’s here! I did it! I got my wife to stay with me. This is a dream come true!
In the kitchen I put on the truffle lobster and mac and cheese. It’ll only take about and hour to make which is more than I wanted to do tonight but I have to do something special for our union tonight.
I whistle while cooking, feeling the happiest I’ve felt in my whole life. As a kid who grew up with nothing, I never thought it would be possible for me to achieve this type of happiness. I owe it all to my cousins Teagan and Zane. Without them Landen and I would still be living in poverty with our father.
When those two showed up in the middle of the night like beasts, they took one look at us and told us that we will never live like that again. Thankfully they kept their promise gave us a place to stay with a guardian and put us through private school and properly educated us. At times it was lonely because they couldn’t allow us to stay with them because of some unspoken rule.
They asked us about what we wanted to do with our lives and asked us for business plans. After helping us tweak those plans for maximum growth they and their good friend Domitilio, who we were not permitted to meet, put down one hundred percent of the money for our company. They gave us full control but still helped us manage it if we ran into a stump. Even more they never asked for one red cent.