DRUNK MAN IN MY ROOM

Kiara had been very happy since the day she met up with Jeremy. She felt the need to do it again. She was singing merrily as she went into her bedroom. Before she switched on the light, she could make out the form of a person sleeping on her bed. Huh? Who was it? A thief? A thief in the Pinkerton mansion? She let out a sharp wail and in a flash, four bodyguards appeared.

"What happened?" Gareth asked, signaling for all the bodyguards to stop in their tracks, while he entered into the room.

He switched the light on and the two of them saw Vine sleeping soundly on the bed. Probably disturbed by the light, he turned around and murmured something before he started snoring. Gareth immediately dismissed the bodyguards, and he closed the bedroom door.

"What is he doing here?" Kiara asked.

"He probably wanted to see you and since you were not in, he slept on the bed waiting for you," Gareth said with a grin.

"Please wake him up and ask him to leave. I really need to rest."

Gareth slightly shook Vine and laughed a little, "He's drunk."

"He's always drunk," Kiara said, and the way she said it, it sounded like it was a complaint.

"Have you ever tried talking to him?" Gareth asked.

"What? Me?" Kiara's facial expression showed so much shock that Gareth could not help but laugh.

"Yes, you, ma'am Kiara. Have you tried talking to the young master? He's your husband after all."

"He's not!" Kiara said in a loud, thin voice.

"He's the father of your son. You can talk to him, you know."

Gareth stood up and yawned loudly. He started walking towards the door.

"Gareth, you cannot leave without him! Please wake him up, I want to sleep."

"He won't do you any harm, ma'am Kiara. Just take the space next to him and enjoy your sleep." And with that, Gareth left the room.

Kiara was not having it, she ran after him and called out, "Gareth, don't make me think that you planned all this? Was it you who advised him to come into my room?"

"I did not, ma'am," the smile did not leave Gareth's lips.

"I will tell grandma that you won't take Vine out so that I can have some rest."

Gareth laughed and said, "Then you don't know your grandma. She'll be very happy to know that the young master is here with you. Good night, ma'am Kiara."

The young lady walked back in and stared at Vine, who was in deep sleep. Vincent was not in the room at that time, for lady Pinkerton was playing with him.

Feeling really upset, Kiara pulled Vine by the legs, until his legs were hanging at the side of the bed. She held his hand and pulled with all her might, forcing him into the sitting position.

"Umm, Gareth," Vine mumbled.

"It's Kiara. Wake up, Vine please just wake up."

"Oh, Kiara. Kiara that girl…the mother of my son."

"Yes, please wake up, Vine."

Kiara let go of his hand and he fell back on to the bed. She rushed to the bathroom and brought some water in the toothbrush holder. Dipping her hands in it, she sprinkled some water in Vine's face, and the man opened his eyes.

"Don't do that," he said in a low voice.

"Why are you in my room, Vine?" she asked him, praying that he was not going to start snoring right away.

"Umm, Kiara. Kiara." he said.

Kiara shook him by the shoulders. Seeing that he was still refusing to wake up, she sprinkled more water on his face.

Vine opened his blood-red eyes and frowned, "Kiara."

"Vine, you don't need to be here."

"Of course I need to be here," he said.

Kiara was silent. She let go of his hand, thinking that he was going to fall on the bed, but to her surprise, he did not. Instead, he used his right arm to support his body, as he held on to the bed.

"Kiara, that child…the child….." Vine did not finish up his sentence.

"What about him? Is it Vincent you're talking about?"

"Umm, Vincent. I've come to see Vincent."

"At the moment he's with grandma. You can go your bedroom now, Vine. Once Vincent is back, I will bring him to you."

Vine did not respond. He closed his eyes. Kiara could see that it was not going to be easy to ask him to leave. Feeling defeated, she threw herself on the couch and closed her eyes as well.

There was a faint knock and in came Tessa, carrying the little on in her arms. Behind her was lady Pinkerton. Kiara quickly took her child and sat down, and while Tessa disappeared as fast as she could, lady Pinkerton took the seat next to Kiara.

"I'm happy to see Vine here with you," she smiled brightly.

Not knowing how to respond, Kiara faced down and started stroking the little boy's hair.

"You and him will make a great couple, do you know that?" she went on.

"Umm, I don't know. The problem is neither of us is in love with the other."

"That's the problem of this generation. What does love have to do with anything? Can't you train your heart to love him?" There was a grimace on grandmother's face.

"Even if I tried, grandma, he will never love me back. He told me that himself."

Lady Pinkerton stared into space before slowly shaking her head. She stayed for a while longer before saying good night and leaving the room.

Kiara started to feed her son. Tessa had already bathed the little one for the night, so it did not take long before the he was asleep. She carefully placed him in his bed ad she took the couch.

Her mind wandered to any and all places, failing to fall asleep. It must have been around 2AM when she fell asleep, but before long, she was startled by the sound of an opening door. Kiara sat up and saw a silhouette of a man disappearing into her bathroom. She would have let out a very sharp scream but she immediately remembered that Vine had spent the night in the same room.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and looked towards the bathroom. Vine emerged a short while later, and he went back to the bed and sat down.

"For the sake of your son, Vine, you need to reduce drinking. I don't mean to meddle into your business, but for the sake of this boy, please, try and reduce it."

Vine's eyes widened in shock. Huh? Kiara was talking to him like that? He knew very well that he was a slave to the bottle, but no-one besides his grandmother, and occasionally Gareth, had ever had the guts to talk him out of it.

"I cannot believe you just spoke to me like that," he sneered.

"I am talking to you in the position of a caring mother. I am Vincent's mother, and it is my duty to make sure that he grows up in a good environment."

"And the environment that is here is not good enough for him?" the young man raised a brow.

"Listen to me, Vine, please give me a chance to talk. You are the man that Vincent is going to look up to as the male figure in his life. All I am saying is, be a good example. Surely Vine, if your son is going to always see you drunk, what will that mean to him? Don't you think he too will eventually grow up to become a drunkard?"

Vine was silent. He looked around the room in rage, and involuntarily, he clenched his fists.

"Did you just call me a drunkard?" he asked with a deadly stare.

"I…I did not. OK, I…I'm…I am sorry, Vine," Kiara was beginning to get scared.

"Kiara, just because I allowed you to come and stay in this mansion does not mean that I will also allow you to say whatever you want. You watch your tongue when you speak either to me or about me. Do you understand me?"

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to make sure that our son gets a good role model."

"And you are? You are that good role model to him? Hmm? Talk! Let's talk! You, the waitress who met a man and in less than 5 hours of meeting him for the first time, you were already begging him to be intimate with you. Besides me, how many more guests did you drag to bed with you? You think just because you don't drink, you're better than me?"

"No, Vine, I am sorry. I only meant…."

"You don't lecture me on anything about life, woman. You are the worst role model Vincent could ever have. You carried him for all those months without knowing who his father was. And now you think you can raise your voice to teach me about morals and being a role model?"

Kiara faced down and began to cry.

"Doing what you're good at already? Cry all you want, and see if I care."

"Vine!" she called out loudly. "What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me this much? If anyone should hate anyone, it's me! You drugged me and you took me…"

"Cut the crap already! Are you any better? Didn't you drag me to the alter when I was half-conscious, and forced a ring into my finger, because you desperately wanted to become my wife? And you went on to sign that marriage certificate without my agreement. Was I ever part of that lousy marriage of yours? How low can one stoop? Pathetic!"

Kiara failed to say anything.

Vine really had a way with his words. Since the day she knew him, Kiara had never heard him shouting. No. He never shouted. He spoke rather slowly, in a low, deep voice, emphasizing each word with a straight guiltless face, looking you straight in the eye to make sure that the pain penetrated to the core. He was great at sending them verbal blows. He would say the words, making sure that each and every word is understood; and he also had this mocking tone which when he used it, the words stabbed like a sword on fire.

Kiara felt it. She felt the deep pain, and she told herself it was not worth it. Nothing was worth anything.

"I cannot do this anymore," she cried bitterly, throwing her hands into the air.

"You cannot do what?" Vine hissed.

"I want to go back to my parents. I want to leave."

"I cannot do this anymore," he mimicked Kiara. He laughed and continued, "You want to use those lines which you have seen in movies; where the wife says I cannot do this anymore, and the man begs her, asking her to stay. That, my sweetheart, is for women who are loved by their men. It's for women who have men that have the time, energy and reason to beg them to stay. You do not have the privilege of both!"

Vine shook his head and looked at Kiara from head to toe, disdain written all over his face. After rolling his eyes in great resentment, the man marched out of the room without uttering one word more.