Episode 18: Family Issues

Episode 18: Family Issues

Leslie stared at the coffee on the table before her in a state of exile.

She tried her hardest not to be offended by Christopher's words but what he said about her minding her business had truly rubbed her the wrong way.

Why would he say something like that when she was only trying to understand him? It wasn't like she didn't have scars of her own, which she would gladly share with him if he was willing to lend an ear, so why did he make it seem like it was such a taboo act to trust her?

He didn't usually open to others according to Noah so why would he give her the title of his girlfriend only to have barriers with her?

It just didn't make sense.

All it did was have her concerned to be honest.

Half an hour passed by since she returned to the kitchen like she had said. He still hadn't made an appearance. The woman started to wonder if he ever would. The clock on the wall mocked her and it slowly made her grow embarrassed.

She had taken the time to do her research on the words she had memorized from his prescription bottles.

After googling the facts about what it was, she learnt that the SSRIs were for depression.

Christopher was depressed? How? Why?

She just couldn't believe it.

It was clear he was more on the introverted side when it came to his personality but it really had shocked her to imagine it being to this extent.

Her eyes burned with tears as she continued reading about the side effects of his condition and the drugs he was taking.

They included: lack of appetite, restlessness, nausea, dry throat and prone to sleepwalking.

Well, that explained what happened last night.

She started to wonder if that was a regular occurrence.

Also, did he have to deal with all these side effects or was it only this particular one?

It took scrolling through another article about the death rate of people who take these pills to have her give up on her information gathering.

Doing this was only making her more paranoid than she was before.

She took deep breaths to calm herself but the clock kept going at it. The thing was more irritating than any metronome in an exam setting.

Just as she was about to abandon her seat and go to work, she heard light footsteps before a familiar figure rounded the corner.

The light in her eyes upon seeing Christopher was luminous and even though she tried to not show how grateful she was that he had showed up, it was practically impossible with her smiling from ear to ear.

He tried to return it, thinking that it was her way of attempting to calm his nerves.

The man didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it already was. That being the main reason why he had made the decision to come clean to her.

He carefully took a seat and his fingers traced the pattern of the table cloth before he looked up, meeting her expectant eyes.

"It's boring family stuff." He started, and she leaned forward, realizing that he was going to let her in.

Leslie was more scared about it than she thought she would have been.

She wanted to ask him to give her a second to brace herself but it had been almost an hour since she had given him an ultimatum. It would be silly of her to back out now or to act cowardly.

So she listened.

"What is?" She prodded quietly.

He stared at her, then slowly, it seemed like he was being compelled to see something else beyond her.

Something of immeasurable impact that it had him lost in the past.

"When I was younger, I was always good at math."

"Math?" She asked with a scrunched up face.

It wasn't because she hated the subject with every fiber of her being since growing up but because the mention of it in this situation seemed so odd and out of place.

What did math have anything to do with him taking anxiety pills?

She wanted to question him about it but the words couldn't come out seeing how tense and uncomfortable he was.

He tried to make it seem like he wasn't though, folding his hands and sitting up straighter.

"I was not simply good at it, but exceptional for a five-year-old. Some people called me a genius. Others said I was a prodigy. Of course, there was also a group of people who thought it was some kind of indescribable and unfounded brain functionality. A level of intelligence only certain humans could unlock."

Her lips parted as she took in everything he had just said.

He had been a mathematical prodigy?

Wow.

Here she was still struggling to recall her 8 times on multiple occasions.

He could see on her face that she was already impressed with what he was saying.

Christopher found it somewhat cute that it didn't take much for her to become amazed by him. It was like second nature for her to appreciate something as long as it had his name on it and he was starting to get attached to the expressions she made at that moment.

It took a while of him staring at her and a slight prompt of her hand before he got back to what he was saying.

"Oh yes. As I was saying, my calculation abilities were superior to others, especially at my age, and my parents enjoyed it. They were fond of the idea of having a little Einstein in their family. It wasn't a surprise that they would be with both of them coming from traditionally educated backgrounds. Being the professor he was, my father would have me solve problems throughout the day. From sunrise to sunset. It didn't matter what time of day it was, I had to get them all done. Let's just say I've gotten so used to that bad habit of staying up that it's stuck with me till now."

Leslie swore she heard her heart crack at that moment.

What in the world?

His parents literally exploited his ability because they wanted to have a family reputation that most people didn't.

At the expense of their own son's health at that.

A five year old's health!

Now he had been so mentally fucked that he couldn't fall asleep properly in his late twenties.

Has this been happening all these years ever since he was five?

Did he never have a good night's sleep in his life after that?

She could feel the tears from before resurfacing and he barely caught sight of it before his gaze flickered down to the table.

He didn't say anything more, just traced the patterns yet again.

"I feel like there's more to that story," she practically croaked with a heavy throat.

He appeared to flinch at the sound of it.

She didn't know why that seemed to affect him but it did.

So much that he looked up at her and requested, "Don't cry on my behalf."

It was said with an incredible amount of sadness and admonishment.

She cleared her throat.

"I'm not crying."

"Yes, you are."

"I said I'm not-"

"And seeing that makes me feel like relaying this story to you is a big mistake."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why would you say that?"

"I don't like seeing you cry." Was all he said.

It seemed like a good enough reason for him not to go into elaboration.

Leslie looked at him, stunned.

She tried to not to be flattered by his admittance but it really had the butterflies in her stomach erupting in a frenzy.

Oh, how he could be so unknowingly romantic.

It was unfair.

Christopher continued staring at her with disapproval as she wiped at her face, flushed red from the tears.

Even with getting rid of them, she couldn't hide her worry about him.

It moved something inside of him as he acknowledged that within this cold and dark world she was the warmest, most radiant creation he had ever encountered.

Those sad-looking eyes were hurting him more than his past ever did.

He felt ashamed to bring her into something she wasn't prepared for.

As he was about to offer her a way out, she sniffled and said, "Carry on. I'm listening."

He looked at her, unable to hide his surprise.

She really wanted to continue this conversation despite how shaken up she was by it already?

The man was aware that what he told her had been...unusual for many to hear and expected a certain kind of reaction but definitely not tears. Maybe pity but not the genuine heartbreak and anger she was exuding on his behalf. It was making him see the depths of her feelings for him more.

Christopher felt like he'd been handed something so precious that he was unworthy of in every aspect.

"Are you sure you want me to?" He asked with ocean eyes flowing over her.

She nodded.

He took a hesitant look at her and for a moment the most ridiculous thing happened.

He imagined reaching over and holding her into his arms to bring comfort.

Christopher shook his head at the scene his mind conjured up and rubbed at the nape of his neck.

What's wrong with me? He questioned himself, his sudden need to take the initiative when it came touching her leaving him astonished.

"I'm sure, Christopher. I want to know. Even if it means never having to get these awful images out my mind, I want to know because it involves you. I want to know how to cure you."

"There's no cure for what they've done, Leslie." He said softly, as if what she had said was both valued but dissuaded into thinking that could be.

She opened her mouth to argue, but then she closed it, thinking better of starting a verbal sparring.

He was already going through so much talking about this dreadful past, she didn't want to add to it.

Assuming she had given up, he went on with what he was telling her before.

"So that's one of the many reasons why I have insomnia and have to take pills for sleep."

"It's been so many years. I can't believe such a thing still has that big of an impact on you."

"Me neither." He said bitterly.

Her lips folded as she looked at him.

Her beautiful Christopher.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she had gotten up out of her chair, rounded the table and pulled him into a tight hug. Her body was perched on his lap as her arms wrapped themselves around his neck to do so. He had stiffened upon having the lady around him like this but eventually relaxed.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed into his neck.

She didn't know why she was so emotional after swearing to herself she wouldn't be.

Get it together, Leslie. Crying is only going to make him feel worse.

Despite telling herself this, it was very hard for her to do.

If anything she held onto him tighter.

Almost as if someone was going to take him away and she would never have the chance to see him again.

For some reason, Christopher felt her fear and anxiety.

He could feel everything she was experiencing from the way she was shaking in his lap and it had him so worried.

His hand came up and patted the top of her head reassuringly. Afterwards, he encouraged her to lift her head to look at him. He felt a pang to his chest as he brushed her hair out of her face. "I thought you said you weren't going to cry."

"I never said that. I said I wasn't crying and I wasn't...at that moment."

"Even then you still had tears in your eyes," he said with a slight tease before wiping at the corners.

When she looked up at it, she looked so broken it had him genuinely angry at himself for being the cause.

"Don't look like that," she said.

"Like what?"

"Like you're mentally kicking yourself in the butt for telling me all of this. I already told you I wanted to know."

"Yes, I remember." He sighed, thumb traveling down to run at her cheek.

Both of them were too caught up in their feelings to notice his natural touches towards her.

"Christopher, they shouldn't have done that to you." It's inhumane, she wanted to add but didn't want to disrespect his parents nor hurt his feelings.

He easily agreed. "I know but I can't do anything about it now, can I?" He replied coolly.

That hurt her on another level.

This was his reality.

He had no choice but to live with this...this form of abuse in his memories.

Without giving her the opportunity to prolong this topic further, he politely removed her from his lap and onto her feet. This time she didn't complain and returned to her seat. It was clear that he was going to move on with this and she had no choice but to do so too.

"Now that I've told you about the cause of my pill consumption, let's talk about more important things. Like what Mr. Collin asked me to inform you about, which is your return to the office again."

"Here I was getting used to this work environment." She joked.

"Too bad. I don't think I'll be needing you around anymore."

"Ouch."

His lips twitched. "No, not the 'ouch'."

She gave him a sour look.

"You're just becoming more of a distraction than what's necessary."

Leslie grinned at that. "I distract you?"

"It isn't something you should be proud of." He scolded lightly but there was secret humor in his eyes.

The woman shrugged her shoulders, still pretty much feeling like she was walking on air. "I don't know. For some reason it feels like an accomplishment. It's you we're talking about after all."

He rolled his eyes. "Can't you be serious for one second?"

"I'm always serious when it comes to you." She batted her damp eyelashes at him innocently.

He swore his heart skipped a beat.

"I meant for your sake."

"Oh."

He shook his head at her and turned to leave but she tugged at his hand. "Wait! I'm listening. I swear I'm listening."

He let out a sigh and looked down at her pleading face.

That was all it took to have him seated again.

"As I was saying, he needs you back at the office more than I do. There's also an annual writer's convention coming up that he wants you to take part in."

"A writer's convention?"

"Yes."

"That he wants me to take part in?"

"Yes- I literally just said that, Leslie. Do you get a kick out of hearing me repeat myself?"

"I like to hear your voice, so if we're speaking indirectly, yes. I do like to hear you repeat yourself."

He only stared at her.

Just when he thought she couldn't make him more speechless than he ever had been about her lack of filter.

Glancing at the watch on his hands, he became conscious of the time.

"From now on, you will only have time to prepare for the convention. Mr. Collin seems to have a lot of faith in you, for whatever reason, so don't let him down."

"For whatever reason? Don't you know who your girlfriend is? I'm the new ace of Charles & Collins! Do you think it's just surface value I operate off of? My bark is as bad as my bite."

"Way to blow your own trumpet."

Leslie tried to not blush in embarrassment at being called out like that.

She honestly thought he was going to entertain her.

"Aw, don't be like that. I'm just trying to make you see me for more than what you do right now. I'm always carefree and impulsive when it comes to you but a lot of people hold me in high regard."

His eyes narrowed dangerously at her and she started to wonder if she had said something wrong.

"You think I think lowly of you?"

"No! That's not what I meant. What I meant to say was-" He leant forward and rested his palm on her cheek. It was a shy motion in which a moment of regret came but then he saw the shock and happiness in her eyes which it incited.

Instantly, he was rewarded with a flurry sensation in his chest.

"I respect you, Leslie."

Her jaw dropped.

She knew he did from his actions but reassuring her so openly like this didn't hurt a woman's pride.

"I'm also very much aware of the brilliant woman you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't still have the title of my editor. Trust me."

She was left stunned and on the verge of bursting from uncontainable joy when his hand dropped, a heat creeping up his neck at her devouring eyes.

He cleared his throat before standing up and walking away.

"I'm going to make breakfast. Do you want anything?"

"I already ate."

But somehow she was still hungry.

Watching him from where she was, Leslie never knew she could want someone this badly.

Never knew she could fall for someone this quickly.

***

A/N:

Oh my gosh, is our baby in love already?!

We love to see positive and wholesome emotions blossoming. 💕

Can we also talk about Christopher doing the bare minimum and saying he respects Leslie in this episode?

I was on the verge of proposing to him right then and there. 🤞💍

[connect with the author:

insta: @writtenbyzan_]