angel baby (heavy editing)

28

The silence lasted for a total of ten seconds until Jessica broke it with,
"I'm sorry, what?"
"It's perfect. They're both homosexuals. Oliver has been trained from day one to take over the family business and Christopher is the rightful heir. It's a perfect match"
Jessica scoffed.
"Is that all you know? Money, family business? His boyfriend is literally sitting next to him"
At the mention of that, Oliver was brought back to reality and only then realised he had been sitting frozen. He turned to face Paul who looked paler than he normally was.
"Oh come on. We all know that's not going to last. Oliver has quite the reputation"
"You're unbelievable!"
Oliver opened his mouth to say something, fight talk but couldn't. He couldn't even defend Paul or offer him any kind of comfort.
"Did you know about this?" He heard his mother ask his father. The silence that followed showed he knew.
"I can't believe you!"
Oliver almost didn't notice the maid sneaking Emelia away. Oliver almost scoffed and he would have if he wasn't so dumbfounded.  She was hardly a child but what did he know?
"This is absurd and you all are crazy, we're leaving", Lia finally said standing up. Oliver had that awful feeling in his gut that if she left without everything being settled, he wouldn't be seeing her for a long time. He didn't like how his insides was reacting to that.
"Oh please women, this is a one in a life time opportunity I'm offering your family. A sensible person would jump at it"
"With all due respect, which is none, you can take your money and your opportunity and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. You might have been miserable in your marriage but my son will not walk down the same path"
"You don't know anything about me or my marraige to my husband. I loved him very much and I was very happy with him. It was a love match"
"Old woman, I do not care. Fuck this, we're out of here. Come on kids"
Chris and Kathy stood up at her command. Oliver finally looked in Chris's direction. He watched him walk away.
Look at me. Look at me.
Lena stood and followed them out. He wanted to stand too, to follow them out and order them to stay but there were a lot of things he wanted to do tonight but didn't end up doing.
"Um I'll leave too", Paul said already standing but the remaining adults at the table were in a heated argument.
"Uh, thanks for dinner", he added and was already walking away.
Jesus, what was wrong with him?
"I'll see you off ", words finally came out as he stood up and followed Paul out.
The walk to the front entrance was the second awkwardest situation Oliver had been in, only rivaling the earlier dinner. Oliver wanted to say something, defend his honour, claim his grandmother was wrong, that he wasn't a whore and he was dedicated, but considering Oliver was whoring with Paul's roommate, female roommate, Sharon when they met, there was no piont.
When they neared the front door,
"Paul, I-" he started to say.
"Save it Oliver. I'm not mad, not really. I'm just really tired. I'll call you later or whatever. Bye"
He walked out the door not sparing Oliver another glance. He clenched his fist fighting the urge to hit something. He followed Paul out to say something, anything but at a distance, Paul was already getting in his car.
Fuck.
He then noticed, to his surprise, Lia was still around. He saw her talking to Lena and from where he stood, he could still see the fury in her eyes. Chris and Kathy stood together, farther away from them and closer to the house. Not wanting to go back to the house, he walked towards them catching a bit of their conversation.
"You can just stare at him like that, you creep" Kathy said.
"He's just really beautiful", Chris replied.
"You can't say that either"
And at that moment, she saw him walking towards them and on cue, the death glare returned.
"What's your deal with me?" The words were out of his mouth. Now he had no filter. Chris noticed his presence and turned. He refused to look at him though. He couldn't.
"I beg your pardon", Kathy, a snarl present on her face now.
"You've been glaring at me all day, like you are now. What have I ever done to you?"
"You hurt and bullied Chris, that's what", she answered honestly. Oliver blinked.
"Let me get you to understand something", she moved closer until she was standing only an inch away. Oliver was umcomfortable.
"You might be related to my family now and Chris must have forgotten or refuse to acknowledge but I do not forget and I will acknowledge it. You bullied Chris, you phyiscally assulted him, you made fun of him and his autism, you made him feel very uncomfortable and you might be all nice now or whatever but I don't trust you, I don't like you and I most especially don't want you anywhere near him"
Oliver hated the way his throat felt dry after she finished.
"How's your head?"
Kathy took a step back as if being physically hit. That was a low blow, even for Oliver and he knew it.
"You're such a dick", she moved away even further shaking her head.
Oliver didn't know what compelled him to look but he turned sideways and caught Chris' gaze. The burning look in his eyes almost made Oliver stumble back.
"I hate you"
Oliver didn't know three words were capable of causing bodily, intestinal damage but it did and it really did.
"Come on kids, we have to go", Lia called out. He caught her eyes and he almost felt guilty at the way it softened. He couldn't do this. He turned and walked, more like ran into house, slamming the door and sliding off to the ground the next second. He clutched at his head. He was losing his mind.
    On the other hand, at the other side of the house, Jessica paced in the master bedroom. The night had ended in a even bigger disaster than she had anticipated. The door opening had her turning. Her husband walked in. They stood there for a few tense seconds not saying a thing, until she broke it.
"She needs to leave"
"Honey"
"She's ruining everything. I can't belive you would agree to that absurd plan. I just can't"
"I-I thought at that moment, that was the best plan for everyone"
"God, everytime your mother is around, you turn into someone I don't even recognise"
"You know that's not true"
"It is. He spoke to me, Daniel. He smiled at me and now I might never get to see him again. She needs to leave"
"Jess"
"She needs to leave or I will", she stated firmly. She wasn't playing around.
"Take the guest room tonight. I need to calm down"
"Babe"
"I love you. Good night" she walked into closet. A few seconds later, she heard the door open and close. The tears came and she couldn't control it. For the first time in nineteen years, (except on rare occassions when Daniel was out of town on a business trip) they were sleeping in separate beds. And over what? Over an idea Jessica didn't completely disagree with.
     Later that night, Oliver laid in his bed, phone in hand, a conflicted look on his face.
The dinner from hell fire ended hours ago. Finally, he pressed the power button amd phone came alive. He got on his text app.

Oliver: i'm rlly sorry about 2night.
He hit the send button and waited. A few seconds later, the message was confirmed to be divered and read. Typing appeared next and Oliver was relieved to not have been left on read.
Paul🍑❤️: it's fine. Your grandmother is a piece of work but she's right about you, you know?
Oliver did know. Paul never shortened the words when they texted, except he was drunk. Virtually everybody he spoke to did except Paul. He also added puntuations. It was really cute.
Oliver: i do know. But i hv not with anybody since u. I hope you know that.
Paul🍑❤️: Oliver, you don't have to reassure me. I know.
Oliver was relieved. He slept around but cheating repulsed him.
Paul🍑❤️: you're considering the arranged marriage thing, aren't you?
Oliver: wtf. No???? Dat's ridiculous.
Paul🍑❤️: but you like Chris.
Oliver: no, the fuck. Paul, what are you saying?
Paul🍑❤️: i saw the way you looked at him tonight.
Oliver: pls, i barely looked at him.🙄
Paul🍑❤️: Precisely. You at least want to fuck him.
Oliver: Wtf, ew. He's like my brother.
Paul🍑❤️: Please you know he's not. He's very attractive. He's legit the type of boy you like.
Oliver frowned. Objectively speaking, Chris was truly very attractive. Subjectively, he was almost...too much. He couldn't explain it.
Finally he asked the question he had been avoiding.
Oliver: so, where do we stand?
The message was read immediately but the reply came much later.
Paul🍑❤️: I don't know, we'll see. I have an early class in the morning. I'll talk to you later.
Oliver put his phone on sleep and stared at the chandelier up above him. He didn't umderstand why he had one in his room. His boyfriend had potentially broken up with him. That hurt.
I hate you.
Nothing hurt as much as that.