Chapter 37: Past And Pain
I quickly changed my outfit into a pair of T-shirt and shorts. Mr Wilson literally sat right there without moving. He was still holding the newspaper. The only difference is that he was not drinking coffee. He still has his glasses on. After I walked out he smiled at me affectionately? Was I imagining it, or did he actually look at me affectionately? Ahem, stop blushing, you idiot!
"Good morning, Mr Wilson." I smiled back at me while tugging a strand of hair behind my ear. Yeesh, I was behaving like a schoolgirl in love. Act mature, Lia.
"It is 11 o'clock, Ms Brown."
"..." Dude, I greet you once in a while. And when I greet you, what should you do? You should accept it and not tell me 'facts'. Yeah, I know it's 11 a.m, but it's too late to be morning and too early to be 'afternoon', what the hell should I say?
And so I cursed him a few times while maintaining a smile. Just when I thought he is not so bad, he just proves me wrong. Sigh, why is love hard?
I rolled my eyes at him before asking, "So, what theme did you decide on?"
He shrunk back at my question. He hid his face behind the newspaper before telling, "No matter how much I think about it, the theme 'The prince and the pauper' seems appropriate."
Calm down, calm down, calm the hell down. Violence is not the answer. Or maybe it is?
"You know what would be more appropriate?" I asked him with a smile.
Hmm, this is weird, Mr Wilson thought. Though he knew that this is a trap he looked at me and asked innocently, "What?"
"My fist in your face!" Violence is always an option! I slammed my fist against my hand to show him that I mean it. I took a deep breath, glared at him, and slammed the door shut.
Before I could slam the door shut Mr Wilson said, "Enjoy your day at the spa Ms Brown!" to remind me that he did some good stuff for me too. But his voice faded at the sound of the door slamming shut. And then I realised something.
Who is paying for this whole thing? Look, I know I look like a stingy person (I am lol) but these spas are extremely expensive and since Mr Wilson planned this thing, I think, he probably planned it in a very expensive and highly rated place. Mr Wilson is unpredictable as you all know, sometimes he is considerate and the other times he's just a goddam freak (what? He is, okay)
It's either on him or on me, and I don't have that kind of money with me. I live in a cramped apartment and am barely meeting expenses. Taxes and rent eat up my salary * crying intensifies * I don't how Adam thought I spend thousands carelessly. Anyway, the point is, I can't afford it. I angered and offended Mr Wilson right now, so if he refuses to pay, I refuse to go. Ugh, sometimes I just wanna rob a bank (Umm, don't take this seriously, I am a very good person as you can see)
I opened the door and talked to him shamelessly after my so-called dramatic exit. I really want to dig a hole and bury myself. So in order to reduce the same I felt, I did not open the door fully; I peeked and saw Mr Wilson in the exact same position. Sigh, is he a robot?
Meh, what do I care? I bobbed my head to the side and waited for him to notice me. Come on, notice me! It's bad enough that I had to come back to ask about who's going to pay, now I have to reach out first too. I grunted. Enough is enough, money is not something to be ashamed of!
"Ahem!" I cleared my throat loudly, so he'd pay attention to me and guess what? He totally ignored me! This little- Deep breath.
"Mr Wilson, I have to ask you something! Do I need to pay for this whole thing?"
He slowly shifted his gaze from the paper to me. He really took his own sweet time. "Yes."
I knew it! It was too good to be true, and I even made so many plans. Everything is down the drain (crying intensity * 2)
After he enjoyed watching me get upset he added, "But not with money. This is in exchange for your acting. You have acted convincing enough as my fiance, so this is your reward."
I wanted to strangle him. Why couldn't he say this earlier, before I started crying inside because of disappointment? And why do I feel that his cheesy lines are not true? Maybe because they are not.
"You're doing this so people believe that I am your fiance, right?" I confronted him.
"Yes."
Sigh, it's Mr Wilson. What did I even expect? You may think: It was incredibly confusing how Lia liked a weirdo like Mr Wilson, but with this behaviour how did they end up getting married?
Let me tell you, fate works in very mysterious ways. I would have never thought that I'd run away from home and marry this guy now did I? I barely knew him until I started working for him. The classic old enemy turned lovers. Sounds cheesy but in my story it was believable, at least this is what I think.
Lizzie and I were being massaged in the same room. Yeah, it was awkward, but it was okay. She told me more about Mr Wilson's childhood and I understood him even more.
"Like I said before Lune, he was not always like this. He was very lively when he was younger. Things started to change when..." Her voice became quieter.
"When?" I asked. Well, don't just stop mid-sentence! I need to know what happened. (When the author leaves you with a cliffhanger and you're all just like: Damn it! What happens next? Please, I need spoilers- been there, done that)
"Well, this happened when Thalia, I mean, Chris' mother suffered a miscarriage. They were so excited to welcome a new baby girl, but due to some unfortunate incidents she miscarried. Chris was only a three-year-old boy at that time. His mother went into depression and she barely paid attention to him. Poor thing could not even take care of herself, how could she take care of Chris?"
"..." Lizzie did not talk for a few minutes and I did not say a word. Thalia was her favorite student, and seeing her go into depression probably affected Lizzie too. This would just remind her about all those bad incidents. I would not ask her if she did not tell me happened after that. I did not think it was my place to know about this either. But Lizzie felt that I should know about Mr Wilson since I was his 'fiance'. Should I tell her that this is all a farce, I feel too guilty cheating an old woman like her. The devil: I don't know if you really feel guilty because you are really enjoying this massage. Stop exposing me! Mentally, I was guilty, physically, I was at peace.
It seemed that all the running around and pretending I did for Mr Wilson was worth it after this one massage session, and the best part was that this was only the starting. There was still more to come.
The devil: So shameless. Me: you're the one to talk.
Let's get back on topic. Lizzie continued, "Chris grew up without receiving much affection from his parents, their company was in trouble back then so his father was barely at home and his mother was depressed. That is why he turned out to be the stoic-faced person he is." (She is referring to his same old constipated look, I'm sorry, but he kinda does look like that)
"Did she suffer from depression for many years? Was Chris not with his grandparents?" I asked. Maybe I should not have probed into the matter, but I already asked her and there is no way to take back my words.
"His maternal grandparents were not much in contact with them because they did not approve Thalia's marriage with Chris' father. Chris' paternal grandmother died when his father was a young boy. His paternal grandfather worked alongside his father because it was a critical time for their company."
How convenient, I thought. Sorry for being disrespectful towards people I don't know properly, but I felt angry on behalf of Mr Wilson. He was three years old, his mother was not in a proper mental state, how could they let him fend for himself like that? At most, their company would be bankrupt or they would have sold the company, but is their company more important than their son/grandson? Sure, Mr Wilson had all the stuff that common people could never dream of, but he lacked love. Money is not everything- there I admitted it.
I went after money to compensate for the fear and frustration I felt when I was younger. Buying ice-cream made me happy, buying whatever I want made me happy. I had to use money to compensate for my happiness, and that is why I am the money-minded person I am today.
"One of the doctors suggested them to have another kid so Thalia would get better (she wanted to have a baby in her arms, her dreams were shattered, she needed a new dream). She got pregnant, she was given utmost care while Chris stayed in the shadows. Her depression went away after she conceived Jason. How it got cured so fast? I don't know. If I was in that Country at that time I would have taken him away from that household. Sigh, it was not meant to be. After his brother was born... Well, you can imagine what happened next, I don't need to explain."
Her words struck chords in my heart. Mr Wilson and I..... We are very similar. At least, I had my grandfather and Lisa. He had nobody. I could imagine him when he was young, lifeless eyes, looking at all the surrounding commotion while everyone around him prepared for his brother's arrival. He did not know who to talk to, nor did he feel loved there. He just....just survived, that is until he was shipped off to a boarding school. I balled my fists in anger.
I can't describe the anger I felt, I did not feel like 'chilling out'. I wanted to meet him and give him a big hug.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CinRoll
CinRoll Sorry for the heavy chapter _/\_
This chapter tells us more about Chris Wilson and why he is the way he is. Sigh, even I felt bad while writing this, but this is how I imagined him to be.
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