Chapter Nine

Dimitri

''Another rainy night in New York,'' Dion says from the passenger's seat as I turn to look out the window, seeing people running away to find a roof over their heads. ''How was your trip in Dubai, sir? I heard there were a lot of young and attractive bachelors.'' He adds at the end, earning a chuckle from my chauffeur, Steve.

I smirk, ''Do you think about men all the time, Dion?''

''Don't think so low of me, Mr. Belrose. I'm just excited about the upcoming black tie event next week,'' He replies before glancing to look back at me but both of my eyes are still wandering off to look at the road, feeling fascinated by the city lights and the amount of people just passing by.

Being away in Dubai for a few days felt like a drastic change. New York is always busy, loud and unexpected but Dubai was elegant, sophisticated and arranged—as if everything was perfectly planned and nothing could go wrong. It was more than just being attracted to the beauty of the city but I was far more attracted to their culture.

''It's next week?'' I raise an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

Dion's eyes widen as he turns to look at me and this time, his eyes linger a bit longer. ''You must be kidding me, Mr. Belrose. Have you forgotten about the black tie event, already? You can't be!'' He says, fanning himself with his hand while I roll my eyes at his dramatic response. ''Please, tell me that you're going to remember every single detail that we both planned about the event. About the theme—''

I cut him off immediately, ''—for Christ's sake, I'm the CEO for a reason, Dion. I just didn't expect time to fly so fast,'' I frown before looking out the window again, mind wandering off to think of making the event a success in order to attract more clients and sponsors.

''Well . . . expect the unexpected, sir. In fact, I found you a new apartment. You might need to check it out this weekend but I'm sure you'll love it, managed to your taste. You'll be thanking me when you're signing the agreement,'' He responds, making me smile.

Even though I had predicted to stay at the penthouse for a couple of weeks until I find some free time for house-hunting but apparently, Dion has already beat me to it. One of the things why I can't simply fire Dion, even when he's being fairly and indescribably annoying almost all of the time but he's good at his job, he gets things done quickly and he respects other. He has never been the one to cause trouble at work and he's also very punctual—time is gold to him. To me.

''We'll see about that. Just text me the address and I'll get to it this weekend,'' I breathe out as I relax my body. ''How much were they offering?''

''Up to ten thousand dollars per month. You can negotiate the terms and price when you meet her, don't worry—compliment her a bit here and there and she'll be able to settle it for you, even lower the price if she has to.'' He says, ''Oh, it's a three bedroom, three bathroom and a large living area kind of apartment.'' He adds, assuring.

''Where is it?'' I ask.

''Manhattan. I'll text you the address tomorrow with her phone number incase you need it,'' He replies.

As soon as we've arrived in front of my hotel, Steve immediately step out of the car to open my door before I even get a chance to do it myself. ''Like I said, Steve . . . you don't have to do that. I can open the door myself,'' I say, stepping out of the car with Dion doing the same.

''It's my job, Mr. Belrose. Have a good night,'' Steve replies, smiling.

''Goodnight, Mr. Belrose. I'm sure they're missing you,'' Dion says from beside me, causing me to squint my eyes at him but all he does is laugh it off as I walk inside towards the lobby, greeted by the employees here even if it's already near one in the morning—they seem to be cheerful, their faces are light up with smiles.

It doesn't take me long to enter the elevator and arrive at my floor; realising that the hallway is awfully quiet but I simply ignore the silence and head straight towards the doors, unlocking them with the assigned key card.

My eyes wander around the penthouse, seeing it tidy and cleaned as I continue to make my way towards the first bedroom, looking for a certain woman—knowing that I sort of miss the way she smiles, it has been days since I last saw her but my eyebrows furrow in confusion as soon as I find the room empty yet her clothes are scattered on the bed, leaving me to quickly make my way towards Brody's room.

I push the door open and my eyes widen at the sight.

Brody and Sophia are sleeping on the same bed as they face each other, both of them sound asleep. My lips curve up into a smile before leaning my side onto the wall, crossing my arms at the sight I never knew I would see—Brody sleeping peacefully with someone else other than me, even with Chloe . . . he never got the chance.

Quietly, I turn off the lights, knowing that they might have fallen asleep without realising before leaving the room, letting them in their deep slumber. My mind wanders off to think of a lot of things, surprised by how comfortable Brody is around Sophia or how happy he gets whenever she cheers him up, it's a surprise.

Brody has never been easy around other people.

He has this wall protecting him but with Sophia, he seems to have let his guard down and destroy the wall on his own. Seeing the two of them sleeping together, reminds me of how much he had missed out on having a mother and how much I had missed out on having a wife to tend for him nor myself. It has been five years since the pain and it feels like an eternity since I've felt alive.

I lay on my bed with my front bod being pressed onto the soft mattress before closing my eyes, letting the tiredness consume me.

--

The loud chatters and sounds coming from the kitchen causes both of my eyes to widen in surprise before groaning, feeling my lower body being sore from sleeping in an uncomfortable position; with both of my arms sprawled in front of me and my stomach laying flat on the bed, it feels as if I didn’t move an inch for hours.

‘’Like that!’’ A familiar voice says from the kitchen, making me turn to roll on my back.

Just as I step out of my room and head straight down the hallway to the kitchen, I am left greeted by Brody and Sophia dancing. Both of their arms are high up as they move their waists to the loud music banging, letting a smile slowly creeping up my face as I watch them. The familiar beat and rhythm from an old 1996 song called Wannabe by Spice Girls are loudly played but I just lean the side of my arm on the wall, letting them sing and dance to the song without realising my presence.

Sophia grabs onto the wooden spoon before pretending it to be a microphone, ‘’If you want my future, forget my past. If you wanna get with me better make it fast. Now, don’t go waste my precious time. Get your act together, we could be just fine.’’ She sings, Brody continuing to dance as he laughs and it takes me awhile to realise how time seems to slow down—letting me appreciate this exact moment, his exact laugh.

It has been awhile since I’ve seen him happy, this happy. The way his eyes are crying tears as he laughs or the way his grin widens before just bursting out with joy, it feels as if I’ve been lacking to be in his life for the past few months. It feels as if I’ve never seen him smile and it worries me.

‘’I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.’’ Brody starts.

‘’So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want.’’ Sophia continues off before they start to sing together, ‘’I wanna—I wanna—I wanna—I wanna—I wanna, really, really, really wanna zigazig, ah.’’ They laugh, Sophia caught on surprise as soon as Brody starts to throw flour towards her direction which causes her to immediately grab onto a fistful of flour and begin to throw at him.

‘’No!’’ Brody laughs, hiding behind the kitchen counter.

Just as he runs off, Sophia begins to throw another fistful towards him but to my surprise, lands straight towards my face. Both of them turn to look at me with both of their eyes wide as Sophia immediately turn the song off, everything going silent as I wipe the floor from my face.

‘’Y—you’re back?’’ Sophia stutters.

They don’t dare to move an inch as they just stare at me but as soon as I see the bag of flour, I immediately make my way towards it.

‘’It’s war!’’ I exclaim, laughing before throwing the bag of flour towards Sophia which causes her to run—Brody quickly grabbing a fistful of his own, throwing it at me.

Then, without us realising, we’re already having this fight as laughters are filling the room, faces and bodies dirtied with flour and even milk. For once in my life, it feels as if this whole mess is made to fulfil my happiness, to make me feel content and just genuinely happy. Not the kind of happy when I get a contract agreed by clients or getting a lot of money into my bank account but the kind of happy where I’ve completely forgotten everything about the world.

‘’Run!’’ Brody laughs, shielding himself.

Just as Sophia turns to run away, she starts to trip onto the floor but before she can receive the impact, I manage to grab her by the waist but take the fall with her—my body hitting first onto the ground as she follows after onto me.

‘’Oh my god, are you okay?’’ She asks, but the laughters continue to escape her mouth as the laughters continue to escape my own mouth, as well. ‘’I’m so, so, sorry.’’ She chuckles.

I groan at the pain but as soon as my eyes meet hers and take in the beauty of her smile, the pain is suddenly replaced with sudden warmness spreading in my stomach and straight towards my heart, making me just stare at her.

Her smile falls as she does the same, staring back at me with something hinting in her eyes but for once in my life or for once in five exact years, I feel as if I’m on cloud nine. The way her pink and luscious lips are just calling out to me and her dark, exotic eyes are gazing straight into my soul, I can’t help but realise how we’re both leaning towards each other.

It’s like we’re both attracted but we’re just too naive about it.

Yet, the one thing I know at the moment is how her body is on top of my own without anything separating us but the dirty and stained clothes we wear. Then, both of my hands are securing her by the waist while her hands are resting on my chest but slowly sneaking up to my neck. Nothing is coming across my mind but the sight of her beauty and it’s putting me in trance.

‘’Dad, it’s a school day!’’ Brody says from the other room which causes me to bump my head against the counter, making me groan.

‘’Are you okay?’’ Sophia asks, the smile returning to her face.

‘’I’m fine,’’ I reply as she grabs onto both of my hands to help me up. As soon as we’re standing to face each other, ‘’Right . . . Friday, school day and I need to get Brody ready for school. See if he needs anything,’’ I frown.

‘’Okay,’’ She responds, taking a few steps back.

It’s not like Brody ever needs any help in getting ready for school. He’s old enough to get ready on his own and I’m only needed to keep him looking neat and prepared but that’s just it—ever since Chloe’s out of the picture, Brody has grown up to be responsible and independent. He doesn’t need others because he can get things done on his own, one of the things I truly appreciate and fond of when it comes to my son.

So, it doesn’t take me long to walk away and immediately take a shower; wanting to clear my head.