Maid For Him

Chapter 54

Reese***

I stayed downstairs to let the caterers out when they were all done cleaning up. In all honestly, I was happy for the excuse to stay down here for a while. Rickel needed some time to cool off and I needed to think of a way to approach him.

When the catering team left, I found everything to occupy my time so I didn't have to go upstairs yet.

I decided to take a shower first before approaching Rickel. I also pulled on my sneakers just in case he chases me out of the house after I've told him all I did.

I knocked on the door. "Rickel? Can I come in? It's Reese."

He snickered. "You don't have to say your name. I know your voice Reese. Come in."

His voice sounded like a weak, broken man, the total opposite of who I saw downstairs a few hours ago.

I walked gingerly toward Rickel. He was sitting at the edge of the bed with his shoulders slouched forward. I took the ottoman and sat directly in front of him.

"Guess what? Tonight was not a total waste." I started.

"Really? How come?" He didn't sound angry, just drained.

"Your mother was nice to me for the whole evening. Isn't that great? Maybe she was mistaking me for someone else."

I chuckled a little but Rickel just shook his head and remained morbid.

I pressed my lips together in a thin straight line. I sighed. "Do you want to talk about it? Can I help in any way?"

Rickel stroked my hair with a forlorn look in his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this Babe. If I had known my mother invited him, I could have better prepared myself mentally."

He kissed me softly and I was almost sure I felt his hurt through the kiss. I wanted to know but I didn't want to ask why he hated his father so much.

"I don't even know if I should tell you the story." He shook his head and sighed heavily.

I remained quiet and waited for him to continue on his own time.

"A couple years ago, I had a girlfriend named Thelma which I loved dearly. I thought she was going to be the one...."

A pang of jealousy hit me and I bit my lip. "What happened to her?"

"My dad happened." He said and went silent again.

His dad disapproved of his girlfriend? Probably it's just like how his mom disapproved of me when she first met me.

"On the day I was going to surprise Thelma for her birthday, I planned it perfectly. I had pretended to forget her birthday all morning just so she would be extra surprised when I told her about our weekend trip to Paris."

He ran his hand through his hair and when he spoke again his voice cracked a little. "When I came upstairs, Thelma was naked, riding a guy. That guy turned out to be my very own father. It turns out they were having an affair behind my back for weeks." His shoulders shook as he cried. This must have hurt him so much.

He sniffled. "And you know what hurts the most? My father just told me the reason why he's divorcing my mother is because he wants to get married to Thelma. He says they are madly in love."

He made me start crying along with him. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that."

I stood up and hugged him and he cried into my breasts. "My mother stood by him after he cheated. She forgave him and after all this time he was still seeing Thelma behind her back. What kind of sick person does that? Huh?"

"Shhh.....it's ok." I rubbed his head until his crying subsided.

Guilt was killing me. It was hard to see someone as tough as Rickel break down and cry. It made me second guess if I should tell him now about moving out or even tell him about Amir.

When I saw the pain in his eyes, I decided against it. Maybe I'll just wait a day or two until this thing with his father blows over.

"Aggg.....You must think I'm weak."

"No. You're not weak." I reassured him. "You've just been through a lot that's all."

He tittered. "So all woman want cry babies for men?"

"Well, when you put it like that it just sounds so awful."

Rickel shook his head. "Reese, I promise you I'm not a cry baby."

"I believe you."

"No seriously." The desperate expression on his face made me smile. "Thank you for talking to me and being here for me. A lot of women I know would have bolted the first time I shouted at them but not you. Thank you."

He kissed my lips softly. "I'm going to go take a shower."

I kicked off my sneakers and threw myself into the bed when I heard the shower running. I have screwed up so badly. I had no idea what to do right now. I already have the least for the apartment and I already bought furniture and appliances. And Amir...... I can't just forget about him and make him disappear. Life doesn't work like that.

"Are.....you Ok babe?"

Rickel's voice startled me and I jumped a little. "Yea I'm ok. I'm just going to go for a little run to clear my head."

"Oh my Gosh. I'm so sorry for dumping all my problems on you. I didn't know it would affect you like this."

I smiled. "Don't worry. This has nothing to do with you."

"Ouch."

"Rickel come on. You know what I mean."

"Yea I know but there's no way you're going running this late.....unless I'm coming with you."

"Ugh!" I banged my head on the pillow. "Ok dad. I won't go running."

He turned the tv on. "So can we have a movie night instead?"

"Sure." I agreed and he turned the lights off and got into bed with me.

He flipped through Netflix and decided we should watch Instant Family.

Halfway through the movie, he paused it. "Can I ask you a question and you promise not to feel weird?"

"Uhm sure."

"Have you ever thought about having kids?"

That was a weird question. "Well yes I have. Why? Do you want to have kids?"

He sighed, pulled up his knees to his chest and hugged them. "I've always wanted to have kids. They are so adorable. When I told Thelma about it, she shut me down and gave me tons of reasons why we shouldn't have kids."

I smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Rickel, I promise we'll have kids together."