Chapter 39

Chapter 39 — When It Rains, It Pours

Neither Jason nor Aaron is to be found when he wakes up. He finds his mother in the kitchen, and it's morning. He slept through the night on the couch. He didn't even realise he was that tired.

"Good morning," he greets his mother.

"Good morning, darling. Your boyfriends left yesterday night, told me to inform you,"

"Oh, okay," he stifles a yawn just as his mother slides a steaming mug of coffee in front of him, "Thank you so much," he says, taking a sip, not bothering it scalds his tongue and the roof of his mouth, "Is that for Rylee?" he asks, nodding at the other mug she's filling.

She nods in reply.

"I can bring it to her. I need to see her anyways,"

She passes the mug to him, "She won't talk to me; maybe she will to you,"

"Yeah, I'll try. The kids–"

"I'll take care of them. Don't worry,"

"Thanks, ma,"

Picking up both the mugs, one his and another for his sister, he walks towards her room, knocking lightly with his elbow, before the pushing the door open. It wasn't closed all the way, so it wasn't much of a struggle, having both his hands occupied.

He expected his sister to be all covered up under her blankets and the room to be dark, like she was before. However, much to contrary, she is sitting up and the curtains are drawn, sunlight lighting the room. She doesn't acknowledge him and is staring out the window instead.

"Hey," Liam keeps his voice soft, not wanting to startle her, "I brought coffee,"

She turns to him, and nods once, before turning back to the window. Liam places her mug on the bedside table and sits gingerly at the end of her table.

"You okay?" he asks her.

She doesn't respond.

He waits for a few more moment before saying what has been eating up at him ever since the moment he found that his sister disappeared, "I'm sorry," he lets out a sigh, "I should have been here. I should have not stayed out too much. I should have talked to you,"

He has been spending almost all his after work hours with his boyfriends and not once did he check up on Rylee to see if she'd be fine with it. He was after all staying with her to help her out, yet he wasn't doing anything.

That at least brings some response out of Rylee. She looks back at Liam and he cannot stand with the exhaustion behind her eyes, especially not when he knows he caused some of it.

"Shut up, Liam," she shakes her head, and leans over and takes her mug into her hand, "This is not your fault. Okay. Just shut up," she takes a small sip, before continuing, "I thought... I can handle it all on my own. I didn't want to burden you or mom more than I– Just listen," she stops Liam before he can say anything, and goes on, "It was our anniversary yesterday," she admits at last.

"And I tried to not think about it too much. It was just another day, but–" she takes in a sharp breath, and her voice comes out wobbly, and her hands start shaking, "It just hurt too much,"

Liam grabs the mug before she can drop it and place both of the mugs on the bedside table, moving closer to her.

Rylee continues, wiping the tears of her eyes, "And I know I could have talked to you but I saw how happy you were at last and I didn't want to ruin that.

"What — Rylee, how can you possibly think that? You are my sister; I would never think that you would do anything to ruin my happiness. And I will keep repeating this forever until you completely understand it. I am here because I want to help you. Because I love you,"

"I–," she shrugs and starts crying more.

Liam leans forward and wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back soothingly. A few minutes later, she draws back a little, sniffling, "Are the kids okay? Did I scare them?"

"No, no, they're okay," he assures her, "Mom's got them,"

"God, what kind of mother–"

"Hey, now. You're doing the best you can, okay. It's your turn to shut up now,"

She lets out a short chuckle despite the tears and places on his cheek, giving him a weak smile, "Thank you so much, Liam. I love you,"

"I know," he grabs her hand, smiling back, "Rest up, okay. I love you too,"

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He goes in for work a little bit late and he knows he shouldn't expect any special treatment just because he's dating the boss now, but still can he really be blamed if a small part of him still expects so?

Aaron rings him as soon as he reaches his desk and summons him to enter his office.

"I'm late. I know. I'm sorry," Liam apologises before Aaron can even a get word in.

Aaron simply gives him a small smile, shaking his head lightly — maybe Liam wasn't wrong to expect special treatment. He sits before him, leaning back and letting out a long sigh.

"How's your sister?"

Liam raises his eyebrows surprised. They have signed an agreement with Chloe that their relationship will not affect their work whatsoever and one of the conditions agreed was that they would never discuss anything about their personal life during work hours.

"I thought we weren't–"

Aaron catches on to his worries and shakes his head again, "It's okay. I was just checking in. I couldn't not ask you about that,"

"Oh, okay. Yeah, she's okay,"

"Good," he nods.

"So, can I get back to my work?"

Suddenly, he gets a conflicted look on his face, "Actually, there is one more thing,"

"Yes,"

He exhales loudly, "I was hoping Kaitlyn would have told you first,"

"What?" okay, if Liam was not already curious before, he definitely is now — he doesn't know why they are talking about Kaitlyn now.

"It's about your job,"

Oh.

"You knew this was a temporary gig," Aaron says, grimacing, "And my old assistant will be back in about a month. Chloe is supposed to tell you this, but I told her I wanted to do it myself,"

Just what he needs right now, to be out of a job. For a moment there, he even forgot this was a temporary posting.

"Right," Liam exhales.

"You know, you've actually been a good employee. Maybe I can find a permanent position for you here,"

Liam shakes his head, "No, I don't want you to exploit your power for me. I will find a way. Just thanks for letting me know,"

"Anytime,"

"Alright. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh, god, what else?"

"Just that you look hot today," Aaron winks at him cheekily.

Liam is forced to chuckle. He shakes his head, standing up, "Maybe you should have told me that first,"

"I'll keep it in mind for next time. Okay, now, back to work,"

Liam nods, "Yes, sir,"

And to think, he can never stand this man just a few months back, It's funny how feelings change.

֍֍֍

It is true what people say — when it rains, it pours.

Maybe usually that's a good thing too. However, in this case, it's really not.

All Liam could think was that he needs to find another job — pronto. Like he said, he forgot for a moment that the posting he has currently is only a temporary fix. It completely left his mind that he was supposed to be looking for another more permanent job.

In a way, it is funny — in the process of getting a new start, he hasn't gotten himself a permanent job or even try to find himself an apartment, but he did find himself not one but two boyfriends. He definitely has his priorities straight.

At least, he doesn't have to worry about having to find a new place right now, or at least that's what he thinks.

The first thing to greet when he goes back to the house is boxes. Half of the living room is cleared out, and for the very first time he sees his nephew and niece sitting in one place quietly.

"Oh, thank God, you're back," his mother exclaims upon seeing him, and Rylee barely acknowledges him, kneeling down in front of a box and very intent on packing everything up.

"What is happening right now?"

"Good question. Your sister will answer it. I'm bringing the kids out for ice cream,"

The kids jump in joy at the mention and heads straight for the door, "Bye, Uncle Liam,"

"Wh–" he starts, but Anne simply shakes her head and goes out, "Rylee,"

She stands up and throws her hands up, "I'm selling this house,"

"What?"

"I'm sorry, okay. I just– I can't stay here anymore. I need to get a move on in my life. I can't keep being like this. I need to start taking care of my family care again. I'm the only one who's left to do that anymore. I can't expect any other people to step in for me — you guys have done more than enough for me and I'll be forever grateful for it, but I have to be responsible again. I need to get a job. And since I'm selling this place, I need to find a new house or an apartment. There's just so many things that I have to do," she exhales, putting both her hands on her head.

"Wow, okay," he goes to her and slowly guides her towards the couch, "I do not mean to sound demeaning but when was the last time you saw Dr Preet?" he asks referring to her therapist.

Rylee sighs, shaking her head, "I'm not seeing her anymore. I can't afford that,"

"What do you m–"

"Those are savings for my kids, for their future. I cannot spend that anymore. And before you even suggest it, there's no way I'm taking any money from you,"

"Why not?"

"You have already spent more than enough for this family — buying food, paying all the bills,"

"Well, you've let me stay here for free. And last time I checked, this is my family too. Unless you consider me to be an outsider,"

"What? No, I–" she sighs, "I just have to do something okay. I cannot stay like this,"

"No one's asking you to. I'm simple asking you to take a beat, try to relax, maybe sleep it off. And if this is how you still feel tomorrow, I'm not going to stop you,"

She contemplates it for a moment, looking around the living room which pretty much as if a tornado has hit it, before nodding slowly, giving in.

He reaches out and holds her shoulder, giving her a small smile, "I feel like having ice cream. What do you say, wanna go join the old woman and kids?"

She chuckles, standing her, "Oh, I'm definitely telling mom you called her an old woman,"

"You snitch,"

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