Frustrated

Steve was seated on the floor of his living room drinking a bottle of Scotch, as he thought about what he was going to do to get out of the situation he was in. He had been unable to sleep all through the night, and had been deep in thought.

He was out of job, he was broke and to top it all, his landlord had just given him a quit notice. Where was he supposed to go? How was he supposed to afford another apartment when he had no money?

He burst into laughter because his life was a joke. "How deep can you sink when you are already down?" He muttered to himself as he took a swig of his drink, since he was drinking alone he didn't see the need of using a glass.

He heard a knock on the door but decided to ignore it. He wasn't expecting anyone, and neither was he in the mood for company.

The person at the door continued knocking for a while and then stopped. The person must have gotten tired and left, he thought, grateful for the silence.

"Ayo! Ayo! Open the door! I know you are in there," Lilian called out loudly as she resumed knocking again, but this time on the window.

He raised his head and looked at the window to see the person he very well knew was his sister trying to peep through his window.

"Can't a man have peace in his own house? At least before I get evicted out into the streets?" He grumbled as he stood up to open the door for her before she pulled down the roof with her screaming, or worse still drew the attention of his neighbors.

"This explains why you haven't been taking my calls," Lilian said the moment she walked in and noticed the bottle of alcohol on the floor.

Steve didn't bother to defend himself, he just slumped on the ground where he was previously seated.

"Why didn't you tell me you lost your job and that your accounts have been frozen?" She asked with a concerned frown.

"Now you know, so what? It's not as if there's anything you can do about it! So what's the point?" Steve asked, looking at her with bloodshot eyes.

Lilian ignored his angry words and went into his kitchen to get him a bottle of water from his fridge, "Drink some water, you look dehydrated."

Steve took the water from her without arguing. He didn't know how dehydrated he was until he almost finished the bottle of water in one swig.

Lilian sat down beside him, "I guess the reason dad sacked you and froze your accounts was because of your refusal to marry Joan?"

Steve gave her an obvious look. "Why else would he want to sack me if not that? Or want to evict me out of my apartment?"

"He wants to evict you out of your apartment as well?" Lilian looked shocked.

"Yeah. My landlord has asked me to move out."

"But why? This doesn't make sense one bit. Why would your landlord listen to him?" Lilian asked incredulously.

"Because dad just bought over this property. My landlord called to tell me that yesterday."

"Ha ha now! This is too much nau!" Lilian lamented.

"Story of my life." Steve tried to reach for the bottle of alcohol but Lilian quickly stopped him.

"Stop. Drinking isn't going to solve this problem."

"Do you have a solution?" Steve sarcastically asked her.

"We need to go see mum and talk to her."

"Oh, please! Let's not even go there!" Steve angrily waved off her suggestion. "We went to talk to Dad and look what happened. Do you think mum is going to be of any help?" He asked, looking angry.

"It's our last shot, so we have no other choice but to try it. So get dressed because we are going to see her," Lilian said with a note of finality in her tone, leaving no room for Steve to argue.

Steve looked at her for a moment before letting out a sigh. What else did he have to lose? It wasn't like they could jail or beat him up until he chooses to give in to their terms, anyway. He stood up and walked into his bedroom to freshen up.

A few minutes later he came out looking presentable again, even though his eyes were still red. Thankfully he was no longer reeking of alcohol as his breath was fresh and smelt of the mint from the toothpaste he had used to wash his mouth, and the scent of his deodorant and cologne helped too.

"Now you look like my brother, let's go," Lilian said with a satisfied smile as she led the way out of the house.

"Nope. There is no way I'm letting you drive us anywhere after seeing how much alcohol you consumed. Don't worry, I came with my car, so I'm driving," Lilian told him when she turned to see him picking up his car key from the table.

"Whatever," Steve muttered as he dropped the key and walked out with his phone in hand.

"Are we going to her house or her office?" Steve asked as they both got into the car and Lilian turned on the car's ignition.

"Her office. She mentioned something about a meeting with her staff, so I'm sure she should be at work," Lilian said as she waited for the security man to open the gate before driving out.

"You know you can move in with me if they refuse to listen, right?" Lilian asked, turning to look at the only sibling she had with a concern.

Steve said nothing as he rested his head on the seat's headrest and shut his eyes. He didn't want to think about anything. He just wanted to rest.

"I spoke with Jo earlier," Lilian said, wanting to get a reaction from him, but Steve remained silent.

Seeing that he didn't want to talk, Lilian decided to keep quiet and just drive. Thankfully since it was work hours, many people were at their various offices so the traffic on the road wasn't very serious. Once they got to their mother's company, Lilian looked at Steve, "Don't say anything and let me do the talking, okay?" She asked, and Steve ignored her as he got out of the car.