365 Days with the Celebrity

Chapter 25 - Moving in with Mum and the Celebrity

"AWESOME! A thousand times better than The Grand Tower!" Andy exclaimed as he darted his eyes around the luxurious settings of the penthouse.

"Shall I give you a tour around the house?" Leon offered.

"Yes please!"

Ariel looked on at Andy's excitement in his new environment. Being reunited with her son every day again was a dream come true and she no longer needed to pay for his rent at The Grand Tower, but the possibility of him witnessing Leon's occasional lewd behaviour continued to worry her. She would need to set it straight with Leon no matter what, even if this was his palace with his own rules.

"Can I swim in the pool everyday?" Andy asked.

"Sure, you can!" laughed Leon.

"I'll move your bags into my room," Ariel said.

"Your room? Andy got his own room. It's not far from where your room is," Leon pointed at a room down the hallway. "He's a big boy who needs his own space."

"My own room? Awesome!" Andy was elated. He never had his own room since he was born, as Ariel could not afford to rent an additional room for him. The closest to his own room was the one he used to share with his mother at The Grand Tower after she moved out, but it was depressing and messy. Although he was used to sharing the same room with his mother, Andy always envied other kids having their own rooms.

"WOW!" Andy gasped at his new room that came with a widescreen flat TV on the wall with an Xbox, a study desk placed before the full height windows overlooking the sea, a full-height wardrobe, a spacious play area with huge, comfortable cushions and his own bathroom with a bathtub and shower combined. It was many times bigger than the room at The Grand Tower. Even his bed was big, plush and soft. He threw himself on the bed and squealed with delight as he swiped his hands and legs up and down the linen sheets which smelled so fresh, smooth and soft.

"This is the BEST birthday gift, Leon, thanks a gazillion!"

"I'm glad you love it," Leon chuckled. Ariel smiled at Leon's openness to her son.

"I don't know how to thank you enough, Leon. This is really the most fantastic gift - for a mother to be with her child again," Ariel was clearly touched.

"You don't have to. He needs you anyway."

"By the way, I understand this is your house, your rules. I'm just worried about-"

"The paparazzi? I told you already not to worry about that. I'll get my team to handle this. We'll request that they keep their hands off him as he's a minor."

"Well, yes, I appreciate that. It's just one other thing if I may. Erm...because he's a minor, you may wanna reconsider the way you erm...carry yourself around the house?" Ariel tried to find the right words to describe her concern without offending the boss.

"What are you trying to say, Ariel?" Leon narrowed his eyes at her with his hands on his hips.

Ariel panicked at his stern expression, "The er...your girlfriends...erm...drinks...er..., I just don't want him to see that."

"Are you trying to tell me how I should behave in my own house?" he folded his arms.

"N-no. Not really, what I mean is-"

"I don't wanna hear anymore," he halted her with his raised palm. "I've been so nice to you and I'd appreciate better gratitude than this. You should know your place as an employee."

"Yes, sir," Ariel answered softly, feeling defeated. All she wanted to do was to request that he be discreet with his behaviour with a minor around the house, as any parent would have the right to request.

Obviously, Leon had no kids of his own and would never understand. She would have to figure out how to explain to Andy if he did catch Leon in his M18 behaviour.

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"You're really something," Arnold remarked and shook his head after finding out that Ariel's son was living in Leon's house.

"I'm just being nice, okay? It's my house, my rules. I can decide whoever lives with me," asserted Leon.

"Sure, I understand that," Arnold raised his hands in surrender. "But you've changed, you know that? Ever since that chef came in, you've become a softie in some ways."

Leon got annoyed at the word 'softie', an accusation that insinuated he was vulnerable or being treated like a doormat.

"I'm not trying to pull you down or anything. But doing things like that can jeopardise your image and the next thing you know, we'll be wasting more time fighting off rumours between you and Ariel than releasing relevant press release on you and your music."

"Then deal with it. You know I don't like reading fake news about me unless it calls for serious action."

"This is serious, my friend. We can't kick the boy out now, but we can put foam on the runway. There are already pictures of you, Ariel and her son together." Arnold showed the gossip column on his phone to Leon, with the headlines that screamed: "Leon Waltz attends Kid's Birthday Party of Lover Chef!"

Leon's heart dropped and he banged his fist on the table, furious at how the paparazzi managed to secretly spot them at the kid's sports hub despite their best efforts to hide from them. The fake headlines were as sick as the invasion of privacy itself!

"How in the world did they-"

"Don't tell me after all these years, you still don't know how the tabloids work?" sighed Arnold.

"Then get our PR to do what they can to rectify this!" Leon said with clenched teeth.

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"Wow, so that's the real reason you bailed out on me, so you could attend Ariel's son's birthday party!" Martin playfully accused Leon on the phone.

"Hey, it's not like I was deliberately dishonest with you. I did say had other plans," Leon rubbed his cheek with his palm.

"If you'd told me what this "other plans" was, I would've loved to gatecrash," Martin teased.

"You're such a goof!"

Martin cackled up, " You should bring her along the next time we meet."

"Who? Ariel?"

"Yeah, who else?"

Leon was not liking Martin bringing her up.

"Only if it's work-related."

"But that birthday party was not work-related."

Leon bit his lower lip, "I was just curious about her kid, alright? She's a single mum and I'm being nice letting her son live with us so that they can be reunited. Other than that, you know I don't let any of my employees in to my personal fun."

"Man, you're such a sweetheart and a killjoy."

"I'm being professional with a compassionate heart."

"Yeah-yeah," Martin rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I heard your album's almost complete," Leon steered the conversation away from Ariel.

"Yes, but I still have loose ends to tie up which will be a few more weeks. Once that's all done, I'll be heading back to New York sooner than you can say "Adios". So, I need my star pals here to give me a blastin' good time before I leave."

"You know you can count on us to bring you where the real fun's at," Leon smirked, referring to their favourite hang out place, Roam.