Alex

Chapter Ten

Alex

"See, that's what they don't tell you about stocks. It's 70% luck and 30% knowledge. My younger brother has a business degree, and he still can't hack the whole aspect of stocks. My other brother, Aries, tried it for fun and he made five thousand on his first try."

"You're kidding," Gerald exclaimed.

Finishing up the rest of his soda, he set the can down and reached for a tissue.

"Let me tell you something. Back then, none of this shit existed. No coins, or bitstocks, back then you made money one way. By heading out there and working your ass off."

"My father says the same thing. He hates the whole internet thing, thinks it's a whole waste of time."

"Your father's smart." He turned to face his daughter, "Rosie, thank you for lunch, it was delicious."

She beamed at the compliment. "You're welcome."

She came up to gather the trash on her father's table and tossed it in the trashcan. She went to the bags she brought in and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Don't tell Janice I got you this." She whispered as she handed it to him.

"Alex, do you want one?" She asked, her eyes flickering over to the crumbled piles of foil from the sandwiches I devoured.

I was so full I couldn't breathe, but for her, I'd eat whatever she gave me. I grabbed my trash and tossed it away and went to where she was standing.

"Thank you for lunch," I said, my hand coming up to caress her cheeks. "I'll have some chocolate if you promise to eat it with me."

"I like Twix." She said and tilted her head toward the bag.

We stayed in the hospital for another hour, talking, and laughing, and it was strangely nice getting to know her father, to see him smiling, and to see her so happy. I liked seeing her like this, more than I'd ever admit.

I could tell they were close, that all they had was each other, and it showed how much they loved each other. I thought it'd be boring because I didn't know him, but I wasn't bored at all.

He was funny, his dark humor matched mine, and we spent most of our time cracking jokes and talking about how shitty the tech world has gotten. He reminded me of my father, and I could see Rosie from the side watching us wearily, like vigilantly almost as she tried to make sense of the situation.

If I'm being honest, I didn't even know what pushed me to come here and join them. It wasn't about the food, or about her, it was about being close to her. I wanted to be close to her. I wanted to be a part of every point of her life.

His nurse stepped in to check on him, and she eyed the chocolate bar wrappers and cocked her brow at Rosie who laughed it off. She gave him some medicine, checked his BP, and then he got sleepy with the medicine. She hugged and kissed his forehead goodbye, and grabbed her bags.

I shook his hand, and he squeezed my hand in his lightly. We stepped out, and I kept my hand on her back as we stepped out of the hospital. I saw her eyes take in my four-wheel drive and almost a frown took over her features that she quickly washed away.

Her long hair which she always kept down at the restaurant was braided lazily with her bangs falling down on each side of her face and I loved this look on her. This effortless look made her look angelic almost.

Her warm honey eyes were free of any makeup, and I think I preferred her face bare and natural like this. My eyes fell to those full cherry-red lips for a second as I remembered how good she tastes, before meeting those eyes that pierced through my goddamn fucking soul.