CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IS THAT MISS VIVIAN, AGAIN?
Michael half opened his eyes. Everything was a blur at first. He felt someone touching his forehead. He sniffed. The perfume was strong and familiar and that was when he opened his eyes properly.
"Good morning, sweetheart" he heard her annoying voice. That made him sit up quickly and turn around.
It was Director Vivian.
"What are you doing here? Why were you touching my forehead?" He asked her. His frown was deep.
She blinked, slightly confused. She wasn't expecting this from Michael. She always thought this younger version of Alfred was calm and hardly said a word. So what's this now?
Michael turned to the door and was about to call Miss Hena when she entered with a tray with his drugs in it. It made him frown the more. He eyes Miss Hena.
"Good morning, darling!" Her sweet smooth voice rang into his ears as she pulled the tray table and stopped it before him, smiling. She helped him sit up. "Your PCP called and said you need to take these drugs now".
"I need to have a mouthwash first" he whined.
"I know. But take the drugs, after which you can head into the bathroom," she was firm.
"By the way, what's this woman doing here?" Michael asked as if she wasn't in the room. He took the drugs and drank it. When he dropped the glass of water, Miss Hena quickly shoved a small candy bar into his mouth. Miss Hena glanced briefly at Director Vivian who was still sitting in the same position. But she didn't reply.
Michael looked at the wall clock. It beeped immediately indicating it was nine o'clock. He looked away from it and got up to head for the bathroom.
"Michael!" Director Vivian called his name and stood up.
Michael stopped and turned to her, obviously irritated.
"Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something so wrong?" She asked. "You aren't even looking at me or replying to my greetings"
"Let's start with you visiting this house so early in the morning...or were you here last night?!" He asked.
"She came this morning" Miss Hena replied.
Michael didn't say any other words. He just walked into the bathroom.
Turning to Director Vivian,
"I told you Michael hates strangers coming into his room. You should have waited until he was downstairs. What would Alfred say about this wrong behavior of yours?" Miss Hena said.
"Well," she flipped her hair with her index finger.
"He said I can come greet Michael if I want to" she replied and walked out.
Miss Hena sighs. "What in the world is going on? Michael's trying so hard to be calm!" She sighed again as she pushed the tray out.
Miss Vivian went downstairs and met Mr. Alfred standing before one of the sofas in the living room. He turned around when he noticed her presence.
"There you are, Director Vivian!" he said.
She paused at the last stair, "Are we there now?"
Mr. Alfred sighs. "I'm sorry. Did you go to meet Michael? You should have waited for him. But then, did you get to wake him up?"
"Yeah!" She got down from the last stair and walked up to him.
"He ignored me. Completely"
"That's why I told you to wait for him to come downstairs. He has the handsomeness of a god but he doesn't do well with formalities"
"He needs a mother's touch!"
"Miss Hena does that part for him," Mr. Alfred said, looking directly at her. "Come here" he drew her closer with his left hand. He even wanted to kiss her but she stopped him.
"Stop. Do you want Michael to see us?" she whispered, backing out a little.
"Micheal knows already"
She scoffs, "Do you ever...lie to him?"
"He'll still find out." With that, he drew her close and placed a kiss on her lips.
****
Half an hour later, they were all sitting at the dining table. Miss Hena took a seat beside Michael while Director Vivian sat on the other side of the table, while Mr. Alfred sat at the head of the table.
Miss Hena was arranging Michael's cutleries for him. He smiled at that. She has never failed to do this ever since he was a child. He quickly recalls the day he had insisted on doing it himself and she refused to let him and then he asked her,
"Miss Hena, do you have a male friend? Maybe now or when you were a teenager?" He was curious.
"If I say no, then I'm a liar," she answered, smiling as usual. "When I was a teenager, I loved a boy. I loved him very much. He claimed he also loved me too. When it was time for marriage, he left me and got married to someone else. I was a caregiver at a hospital. He said he wants to marry a woman in the corporate world. I didn't even cry much during the break-up. It was like I expected it. That was when I met your mother at the hospital. She was pregnant and I was her caregiver. She took a liking to me and asked me to live with her. I gave up on my job because I also wanted to totally forget about that man. And that's how I came to love you so much even before your birth." She had touched his cheeks when she said that.
"Don't you want to get married or bear your own children or just anything?" Michael asked again.
Miss Hena laughed and turned to him squarely,
"You're enough for me, Michael" She smiled
"Don't worry about me, I'm old now. Worry about yourself. You need to give up on that weird attitude of yours," she said, touching the tip of his nose.
"I know, Miss Hena. What's his name?"
"Busher. Aaron Busher" she said and walked out of the dining room.
The name sounded oddly familiar to him. Busher. Raymond Busher. The man, his father, has placed his company and investments in the bankruptcy process. The man that went on his knees before his dad the other time. Michael was in the room but the man didn't care. Raymond's father?
Now in the present, he was facing the woman he hated.
"Mine, Director Vivian told me you were rude to her earlier. Why?" His father asked him.
"Who visits so early in the morning? It's so uncalled for if it's not for business purposes" Michael was trying hard to hide the irritation laced in his voice.
"Don't you think you should apologize for treating her wrongly?" His father was looking at him.
"For real, Dad?" Michael asked. He was slightly shocked.
"Yes!"
"Oh! No! He doesn't have to" Director Vivian quickly put in.
Without a word, Michael stood up, pushed his chair back, and walked out of the dining room.
"Michael!" He called. He sighed and looked straight ahead.
Miss Hena just watched everything that was happening. She was the only one who didn't stop eating.
"You need to calm down, dearie," Director Vivian said, touching his arm. Miss Hena rolled her eyes at her.
"Excuse me," he said, getting up.
"Where are you going to?" She asked trying to hold him back.
"I need to talk to Michael"
"But..."
Miss Hena interrupts her. And said to Alfred,
"You need to go quickly. He would be in his room"
"Okay," Alfred said and walked out.
"Oh!" Director Vivian sighed and eyed Miss Hena who was already through with her food.
****
Mr. Alfred entered Michael's room. Michael stood by the large glass windows that overlooked the other side of the building. He had both hands in his pocket. Mr. Alfred wanted to take it easy. He knew about Michael's temper, but he was also angry. He didn't even know why he was angry. This has never happened between them. Michael had seen him with women and never had problems with it even when they spoke about it. He didn't just understand why he hated Vivian, the woman he finally felt something for.
"If you want an explanation, I don't have any," Michael said in a very calm tone.
"You disrespected me out there. In front of my guest. Why do you hate her so much? Why?!" He asked. Michael turned to him.
"I already told you I don't hate her. I don't hate anyone. Can she not come any closer to me and just stay on her own or rather stay with you? Don't you get it?!" His tone was rising.
"Why are you treating her like that?!" Mr. Alfred's voice was raised too.
Michael couldn't hold it in again, "That's because ever since that woman came into your life, you've forgotten about me. And I'm jealous. You're always with her. And it's pissing me off. Have your romance, but then, what about me? When was the last time we had our father-and-son chat? It's been a long time, Dad. And I miss you so much. I have...have a ton of things to tell you, to talk about. But you're always with her!!" Michael's voice was getting louder and Mr. Alfred needed to do something fast to calm him down. It really dawned on him that Michael was telling the truth.
Miss Hena stood by the door. She heard all that Michael said. Michael was already angry and she didn't know how to stop him at that moment.
"I'm sorry," Mr. Alfred whispered, walking towards him, but Michael took a step back, which made him pause.
"You're sorry? Is that all? Look, Dad, I won't ever approve of anything between you and that woman. I admit that I hate her and I don't want to ever see her around me again!!" Michael stormed out of the room, walking past Miss Hena.
Mr. Alfred couldn't move. He just stood there in thought. He was thankful Michael stopped talking and had gone out of the room. It dawned on him. He can choose to lose everything in the world but not Michael, his only son. He loves Michael so much and he also knows Michael loves him the same way, no doubt. In as much as he wanted to go after Michael, he couldn't. He just turned and saw Miss Hena looking at him from the door.
"Can you check up on him, please?" He said. There were tears on his face.
"What about you?" She asked.
"I'm fine. I just need to know that he's fine after pouring out all of that"
"Okay. I will" she said and left.
Mr. Alfred let out a very heavy sigh.