Candace didn't know it but tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched Aaron and Jamal argue over a move false Jamal had made as they played a game of cards.
It warmed her heart each time she saw her precious little boy interact with either Aaron, Harry, or Tom. It gave her so much joy to see that he was surrounded by such wonderful men who didn't merely tolerate his presence like his own father had done but actually embraced and welcomed it because they loved him.
The joy and admiration on Jamal's face right now told her she had made the right decision by coming to Ludus to connect with Aaron and Harry. She only wished that Andy was with them to share in all these joy and love of family.
She had been plagued with dreams of Andy all through the night and the first thought on her mind when she woke up in the early hours of the morning had been Andy.
She had found herself crying and longing for her sister. She was both worried and concerned since it was ten days already and there was no word from Andy. Where was she? What state was she in? Was she okay? Was Cassidy treating her well? When would she hear from her or see her again?
"Are you okay, darling?" Aaron asked when he noticed how Candace was staring at them with tears in her eyes.
Candace blinked rapidly, and then she let out an awkward laugh, "I'm fine."
"You have tears in your eyes," Jamal said, and Candace raised a hand to her face and smiled as she brushed away the tears.
"They're the good ones," she assured Jamal who had risen from his seat beside his grandfather to go wipe her tears.
"Happy tears?" Jamal asked, and Candace bobbed her head, while Aaron considered her thoughtfully.
"Jamal, go get your mom the box of tissues in my bedroom," Aaron said, and even though Jamal thought there was no need for it since his mom wasn't exactly weeping, he left to get it.
"Come sit beside me," Aaron said as he adjusted on the couch so that it would accommodate her.
"I'm fine. Really," Candace assured him, but still went to sit beside him.
Knowing he wasn't convinced, she faced him, "I just got emotional seeing Jamal with you that way. I mean, he never really had a good male figure in his life, and now he has three. He has a grandfath…." Her voice hitched as fresh tears pooled in her eyes, and Aaron embraced her.
"A part of me still feels like it's all a dream and I'm going to wake up and find that it's not real," Candace confessed.
"Ow!" She exclaimed when Aaron pinched her arm.
"See? You felt that. It's not a dream," Aaron said, and Candace sighed.
"I've decided that Jamal and I will be going back to Sogal," Candace said, and Aaron looked at her with a slight frown.
"How soon?" He asked, since that was what bothered him. He was fine with them moving to Sogal since he also lived there, but if they returned back to their own place and life so soon, he would never really get the opportunity to bond with them as he wanted to.
Candace smiled as though she could read his mind, "I suppose we can hang around until you are healthy enough and ready to travel back," she explained, and Aaron beamed a smile at her.
"It's good to know you are returning to Sogal. You know, I still find it surprising that I lived in Sogal all these years and not once did we cross paths," Aaron said, and Candace smiled.
"Sogal isn't a little city, it's almost as populated as Ludus. I'm sure you haven't crossed path with everyone in Sogal," Candace pointed out, besides, they didn't exactly roll in the same circles. Maybe if he was the type to visit strip clubs, they could have crossed paths.
"I guess even if we had crossed path we would never have known. We were not meant to meet until now," Aaron said and Candace nodded in agreement.
"Do you have an extra room in your house?" Candace asked after some seconds, not sure how Aaron would feel about her question but trusting that he would be happy to know she planned to maintain their relationship.
"It's not…."
"There is no tissue box," Jamal complained as he returned to join them, interrupting whatever Aaron had planned to say.
"Oh! There is none? I thought I had one," Aaron said, while Jamal looked from Aaron to his mother who had changed her position.
"Should I check Uncle Harry's bedroom?" He offered, thinking they were probably discussing and needed privacy.
"You don't have to. Come seat with us," Candace said, and Jamal sat on the arm rest beside his mother.
"Jam, we will be traveling back home soon," Candace said, bringing him into the conversation.
"Home?" He asked, not liking the sound of that.
"Yes. Sogal. We both have to return to school," Candace said, and immediately Jamal shook his head.
"I don't want to go back there. Let's stay here," Jamal argues just as Candace had known he would.
"We have to…."
"Why do we have to? Why can't we just stay here with Tom, and Lucy, and uncle Harry, and grandpa, and grandmum Janet and everyone else?"
"I will be going back to Sogal too," Aaron informed him.
"But Lucy won't be coming. And Tom and uncle Harry too. It's going to be just us like before," Jamal pointed out.
"No. It won't be just like before. Now you have your grandfather, and we can visit Lucy, and uncle Harry from time to time," Candace explained patiently.
"I don't want to visit, I want to stay. I like it here. Why do you want to go back? Is aunt Andy back? I don't want to go back if she is not there," Jamal said, looking for another excuse.
"She is not back yet, but we have to be home when she comes back so she doesn't start worrying and searching all over for us," Candace said.
"But Tom promised to give you a job and..."
"Your mom can work at HAJ studios. Don't you want to know where I live and know where I work too?" Aaron cut in when he noticed that Candace was beginning to lose her patience with Jamal.
"Is your house as big as Tom's house?" Jamal asked contemplatively.
"I have never been to Tom's house, so I don't know how big it is. But I can tell you a secret, there are lots of fun stuff for little boys your age in one of the bedrooms," Aaron assured Jamal.
"Fun stuff? Like toys?" He asked with eyes gleaming with interest, and Aaron grinned.
"Lots of solid toys I got Harry when he was a kid. And they are still in a good shape too. I could get you some more toys too if that's what you want."
"But what about Lucy?" Jamal asked sadly.
"You can always speak with her over the phone and we can visit her whenever we want to," Aaron promised, and Jamal sighed.
"Will you take me to your company? Is it like Tom's company?" Jamal asked, and Aaron smiled.
"No, it's not the same as Tom's. But you might love it when you see it," Aaron said, counting on that.
He planned to leave HAJ studios to Jamal in the future, and he hoped Jamal would love it as much as he did.
"Alright," Jamal said with a resigned sigh.
Aaron turned to Candace, "My house is yours, and you don't have to move in with me if you don't want to, but you should know that there is more than enough room for you, Jamal, and Andy."
Away from there, in a certain cabin room in a ship, Andy took her time to wash her hair, shower and dress up in front of the dressing mirror in the cabin.
She had no idea why Cassidy had chosen oversized male clothes for a vain female as herself, but she had tried to make do with it by leaving the top buttons open. She didn't work on her boobs just so they could stay hidden.
She had rolled up the sleeves a bit, and then tied a knot at the front to expose her belly button ring. There wasn't much she could do about the trouser so she would manage it, but the shirt? She had to look sexy, she thought as she sent a wink at her reflection.
After spending the last ten days in the godforsaken cabin which still had the stench of vomit, Andy wanted nothing more than to get a breath of fresh air even if it meant defying Cassidy who had specifically asked her not to step out of her cabin.
Screw him! No one told her what to do! The only reason she had not left the cabin in those ten days was not because she took his words seriously. But rather because she had been unconscious within the first five days after barely surviving drowning, and had been sick in the following days.
Now that she was strong enough to move about on her own, she would be damned if she let him tell her what to do. She wouldn't let the fucker order her around or control her like she was his prisoner. He didn't own her. She didn't give two fucks about his claim to have paid Jero a huge amount of money to have her to himself. She wasn't a dog and Jero wasn't her owner. As far as she was concerned, he had kidnapped her, and the moment they got to somewhere safe she would find a way to leave.
She needed to find a way to reach Candace who she knew would be worried sick about her. She missed Candace and her sweet little Jamal. This was the longest she had been away from them. Away from her family. Her only consolation was in the fact that Candace had Matt to look out for her and Jamal. Knowing that Matt was there made her feel less anxious, she thought with a sigh as she took one final look at her reflection before stepping out of the cabin.
She looked down the corridor, wondering whether to go in the left or right direction. Not knowing where to go, she decided to go right, since right was the generally accepted right, and left was… well, left just sounded so wrong, Andy thought, amused by her own thought.
It was her first time in a cargo ship and she had no idea what to expect. Hopefully she would find someone who she could talk to or who might be of help to her.
The only person she had set eyes on since she got on the ship was Cassidy. She was yet to see anyone else. She some times heard voices when they walked past the door, but no one had come into her room apart from Cassidy who always brought in her meals or came to check on her despite the fact that she was still not talking to him. He came in whenever he liked, and always talked to her until he was exhausted of speaking without getting a response.
As she walked down the corridor her eyes took in everything, and she only stopped when a door some feet away from her opened and a man who looked to be in his early forties stepped out.
"Did you lose your way, pretty miss?" He asked with a polite smile when he saw her.
Andy paused as she contemplated whether or not it was safe to tell him she was trying to find her way outside. Preferably somewhere she could get a breath of fresh air.
Before she could respond he spoke again, "For your safety I think it's best you cover up properly if you don't want the boys ogling," he said, and Andy shrugged.
"I don't mind them ogling," Andy assured him, and he gave her a nod.
She had spent a good number of years being on display for men to drool over her, so it wasn't a big deal for her if some sexstarved boys wanted to feast on her with their eyes.
"If it wouldn't be too much of a bother, could you escort me to somewhere I can get a bit of privacy and fresh air?" she asked, reasoning that he was harmless.
"That's not a problem," he said as he took her back in the left direction.
"So the left is the right direction to go?" She asked in amusement.
"I figured the right side is always right, or the right is always the ride side," Andy said, and he chuckled at her humor but didn't correct her. There was no need to.
"So how long have you been working on water?" Andy asked conversationally.
"This ship? Four years. Ships in general? Almost twenty years," he said with a proud smile.
"So where is this ship headed?" She asked wanting to know if the ship was stopping at the island Cassidy had mentioned (chapter 409) or if they were just dropping them off and continuing on their way.
They still had about five days to get to the island, and she needed to begin to find a means of escape before then. If she was going to escape from Cassidy, she needed to start working out her escape plan now.
Pete didn't respond to her question as he stepped forward and opened a door for her to go in, and Andy swore under her breath when she saw Cassidy standing inside the room staring outside a wide window with a cigar between his lips.
She should have followed her instincts and continued in the right direction. See where the left direction led her!
"I said to take me to somewhere private where I can get fresh air!" She hissed at Pete angrily as she tried to walk out of the room but Pete didn't budge from the door.
"I met her on the corridor," Pete informed Cassidy.
"Thanks for bringing her to me. You can leave us," Cassidy said as he turned to look at her.
Andy turned to leave after Pete moved away from the door and left, but she stopped when Cassidy spoke.
"You don't listen, do you?" He asked, and Andy turned back to face him but before she could speak, Cassidy spoke again.
"Why are you wearing that? Are you that desperate for male attention?" He asked with disapproval as he gazed at her boobs which were fully in public display.
"Yes, I am! So what? What are you going to do about it?" She asked, her green eyes burning furiously.
A vein worked in Cassidy's temple but he managed to keep his face blank as he slowly made his way to where she stood defiantly staring at him and daring him with her eyes to do his worst.
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