When I got off of school the next day I pulled my phone out of my bag to see 4 missed calls from Gerald.
"Fuck." I whispered.
I clicked his name and listen to the dial tone.
"Hello?" G said in a slurred tone.
"Gerald? Is everything okay? You called me 4 times while I was in school, and-"
"Arianna! I need you to get Ash and Toby from school as soon as possible. I started drinking and I am in no shape to pick up my kids." He mumbled.
"What?" I sighed.
G has always liked drinking whisky from the bottle.
"Where is your wife?" I asked
"I suppose she left for the week to see her parents. I really need you and I'll double your pay for tonight. Deal?"
"Deal. I'll see you in a few." I quickly hung up and got into my car.
When I got to the school Ash and Toby slowly walked to my car.
"Ari?" Ash said as she slowly opened the passenger door.
"Yeah, mommy and daddy were both unable to pick you up, so here I am." I nervously chuckled.
"Yes!" Toby yelled. "I hate when mommy picks us up, can we get ice cream?"
I giggled "I suppose we can get ice cream."
"Yes!" They both cheered in success.
After we stopped and got ice cream and got home, Ash and Toby went into their rooms to start their homework, and I found Gerald hanging half way off his bed.
"Um? Mr. Gillum?" I slowly walked toward him.
He quickly rose up "THATS GERALD TO YOU." He yelled. and fell back down.
"Okay, well, Gerald, let's get you sitting up." I moved closer and grabbed his arms to push him back onto his bed. "Can you sit up?"
"Why would I sit up when you could lay with me?" Gerald whispered.
"You're drunk."
"You're beautiful."
I could feel the heat rising in my face. He looked so vulnerable.
"I um, I'm gonna go get you some water, stay here." I stuttered.
I quickly walked out of his room, down the stairs into the kitchen. I grabbed a cup and poured cold water into it.
"Are you making dinner?"
I jumped at the sudden voice right behind me. I turned around to see Toby looking up at me.
"Um, I'll make dinner in a few minutes, okay? I have to bring this water to daddy because he isn't feeling too well."
"Daddy is sick?"
"You could say that."
"I'm gonna go make him a card!" he yelled and ran out of the kitchen.
I sighed and took the water to Gerald, who was now sitting crossed legged on the middle of the bed.
"Here you go." I said as I handed him the cup.
He took a big drink and looked up at me. He stared at me for a little a started laughing to himself.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, nothing." He said while smiling to himself. "I just like your outfit." He chuckled
I looked down and realized I never had time to change out of my school uniform, which is a white short sleeved shirt with a collar, buttoned all the way up, and it was tucked in to my black skirt that goes down to my mid thigh and black thigh high socks.
"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't have time to changed after school because-"
"Ari, it looks good on you." He said while bitting his lip.
My face was heating up again. "T-thank you."
"I just think it would look better on my floor." He licked his lips and pointed down.
"B-but. Mr. Gilliam- Uh, Gerald, you're married?"
He scoffed. "She doesn't love me." He pulled his knees up to his chest and repeated, "She doesn't love me." He laid his forehead on his knees.
I've never seen this side of Gerald before. He's always so demanding and tough, I've never seen him let his feelings out before.
I sat down next to him and sighed.
"She doesn't love me." He once more whispered.
"I think she loves you." I said. "Who wouldn't love you?" I quietly added.
He lifted his head up from his knees. "Do you love me?"
What kind of question was that? Do I love my married, workaholic, alcoholic boss? No. Do I love the extremely goofy, family oriented, always making people happy Gerald? yes. I love him so much. I love him so much that my heart hurts. My heart hurts at the thought that he is with someone who doesn't give him the love he deserves.
"Wha-" Before I could finish my sentence I was cut off by a warm pair of lips meeting mine.
It felt so good. His kiss felt so good. It felt so right as he was slowly pushing my body down on the bed underneath his.
He was just about to started unbuttoning my shirt when we were interrupted by a knocking on the door
"Daddy?" Toby yelled. "I made you a card, can I come in?"
We both sat up quickly.
"Yes you may." G yelled.
he opened the door and came up beside the bed and handed G the card.
"Ari said you weren't feeling well, so I made you a card." he excitedly said.
On the front of the card was a picture of Gerald, Ash, Toby and-
"Is this supposed to be mommy?" Gerald asked while point to the girl on the card.
"No daddy! That's Ari! Because she's here taking care of you and mommy isn't."
I could feel my face heating up again.
Inside the card it read: dear daddy, plz dont die. luv toby, ashlynn, and ari.
Gerald's smile widened when he saw my name.
"Thank you Toby, I love it, and I think I'm already starting to feel better!" Gerald smiled and extended his arms for a hug.
Toby ran into hug arms and hugged him tight, then skipped out of the room chanting "I'm a powerful wizard" the entire time.
"Oh yeah! I forgot!" He ran back in. "Are you gonna make dinner now Ari?"
"Yes" I smiled and started to get up.
"That won't be necessary." Gerald quickly added. "Because I'm ordering pizza." He grinned.
OK SO last chapter was h e l l a short so I'm hoping this longer one makes up for it. I didn't really know where to end it and I made pizza sound so dramatic. Anyway
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I still don't know what's going on with my update schedule. I'm such a mess.
Thank you for reading. 💕
