Inheritance

Chapter 28

On the final morning of our trip, Marco and the girls had chosen to visit the town shopping district. Meanwhile, I stayed behind, preferring leisure over luxury. Yet, as I laid in bed, I found myself absently scrolling through my phone, reading countless emails and promotional sales on items I had no interest in buying.

"Morning sleepy head." Sebastian said, as he poked his head into my room. 

"Don't you look adorable." He added, as he sat on the opposite side of my bed. I had just taken a shower, so I was fresh-faced with a drying towel wrapped around my hair.

"Oh shut up." I threw one of the free pillows at his face. He caught it mid-air, chuckling at my childlike behavior.

"What are you up to?" He asked, as he made himself comfortable on top of my bed.

"Nothing, I was just catching up on some rest. Until you came in."

"Ouch." He playfully placed a hand over his heart, pretending as though he had been struck with a stake through his chest.

"I do have a question for you, though. What's up with you and Vivian?" I tugged on his shoulder, enjoying the look of embarrassment that etched across his face.

"We're just having fun."

"Only fun?"

"I'm fresh out of a toxic relationship. She knows I'm not trying to settle down. Unless, I meet the right woman." He turned his head towards me, staring with an emotion I couldn't quite decode.

"Kendall's assistant. Jennifer, right? What's the backstory with that?" 

He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, releasing a foreign chuckle. "You really want to know, huh?" I nodded my head, and he continued.

"Well, I first met her through mutual friends. My boys and I were fresh out of college and I had just been hired by Milton Co. I was on cloud fucking nine. When I saw her, I thought she was cute. So, I tried to ask her out. But, she ignored all of my advances and I eventually gave up. She only expressed her interest after I was promoted to my current position in the company. Thinking back on it now, I can see how she was an opportunist who used me to gain access to my connections. Long story short, when I was no longer of use to her, she cheated on me, then dumped me."

The saddened look on his normally cheerful face, made me sympathize with him.

"Come here. You look like you need a hug." I hollered, extending my arms out.

"I'm fine." He replied grumpily.

"Someone's lying." I continued to probe, eventually getting him to fall into my embrace.

The hug was initially meant to be quick, but when I tried to part from him, he tightened his hold around my lower back. We stayed like that for a few more seconds before letting each other go. Sebastian gave me another one of his cheeky grins.

"Maybe I did need that." His grin grew even wider.

"Told you."

We remained in my room, watching a random Netflix sitcom on my laptop before Marco and the girls finally returned. In the short time we'd spent together, I was glad that Sebastian had opened up to me. Our conversations had pleasantly surprised me and I was beginning to learn that there was more to the gleeful boy than his well-worn goofiness and aloof facade.

As the sound of muffled voices and padding footsteps approached our room, Sebastian unscrambled his legs from the sheets and stood tall. "I should probably get going." He said, as he awkwardly pointed towards the door.