Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Chapter 61:

Eileen pondered why Benjamin, always chasing personal benefit, would risk upsetting Jonathan for her sake. Something didn’t add up. Restless, she spent the night wrestling with her sheets, sleep elusive. Then her phone rang, startling her into action, careful not to disturb Bailee, who was asleep beside her.

“Hello?” she said.

A pause stretched on the line before a voice, tentative yet familiar, broke the silence. “Is this Miss Curtis? It’s Aaron.”

Recognition dawned slowly for Eileen. It was Aaron Clarkson, Harlan’s son.

“Yes,” Eileen replied.

“It’s really you!” Aaron’s tone, laced with astonishment, carried across the line. “I never thought we’d speak again.”

Eileen remembered their brief time together. Aaron had leaned heavily on her guidance. The years had created distance, yet here he was, reaching out as if no time had passed at all.

Eileen found a quiet corner on the couch downstairs, her voice a whisper. “How have you been, Aaron?”

Aaron’s words flowed, not typical of teens his age. Eileen noticed he hadn’t changed much from the child she remembered. They lost themselves in conversation for well over an hour. During this, Eileen’s phone buzzed with an incoming call, but she chose to let it go unanswered.

After a while, she decided to broach the topic of grades. “Aaron, what’s been going on with your grades lately?”

Aaron gave a dismissive snort. “Figured you’d get to that. My dad’s pretty mad, too, but I keep it to myself. If I tell you, you’d just report back to him, wouldn’t you?”

Step into fiction with g Ɐ ln σ ν𝒆 ℓs․com Eileen held her silence, her answer clear in the quiet between them.

Aaron’s voice took on an edge. “I trusted you because I thought you were on my team. If you’re just gonna spill to him, I won’t tell you.”

“Best to leave it unsaid, then,” Eileen replied, keeping the peace. Wanting to steer away from the tension, she changed the topic. “Do you want me to tutor you? Regardless of the whys and wherefores, focusing on your education is key.”

From the other end of the line, Aaron’s voice came with a teasing edge. “Don’t you want to convince me a little?”

At Aaron’s teasing remark, Eileen couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “Just tell me, are you in for tutoring?”

Aaron didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I don’t want to fall behind in my studies either. But it’s too hard for me to catch up now. When will you come to tutor me?”

Eileen considered for a moment. “I can only provide you with some study materials for you to work through. You need to complete a practice test for each subject so I can assess your understanding.”

Disappointment tinged Aaron’s reply; the face-to-face session wasn’t on the table. “Okay, I’ll get it done and send it your way.”

“Then you go to bed now; it’s late,” Eileen reminded him before ending the call.

Afterward, Eileen noticed a missed call from Bryan, followed by a text, a question mark. Unsure if Bryan was already asleep, Eileen opted not to call. She sent a text.

“Mr. Dawson, any instructions?”

No response came. The conversation with Aaron had banished any thought of sleep, so Eileen booted up her computer to pore over the eighth-grade curriculum. Her impromptu study session stretched into the wee hours, ending only at three in the morning. Knowing she needed some sleep to function at work, she finally went to bed.

However, dark circles still underscored her when she arrived at work, having taken the bus because Bryan had taken away the car. It was her first time being late.

When she clocked in at the company gate and was reminded with the words “You are late,” many employees looked at her with surprise. Judie, among the onlookers, exchanged glances with others before joining Eileen with a stack of files in hand.

“You’re late, Eileen. What made you take the bus today?” Judie inquired.

Eileen, seeking a moment’s solace, rested against the elevator’s wall and spoke without lifting her head. “Just short on sleep.”

Eileen’s attitude was very dull, and Judie felt her words getting stuck in her throat. The elevator halted, yet Judie made no move to exit.

Eileen pressed the button to open the doors again, fixing Judie with a look. “Aren’t you going back to the office?”

“Oh, yes,” Judie responded, stepping out with a backward glance that conveyed her concern for Eileen’s haggard appearance. Clearly, something was off.

Without hesitation, Judie pulled out her phone and moved down the corridor. “Roderick, there’s trouble with your sister. It looks like she’s had a falling-out with Mr. Dawson!”

Roderick, pausing on his scooter, demanded, “What do you mean?”

“I’ve never seen Eileen take the bus to work before,” Judie relayed urgently. “She’s worn out, sporting dark circles, and she was fuming. Looks like she’s had a rough time with Mr. Dawson and is keeping it to herself. She seemed so distant while speaking to me.”

Judie let out a sneer as she added, “She was supposed to be part of my house-buying plan. Now what? Do you think Mr. Dawson will offer her any kind of settlement?”

Judie never missed an opportunity to belittle Eileen when out of earshot, and Roderick was aware of this habit. He said, “Enough with the nonsense. I’ll call her later and ask her what’s actually happening.”

“Don’t let her squander any settlement on that lost cause,” Judie said, her voice laden with disdain as she pressed about any potential compensation before ending the call.

Eileen had just delivered a file to Bryan when he asked, “Rough night?”

“I stayed up too late,” Eileen admitted with a nod.

“What were you talking to on the phone last night?”

Bryan, still focused on his paperwork, suddenly recalled the previous night’s conversation. “A friend. Did you need me for something last night, Mr. Dawson?”

As Bryan finished with the documents, he replied, “Just wanted to ask you where Huey lives.”

Eileen was taken aback. “You don’t know where he lives? Where did you take him last night?”

Bryan reclined in his chair, eyebrows arched as he regarded Eileen. “What? You are worried about him?”

Eileen replied, shaking her head lightly. “Just concerned that he would be a hassle for you.”

Bryan held her gaze, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Just focus on your tasks,” he finally said.

Eileen took the files and turned to leave. It puzzled her that Bryan wasn’t sure of Huey’s address, but she didn’t suspect any harm would come to Huey. Bryan was trustworthy.

Back in her own space, she quickly texted Bailee, telling her to check on Huey.

The day was a marathon, and by its end, Eileen was exhausted. Kian had already left with Vivian. When she and Bryan departed, it was Bryan at the wheel. Exhaustion overcame her, and she dozed off in the passenger seat.

The chime of her phone broke the quiet. A WhatsApp notification glowed. Bryan took a brief look; the message was from the name “Clarkson.”

At a red light, Bryan reached out to grab Eileen’s phone, but Eileen was quicker.

“It’s my phone,” she said, her voice betraying her fatigue and a lack of her usual assertiveness.

The thought of Bryan discovering her private tutoring sessions with Aaron and the impact on her rest and job performance loomed in her mind. It would surely displease him.

Bryan paused, hand on the wheel, and studied her momentarily with a thoughtful look before returning his attention to the road.

Eileen checked the message. “I’m going to start on the practice tests and will send you two subjects a day.”

“Got it,” Eileen responded. She was about to return the phone to its place but instead decided to keep it in her hand.

As the light shifted to green, Bryan accelerated, causing Eileen to instinctively reach for the handle above her head.

Eileen glanced at Bryan, noticing the set jaw of his profile. “Keep a firm hold on your phone.”

“Okay,” she replied, her fingers wrapping more securely around the device.

The journey hastened, and soon they reached Springvale Lane. Following Bryan inside, Eileen was just shutting the door when he stepped close, the coolness of the wall meeting her back.

He brushed a kiss against her hair, his voice firm. “What’s the plan? Dinner first or sex first?”

Turning slightly, Eileen replied softly, her palms resting lightly on his chest. “Can we have dinner first? I’d rather sleep than have sex today because I’m hungry and exhausted.”

“I’ll take care of dinner,” Bryan assured her, his gaze intense. “Tired now? Didn’t think about that when you were up last night, huh?”

Silence was Eileen’s only response.

The realization hit her hard—balancing the creation of study guides for Aaron and managing her time with Bryan was going to be a challenging task.

Eileen flickered uneasily and nodded. “I’ll make sure not to stay up late in the future.”

Bryan’s voice was rough. “Never? Then are we going to have sex or not?”

Eileen’s throat tightened. It seemed she couldn’t avoid it.

“Yes.”

Bryan gave a nod of approval. “Alright, take a shower and get changed. I’ll start on dinner.” He brushed her hair back from her face, leaving soft kisses in his wake, each one drawing a deeper shade of pink across her cheeks.

Once he let go, Eileen retreated to the sanctuary of the bathroom to regain her composure and start the shower. Bryan, meanwhile, shed his formal attire, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work in the kitchen with a contemplative smile.

Unbeknownst to them, a car had trailed them home, its occupants observing their arrival with speculative eyes. Vivian, sitting beside Kian and peering through the car’s half-lowered window, noticed the sight of Eileen’s clothes hanging on the balcony, along with Bryan’s shirt.

Clenching her jaw, she wound up the window and snatched her phone from her purse with a vengeful grip. “I’m going to call the reporters. I’ll expose their affair!” she said through gritted teeth.

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