AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Britney. Sorry,” he said with an apologetic grimace. “What I told you last night was the truth. I am not looking for anything serious. I am sure there is a nice guy out there for you, but I am definitely not it. I think I should get going…”
“Yeah, good idea! Get out of here you piece of shit,” she barked at him, her face contorted, her nostrils flaring. He rose and brushed past her to the side of the bed, picking through the stuff he'd lined on the bedside drawer—his gold watch, Italian leather wallet, and custom-tailored clothes.
For a moment that hollow emptiness in his chest rooted him to the ground once more. Sure, he was a shallow party animal, and he liked expensive things, but he was no sociopath. He truly loved this man. Especially after losing his father so early. His grandpa was pretty much all he had, if you didn’t count his crazy mom, and he preferred not to.
Your grandfather is dying.
“Screw the shower,” he mumbled as he bolted to the door while getting dressed at the same time. There was no more time to waste, not even ten minutes.
Through the five-hour flight on his private jet, Benjamin was tormented with anxious thoughts.
He’d never gotten the chance to properly say goodbye to his father, and he’d been a child back then. He was a man now, and the only other male figure he knew was about to leave him too. Deep down he was afraid of nothing more than being abandoned again; his worst nightmare was becoming true once again.
The black Mercedes hummed up the estate’s driveway, the tires crunching against the white and blue gravel underneath it.
Benjamin stared at the raindrops sliding down the tinted glass windows.I hate the rain. The car stopped a few feet before the main entrance, next to an ornate water fountain. A man dressed in a well-fitted suit, soaked by the rain, held opened the car door and held up an umbrella for Benjamin.
Walking quickly, partly to escape the cold drops blowing in from the side, but mostly to finally see his grandfather, Ben rushed up the stairs and into the entrance hall. His mother was already there to welcome him.
“How was your flight?” she asked, holding her arms open for an embrace.
“Good. Where’s grandpa?”
“He’s resting, but he requested to see you as soon as you got in.”
He narrowed his eyes and glanced at his mother. “He doesn’t know that I was in...”
“No, he doesn’t; I doubt he cares.” She was wrong and he knew it. “But you might still want to change into fresh clothes. You know… because of the rain.”
He nodded, a feeling of shame coming over him. Turning in on the spot, he rushed up to his room to get changed into something more respectable.
Ben hadalready changed into a nice Sunday polo shirt and khaki pants when he felt disheartened and sat down on his bed.
“You’ve not been a great grandson,” he muttered to himself.Why did things always have to be so gloomy and scary at the end of the line.He’d always seen his grandfather as a strong-willed person who was nothing short of invincible, but now he was actually dying.
Turning to face the mirror fixed on the side of master bathroom door, he took a good look at himself. His usually immaculate brown hair looked sticky and wet, his beautiful brown eyes looked dull. He still looked like he had partied all night in Vegas, despite the fresh set of clothes.
I should have spent more time with him.
He stared at his reflection a bit longer as if it were a stranger he was looking at, a person he had never met, or didn’t want to know.
Grabbing a towel, he dried his wet hair, tossed the towel without looking and then patted down his shirt. It was wrinkly and he knew his grandfather hated that. He always said, “If you want to dress like a gentleman, do so. If you want to look like some street bum, do so. Just don’t mix them together.”
“Sorry, grandfather,” he whispered to himself as he left the room. Sorry for looking like this, sorry for not being there when you needed me the most, and most of all, sorry for the man I now am.
