3 Unexpected Guests

Shawn just left a couple of minutes before I left the building. As I walk around the building, I see him getting onto his motorcycle.

He gives me a little smirk before he pulls his helmet over his head. The way he smirked, revealed the dimple in his cheek and I really don't know why it made me smile.

'McCullen!' Bakkers voice screams behind me, as I watch Shawn take off.

I see Bakker trying to follow my eyes when I don't look at him, even when he stands right in front of me, I still ignore his presence. He waves his hand in front of my eyes.

'Yes!' I practically yell.

'Jesus Christ Liz! I need to give you my case from "the boss" because I can't seem to close it.' He says as he shoves the file into my hand.

'Thank you very much, Bakker.' I say sarcastically.

'Have a good night.' He says as he tries to hug me.

'Woah! Don't touch me.' I say calmly without moving an inch.

I'm not fond of people touching me unless it's my initiative or family. Bakker never tried to hug me before, why is he acting so weird? I turn around without saying anything else.

I walk away quickly and I hear him apologise, but I ignore it.

When I open the door of my apartment I hear people talking in my living room. I freeze as I wait for my mind to recognize the voices in my apartment.

After a few terrifying seconds I realize it's Sheila and my dad, jeez, they scared the shit out of me.

'Jeez, you guys scared me.' I say with a soft voice as I take off my heels.

Sheila walks toward me and wraps her arms around me tightly, almost squeezing all the air out of my lungs. I hug her back, and when I smell her perfume I realize that I've missed her very much.

'We're going to Edinburgh in a week.' She says out of the blue.

'I beg your pardon?' I say, worried.

I really don't want them to go back there. I know it's very selfish of me to expect that they are going to stay here forever, but I'll miss them and I have no reason to fly to Edinburgh every week.

'We're not moving, just a vacation.' My dad says with a smile.

'Oh my gosh!' I move my hand to my heart.

'I almost started to cry.' I say with a relieved smile.

My dad waves at me as he walks to the kitchen. A few minutes later he returns with the empty pizza box I ate yesterday. I thought about throwing it away, just in case he came around, but when I left for work I forgot to take it with me.

'I said no takeout.' He says.

'Jesus dad! I'm twenty-two, I can order takeout if I want.'

'Yes, Gerard, she's right.' Sheila backs me up.

'Do you have any idea how much shit they put in their food?' He says as he looks at us with an annoyed expression.

'Yes I do, and if you start talking about me going to die, I'm going to lose my shit. You know what I believe in, and if I die, I die. At least I died eating nice food my whole life.'

'You are out of your mind.' He says before tossing the box in the trash bin.

My dad scolds me for not knowing how to cook when Sheila is in my kitchen making us dinner. I know he wants me to cook, but I refuse.

I hate cooking, and every time I decide to cook I ruin the whole meal. Most of the time I order takeout, or my father cooks me dinner, or my friendly neighbour sends me food when she cooks too much.

She always asks me if I want to eat it with her because her children never come by. I really like this woman, she's friendly and nice company, so every time I go on vacation I buy her something nice.

'Dad, I'll be right back. I have to bring my neighbour a present.' I say when I jump to my feet.

I grab the present I bought her from the Bahamas out of my suitcase, and run down the hall to her front door on my bare feet. I hear her curse a couple of times in French before opening the door.

'Hey, Eloise. How are you?' I ask with a smile.

'Je suis très bien! How are you doing?' She gestures for me to come inside.

She closes the door behind me and drags me to her living room. I hand her the box when she's sitting on her couch. She looks at me with a smile.

Eloise is an old woman now, she's a retired judge and it really was a coincidence that I ran into her the first day I moved here. She gave me an orchid as a welcome present and since that day we became friends.

'It's beautiful.' She says with a big smile on her face.

I bought her a miniature version of the little tent where I stayed for six weeks. It's this little house on the water. Her doctor told her she can't travel anymore, and since that day I brought her a gift from all the places I've been.

I invite her to dinner with my dad and my new mom, but she declines politely. She ate already and she has to wake up early in the morning.

I hug her before walking back to my apartment.

'Elizabeth!' My father screams as I enter the living room.

'Can Adriana stay with you when we go to Edinburgh?' He asks.

'Adriana? She's not going with you? Why can't she stay with Lucifer?'

'Because Lucifer is coming with us, and I can't let her stay home on her own for two weeks. God knows what she would do.' He says with worry clear on his face.

'And you think that leaving her with me is a good idea? She stole from me, dad. She hates me for no valid reason. Plus, I'm not always home, only at night.'

I don't like the idea of Adriana at my house. She's a sixteen-year-old teenager, and I don't understand why girls that age always think they run the world.

She stole the diamond earrings mum gave me for my graduation the day she died. Then she went to a shady pawn shop and sold them because I didn't want to give her fifty euros for makeup.

Six years ago I worked at a supermarket while being an assistant at a law firm, where they paid me just enough to keep my father pleased.

Since I was planning on moving to the Netherlands I tried to save all the money I could get my hands on, so I wasn't going to spend fifty euros on my little sister, who wasn't even old enough to wear any makeup.

When my dad found out she stole the earrings, he asked a friend at the police station to lock her up in one of their holding cells for the night. The officer wasn't thrilled with locking a ten-year-old in a cell for one whole night, but he did it anyway.

When Adriana was released the next day, she hated me even more than before stealing the earrings. I still don't get why she hates me, I wasn't the one that locked her up. It was my dad's idea, so she could learn her lesson and never do it again.

One year later she tried to hire an attorney so she could sue her own father for child abuse. The attorney she tried to hire was a good friend of my dad, and he immediately notified him.

When my father heard of this he lost his mind and gave her two years of house arrest. And when I say two years, I mean two years. He even took her out of school and started homeschooling her. After that, she never did anything bad in front of my dad ever again.

'You and mum should've called her Lucifer, she's the real devil of this family.' I say.

For the first time in my life, my dad doesn't respond. He just looks at his hands, and I see pain flashing in his eyes for a second.

'I just hoped the two of you could try to fix things.' He says with disappointment in his voice.

'Did she get mum's earrings back?' He looks at me.

'I didn't think so.' I say.

I know I'm hard on my dad right now. I don't know how it feels for a parent seeing their two daughters fight for over six years, but she hasn't even apologised for it.

The last thing I want is to hurt my dad.

'If she apologises, I'll babysit her.' I give in.

'Really?' Sheila says with a smile as she walks into the living room.

'Yes, but I will put all my precious possessions in my safe.'

'She can live with that.' Sheila says.

When we finish dinner, I take all the plates and bring them to the kitchen. Sheila made this amazing lasagne.

There's a little bit of it left, and I put it in the refrigerator, so I can eat it tomorrow.

My dad and Sheila leave late at night and promise to visit before they leave for Edinburgh next week.

I'm not looking forward to watching Adriana, but she's my sister and I could give her a second chance. If she's annoying in any way, I'll just hire a nanny.

I finish showering and head to bed when I get a call from the doorman. I pick up as fast as I can.

'Hello?'

'Hello, miss Elizabeth. There's a drunk guy here that claims he knows you. His name is Gijs, but you know him as "Bakker"?' He asks. The doorman pronounces the names in a way that I just can't.

'Yeah, I know him. Send him up. Thanks for letting me know.' I say with a sigh.

'I'll take him mys--' I hear a vomit sound in the background. 'Nee, nee! Niet hier!' I hear the doorman scream in Dutch. I guess Bakker vomited on the floor in the lobby.

'I'm sorry!' I say to Sam on the phone.

'I'll come and get him myself. Give me a minute.' I say as I throw a robe around my body.

Why is Bakker drunk? And why is he in my building? I think this is really inappropriate, but I can't just let him walk around the streets drunk and lost.

Fuck, why did he have to come here?! If he throws up on my floor, I'll kill him.

I rush downstairs and find Bakker's arm around the doorman's neck. He has vomited all over his shirt. He's still wearing the suit he wore at work today. Why doesn't he just go home?

The lobby is really big and I run a little to get to them a little faster.

'Let me get you a towel before you take him upstairs.' Sam says when he sits Bakker down on a chair.

'Bakker?! Hey!' His eyes are closed. I really don't want to touch him, fuck.

I poke his head with my finger and his eyes open slightly.

'What the fuck are you doing here?' I ask.

'Divorce. She wants to divorce me.' He says with tears in his eyes.

'Ella? Why does she want to divorce you?' I ask, sincerely curious.

He doesn't respond. How much did he drink? I always believed that Bakker and Ella were perfect for each other, but I guess I had it wrong all this time.

Sam returns with a towel and throws it onto Bakker's shirt, before lifting him from the chair.

'I'll walk with you. You can't carry him.' Sam says.

'Thank you.' I look at the man. 'Really.'

He waves my "thank you" away as if it's nothing. Sam has worked here for ten years, and he's always so nice to me.

When we arrive at the door of my apartment, I struggle to get the keys into the lock. After a few seconds it finally works, I turn the lock and Sam drags Bakker inside. He puts him down on the closest chair he sees.

I thank him one last time and he leaves, closing the door behind him.

I try not to vomit when I remove the towel, his jacket and start unbuttoning the collar of his shirt. Bakker opens his eyes and shakes his head fast.

'She cheated. She's in love with another guy. She says I'm unattractive.' He cries again.

'Jesus.' I say out loud. Not because I pity him, but because he's crying and his tears start to mix with the vomit on his face.

'Stay here.' I say before walking off.

I walk to the kitchen and grab gloves from under the sink. I can't touch the vomit on his shirt without vomiting myself, so I have to do it this way.

After I put the gloves on, I walk to the bathroom and grab the baby wipes I always have under the sink. I also grab the bathroom trash bin, just so I can throw the wipes and Bakkers shirt away immediately.

This is not where I fucking signed up for when I took the job. I walk to the closet in the guest room where my father always has a pair of pyjamas and other clean clothes. My dad is a little bit smaller than Bakker, but he always wears oversized stuff, so it'll be fine.

I take a deep breath before unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. I go as fast as I can when I arrive at the vomit part. I start to gag when I see the yellow vomit on my gloves.

'For fuck sake Bakker.' I say.

When I take his shirt off he's asleep, his snoring fills the whole hallway.

Unattractive? His abs are as clear as daylight and he's not even flexing. How can Ella find him unattractive? I don't like Bakker, just because he's not my type, and I could never see myself with a guy like him, but he's not unattractive.

I look at his trousers and see that there's also vomit on his leg, and it's not just a little bit. I really hoped I could just leave his trousers on, but I can't let him sleep in my guest room in trousers with vomit on them.

When I open his belt I feel like a rapist. I just can't do this.

'Bakker! Hey! Wake up!' I pull on his shoulder until his eyes open.

He tries to look at me, but then his eyes roll back in his head again. I decide to walk to the kitchen and throw water in his face. I wipe his face with one of the baby wipes before throwing ice-cold water in his face. He jumps the moment the cold water touches his face, and his eyes shoot open.

'Take your trousers off and put these on.' I say when I throw the gym shorts at him.

He stands up and grabs the gym shorts from the floor when he janks down his trousers with one hand. I walk to the kitchen to return the glass and to give him some privacy.

Bakker is laying down on the floor when I return. He managed to put on the gym shorts but fell asleep right after that.

I decide that I can put on his shirt when I bring him to the guest room. Bakker stands up after I wake him for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. He put his arm around my neck and I try to bring him to the bedroom as fast as I can.

Just before he collapses onto the bed, I put the shirt over his head. I take a clean bed sheet out of the closet in the hallway and throw it over his body. He mumbles a "Thank you, Ella." when he pulls the bedsheet closer to his face.

'I'm a damn good colleague.' I whisper when I close the door behind me.

All of Bakker's clothes are scattered around the floor. I put on a new pair of gloves and start throwing everything away.

When I see his suit is Hugo Boss, I feel a bit guilty, but I can't just leave it here with that terrible smell on it. I also throw his Van Bommel shoes away. If he wants all his clothes back, I'll just buy him new stuff.

The floor is empty after a few minutes, and I grab the garbage bag out of the bin to put it outside of my apartment. I start gathering stuff to mop the hall, I just can't live with the lingering vomit smell.

The house smells like lemon when I'm done cleaning. I decide to shower again before going to bed myself.

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