Chapter 28: Spill.

Chapter 28: Spill.

I am awoken by my mother shaking the life out of me.

"Valarie, wake up. We have guests." My mother says, shaking my hand.

"What? Who?" I yawn in her face.

"Fix your breath and come downstairs." She tells me before she leaves my room.

I look over at my clock and I see that it's 9:54 am. I stretch before I crawl out of bed. I brush my teeth and hop in the shower. I walk out of the shower, drying my body with my towel. I take out a pair of skinny jeans and a sweater. That'll have to do. I wear the items of clothing before I head downstairs.

The McCains are in my living room and my mouth opens in shock. A sinister smile is plastered on Ashton's face.

"Excuse her manners." My mother says as I just stand there with my mouth wide open.

My mother and Ashton's parents make their way to the dining area. It's just me and Ashton in the living room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him, completely pissed off.

"Remember that arranged marriage that your mother keeps going on about, well it's happening." He says, staring at me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask him again.

"Well, McCain Hotels is teaming up with Stone Construction to build a hotel in Chicago, where we'll be schooling." He says and I stare at him, confusion written all over my face.

"We? Wait...you're going to Bradford?" I ask him in pure shock.

"Yup." He says and I groan.

"Well, bring the whole high school then. The more I try to get away from everyone, they just keep following me." I complain.

"Speak for yourself. I applied to Bradford months ago. It's like every jock's dream." He tells me.

"So, what does Chicago and the hotel have to do with us?" I ask him, switching back to our conversation earlier.

"They want us to run it." He tells me, looking scared.

"Why do you look like you want to shit your pants? It's just a hotel, we can do that." I tell him.

"Yeah, but they want us to get married first." He says biting his fingernail.

"No way in hell." I say, shaking my head.

"You do it or you don't go to college." He tells me.

"That's bullshit, my parents won't jeopardize my future for some stupid hotel." I tell him.

"We shall see." He says before he walks off to the dining area.

***

"Beautiful steak." Mr. McCain says, cutting into his steak for another bite.

"Thank you. Pierre's a mastermind." My mother says, praising our chef.

I haven't touched my steak, so I don't even know what it tastes like. I've lost my appetite thinking about this whole Chicago thing.

"Valarie dear, did you hear the good news? Ashton got into Bradford." My mother tells me before she takes a sip of her wine.

"That's great." I say, acting like I didn't already know that.

"Your father and I were talking about you and Ashton's relationship and we think you should take it to the next level." My mother says with a smile on her face.

"How so?" I ask her, folding my arms.

"We were thinking...marriage?" She says, looking at my dad and he nods.

"Well, that's not happening." I tell her.

"Why not?" My father asks me.

"Because Ashton and I aren't actually in a relationship." I tell them and Ashton slams his fork on his plate in frustration.

"Damn it, Vee." He says, glaring at me.

"What are you saying?" My mother asks me.

"We don't like each other. We were just pretending to. You see, Ashton likes Courtney, and I um..." I say, trailing off.

"You what?" My mother urges on.

"I lo-like Zachary." I tell her.

"You what?" My father yells.

"I've been secretly seeing him." I reveal.

"He almost killed you. He almost took you away from us and you went back to him." My mother says, looking at me like I stabbed her in the chest.

"Well, I forgave him. And maybe you should too. And if this stops you from opening the hotel in Chicago then that's fine by me." I tell her before I stand up and walk out of the dining area.

I call Andrè and I tell him to have the car out front. I rush to my room and I change into a baby blue hoodie and sweatpants. I run downstairs and I fly out the door.

The car is cold and I mentally thank Andrè for putting the AC on high.

"Where to, Miss?" Andrè asks me.

"Zachary's house." I tell him.

***

I knock on Zachary's door and I just stand there waiting for someone to answer.

The door opens and Stephanie is on the other side with Drew in her hand.

"It's a surprise seeing you here." Stephanie says with a smile on her face.

"Is Zachary home?" I ask her, ignoring her sassy tone.

"Why do you want to know?" She asks with a scowl on her face.

"I need to talk to him." I tell her.

"Ugh, come in." She says as Drew starts crying in her arms.

I step inside the house and she closes the door behind me.

"Wait here, I'll get him." She says before she goes upstairs.

Wait here?

Bitch, I used to run this place. This was like my second home.

Some nerve she has.

I lean on the wall as I wait for Zachary. I hear footsteps coming down the staircase and I know it's him immediately.

"Hey." He says, walking towards my direction.

"Someone hasn't been shaving?" I say referring to the stubble on his chin.

"What's with the surprise visit? I was playing call of duty." He says, folding his arms.

"Can I play?" I ask him.

"You left your house to play call of duty with me?" He asks me and I nod, biting my bottom lip.

"Get ready to be trashed." He says as he starts walking away. I follow him up the stairs to his room where his PlayStation is.

"Let's do this shall we." I say as Zachary hands me a controller.

He sets the game to multiplayer and I sit there taking the appearance of his room. It's dirty. For the first time.

"What happened in here?" I ask him, chuckling.

"My life's been so busy since Drew arrived." He says, scratching his forehead.

His room is never dirty, something is on his mind.

"My parents want me to marry Ashton." I blurt out.

"Yeah, I already know that. That's why we were sneaking around right?" He asks me.

"Yeah, but that was before. Now, they want me to marry him. Like, spend the rest of my life as his wife." I complain.

"What did you tell them?" He asks me.

"I told them about us." I reply.

"Everything?" He asks me and I nod.

"Ashton even told me that if I don't go through with the plan, I won't be going to college." I tell him, looking down at the controller in my hand.

"That's no problem. Since I'm on a scholarship I can give you my college money." He tells me and I smile.

"You'd really do that for me?" I ask him.

"I owe you my life, Val. That's the least I can do." He says and I grab his face and I press my lips on his.

Zachary grabs me and puts me on his lap. He holds my waist as he deepens the kiss. His lips move to my neck as he starts sucking on my skin gently. That's definitely going to leave a mark.

He takes my hoodie off and he sees that I have no bra on. He takes my nipple in his mouth and sucks on it. I let out a moan and Zachary puts his hand over my mouth. He guides us to the bed and he places me gently on it.

"Valarie!!!" Zachary says, snapping me out of my sinister thoughts.

"Huh?" I say staring at him.

"I asked you which character you wanted." He says, looking at me suspiciously.

"What were you thinking about?" He asks me.

My nipple in your mouth.

"Nothing." I lie.

"Okay. Time to crush you." He says as he starts the game.

I laugh as we start playing the game.

Zachary's POV.

Drew has been crying non-stop and I can't take this anymore. Stephanie is asleep right now and I'm left taking care of the baby.

"C'mon man, make this easy for me." I say, scrunching up my nose as Drew farts.

I place him in his crib and he smiles at me. He knows what he's doing. This boy. I lay on the sofa beside his crib and I close my eyes.

"Zachary?" I hear my mother call out for me.

"I'm in the nursery." I yell.

My mother walks into the nursery scowling at me.

"What?" I ask her.

"Do you know where Stephanie is right now?" My mother asks me.

"She's in her room." I tell her.

"Wrong." My mother yells at me and I flinch.

"She ran away." My mother tells me.

"Why would she do that?" I ask her in confusion.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're not Drew's father." My mother tells me and I stare at her in shock.

"Oh, it gets better. She stole four hundred thousand dollars from the family account." My mother says and I get up from the sofa.

"She what?" I say as my blood boils.

"She's gone, Zachary. Packed her bags and everything. Osvaldo saw her run out of the back door." My mother says with sad eyes.

"I can't believe she did this. She left her baby here with me. I can't take care of a child." I tell her.

"Don't forget to add the fact that it's not yours." My mother says, adding salt to injury.

I storm out of the nursery and head to Stephanie's room. I open the door and see her room in the same condition it's always been. The difference now is that her belongings are gone and there's a note on the desk. I walk over to the desk and I pick up the note. It reads;

"Dear Zachary,

If you're reading this, it means that I've run away. I didn't run because I hate you or the baby. It's because I want a life for myself too. I want to go to college and enjoy my youth to the fullest. It felt like that was taken away from me when I had Drew. By now you should know that he's not your child, but I want you to love him like he's yours. I hope to see you again, Zach.

- Love Steph."

Is she crazy?

She left her child here. It already sucks that he's not mine, but now she's leaving him with me. What was I even thinking when I got involved with this girl? I take my phone out of my back pocket and I dial Hannah's number. She answers on the third ring.

"What do you want?" She asks me.

"Don't give me that shit attitude. Where the fuck is your cousin?" I ask her, fuming.

"What are you talking about?" She asks me, clearly confused.

"Stephanie ran away with four hundred thousand dollars. And even worse, Drew is not my son." I tell her and she gasps.

"Are you serious? How could she do that?" Hannah asks me.

"I should be asking you. You helped her escape didn't you?" I ask her.

"What? No." She tells me.

"Well, she's gone and I don't know where she is." I say, frustrated.

"Neither do I." Hannah says before she hangs up.

This girl is such a bitch, I don't know how Valarie puts up with her.

***

"You should get some rest." Valarie tells me as she places Drew in his crib.

I told Valarie to come over after my conversation with Hannah, it just seemed right at the time.

"I can't. I'm still thinking about Stephanie." I tell her.

"Stop overthinking, okay? She's gone. She left her baby like the shitty mother she is and she didn't think of you or Drew before she left. So, you don't need to think of her right now." Valarie says as she sits beside me on the sofa.

"You've always been there for me, Vee." I tell her.

"Even when you weren't there for me." She says, giving me a sad smile.

"Even when I wasn't there for you." I repeat, staring into her brown eyes.

I grab her face and I press my lips on hers. She grabs my face as she deepens the kiss. I grab her waist and I pull her on top of me. She pulls at the helm of my shirt and she takes it off me. She feels on my abs as I take her own shirt off. I squeeze her ass as she bites my bottom lip.

"What's this I hear about--" Maddy says as she enters the nursery. She pauses.

"Whoa." She says as she stares at the two of us with wild eyes.

"Jesus Christ, Mads." I say as I cover Valarie's chest with my shirt.

"You should be glad I wasn't dad." She chuckles as Valarie climbs off me.

"What do you want?" I ask her, irritated.

"Did Stephanie really run away?" Maddison asks me.

"Yeah, she did and she left her son behind." I tell her.

"Ooh yeah, I heard about that too. How are you feeling, little bro?" She asks, touching my face.

"Well, I've been better." I tell her.

"Um, Zach I have to go. Andrè is here to pick me up." Valarie says behind me. She kisses my cheek before she walks past me.

"Bye Maddy." She says, waving Madison goodbye before she leaves the nursery.

"God, she's hot." I say biting my lip.

Maddison smacks me on the back of the head.

"Oww!!! Did I say that out loud?" I ask her.

"Yes you did, noodle brain. Keep it in your pants would ya." She says before she leaves the room.