175 A Worried Sister
Many times Angela contacted Arthur but none of the calls were picked up by her brother. It was strange, if she had been spamming, Arthur would have inevitably replied to her messages or picked up the phone but not at all. What happened to her brother?
After her shift finished in the afternoon, Angela drove to the place where she knew Arthur lived. Angela got out of the car after putting the car at the end of the parking lot. She rushed into the luxurious apartment her brother had rented. She still had not given up on contacting Arthur until she reached the door of her brother’s apartment unit. Her finger began to press the doorbell, waiting for a few moments for someone inside to open the door.
Angela frowned, there was no response from her brother. She continued to press the bell, but to no avail.
“This person, why is it so hard to contact all of a sudden?” grumbled Angela, losing her patience.
Angela switched to another contact to call, she had not pressed the call button yet but the door she had been waiting for finally opened. Angela was a little surprised to see that Arthur did not look like his usual self.
“What’s wrong?” asked Arthur in a hoarse, lackluster tone. His black hair was as messy as the clothes he wore.
“Are you... are you okay?” asked Angela again worried. Arthur did not answer and went back inside, leaving his sister still filled with confusion. Angela went inside immediately after closing the door, following her brother’s big footsteps to the sofa and sat down.
Angela was speechless when she saw the messy state of the room. A collection of empty alcohol bottles, cigarette remnants, scattered snacks and so on.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with you, brother?” asked Angela as she sat beside her brother who looked empty. There was no light at all in Arthur’s gray eyes.
.....
“What do you mean, I’m fine,” Arthur replied casually, flashing Angela a smile even though she knew it was a fake one.
“You’ve had too much to drink,” Angela said as she snatched the bottle of alcohol Arthur was holding, the man already intending to take another sip if not prevented by his sister. Arthur did not protest, he leaned back on the sofa. This infuriated Angela because Arthur would not open up about what was going on. “Hey, mom and dad are worried about you. You’re so hard to reach, at least tell me, Brother.”
“Tell them I’m fine, don’t worry,” Arthur replied as he got up from the couch and headed for the kitchen. “Have you eaten? I rarely keep food here. If you want to eat, I’ll order food.”
“Brother!” exclaimed Angela annoyed that Arthur kept avoiding her, acting as if nothing had happened when the man’s appearance was far from good. Angela caught up with her brother who was still busy with his time-wasting activities. Who cares about others when one of their loved ones is in this condition? “Does this have anything to do with that woman?” asked Angela successfully getting Arthur to stop checking the food in the kitchen cupboard.
Shortly, Arthur closed the cupboard door and turned to face his sister with a look that was hard to interpret. “Who’s the woman you’re talking about? Lea?”
“Who else?”
Arthur chuckled softly, a faint smirk etched on the man’s lips. “Aren’t there many women surrounding your brother? You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”
“I’m not in the mood to hear your narcissistic remarks, brother. You’re not usually like this, what’s wrong?” asked Angela still trying to get Arthur to reveal what was happening.
“Nothing to do with her, Angela. I’m busy with my work, that’s all,” replied Arthur as he walked over to his sister and patted the top of Angela’s head. He smiled faintly, this time looking completely sincere. Although Angela felt there was still something off about her brother.
“Really?”
“Yeah, so you came just because you were worried about that?”
“Mom and Dad are worried too. If you’re really busy, but at least let them know,” Angela advised, while Arthur just nodded without defending himself because he knew what he was doing was wrong. “It’s also hard for me to see you at work, are you really a workaholic?” asked Angela a little hesitantly.
“Well, maybe? Haha,” laughed Arthur and then opened the lid of the can and drank the beer.
“Don’t drink too much alcohol, it’s not good for your health,” admonished Angela, never tired of telling her brother even if he did not listen.
“Don’t I have a little sister who will always be ready to treat me?” replied Arthur with a nosy smile, Angela just scowled in annoyance.
“It’s true, but prevention is better than cure! You know that, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, But Angela, I’m serious there’s no food here. Don’t you want to eat?” asked Arthur.
“I didn’t come here to eat, Brother. I was worried something might happen to you,” Angela replied, making Arthur quite moved and immediately hugged his only sister.
“My little sister is so caring.”
Angela smiled, returning the hug just as tightly. “I don’t know if you have something to hide or not, but you can tell me about it, Brother. But you remember that there’s still me, right?” Angela said after the hug broke. Arthur just smiled bitterly in response.
There was no way he could tell her about his relationship with Kalea. Kalea was pregnant with his baby and had disappeared from his life. For a week now, he had not been able to find her. Arthur still did not understand why Kalea had to run away from him, had not he always tried to treat her very well? What was missing?
Especially if this condition is known by his parents, everything will be even more messy.
“I’m fine, I told you not to worry,” Arthur said, ruffling his sister’s black hair.
That day, Angela decided to accompany her brother to the apartment. Although she did not stay overnight, she at least wanted to make sure Arthur was really okay and that she could tell mom and dad about him. The clock struck eight in the evening, and Angela intended to get home before it got too late. At first Arthur offered to drive her home, but Angela refused as she had a car.
“Be careful, if you get there let me know,” Arthur said, Angela just nodded and waved before leaving Arthur alone again.
However, unbeknownst to Arthur, Angela drove her car to a bar to meet someone. Angela tightened her woolen coat, walking into the bar which was a little off the beaten path in the city center. Her long legs walked confidently through the crowds of people. A sweet smile graced the beautiful face of the only daughter in the Jefferson family.
“Have you been waiting here long, Dariel?” asked Angela as she hugged Dariel and kissed his cheek. The man with the dimples shook his head and smiled kindly.
“No, I just arrived.”
Angela sat on a bar stool facing the direction the bartender was placing the order.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened to my brother?” Angela asked to the point, making Dariel chuckle softly.
“What’s the rush? What would you like to drink?” asked Dariel, not wanting to answer Angela’s question.
“Anything, but no alcohol,” Angela replied to the bartender. The woman returned her attention to Dariel, waiting for him to answer her question.
Since she did not easily believe her brother’s words, she tried to get an explanation from Arthur’s best friend. And fortunately, Dariel was willing to tell her. Of course Angela was very happy, it had been a long time since she had personally met the man she had fallen in love with. However, for now her focus must be on her brother, because she is sure that something must have happened.
Dariel sighed heavily after gulping down the last drop of vodka. “But I don’t want you to do anything after I say it. I just want you to know and keep quiet,” Dariel cautioned, Angela just nodded with an equally serious look on her face.
“Kalea is missing,” Dariel said. Three words that successfully made Angela frown, still digesting the words and soon she was dumbfounded.
“Missing? Since when?”
“From the CCTV footage, the last time Kalea left the penthouse was over a week ago. And until now Arthur hasn’t been able to find her,” Dariel explained. “Arthur is still trying to find her, but there’s been no progress.”
“Wait, but why did she leave? What did my brother do to her? Didn’t she... love my brother?” asked Angela still wondering.
“Don’t you know why? Because your brother couldn’t return Kalea’s love. Arthur didn’t love her, maybe Kalea thought why would she stay with a man who broke her heart?”
Angela shook her head, this was all too incredible for her to accept. Her brother did not love her? Was what she had seen all along wrong? Yet she felt that Arthur loved Kalea too!
“That’s probably all you need to know for now,” Dariel said as he asked the bartender for another pour of alcohol.
“Wait, so there’s more? Tell us everything, Dariel!” pleaded Angela as she pinned up Dariel’s shirt.
Dariel just smiled meaningfully, then said, “If you dare, you can ask your brother directly.”
“I’ve asked but he won’t tell!” whined Angela desperately, her feelings now mixed. This was about her family, Arthur. What her brother had done to that woman somehow made Angela feel a huge sense of responsibility.
Angela remembered when Kalea had so sincerely said she loved Arthur, her brother.
“You’ve been paying attention to Lea, haven’t you?” asked Dariel.
“H-huh? What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you fly the war flag for each other in the past?”
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