Chapter 12

"What's wrong with you now, you psychopath!" Amanda asked as she rolled her way to the foyer.

"Don't you start with me, Amanda!" Mrs McDonell snapped at her mother-in-law. "You just stay out of this."

Mr McDonell suddenly appeared from the open front door as he looked surprisingly shocked at his wife.

"What's up with you, huh?" Mr McDonell asked. "Do you want the whole neighbourhood to know that this house is a mental asylum or what?"

"Come on, Fred," said Mrs McDonell, lowering her voice a little. "This isn't an asylum."

"Well, you're making it look like one. What's the matter with you, Bertha?"

"I just wanted to know whose this luggage belongs to."

"And you have to make a scene out of it?" Amanda asked. "You're crazy and you know it. We have guests in the house so mind your manners."

"Guests? What guests?" Mrs McDonell had a look of surprise on her face.

"Don't act dumb, Bertha. Lisa's daughters are here."

Mrs McDonell's face turned pale. She looked at the suitcases in front of her and said nothing at that moment.

"What? Those girls are here?"

"Yes, Bertha," said Mr McDonell. "I brought them here. All I'm asking is that you behave yourself in front of them, alright?"

Mrs McDonell nodded her head a little but didn't look up at her husband nor  Amanda. She turned to look elsewhere and was lost in her own thoughts. The expression on her face was totally hard to read.

"Bertha, are you alright?" Mr McDonell, looking a bit concerned.

"Let's hope so," said Amanda, almost jeering. "We don't want her running around as wild as she already is."

"Are you calling me a lunatic?" Mrs McDonell snapped at Amanda.

"Ah, looks like she is still the same old after all," said Amanda with a smirk on her face.

"May you two please have your brawl some place else that isn't here," said Mr McDonell, standing in between his mother and wife. "We have guests in the house."

"Couldn't you have given them another place to stay apart from here?" Mrs McDonell asked.

"Look, Bertha, I made a promise to Lisa to take care of her daughters. And that's what I am doing."

"For once could you at least have broken that promise? Have you ever considered that we are too many in this house?"

"You really know how to make lousy excuses," said Amanda. "Those girls have no where to go and you just want to leave them out on the street?"

"We could provide them somewhere else to stay."

"What's wrong with them staying here?" Mr McDonell asked. "I already made a decision and you have to respect it. Besides, Angel needs us more than ever after the accident."

Before Mrs McDonell could say anything else, Carly, Eric and Angel appeared, with Eric pushing Angel on the wheelchair.

"Hey, is everything okay, aunt?" Eric asked. "I thought I heard you screaming."

"It's nothing, Eric," Mrs McDonell replied, trying to look composed.

Mrs McDonell soon turned to Carly and Angel. For a moment, she thought she was going to lose control and say something offensive. But instead, she put up a wide smile, trying to hide how she truly felt.

"Oh, you must be Lisa's daughters," Mrs McDonell brought herself a little closer towards them. "It's so good to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is ours, Mrs McDonell," said Angel. "I'm Angel, by the way."

Angel held up her hand to Mrs McDonell for a hand shake. Mrs McDonell stared at Angel's hand for a moment and slowly took it. The two locked their eyes on each other until they finally let go of each other's hands. Mrs McDonell's smile almost dropped, but she tried to keep it steady and cool especially in front of Angel, who seemed to feel that something was a bit off with Mrs McDonell.

"And you must be Carly," said Mrs McDonell turning to Carly.

"That's right," said Carly with a smile wider than Mrs McDonell's.

"Looks like you already like this place," said Mrs McDonell, there was a hint of venom in her voice and Carly didn't seem to catch it, but Angel did.

"It's beautiful, Mrs McDonell," Carly replied, cheerfully. "This place is like a palace."

"Thank you, dear," Mrs McDonell replied, trying hard not to roll her eyes. "Feel free to do whatever you like."

"Now that the introduction is done," said Mr McDonell, "Eric, would you please tell the helpers to come and take the lady's bags to the guest rooms. It's time they settle down and get comfortable. Angel should take one of the guest rooms downstairs."

"Of course, uncle," replied Eric, leaving Angel's side and running off to fetch the helpers.

"You should take the room right next to mine," Amanda said to Angel. "That way I would be checking up on you from time to time."

Angel just smiled at Amanda. For a moment, Angel thought she had seen Mrs McDonell frown through the corner of her eye. But she pretended to be oblivious about it.

A few seconds later, Eric came by with two male helpers. One took Angel's luggage to the rooms along the hall. The other took Carly's things upstairs and Carly followed suite. Eric dragged Angel along to her room, leaving Mr and Mrs McDonell with Amanda by the foyer.

"Well that went well," said Bertha sarcastically rolling her eyes and rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"Humph..." muttered Amanda. "Some people will just never change."

Amanda rolled herself away following Eric and Angel.

Mrs McDonell turned to her husband and before she could say anything to him, Mr McDonell just shook his head, clearly warning her that he had heard enough from her for one day. He quickly went upstairs leaving Mrs McDonell alone.

***

It was getting dark outside as the sun started to set. Angel was staring outside the window of her beautiful room which out looked the whole garden outside. She took a look around her room at the magnificent white coloured walls and the double bed with white sheets and fluffy pillows.

She rolled around on her wheelchair, in the room. I was such a spacious room and Angel liked it a lot. The house was nice, the McDonell family were quite nice and even the house help were kind to her as well and they would even check up on her to see if she was comfortable.

No doubt she was going to like this place, the only problem, it wasn't going to be that pleasant. Not with Leo and his mother around.

Leo. She hadn't thought of him for a while and she was so not prepared to meet him face to face. He wasn't around for lunch earlier, so he was probably on his way home at this very moment. Angel clenched and unclenched her fists time and time again.

While Angel was lost in her own thoughts, there was a knock on the door and Angel called out for the person to come in. Eric came in and a young boy followed suite. The little boy looked like Eric with the same green eyes.

"Angel, I want you to meet Oliver, my little brother," said Eric, "Oliver, this Angel."

"Nice to meet you, Oliver," greeted Angel with a smile.

"With pleasure," said Oliver, bowing a little.

"Wow, you're quite the gentleman, aren't you?"

"Well, not really. You're very pretty, that's why."

Angel laughed out loud so as to hide the blush on her face. "Awww, that's so sweet of you. You, my friend, are handsome, much more than your older brother."

"Don't get his hopes up," said Eric as he ruffled his brother's hair. "His way too young for all that love mambo-jumbo."

"Mambo-jumbo? Just so you know Eric, every girl at school is dying to be with me right now," said Oliver. "I just brush them because none of them are as pretty as Angel here."

"May you please zip it?" Eric scolded playfully as Angel laughed out loud, this time with tears in her eyes.

Oliver just winked at Angel as he quickly ran out of the room. Angel couldn't stop laughing and Eric just shook his head as he stared at the door.

"Oh my, your brother is really something," said Angel, as she tried to control her laughter.

"Ya, he has always been like that," said Eric. "Wait until he starts pulling off pranks."

"His young. Let him do whatever he wants."

"Well, I'm glad he made you laugh. I thought you were going to stay gloomy like that forever."

Angel just gave out a wide smile at Eric and he did the same to her. Then they turned to door and there was Amanda.

"I heard you laughing from my room," said Amanda. "Did I miss out something funny?"

"Just Oliver and his silliness," replied Eric.

"Why am I not surprised? That's just how he is anyway," said Amanda with a smile. "Well, we better head for the living room."

"And why is that, grandma? It's not close to supper yet."

"Leo is back. I just heard his car pull up on the driveway."

Angel's face suddenly turned pale. She turned to look the other way to avoid Amanda's gaze.

"Oh, Leo is already here?" Eric turned to look at Angel. He could only imagine what she was feeling right now.

"Well, yes. I want Angel to come to the living room so that they could meet. Come on, you drag her along. You two will meet me there."

Amanda rolled herself out of the room leaving Eric and Angel alone. Eric continued to stare at Angel who had her eyes somewhere else.

"Are you ready for this?" Eric asked softly.

"I'm never ready for such things, Eric," Angel replied. "I don't know what to do. I feel like when I see Leo, I will kill him."

Eric could feel the anger behind her voice. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Angel looked up at him.

"You two won't be able to avoid each other, now that you're both living under the same roof," said Eric. "Don't forget, we have to make sure that no one knows what really happened that day."

Angel breathed out deeply. "You're right." She closed her eyes and then opened them. "Let's go."

Eric gave Angel an encouraging nod as he took the handles of Angel's wheelchair and took her out of the room. Angel's heart beat faster than it ever had before. She knew meeting Leo was going to be hard, but she was tired of being scared. If anything, Leo was supposed to be scared of her and not the other way around.

***

Carly and Diana were comfortably seated on the posh sofas of the living room with fashion magazines in their hands looking at the latest fashion from around the world. They seemed to be getting along well as they talked about fashion with so much glee. There talk was soon interrupted when they heard a car pull up right in front of the house.

"Now who could that be?" Carly asked.

"Looks like Leo is here," said Diana she stood up and walked towards the window. "Yes, it's him."

Carly's heart soon started to beat faster. She couldn't tell whether she was excited that Leo was going to be closer to her than ever or scared because of how her sister would react.

Diana went to the front door so as to let Leo in. Carly stood up and straightened her clothes. She still wore the black clothes from the funeral and she scowled as she wished that she could have changed earlier.

Diana opened the door and a moment later, Leo walked in. Carly held her breath for a moment as she saw Leo. He looked so handsome and smart that she felt she could run up to him and kiss him. She swallowed hard as she tried to hide her urge.

"Hey, aunt Diana," said Leo. "How has been your day?"

"It's been okay, except for your angry mother," replied Diana. "You know how she is."

"Is she still mad at me? Because if she is, I don't know what I'll do."

"Oh, I forgot to remind you, our guests are here."

"Guests?"

"Hey, Leo," said Carly.

Leo turned to look behind him and his jaw dropped when he saw Carly. He was left with no words.

"Umm....hey, Carly," said Leo with hesitation.

Carly blushed a little as Leo greeted her. She could tell that Leo was a bit surprised to see her. She could only imagine what would happen if he saw Angel.

"Leo, I'm glad you're here," said Amanda as she came from the other side. Leo tried to put up a smile as he went to hug his grandmother.

"How are you?" Leo asked, trying to be casual, yet feeling uneasy.

"I have never felt better," replied Amanda, with a smile. "First, I received news that you and Kim broke off your engagement."

Leo swallowed hard and he could feel Carly behind him shift uneasily. He continued to look down at his grandmother thinking of what to say.

"I'm so proud of you, Leo," Amanda continued. "You made the right decision. I'm also happy that Carly and Angel have come to leave with us."

Leo felt like the world beneath him was spinning out of control. His worst fears had come true. Angel was here. That was a problem for him all on it's own.

"Ah, look, here she comes now," said Amanda.

Leo looked behind his grandmother and Angel appeared on a wheelchair and Eric was helping with dragging it. Leo couldn't help but stare at Angel. When Angel's eyes met his, Leo could see and feel the tension behind them. Just like him, he could tell that Angel never liked the idea of being here in the McDonell household.

When Angel's wheelchair pulled up right next to Amanda's, Leo felt the air in the house grow stale. Leo continued to stare at Angel and Angel did exactly the same. There was silence between the two and it was starting to feel awkward. For a moment, both of them didn't know whether to be angry at each other, because playing along seemed a whole lot harder than they thought.

"Aren't you going to say something or are you just going to stand there, Leo?" Diana asked, as she spoke first.

"I....eh...," Leo hesistated. He never thought he would be this agitated, not in front of Angel for that matter. Carly just scratched her head in embarrassment. Angel continued to stare at him and that made Leo feel more unease. Whatever she was doing to him, just made him more uneasy by the minute.

"How are you, Leo?" Angel asked.

"I'm okay and you?" Leo replied.

"Never better."

"Well, now that everyone is here, let's go in the living room while we wait for supper," said Diana.

"That's a good idea," said Amanda. "Come on, lets go."

"Sure thing," said Eric as he dragged Angel towards the living room and Diana took Amanda. Carly and Leo just stood there in the foyer. Leo looked up at Carly who had been looking at him the whole time and there was nothing but silence between them.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Carly asked, trying to be a little sympathetic with him.

"You go ahead," said Leo. "I'll join you. I just need to freshen up a bit."

"Okay."

Carly gave Leo a little smile, reassuring him that everything was going go be alright. She turned around and joined the others in the living room. Leo just looked on as a conversation had quickly sprang up amongst his family members with Angel and Carly. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves especially his grandmother who was right beside Angel and holding her hand.

While the conversation was going on, Angel looked up and noticed that Leo was still standing in the foyer staring at them. When Leo caught Angel staring at him, he quickly turned away. Her eyes were already blazing enough to set him on fire just like it had happened earlier. With a sigh, he went up the stairs to his room.

When Leo reached his room, he quickly closed the door behind him and leaned on the door. He was so frustrated. First, breaking up with Kim was one heck of a disaster and secondly, Angel was now staying here and that was a living nightmare.

He passed his hand through his hair wondering what to do. Trying to act like there was nothing unusual with Angel staying here was going to be difficult. Besides, he was the one responsible for getting Angel into an accident and he had never apologised for it.

He was in for a wild ride now that she was closer to him than ever. And he knew that if she ever got the chance to be alone with him, she would definitely kill him.