Chapter 58 - So how can you leave alone this evening?

POV: Aiden

Come with me

And don't you fall asleep

Because you're all I see

Oh this is evergreen

...

(Summer night with a glass of red wine

Dressed up, dressed to the nines

We'll take it slow and take in this moment)

(A/N This ISN'T a thought. The above is singing out loud. I had no other methods of differentiating so I had to go with italics. The song will be linked with the chapter)

With the last strum of the acoustic guitar, I was met with a couple of seconds of silence before the small, appreciative audience gave a round of applause. I smiled gratefully before getting my water bottle from under my chair, finally quenching my thirst.

Today was the favourite day of every month. It's the day I visit the only other person I trust (minus Nero) and the only person I would ever consider family. It was the day I catch up with George Hendrix Troph, previous CEO of Troph International (now retired) and my biological grandpa. He was the only ever person to treat me like a person during my childhood and he showered me with just as much love as he did with my other siblings, even though I'm technically a mistress's child. I can guarantee that I'm the favourite child and was showered with most of the love since I was the only one who put time and effort into visiting him without ill intent.

Gramps was staying at a nice retirement village, which had the best care and facilities that anyone could ask for and it was located on the outskirts of the city, making it relatively close by. George said that he liked the place a lot and he had a lot of friends but you could tell he was feeling lonely without his wife, who was residing in the afterlife. He kept a happy exterior for me and even when I called him out on it, he denied it, so I just played ignorant for his sake.

The place was funded by some mystery donor (only the higher-ups of the place know who it was) and apparently, the person came to visit the place every once in a while, which was sweet of him. Most just do it for the sake of appearance and don't bother to check what they're being charitable for. Gramps said he met him once and even knew of him before retirement but when I asked for the identity, he remained loyal to the secrecy.

What a sore loser.

Anyhow, every single time I visited, I always sang a couple of songs for the residents in the village in their community hall before meeting gramps (he usually came to me). It was a good way to destress for myself as well as bring new forms of music, that being more modern songs. I must say, however, after coming here for so long, it seemed that I'd made quite the fanbase and even though they were all above the age of sixty, they could be just as rowdy as teens when I sang one of their favourite songs. It was definitely a sight to see.

My eyes locked with gramps, who was chilling at the back of the audience in his wheelchair and a childlike smile formed on my face.

"Oh no, I know that smile," said one of the elderly.

"It's the I-found-my-grandpa smile!" said another.

"Which means he's not going to sing for us anymore," finished off Mr. Roth (I think).

Are they all telepathic?

The entire crowd awed and groaned in disappointment, well except for George and I, where we burst out laughing. Once the laughter died down, I got the microphone again and commented, "you guys know me too well. But you gotta cut me some slack. I only get to see my beloved once a month, obviously I'm going to ditch you guys for him."

A couple of people chuckled, some sulked out loud and I heard a couple of "I wish he was my grandchild" throughout the crowd. Most, however, demanded for one more song and as much as I wanted to run to gramps and tell him how much I missed him, I was a notorious crowd pleaser and I couldn't leave a crowd disappointed. It's against my morals.

"Ok, ok, fine. I'll sing you guys one more song," I picked up the guitar again and sat it on my lap and fixed the mic's height to a comfortable height. "This song is called Not a Pop Song and the original singer is Little Mix. They're a guilty pleasure of mine."

I gave two strums of the guitar as a natural habit before singing the intro... only to abruptly stop because the most unexpected caught my eyes. In the back corner of the hall, right in front of the exit, was my fucking boss. My temporary boss. As in Erwin fucking Fonzo. He was standing with some other important-looking people but they looked like blobs from this distance. Confused fax noises ran through my head before a string of questions overtook me instead.

What the fuck is he doing here? Is he stalking me? Why does he look so good? How long has he been there? Why do I have to see him on my day off, a weekend? Why do I have to see him at all? He's totally stalking me, isn't he? It should be illegal to look that good in a polo shirt and khaki shorts. He looks pretentious as fuck though. Should I run away? I should run away, shouldn't I? That sounds like a smart idea. I still don't know why he's here though. Does his gramps stay here as well? That'd be a fucking coincidence. Speaking of coincidences, we've been seeing each other too much for my own good. It's like God is aiming to shove us in a box together, which is very much not appreciated. Although, those arms can be appreciated. Those are some pretty hunky arms. And legs. Bet he's on steroids. Also, WHY DOES HIS HAIR HAVE TO BE TIED UP? AS IF HE WASN'T SALIVATING ENOUGH.

Obviously, Erwin noticed me and was also blatantly gaping at me, probably having a shit ton of questions of his own. Our staring competition was broken when Mrs. Free and a couple of others began complaining at my sudden daze. I quickly apologised and played again, before hesitating again. Mainly because I didn't want Erwin to hear... or see. I was suddenly feeling very self-conscious and insecure. What if he doesn't like your voice? What if he thinks you can't sing? Wait, hold on, why do you care what he thinks?

Yeah, why did I care? I cleared my voice and very obviously ignored him and his entire existence as restarted the introduction, this time finally getting to the lyrics. Once I was done, I completely forgot that Erwin was ever there and bowed to the applause. Sweet ignorance didn't last long as I remembered that Erwin was indeed in the room when I started singing. Maybe he left? God, I hope he left. Curiosity got the better of me and I checked in the direction of where he was standing and, yep he was still there, this time looking at me with a look of surprise and... awe? It was a very gentle look that made me look away in embarrassment. I think we can confirm that he doesn't mind my singing, which is good?

I shook my head internally and quickly packed up my guitar, then I jumped off the stage and fast walked to my... smug-looking grandpa? Oh shit, he saw the entire freeze up and the cause of the freeze-up. Fuuuccckkkk. I glowered at my grandpa as I reached for the handles at back and his smirk grew even wider. I couldn't really help holding back a frustrated grown.

"We're going out back and you're to remain silent till we reach the destination," was my first words to him.

"I didn't even say anything," was his smart-ass response.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him towards the exit. Obviously, I needed to walk past Fonzo and friends but if I was fast enough, I probably didn't need to interact with them. So yeah, I did that. And it worked. I walk past them with my head slightly down and as soon as I brushed past them, I gave them a polite, "good afternoon," still with my head down and got the fuck out of there, not waiting for a response back.

♤♧♡♢

"So... what was that?" asked George. We were sitting side by side with me on the edge of the bench and the wheelchair placed next to me. The bench looked out to a mediocre sized manmade lake, which should've looked tacky but honestly didn't look all that bad. The ducks seemed to agree as well.

"What was what?" I replied, playing oblivious. Gramps didn't buy it.

"When you were blatantly ogling Mr. Fonzo and drooling over him?"

"I WAS NOT DROOLING OVER HIM! Wait how do you know who he is?"

"You didn't deny the ogling accusation," a small chuckle was released from the stupid old man. "And how I know him is none of your concern, Aido."

"It is very much my concern for many reasons. Now can you please answer the question?"

George rose one of his eyebrows. "Only if you tell me why he concerns you so much? I just thought you found the man attractive but your reaction tells me otherwise."

"Well, I, fine. He's Nero's boss's best friend as well as my own boss. Well, temporary boss. And we run into each other too many times for either of our likings. Like seriously, I meet the guy once and since then, I keep seeing him at least twice a week."

"He's your boss, of course, you're going to run into him."

"He's the CEO of a huge-ass company and I'm just an unordinary ordinary employee. We shouldn't be seeing each other this frequently."

"He's a CEO? What a respectable man, well even more respectable than before. It would explain how he gets the money."

"What do you mean even more and what money?" I prodded with a confused tone.

"We're getting there brat. More importantly, do you have a crush on Mr. Fonzo?"

Cue the sputtering and indignant noises. "What the fuck, no? Where did that come from?"

"From the red face you're currently spotting and the obvious checking out you did earlier?" The smirk was back.

"Well, you're wrong. I just knew how to appreciate good looking things."

"Doesn't explain the red face."

"..."

"..."

"Anyway, answer my question. I answered yours." Not the smoothest way to change the conversation but I was only ever smooth when I needed to get laid.

"I trust you to not tell anyone else but Mr. Fonzo is the mystery sponsor for the village that everyone speculates about."

Can't say I was expecting that. "What?"

"He seems to be the major funder for the place."

"Seems? So you don't actually know?"

"Well, he never explicitly said it but it's quite obvious from all the hints."

"Hints?"

"I've talked to the man once before. Occasionally, he'd go around and talk to the residents and I happened to be one of them a couple of months back. That's how I was acquainted with him in the first place. He never mentioned any other fact about himself except for his name and his connection. Oh, and his clothes. And before you ask, his adoptive grandpa used to reside here before he passed away a few years back. I knew of the guy but we weren't really all that close, just had the occasional small talk. From what I know though, he was a kind gentleman. So I'm assuming he's funding in honour of his family."

I didn't immediately say anything to process the newly found information. At first glance at the guy and you'd never expect him to have such a background. You'd think he grew up in a well-sheltered home with a perfectly loving family with perfect siblings and perfect amounts of everything else. Not everything is as it seems.

"Still gramps, I don't get how you figured out that it was him who's funding."

"There's no definitive evidence but considering his occupation and his constant entourage of important people whenever he comes here – which is already a lot more than necessary – it begins to turn quite obvious."

"Hmm... yeah I guess that's fair enough." We were put in contemplative silence as I said that. Even though adoptive, his grandpa showered him with all the love he could give. Proves that blood means nothing. A fresh breeze of air brushed past and the ducks were sunbathing under the warm sun. It was relaxing to say the very least. We were like that for about five minutes before George broke the silence.

"Enough about someone else, you're here to visit me so I expect all the attention on the both of us now."

I grinned at that and energetically jumped on board with the idea. "I am indeed here to visit you. I missed you, old man."

"I missed you too Aido and don't call me that. I'm still in denial of reality."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "You've gotta accept it sometime soon. Your hair is a lot whiter than last month, well a lot less purple than before and you've got so many more wrinkles. Wait, is your skin starting to sag as well?"

"Shut it brat. I still have a killer punch that I'm not afraid to use on my favourite grandkid." Jokes aside, he had gotten a lot older appearance-wise and it put me in a sullen mood but I didn't show it. His hair was more white than purple now, which was a huge reality check. (You may be wondering why I have blue hair whereas the rest of the Troph family have varying shades of purple hair. I got my hair genetics from my mum)

"I doubt that threat for a second and did you just openly admit I'm the favourite child?"

George scoffs. "As if you didn't already know that. It wasn't you who threw me into this enclosure as soon as you got control over the company or it wasn't you who visits when they need something from me. Like changing the terms of my will. Speaking of which, do you get along better with your brothers these days?"

I gulped at the question and looked away from him, zoning out. Here's the thing, he didn't exactly know about my bad relationship with the Troph family. He did know that I didn't get along with them but didn't know the details and extent of how bad it was. He didn't know about the bullying or the neglection, mainly because the family hid it from him and they threatened me to keep quiet about it.

George was a family guy, with a strong belief that family was everything and they should have a strong, good relationship. He wasn't always like that. From what I used to hear, he used to be a cold-hearted bastard but soon, his ideals were affected by his late wife but regardless, he now firmly believed that family should come first. If he ever found out about their antics, he would've never given the company to the eldest son and would've passed it to the one in line after him, the second youngest.

I could've exposed them later on and told him everything. He would've believed me over them any day but he also would've been so heartbroken and guilty, he'd probably become depressed. He'd blame himself for not seeing it and be constantly apologetic towards me, even though it was not his fault at all. I'd never blame him. I loved him to death. So in this case especially, ignorance was truly bliss.

I zoned back in and shook off all the traumatic memories that resurfaced. I turned back to a concerning looking George and smiled my most convincing smile. "I haven't really seen them since I left home but fa-father would occasionally call (a lie) to check up on me. I also ran into Bradley the other day, at Nero's workplace. But we needed to eat lunch quickly so I just greeted him before going off my own way. So I wouldn't say we're getting along better but I can't say it's worse either." The last comment was probably the only truthful thing I said out of all that. I did my own thing, they did their own thing. Bradley hadn't bothered me ever since that day, so I assumed he lost interest.

George was analysing me, looking for any lies but I knew when it comes to "family", no one can fake it as I could. Even though his face was drenched in suspicion, gramps took my word for it.

"Ok. It just makes me sad how you guys can't get along and no one will tell me why. I'm sure it's not your fault though."

I laughed at that. "Don't worry gramps, it's no big deal. The only family I need is you anyway."

"But I'm not going to be here for long. I just don't want you to be alone."

I scolded him immediately. "Don't say that. I'll never forgive you if you leave me when you have the option not to do so."

He just smiled at me and opened up his arms. The message was received and I went closer to him so he could pull me into an awkward hug. Although awkward, it was warm and comforting. We stayed like that for a bit before pulling back and catching each other up with our lives.

Before you knew it, a couple of hours had gone by and it was time for gramps to leave. It was bingo night. I was honestly insulted that he'd rather spend time playing with paper and numbers than his own grandchild and I threw a tantrum about it, only to get whacked in the head. It was effective.

I let one of the volunteers wheel him away after my farewell and just, sat at the bench to look out in the lake. It was just one of those moods. For some reason, my train of thought kept redirecting itself to Erwin and I had to put actual effort to shove him out. After about the third time of trying, I gave up and let my brain go loose.

My dumbass brain kept recalling the time when I bumped into Bradley and everything that went down during and after that. I never expected my boss to defend me from my brother, let alone look infuriated. The damn guy was known for being a cold-hearted twat that was only job-oriented, giving zero shits about the people around him (except for his companions).

That was why girls simped for him so hard. They loved a challenge and they all genuinely believed that they were the ones that would quote on quote "melt his ice-cold heart" and make him fall in love with them. Their attempts were tragic. I'm pretty sure there was a rumour that was going around at one point that he was actually asexual and aromantic but that was quickly debunked after it was exposed that he occasionally went out for one night stands. Now girls took what they could get and just try to get into his pants.

I regretted accidentally finding out that he had a five out five-star rating. It was TMI and no, I did not get tempted to find out for myself. You did.

ANYWAY, after leaving the building, the new nickname for me was something Erwin was serious about and now that's all he called me to my outward displeasure (and to my secret pleasure). I had an annoying name for him too but I was going to spout it on him at the most unexpected him. He won't see it coming. It was payback for agitating the shit out of me on the way to work that day.

Even after we got back to the building, Erwin didn't immediately go back to his office. Instead, he physically dragged me to the coffee shop that came with the building and ordered coffee for both of us. We then proceeded to sit down and just... talk. Civilly! Like we didn't clash heads once, talking about neutral and safe topics. He presence in the café definitely didn't go unnoticed since the entire staff were staring at the two of us like we're some exhibit. Usually, I'm an attention whore but I really wasn't feeling it then. Luckily, he didn't mention Bradley once nor question the backstory, except for inquiring one thing.

He was curious about why I hid the fact that I possess an Oddity. So I told him, more or less. Being the youngest, you'd think you'd get the most love but instead, I'd always been the disappointment of the family and been the hated one. I didn't elaborate on why. I always wanted to impress them, learning every skill possible, doing well in academics but nothing ever worked. When Bradley's Oddity awakened for the first time at the age of seven, the entire family partied and danced the night away. So naturally, I hoped for the same. After a long while, nothing happened so I concluded that I was just normal. It was around this time that I realised my family would see me as nothing more than useless trash so I quit trying to impress them as well, choosing to find the fastest way to get out of the house instead.

When I turned twelve, my power awakened at three am during my Minecraft gameplay, deeming me a late bloomer. I considered telling the family then but at that point, I gave zero shits about them and I don't need their fake praises and affection. They wouldn't love me for me, they love me for my power because they're all power-hungry like that. I'm pretty sure my brothers would've intensified their assault if they found, to show me who's the boss and the alpha among us siblings. Erwin wasn't informed of that little thought though.

After the somewhat brief explanation, the boss said nothing, nodding after a moment, stood up and then just, left. Well, he did hum and then said he had to go to work before leaving.

Boy, if that didn't puzzle the shit out of me. I thought I offended him but I didn't say anything offensive. He asked for my life story and I gave it to him. Was he on his period? In the end, I concluded that once he heard the story, he realised that he didn't actually care and that the rumours about him being a cold-hearted bastard was true. What a major turn off.

After then, we hadn't seen each other nor talked, except about work and that was through a messenger anyway. Until now that is, where we had the unfortunate, accidental meeting at the most unexpected place.

I sighed out loud, zoning back into myself and it was at this moment that I realised that there was another occupant on the bench at the other end. And of course, it had to be Erwin. The bench was long enough to keep some distance between us but you could shuffle once and instantly be side-by-side. He felt my eyes boring into the side of his head and he turned to meet it. As usual, he looked great with his hair placed in all the right places and his shirt wrinkle-free. He gave way no emotion nor did he say a single thing as he observed me. I tried to mask my own emotion but the curiosity was clear. I managed to not blurt out anything, as much I wanted to scream WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Erwin looked away and resumed staring out in the lake. The action baffled me again since usually we're bickering or saying something to each other, like this guy was a fucking enigma, but I thought back on what gramps said and assumed he just wanted some quiet, lone time. Lone time on his bench that he probably claimed and therefore, I was trespassing.

I should leave. I looked away, picked up my guitar and stood up. I'd take a step but the sudden warmth around my wrist stopped me. I turned to the source to find that the other man grabbed on to my wrist without looking away from the lake. He still said nothing nor did he turn to look at me after feeling my laser focussed eyes. I had no idea what he was thinking and I hated it but I got the non-verbal message. Without saying anything more, I sat back down and leaned the guitar between us. Erwin took his hand back, the warmth on my wrist immediately disappeared along with the wind. I leaned back against the bench and went back to appreciating the nature in front of us.

The company was nice, even though none of us said anything and the silence wasn't awkward surprisingly. Instead, it was serene and comforting. I wouldn't mind doing this again with him.