Whispers of thy Heart

Chapter Seven

Vivian stood at the foot of Derek’s apartment, wondering if she was doing the right thing. A day earlier, Derek had left her in the middle of lunch without reason or apology and hadn’t been reachable since then. She knew that clients felt overwhelmed sometimes, but nothing had changed drastically enough that he had to have hightailed it out of there.

Squaring her shoulders she made her way up, the lift in his apartment was one thing she was extremely wary of. It was an old metal contraption that had almost rusted sliding iron gate and it made the noise of someone dying as it made its way up. She wasn’t a religious person- but every time she got onto the lift - she prayed.

The fact that Derek lived here still confused her. Wasn’t he supposed to be rich? She had met all kinds of rich guys- The ones born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths, the rags to riches ones, the ones who flaunted it and the ones who didn’t. But in all her years of work, she had yet to come across another like Derek. He worked a nine to five job teaching, a job  that obviously wasn’t his main profession. He hadn’t told her how he got rich. He hated attention. he seemed to dislike talking of wealth or fame... even as she contemplated the enigma that Derek was, the contraption of death i.e. the lift rattled to a stop and she rushed out; happy that she had survived it.

She stopped to look in the mirror that hung right opposite to the lifts, smoothing a wrinkle from her dress. Today, unlike yesterday, she was in a dress. it was a periwinkle blue  off shoulder, that complemented her eyes. The dress fell modestly to her knees, and fit her perfectly. She groaned at the pain in her feet, running here from work might not have been the best of decisions considering her 7 inch high Jimmy Choo’s. But Derek’s abrupt departure had been nagging her the whole day and she wanted to make sure he was ok.

Walking up to his door, she jumped back in surprise when the door opened before she could knock. Sam walked out in a hurry almost crashing into her.

He gave her an awkward smile and said, “Hi, here to see Derek?”

She nodded looking curiously at the open door and the shouting that seemed to be coming from within.

“I would advise you not to go in there right now” Sam said, his face set in a grimace. She looked at him again in question.

He sighed and said, “Look, it was my duty to advise, if you want to go in, go ahead.” and shaking his head he made his way to the opposite apartment.

She walked in just to stop short at the screams coming from the other room.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE COMING ONLY ONE WEEK EARLY! IT’S YOUR BROTHER’S WEDDING. IT’S NOT LIKE YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND WHO CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOU OR A MULTIMILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS THAT CAN’T STAND WITHOUT YOU- YOU MY BOY ARE JUST A MEASLY UNDERPAID TEACHER. YOUR APARTMENT AND CLOTHES ARE SO POOR THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE JOINED THE FAMILY BUSINESS LIKE RAE. OUR BUTLER MAKES MORE IN A MONTH THAN YOU MAKE IN AN YEAR.”

She was about to walk into the room to see who was screaming like a banshee, when Derek started to talk, “Look mother, for the last time- William doesn’t care that I am coming only one week before hand. And I would advise you to never again insult my profession. I may be poor and a disgrace according to you but I love my job. I got here on my own merits and I love it here. Good bye mother.”

“DEREK AM...” even as the voice screamed on the other end, Vivian hear the telltale sound of a Skype call being cut.

She made herself comfortable on the couch and wondered about what she had just heard. It seemed like Derek’s mother was under the impression that he was poor, but she knew for a fact that it wasn’t so. Derek was turning out to be one story that had more twists than she could wrap her head around.