FROM THEN ON

Chapter twenty five

It was Christmas morning, and everyone had gathered round the Christmas tree for the gift exchange. Everyone was so excited and I'm pretty sure I heard Ricardo sing a line or two from the Christmas carol, Joy to the world. ''Let's all quiet down please,'' Susanna announced and all the chatters of excitement ceased. ''Now before we begin, I just want to thank the Welton's for joining us this year. It means so much to us that you'd go out of your way to spend money and time to uphold one of our oldest traditions,'' she continued smiling. ''We are happy you feel that way,'' my dad smiled. ''Okay then, let's begin shall we? Who wants to go first?'' Susanna asked. ''Oh..... we do,'' Raina's energetic children, Sequoia and little Mike junior said cheerfully. They walked over to the tree and picked up a small box wrapped in a wallpaper with Christmas trees printed all over it and handed it to Robert. ''This is for you uncle Rob,'' they chorused. ''Thanks guys,'' he said and hugged them before unwrapping his gift. It was a pair of silver cufflings with the letter R engraved in each of them. ''I love it,'' he smiled. ''My turn,'' Alana announced cheerfully and stood up. She picked two wrapped boxes from under the tree and handed one to Sequoia and the other to little Mike. ''I hope you guys like it,'' she smiled and sat back down. The kids hastily opened their presents and then Sequoia screeched, ''Oh my gosh I love it! I love it! I love it!'' and then she hugged Alana. ''What is it sweetie?'' her mum asked. ''It's the new glitter girl doll, the limited edition,'' she said cheerfully. Then, Mike junior shouted, ''Woah!! This completes my collection!'' In his hand was an action figure of something that looked like a half zombie, half human with a sword in its right hand. ''How did you know?'' he asked Alana shocked. ''I'm a very good observer, and listener,'' she bragged. ''What's that thing anyway?'' Ricardo asked. ''It's a zuman,'' Alana replied. ''A what now?'' Ricardo asked. ''A zuman,'' Alana repeated. ''Half zombie, half human, zuman,'' she explained. ''Not just any zuman,'' Mike junior cut in. ''This is Lord Quincy, leader of the zuman army,'' Mike junior said as if he was narrating a star wars movie. ''Okay now my turn,'' my mum announced and handed a small box to Patrick. He opened it to reveal the rolex watch clutched around a tiny foam that almost looked like a pillow. ''Wow, my first rolex watch, thank you Cecilia,'' he appreciated. ''You're welcome,'' she smiled. ''Let's quit the chit chat and get down to business,'' Ricardo said playfully as he handed Alana a paper bag. She opened it and pulled out a brightly coloured kimono, not the Japanese type though. ''Oh my gosh this is beautiful, and it will go great with my pink blouse, thank you Ricardo,'' she said and he smiled at her. Patrick got Raina a gift certificate to a spa in LA. ''I figured with you having to take care of others all the time, it was about time you made others take care of you,'' he said. ''Thanks dad,'' she smiled and hugged him. ''Okay Ricardo, this one's for you,'' I said as I handed him the bag with the suit. ''Wow, this is an original Giorgio Armani suit. This must have cost you a lot,'' Ricardo said. ''Oh it was nothing,'' I said waving it off and glanced at my mother who shot me a nasty glare. I ignored her and refocused on Ricardo, ''thank you Sabrina,'' he said and hugged me. ''You're welcome,'' I smiled. ''Alright then, this is for you Rick,'' Raina said and handed something to my dad. It was a Washington Nationals cap. ''Mike tells me you're a huge fan of baseball,'' Raina said. ''I am, thank you Raina, this is awesome,'' my dad said before wearing the cap over his head. ''Okay Mike, it's your turn,'' my dad said. ''Two tickets to see the first baseball game of the season?!'' Mike shouted. ''How did you even get these? I thought they were sold out,'' Mike said in excitement. ''Oh I know a guy,'' my dad smirked. ''Oh man.... thank you soo much Rick,'' Mike appreciated. ''No problem. Just consider it as a gift from one baseball fan to the other,'' my dad commented. ''I think we've had enough baseball talk,'' Susanna said walking over to the Christmas tree and picking up a small gift box. ''Here you go Cecilia,'' she smiled and handed it to my mum. She opened it to see a snow globe with figures of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus in it. ''Awwnn this is beautiful,'' my mum said. ''I'm glad you like it,'' Susanna smiled. ''I do, thank you Susanna, God bless you,'' she said and hugged her. ''This is for you Mrs. S,'' Mike said handing a small gift bag to Susanna. ''Mike, I told you, you can call me Susanna,'' she said before opening the gift bag. It was a gold necklace with a heart shaped locket and in the locket, there was a picture of her, Patrick and their kids from when they were younger, and on the back of the locket was an engraved writing which Susanna read out loud, ''no matter the distance apart, family is forever.'' ''Thank you so much Mike,'' she said tearing up. ''You're welcome Mrs S.....I mean Susanna,'' Mike replied. ''Okay now, I saved the best for last,'' Robert announced. ''Sabrina,'' he said handing me a small box. I opened it and inside it was a car key. ''What is this?'' I asked confused. ''Why don't you go down to the garage and find out?'' Robert asked before winking at me. I walked into the elevator and of course everyone else followed. There's no way he got me a car is there? I stepped out of the elevator and stood in the middle of the garage full of cars before pressing the unlock button on the remote attached to the key. An unlocking sound erupted from one of the cars but I didn't know which one. I kept clicking the unlock button and following the sound until I finally located it. It was a black Audi. ''Surprise!'' Robert laughed. ''Robert, I can't take your car,'' I said trying to hand the car keys back to him. ''Who said it's mine? Mine, is right here,'' Robert said before pointing to another black Audi parked at the other side of the garage. ''This baby is brand new and she's all yours,'' Robert continued giving the car hood a gentle tap. I looked at all the faces around, some staring at the car in awe but some staring at me, but I could feel a particular pair of eyes gazing intently at me, I could feel the person's glare burn through the back of my head. I turned around to see my mum glaring at me without blinking for a second, she smiled coyly before mouthing, ''I told you so, gold digger.'' I immediately panicked, handed the car keys to Robert and said, ''I can't accept this,'' before rushing back inside. ''Sabrina wait!'' I heard Robert call after me but I ignored him. ''I'll talk to her,'' I heard my sister say before I pressed the button on the elevator and began to go up. By the time Alana had arrived in the bedroom, I was already getting ready for church. I was standing in front of the mirror and sliding the pin of my pink feather earrings through the piercing in each ear lobe. ''You look nice,'' Alana commented as she sat on the edge of the bed and stared. ''Thank you,'' I said. ''Now I suggest you also start getting ready so we're not late,'' I said still trying to find the piercing on my left ear while looking at her through the mirror in front of me. ''So are we just going to pretend as if that didn't just happen?'' she asked shocked. ''No...but we are not going to talk about it,'' I replied after I had finally finished wearing my earrings and began pacing around the room and getting dressed. ''You know, sometimes I just don't understand you Sabrina,'' she started. ''The love of your life just handed you the car of your dreams.....without hesitation, and you rejected it?'' she asked as she tried to make sense of the whole situation. ''You don't understand Alana,'' I replied as I glanced through the closet, passing from one hanged outfit to another to look for something to wear. ''So make me understand,'' she insisted. I immediately stopped riffling through my clothes and walked over to her. I sat beside her at the edge of the bed, still wearing my morning coat and sighed before saying, ''I'm Sabrina......a Christian girl who has never had sex before, manages her mum's restaurant and lives in a rented apartment. Now meet Robert, he's a top notch business man who owns the biggest broadcasting company in the whole of San Francisco, a ladies man and a big time billionaire.'' ''I don't understand, the only thing you've explained is how extremely sad, pathetic and poor you are compared to your boyfriend,'' Alana said confused. ''Ouch,'' I feigned hurt. ''Sorry,'' she apologized. ''But you're right though.....and that's exactly my point. For years people have known Robert Stenson to be a player who just sleeps with any girl he wants...but all that changed when I waltzed into his life,'' I explained. ''And that just makes people wonder.........what's her deal? Does she have him under a spell? If she's not here for sex, then it must be the money, I mean look at her pathetic life.......it's so obvious she longs to be where the grass is greener......she wants a life of luxury....she's just a typical....'' I trailed off. ''Gold digging bitc.......?'' Alana interrupted but stopped when she realized my facial expression. ''Language,'' I said sternly. ''Sorry,'' she said before adding, ''Sabrina see right there is your problem...you're always letting people get in the way of your happiness. Who cares what some random strangers who don't even know you are saying about your love life?'' she asked. ''Well......they are all not random strangers,'' I said as I stood back up and walked to the closet to resume searching for the right dress. ''What do you mean?'' she asked confused. ''I'm talking about mum.....I mean can you believe yesterday she asked me whether I was really in love with Robert, or I was just hanging around for the good life?'' I asked and turned to Alana to see her reaction. ''Wait mum asked you that?'' Alana asked shocked. ''Yess.........'' I said as I finally found the perfect dress and placed it on the bed. ''And you should have seen her face this morning when he gave me the car,'' I said bitterly and a little annoyed. ''I can imagine,'' Alana said quietly. ''So that's why you didn't take the car, because of what mum thinks?'' she asked. ''Alana,'' I paused. ''Even though it's not true, if I take the car, I'll only be proving her right,'' I stated as I examined how good I looked in the dress. ''So what are you going to do now?'' she asked helplessly. ''What I've already done......reject the gift,'' I said as I slipped my feet into my heels and stood up straightening my dress. I picked up my coat, bag and phone and walked towards the door, ''Now please get dressed,'' I said to her before shutting the door. Since it looked like I was the first to get ready, I took the elevator and went down to the garden to walk around. About twenty minutes later, Alana texted me that everyone was waiting down in the garage. When I got there, everyone was there dressed nicely and surprisingly, Ricardo had worn the suit. ''Looking good Ricardo,'' I complimented. ''Thank you, a certain special someone got it for me,'' he said. I smiled and walked over to where Alana was standing, avoiding eye contact with Robert and my mum. After a few minutes of arguing about the car arrangements, we finally came to a conclusion. Robert, Alana, Ricardo and I were taking the ford expedition, Raina, Rick, Sequoia and little Mike took the Benz and my mum, dad, Susanna and Patrick took the range rover. On our way to church, the car was silent as Robert drove. I sat in the front, but I avoided eye contact with Robert the whole time. ''Sabrina,'' Robert called with his hands on the wheel. 'Yeah?'' I asked with my face still turned to the window. ''Can you at least look at me?'' he asked desperately. ''Nope, I'm good,'' I said still pretending to look outside. ''Sis you're acting like a child right now,'' Alana commented. ''Alana please stay out of this,'' I warned as I turned to face her in the backseat but as I turned to return to my window watching position, I felt a hand stop me. I looked up to see Robert holding my shoulder. ''Please let me go...and two hands on the wheel please,'' I said, but instead, he released his other hand from the wheel and placed it on my other shoulder. ''Robert!!! Hands on the wheel!!!'' I freaked out. ''Not until you talk to me,'' he said as we began zigzagging on the road. ''What? You're going to get us killed because I'm not talking to you?!'' I asked shocked. He immediately put his hands back on the wheel and parked the car by the road side. ''What are you doing?'' I asked confused. ''Why don't you want to take the car?'' he asked as he turned to look at me. ''Can we discuss this later? We are going to be late,'' I replied. ''No.....'' Robert said folding his arms. ''What?'' I asked confused. ''I said no. Not until you tell me why,'' he stated still with his arms folded. ''Now who's acting like a child?'' I murmured under my breath. ''Ricardo, please talk some sense into your brother,'' I begged Ricardo. ''No can't do Bree, I'm not interfering in whatever this is,'' Ricardo said. ''Alana?'' I asked. ''I thought you told me to stay out of this,'' she smiled as she and Ricardo relaxed in the backseat to watch the drama go down. I just rolled my eyes at them and turned to face Robert. He dropped his hands from his chest and turned to face me. ''Is it because of what your mum said?'' he asked looking into my eyes. ''What did your mum say?''Ricardo whispered to Alana. ''That she's a gold digger,'' Alana whispered back. ''Damn,'' Ricardo said. ''Right?'' Alana whispered. ''Can you two please stop gossiping about me?'' I asked annoyed. Then I looked into Robert's eyes and said nothing. ''I thought we talked about this,'' he whispered. ''It's not just her,'' I said sadly. ''Well then who else?'' he asked. ''Everybody else Robert, I mean you're just so ....you know...'' I trailed. ''Rich?'' Alana cut in. I ignored her and continued, ''and I'm just so...'' ''Poor?'' Ricardo asked entering the conversation. ''I was going to say..not so rich,'' I said eyeing Ricardo. ''But that never mattered to the both of us,'' Robert said. ''Baby.......when people see me, they see a pathetic poor girl fending for herself.......but when they see me with you, they see a girl who just hit the jackpot,'' I explained. ''Bree how do you even know that's true?'' he asked getting frustrated. ''Because....if my own mother is saying these things about me, can you imagine what the rest of the world is thinking, what they're saying, behind our backs? Behind my back.....'' I said bitterly as tears trickled down my cheeks. ''All the people you think are on your side...what they actually think about you but can't tell you to your face...'' I added as I started thinking about all the people in my life....Jaya,.....my family.......Ryan and Serena......Were they all thinking the same thoughts? Could they? ''I just don't want to prove anybody right,'' I said as I wiped my tears with a sheet of tissue from the stack on the dashboard. ''Sabrina, Sabrina look at me,'' Robert said softly. ''I know that dating me hasn't been the easiest thing in the world......looking at everything you've been through because of me.......? Babe, I would even be willing to share my bank account with you,'' Robert said. ''People don't know what you've been through, what we've been through.......all they can do is watch from afar and judge........and baby let them judge all they want.....whoever they are......but you and I know, even God knows....that you deserve more than a little bit of luxury,'' Robert added. ''Please take the car Bree...you deserve it,'' Robert said looking hopefully into your eyes. ''That was so beautiful Robert,'' Alana said emotionally. ''Bree just take the car already,'' Alana said. I looked at Robert and smiled. ''How do you always know what to say?'' I asked. ''I learn from the best,'' he replied and smiled back. ''So you'll take the car?'' Robert asked hopefully. ''I will,'' I replied. ''Now can we please get back on the road?'' I asked interrupting the cheers that came from all of the three other people sitting in the car with me. Church service didn't take too long and before we knew it, we were back home. ''I believe these belong to you,'' Robert said as he handed me the keys to my brand new car. ''Thank you,'' I smiled as I accepted the car keys. Later that afternoon, I was sitting at the edge of the pool and watching Alana swim in Robert's huge indoor swimming pool when Robert walked over. ''There you are Bree, I've been looking all over for you,'' Robert said. ''Alana mind if I borrow your sister for awhile?'' Robert asked. ''You can keep her for as long as you want,'' Alana gurgled through the water. ''Where are we going?'' I asked as Robert held my hand and helped me get up. ''It's a surprise,'' he replied. I went to get changed and then Robert and I drove off. He took me to a site. There was absolutely nothing there except about 50acres of deserted land. ''What is this place?'' I asked confused. ''It's a land, which is about to turn into a construction site,'' Robert said. ''I don't understand, why would you bring me here?'' I asked confused. ''Because.....you're going to be the owner of the building,'' he replied. ''Robert what are you talking about?'' I asked more confused than I had ever been. ''I'm thinking of...enlarging my company. I don't want to be involved with just broadcasting anymore.....I want to go into other things like charity and technological advancements and other things,'' he replied. ''And I want you, to manage it all....and I'm not just asking you because you're my girlfriend.....I'm asking you because I know you have a degree in business management and also because I've seen the way you run the restaurant. You would be perfect for this job,'' he explained. ''Wow, I don't know what to say....'' I trailed off. ''You don't have to answer now,'' he interrupted. ''It's going to take about 12 to 18 months to complete the building.........that's more than enough time to think about it....but just so you know, I'm not taking no for an answer,'' he added. I just quietly smiled at him and then we went back to the house. The rest of the vacation flew by faster than we imagined. By the time the new year came around, I had practically become attached to the Stensons.....and I wasn't the only one. ''Goodbye Susanna,'' my mum said as she hugged Susanna and tried to push back the tears. ''Come on mum...we need to go otherwise you're going to miss your flight,'' I said. ''Where are your keys anyway?'' my mum asked and that's when I realized I had left my keys in my room. I quickly rushed upstairs to grab it. Even though my mum didn't really get along at the beginning of the festive season but by the time new year's came around, we had patched things up.