Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Chapter 46 – Keepsake Samples (Sky‘s POV) “Finn!” I called my brother angrily while I walked toward the family room where he was watching rugby sports. I ignored Elenita and Olivia as they assembled the puzzle on the table, not caring they would witness me strangling my brother.
“What now?” He scowled, rolling his eyes at him as if he knew already what it was about.
“Dean Jones called me,” I hissed at him and felt glad that Dad went somewhere to meet an old friend. At least he won‘t see Finn and me fighting again. I walked in front of the TV to block it and stopped him from watching. “What age do you intend to graduate from college? Never?” I shouted angrily at him. “Same as Olivia?”
“Sky,” Elenita looked at me, but when he saw how mad I was, she shook her head and sighed as she tried to focus on the puzzle again. “What do you plan to do with your life?” I roared furiously, taking the remote control from him and turning off the TV. “What will you tell Dad this time?” “It‘s not my fault, okay? That lunatic substitute professor was giving me a hard time. She‘s not accepting my research paper, telling me it‘s not enough,” he growled at me. Olivia chuckled. “It‘s not what I heard yesterday when you‘re talking to Conrad. You told him you fell in love with her, and you intend to stay for another year,” she shook her head after flickering her eyes on us. “Shut up!” He gave Olivia a sullen look, but she only sneered at him. All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
I heaved a deep sigh, sitting down on the egg chair. “Please, Finn. If you have no plan in life, just do this for Dad. He‘s not asking for anything else except seeing you graduate this month,” I said in a resigned voice. Already tired of fighting with Finn, I looked at him and asked, “What can I do to help you?” He smirked, snatching the remote control from me. “Talk to her.” He sneered as he shook his head. “She‘s too perfectionist. If you can make her accept my paper, then your problem is solved, big brother.” My fingers curled my hair, gripping them instead of Finn‘s. I really wanted to hurt him right now, but I couldn‘t. Still, he is my brother.
“So, Sky, if I graduate, can I have my freedom to go and live with mom?” A question that did not surprise me. He has always wanted to leave home and be with our mom, but with dad‘s condition, he couldn‘t live with her that long.
“It‘s Dad‘s only wish,” I said, leaning on the chair‘s backrest and closing my eyes. Years of arguing with Finn have been tiring already.
“What happened to Dad, by the way?” Olivia asked. “He‘s kinda weird yesterday. I‘ve never seen him so happy,” she added. “Is he seeing someone else?”
Olivia burst a peal of laughter when Finn and I scowled at her. “Nope,” Elenita answered. “He became an instant grandpa yesterday when a five–year–old child hired Sky to be their dad for a day,” she smirked at him.
“What?” Finn raised his eyebrows, lifting the corners of his mouth as he shook his head.
“He just can’t stop telling me how adorable the girls are,” She continued.
“Girls?” Olivia turned to her. Elenita moved her head to her and whispered, “Triplets!”
“Woah! It must be hilarious,” Olivia chuckled. “I want to meet them. Where‘s Dad?” Her eyebrows knitted as she asked. When Dad turned over his role to me as the president of the group of companies we‘re running, he mostly stayed at home, except when he had to go to the hospital for his check–up or treatment, or he wanted to annoy me by coming with me in the office.
As if heaven answered Olivia, Dad was whistling while walking to the family room. His lips curved an all– smile, and his eyes were sparkling with undeniable happiness. “This is nice. All my children are here,” He walked toward Olivia and kissed her daughter on top of her head.
“You‘re acting suspicious, Dad,” She chuckled, getting up from the floor to sit beside him on the couch. “And what‘s that?”
He took an unbranded bottle from a commercial paper bag and gave it to her.
“Did you go shopping at some local shops again?” Finn asked, peeking inside the paper bag. He took one bottle with half–filled liquid, but Dad smiled and took it from him. “That‘s for your brother. This one‘s for you,” he said, giving him the one with the full liquid.
“Hey!” I protested. “How come they get the new ones, but I got something used already?” Dad ignored me, focusing on Olivia. “Did you like the smell?” “Hmm... I love it. It‘s not tickling my nose” she chuckled, but she turned to him, raising her eyebrows. “Have you been to the lab again, Dad?”
“Are we producing a new line of products?” Finn asked, smelling the ones he got. “In fairness, this is much better than the ones I‘m using.”
I sneered at them, disgruntled that Dad gave them the whole bottle while I, the one working hard for the family, got only half. Dad narrowed his eyes as he thought. “Hmm... Not exactly, Finn, but I‘m helping someone – ”
“Wait! Dad, did you see those girls again?“I growled at him as I took the paper bag from him. Seeing the hand–made business card, I hissed as I took it and showed the card to him. What would their mother think now? She might think of my father as someone obsessed with little
girls, and I hate seeing it on the news that he likes girls now.
“What?” He chuckled giddily. “I‘m just helping the mom to earn extra money, that‘s all. Besides, I didn‘t even pay for that because those are samples of her work.” He rose to his feet, took the paper bag from me, gave it to Elenita, and smiled. “And you deserved to have one, too.”
I didn‘t know if I was pissed at Dad for having favoritism, or I was just being jealous that I didn‘t get a new one.
Finn scoffed at me as he sprayed the perfume on his shirt. “This is good. Thanks, Dad. I‘ll be in
my room if you need me.” He kissed our father on his cheek before leaving the family room.
I rolled my eyes at him, hating him for acting nicely in front of Dad as if he genuinely appreciated the gift. Heaving a sigh and putting the bottle in my pocket, I also kissed him on the cheek.
“I‘ll be in the study room,” I said, but I only heard ‘okay‘ from Dad. If only I weren‘t thirty, I wanted to act like Olivia, stomping feet when disgruntled over something. I took my phone, calling Catherine.
“Good afternoon, Sky,” she greeted. “Catherine, please clear my schedule in the afternoon. Please call Dean Jones and set an appointment with her and...” I stopped, racking my brain for the name of his professor. “Ms. Perry?” She asked. Recalling it was Anj Perry, I breathed out. “Yes, I think that‘s her.”