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“What meals are you allergic to?” Alba asked her.
“I can eat anything. I don’t have any food allergies, although I am allergic to penicillin. Since you don’t cook that, I think we’re safe.” She joked, and I heard Alba let out a slight chuckle.
Good. She is funny too; I think dryly.
“You know what? I think we’re going to be good friends.” Alba said to her. “I hope you stick around longer than the rest. I like you.”
“I like you too,” I heard her say before I continued and rolled my eyes. I placed a bet within myself that I could drive her off within the week.
Inside the workshop, I took out the board for a new design I’d started working on only a few weeks ago. It was still in its early stages as I’d not had the time to work on it, but I had a little free time on my hands for a while at least.
It was spring and work was usually slow this time of year. It did not mean I did not still have work at the Fitzgerald group, but it was not as tedious as having to design a whole ass house.
My phone rang just as I was getting into work mode. I picked it up to find it was my father calling. Sighing, I contemplated whether to pick up the call. My parents had been trying to reach me for weeks, but I’d ignored every one of their attempts. My mother had stopped trying to, while my father still reached out every once in a while.
The only time I communicated with him was through email and only when it related to work.
My anger with them stemmed from the fact that they were more interested in seeing me married off than they were in my health.
And their reason for wanting me married was not because they cared about my happiness, but because my father wanted an heir. I was the only child and ever since I graduated college, they’d tried to matchmake me with every single heiress in New York City to ensure that their wealth stayed in the family.
They’d never really approved of my relationship with Gigi. My mother never failed to hide her disdain for my ex, while my father had been more subtle in his disapproval.
After the accident, and Gigi moved on barely a month after, she was so proud of herself that she’d been right to call Gigi a gold digger.
They’d sent me a list of heiress I could choose from while I was still nursing a broken heart after my fiancée dumped me.
I stared at the screen for a few seconds before it went off, and then it started up again.
This time, I picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hello! Christian?” I hear the surprise in his voice and I could tell that he had not expected me to pick up.
“Son. How are you doing?” He said.
“What do you want, dad? Does this have anything to do with work?” my voice was cold and unfeeling. I didn’t care when I heard his pained sigh.
“You’re going to have to talk to us at some point, Christian. I know you’re mad at your mother and I but we are doing this for your good as well as ours.”
“But mostly yours, of course,” I added.
“No. Mostly yours. There is no need to believe it. You’re almost thirty. You need a family of your own. This incident is proof of how brief life could be. If you insist on staying up there as a recluse, fine. But just think about it.”
“Is that all you want to talk about, dad, or is there something else?”
He sighed again and I almost hung up the phone before he continued.
“Did you already meet with the nurse Ethan sent up there?”
“I already told you I didn’t need a nurse and I can do this by myself. Sending a pretty one will not change my mind any more than the others.”
“Now, you’re just being plain stubborn. No man is an island, and Alba is too old to do everything up there on her own. Even if you don’t need the help. She does.”
I said nothing to that because I know he is right, although I would never admit that out loud. I was punishing Alba as well as myself with my self-induced solitude.
The nearest neighbors we had lived miles away, and you had to drive almost forty-five minutes to get into town. Alba was lonely as much as I was, and I could tell that having the new nurse here made her happy. I knew I would punish Alba as well as myself if my actions sent the nurse packing.
