Unfortunate Agreement [Nortnaib]

Chapter 1

There were three important things in Norton Campbell's life. First, money. How could a person live without it after all ? Money was everything and opened many doors. According to him, you could get anything with it, so he worked his way up from job to job, from bricklayer on the construction site to pizza delivery boy. He wasn't rich but he wasn't poor either.

The second was his son. A young woman he had spent the night with came to his doorstep one day with an infant in her arms, saying it was his son. She simply left him there and gave him a wad of cash to take care of the child. He didn't really know if he was the father, but he decided to keep him anyway. It wasn't the boy's fault and he wasn't so cruel as to get rid of him at the orphanage. He may not have been the best father figure ever and was lacking in many areas but he still did his best to give all the love his son, whom he had named Aesop, needed by also spoiling him from time to time.

And the last thing was nothing but pleasure. Everything would be boring without distractions after all. This last one could be manifested in various forms although it was most of the time material or carnal for the young man. However, who would have thought that it would put him in a rather embarrassing situation...

He was currently on the bed of a hotel room and obviously had no clothes on. He could feel the breathing of another person next to him but didn't have the courage to turn around and look at them. What had happened the night before and how had it come to this ? All he could remember was that he was having dinner with some of his co-workers and that he drank a little too much. His memory was fuzzy after that.

"Aesop is going to lecture me again for not coming home..." he thought.

Maybe it was the fact of growing up with only one parent, but his son was strangely mature despite being only seven years old. He was already able to take care of himself and sometimes you would wonder who the adult was when you saw them interacting together. Aesop was truly a perfect example unlike his father, he was resourceful and got perfect grades in school. The only thing that would worry Norton was that he didn't seem to have many friends because of his reserved nature.

He still remembered the first time he went to elementary school with him and the brat wouldn't stop crying while holding his leg because he didn't want to meet the other kids... Anyway, that was enough ruminating. He quietly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, picking up his clothes as he went. Once dressed, he left the hotel and looked at the time on his phone.

It was still early and fortunately for him, he didn't have to work today and his son didn't have classes either since it was the weekend. When he returned home, he was met with the young boy's remarks about his irresponsible behavior and the fact that fortunately the old lady next door had picked him up from school. Norton wasn't sure what to do except apologize and say it won't happen again. Well, at least he hoped so. 

After half an hour they both had lunch as usual. Norton was a little ashamed of the fact that he was letting a seven-year-old do the cooking, but Aesop was much better at housework than he was, and he also insisted on helping out, so he didn't really have a say in the matter. They then spent the rest of the day doing nothing or watching TV. It was a perfectly normal day if you forget what happened this morning.

But all good things must come to an end, and this one was represented by the sound of the doorbell. Norton got up from the couch to see who was at the door. There was a young man, shorter and thinner than him, with a stern and anxious expression. He was a brown-haired man with medium-length hair hidden by a sleeveless green hooded jacket and wore a long-sleeved black top underneath.

"Hm, can I help you with something ?" asked Norton.

The young man frowned even more than he already did at Norton's question. Why was he showing such a look ? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what ? The two men stood there in silence for a long minute. Then, all of a sudden, the mysterious man bowed to him.

"I will take responsibility for my actions last night!" he shouted.

"Sorry, what-"

"Dad ? Who is it ?"

They both turned at the soft voice coming from the back. Aesop was standing in the doorway just behind Norton. The boy was so quiet that neither of them heard him coming. The stranger seemed a little shocked when he saw the child but still remained firmly bowed.

"I'll take care of the child too-"

"One second moth. Let's go talk inside instead because you'll alert the whole neighborhood by screaming like that."

"O-oh. Okay..."

He eventually got up and followed Norton inside. The two sat down at the table that was in the living room, a coffee cup in front of each of them. Right now, Norton was trying to figure out what was going on. Responsibilities ? Night ? He knew he was completely drunk last night, but he slept with a man ? Not that he minded, but he wondered how he knew where he lived and why he was so intent on taking care of both him and his son.