Life Without You

Chapter 31 - Angel gets Married

Angel: Proud of your progress, bro. You'll be in time for my wedding :)

Leon blew his cheeks at the WhatsApp text his brother sent him.

Angel had announced the exciting news of his engagement with his girlfriend, Ivy Sanders to his family during Thanksgiving last year. Leon was surprised at the quick engagement from such a whirlwind romance. Yet, he agreed that Angel had chosen someone who really complemented him in more ways than his previous girlfriends combined.

Leon was to be Angel's best man at his wedding, which would be held in Vancouver where his brother decided to settle permanently with Ivy.

Angel even sent him a goofy picture of the duo making funny faces with props of giant, cartoonish glasses and carrying a black placard with their wedding date written in chalk. 

Lucky Angel. Leon was happy for him.

Doctors at the rehab gave Leon the go-ahead to temporarily leave the rehab and they deemed him well enough to take small dosages of naltrexone, an alcohol suppressant. He would have to return to rehab to complete the remaining course of his 12-step treatment after Angel's wedding.

Being out of rehab for the first time felt like a breath of fresh air.

Scanning past rows of trees and farm meadows that passed in a flash as Rico drove felt like a rocket trip to freedom. Rico drove him, Ryan and Evan directly to the airport at the luxury private jet terminal where Leon's parents were waiting. It was so nice to fly in the skies once more because freedom's awesome! 

Already, Leon was toying with the idea of not returning to rehab.

While on the plane, he caught a glimpse of the cover of US Weekly magazine on a table not far from him. That cover looked like there was a familiar face on it. Leon got up and took a good look at the cover. It showed an attractive picture of Ariel in a beige blazer and a subset grainy picture of her and Hiroshi's infamous kiss. The yellow headlines screamed, "Ariel Lee Finds True Love"

Immediately, Leon went ballistic.

"Who brought this offending stuff here? WHO?!" Leon held up the offensive magazine.

Evan got up from his seat and tried to calm him down, but Leon could not be tamed.

"What's going on, darling?" asked Mrs Waltz as she stepped out of the lavatory upon hearing the commotion.

"Who brought this here!"

The magazine crumpled under his angry squeeze.

"It was me," Mrs Waltz admitted.

Leon felt betrayed, "Mum! Why did you bring it here?"

"I'm sorry, dear. I was just curious about Ariel and how she is."

"But mum, you know this is not what I need right now!"

"It's not on purpose, I assure you," she tried to calm him down. "I did not intentionally bring it onboard just to shove it in your face. I bought it while browsing at the bookshop at the airport. It was just for me."

"Tabloids are poison! Trash! You know that, mum! You really wanna kill me with poison?"

"Alright, I'll put it away," Mrs Waltz tried to get the magazine from his hand but he was not it letting go.

"Leon?" Mrs Waltz noticed her son's angry eyes were fixed tensely at the image of Ariel.

He did not respond. Instead, his eyes widened at the hideous transformation appearing before him.