LOVING YOU BENEATH THE SURFACE

FAMILY

*CHRIS’ POV*

The hotel branch I was posted to in Las Vegas was blooming well under my care and it was obvious to everyone that I was indeed good at my job. I spent the last year building relationships with people around me and, of course, I was still Kate.

Although she had been swamped with work because of the big project she collaborated with Anthony on, she still created the little time she had for me and I couldn’t have been happier that she was finally done with the project.

“Finally, you will be using up your leave” Mercy, the HR manager, laughed as she sent me the mail of approval.

Scrolling through my phone, I smiled “I have been waiting for this moment so much.”

Her long nails found their way to her chin as she rubbed her flawless skin at my words. She was known as the red witch because of her lipstick’s color, which was always red. She never used any color except the red one and she was so strict with every employee.

Talk about working more than you get paid for! Her behavior was the complete opposite of her name.

“Do you want to travel out of Las Vegas?” she continued, her teeth showing the piece of gum she had hidden there.

I shook my head. “Not really.”

“Sleeping all day? Video games? TV?” she pressed further, tilting her head to look into my eyes closely.

“I believe we are not obligated to tell the hotel how we are going to spend our leaves. If that’s all, then I will be on my way”, I firmly responded and left for the door.

I heard her mutter “He’s always so cranky but that’s his sexy charm” as I reached for the door but just ignored him and went on my way.

It’s been quite a while I had my baby in my arms, so the night was different. The sound of her breathing against mine was therapeutic and I didn’t want to wake up from it until a call interrupted the moment.

Of course, I ignored it for the first time, but I just couldn’t resist the anger of the second time, so I had to check whoever was bold enough to disturb a peaceful morning at the time.

“Hey man! Why are you calling so early in the morning?” I spat at Evans and silence took over, which made Kate give me a curious look.

“What? Who is that?” she mouthed, our eyes blinking at each other.

“Evans” I mouthed back and she relaxed a bit.

“Is something wrong? You are calling so early in the morning”. I resumed the conversation.

“Oh that’s true, it will be morning over there” Evans remarked.

Rubbing my heavy brows, I also muttered “The damn time difference” tiredly

“Priscilla gave me a beautiful baby a few minutes ago. She’s so beautiful and you need to see her”, he dropped the bomb and my eyes grew wide, mistakenly ending the call out of excitement.

Suddenly, I jumped up with my fists in the air. “Yes! Evans is now a father! He just welcomed a beautiful princess”, I announced, and she flung the blanket aside and jumped to her feet.

“Priscilla is now a mother, oh my God!” she cried out, placing my hands over her mouth happily.

Making a little dance step, she squealed loudly and turned to me sharply “So am I gonna be a godmother then? Right?”

“Yes, you are” I responded with a smile all over my face as I watched her jump happily.

“So what’s the next plan?” she asked, amidst the little dance.

“Straight to New Zealand” I snapped, joining in the dance.

“You know the drill” she gave a high five and we rushed towards the bathroom to fight for who would shower first.

****

Exactly after twenty hours, we landed in New Zealand and went straight to the hospital where they were. I met Evans rocking the little baby in the cot as he grinned widely at the tiny creature.

“You are obviously all over the moon” I remarked and he rushed to me with little giggles.

“I can’t believe I am the father of that beautiful little angel” he whined to me and dragged me to the cot to take a look at the baby.

“She’s extremely beautiful” I admitted, before adding “Just like her mother” and his smile dropped.

“What do you mean her mother? She took this beauty from me. We have the same nose and lips”, he protested, and I snorted.

“The last time I checked, you were not beautiful” was my response as I stuck my tongue out

“You betrayer” he fumed playfully before we gave each other a friendly hug.

“It’s been a while, man!” he added, and I nodded.

“Kate?” he asked, looking around, and I pointed at the door “She’s here too” as she entered at that moment.

She had gone to pick up some things for the baby and the mother from the hospital’s shopping mall when we arrived and I volunteered to look for the family’s room, which I texted her before coming over.

“Hello!” Kate shouted dramatically as she slid the door open.

“Sssssshhhh!” Evans and I chorused to her surprise and that made her freeze.

“You will wake the baby” I whispered, and her eyes bulged as her lips curved into an “Oh”

Looking around, she blurted out “Priscilla?”

“She went for her checkup. She will be back with the nurses soon”, Evans told us and ushered us to a seat after taking the goodies from her

“That was fast though. You jumped right on the plane?” he questioned the obvious and we both nodded before she went ahead to rock the baby and play with her.

Priscilla was finally wheeled in and she expressed her happiness to see us. She had gotten a little chubbier but she was still pretty and jovial as ever.

“You did a great job, thanks for blessing us with a beautiful angel”. I complimented her before her sister took over and they did some catching up while Evans and I, did ours too on the sofa.

They were finally discharged the next day and Evans drove us home to meet Kate, who had prepared several delicacies. We didn’t waste time before we surrounded the table to consume the feasts she had prepared.

“Wow! This is the first time I will be eating your food. No wonder Priscilla is so excellent at cooking. She has a great teacher”, Evans exclaimed, raising his thumb with a laugh.

“Well, I get to eat it every day” I remarked proudly, and he gave me a piercing look.

“Yea! Rub it in my face”, Evans slammed back and we all laughed at our silliness.

The dinner finished and we both went to the balcony to have some beer and also continue our talks.

“So I heard your hotel is on the best hotels list for the third consecutive year”, Evans said.

“Not just on the list, it’s the number one”, I bragged, and that earned me a light punch from him,

“You are just good anywhere you go man, I give you that” he stated, and I brushed it away in embarrassment.

Things got quiet between us for some seconds before he suddenly turned to me. “Now that you are in New Zealand, don’t you plan on stopping by home?”

I shook my head immediately, “No plans” and gulped a portion of my cold beer.

“But why? You refused to go home the last time you came around for my wedding. Have you still not forgiven your father?” he continued the interrogation.

A soft sigh left my chest as I glanced at him. “I am not prepared to see him for now. As long as he’s in good health, we will see when the time is right”

“You are such a stubborn piece of work. You just never turn from your own decisions”, Evans nagged and gave up.

“Well, it shouldn’t be news to you. I’m a man of my word” I said, and he scoffed before he clinked our beer cans with a soft laugh.

“Cynthia is almost done with her studies at the university here. I guess she went to school to get everything off her chest”. Evans suddenly dropped out of the blues and the atmosphere became a bit awkward

“Hmmm….” I stopped, took a slight breath and said “That’s for the better. She needs to be around people.”

“You want me to drop the discussion?” he asked, looking at me.

“You sure understand me without talking”, I sighed and he said a soft “Okay”.

After a little pause, he resumed the grilling session. “You don’t have plans to get married?”

“We decided to take things slow and leave it like this for a while. We will definitely do that once it is time”, I responded coolly.

“Well, I can understand. You both went through a lot to be where you are and you lost a lot. It will take time to heal, recover and finally mend things that were torn and fell apart. You can take all the time you want” he stated,

“As always, there’s no other person that understands me like you” I commented, and he bowed a bit playfully, “My pleasure”, before we both laughed and drank the night away quietly.