Drawing the Line

Chapter 10

Stepping out of his car, James stuffed his keys and wallet into his pocket and made his way around the corner. He had run out of supplies and was heading to the art store to pick up some more.

Checking that he had everything, he made his way outside and looked up just in time to see someone he recognized.

A man in his 50's was walking arm in arm with a woman 20 years his junior. They both looked like they had come from working at the office because of their suits and dressy attire.

James looked both ways and dashed across the street to tail them. He hid behind a building and peeked around the corner. The man he knew as his father, was making his way into a luxury brand boutique with the young woman. From the exterior of the glass windows, he could see her picking various articles of clothing and accessories without trying them on. His father beamed at the sight of her having the time of her life. He also saw his father take out his black card and pay for everything. Which was ironic since he always gave him and his mother flack for spending too much of his money.

The same thing happened at the next few stores and just when James had enough, he saw them go into a tall skyscraper-like building.

Emerald Luxury Suites

His hands were clenched into fists as he tried to hold in his anger. He turned around and darted back towards his car. He ran and ran but didn't stop until he reached his destination. His chest was in pain from shortness of breath, but he wanted to get out of there.

He threw the bags into the passenger seat and leaned back and took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

It was an unspoken narrative that his father was having affairs with his secretaries, workers and whoever else would have him. Growing up, he had heard whispers from workers and eavesdropped when he could. If you factored in how his father didn't care about his existence, it made sense.

But this was his first time seeing it in person. And there was a small part of him that didn't want it to be true. Not for him, but for his mom who had devoted herself to him for years.

He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and opened his eyes. Before realizing what he was doing, his body started moving on its' own and pulled he out his phone.

He didn't know why he was thinking of this person, it made no sense really since they met not too long ago but he really wanted to see her. And he couldn't talk to any of his guy friends about this.

As it rang, James tapped his fingers on his steering wheel. He was about to hang up when a deep voice answered on the other end. He froze and his heart sank a little.

"Hello? Hellooooo! If no one is there, I'm hanging up!"

"W-who is this?"

"It's Yuki, who's this?"

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Joel had been working at his father's company since he finished university and was learning everything he could. He had been shadowing the different directors and putting what he learned to good use since the plan was to take over someday.

Maybe because he had helped one of the proposals get approved, his father had given him the day off. He took the opportunity to meet up with an old mentor of his.

He entered the coffee shop and spotted the older man sitting by the window with a magazine in his hand. The man spotted Joel and stood up with a smile as he got closer.

"My, how you've grown! I don't see you for six months and you've aged so much. Trying to catch up to me?"

Joel laughed and patted the man's shoulder, "Maybe next time you see me, people will think you're my son!"

"I wish, like that would ever happen. But really Joel, you look good. You working out?"

"Thank you, I try. You're not too bad yourself, Mr. CEO," they both laughed and sat down.

"I can't believe you started your own company. That's so wild! How's it going? Things seem to be doing well!"

"I guess you could say that. I'm just glad I got out of social services, I was so close to having a mental breakdown."

"Yeah, you weren't in a good place. Whenever I saw you, you were so drained and some of the stories you told me, man."

"I'll never forget the one from a few years ago where I got called out to a house where the neighbor heard screams. Turns out the mother had beaten her 15-year-old daughter because she refused to give her money, why she didn't have any money of her own, I don't know."

"That's awful! How could her own mother do that to her? She's supposed to provide for her kid, not the other way around. And to use violence!" Noticing that he had raised his voice, Joel lowered his head but still furrowed his brows in anger.

"I know how you feel but the daughter pleaded with us not to separate them and as a teenager, her chances of getting rehomed were low. No charges were made either. I still remember her name too because I was the one that took her to the hospital. It broke my heart seeing all those bruises on her.

"I just hope wherever she is now, she's living a better life."

The older man heard this and nodded in response.

"Yes, wherever Rylie Jang is, I hope she's happy."

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Emilia had just finished her shower and was drying her hair with her towel. She trudged into her room and collapsed onto her bed. Remembering her hair was still wet, she bolted back up and ran her fingers over her now damp blanket.

"Crap..." She fanned out her blanket and let out a sigh. She reached out for her phone to check for new messages but couldn't find it. She patted her bed and got up to look around the room, but nothing.

"Where did it go?" Maybe she took it with her into the bathroom? As she got to the door, Yuki tried coming in at the same time.

"Whoa!"

"Hey here's your phone. I needed to check something, but my phone was dead," she nodded as she took it from his hand and eagerly checked her messages but saw nothing.

"Did anyone call?" There was a short pause before he shook his head. She pouted but his phone started ringing in his pocket. His eyes widened and he ran towards his room.

"Dan, there better be a good reason you're calling!" His voice trailed off as he closed his door.

He literally just said his phone had no battery. Either he meant it was dying or he lied.

She checked her messages again and there weren't any new messages but when she looked closer, there was a message from James telling her to call him that was marked as read but she hadn't seen it before.

"Yuki went through my messages and lied? But why?"