Chapter 9

Next morning was difficult. William walked into the dining hall and the chatter died away immediately. There was dead silence until he decided to ignore it and served himself some food from the buffet table.

Turning around, he looked for a place to sit. People shamelessly stared. Ignoring them all with great difficulty, he found a corner next to a young guy who was the only one not staring. He was totally engrossed in his phone, food untouched.

"Can I sit here?" William asked politely. The guy just gestured to sit without even looking up. Slowly a low murmur ended the silence and everyone went back to doing what they were doing before William came.

William had no appetite but since it was his first day he had no idea where to be until the captain meeting at 9. He dint get much sleep after the incident with Frank. He took a shower to wash off the blood and slowly dried himself, not willing to go back to the room where the only thing happened was mind boggling. Then he sat on the bed for a while, thoughts weaving between the strangeness of Lanchester and Leah's betrayal. He thought about captain, the only real father figure in his life and he disappointed him. At some point before the sun came up, his eyes closed and he fell back on the hard bed.

Few hours later, the sunlight flooded the room, falling on William's face. He would up with a jerk. Sitting up straight he recollected the events of the previous night and sighed. It was too late for his morning jog and he had no idea what to do so he got dressed and went down.

The manager of the hotel was talking to someone, he brow furrowed. When he saw William, his expression changed to something unreadable.

"Ah William! Slept alright ?" He asked. William just shrugged and said "Is Frank ok? I would like to go see him."

"Don't worry boy, they patched him up and let him spend the night at the hospital. He should be back before lunch." The manager said, patting him on the shoulder before turning to go. "Oh and captain Norman would like to see you in his office at 9.00. Why don't you go down to the dining hall and grab some breakfast." He added before walking away.

William ate in silence, ignoring stares and murmurs from the people in the hall. The young man with whom he shared the table with finally put down his phone and looked up. He had dark hair, neatly combed to the side, he had a slight stubble that gave his face a nice look. He gave William a look of recognition with his green eyes.

"Let me guess, William Cooper? I am Adam." He said, holding out his hand. "Possibly the only man in the history of Lanchester to become so well known overnight."

"Not for a good reason though." William replied, taking his hand. "Do you know why everyone is staring?"

"You mean you don't know?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.

Getting frustrated, William picked up his empty plate "Well.... Thank you for letting me sit here." He said before storming off to dump his plate.

******

Dana was the first to wake up. She was full of energy, ready to start the hunt for her boyfriend. He quickly got dressed and went down.

The rains had stopped and the sun was shining. The plants were still wet and the grounds smelled of petrichor. Feeling like this could be a good day she decided to take a tour of the hotel grounds. Who knows, maybe she would get lucky and bump into Aaron here. From what she could tell, nothing else in the town screamed job opportunities for smart young people.

She decided to take a tour of the grounds, she could see the edge of the maze from the left side of the hotel. The hedge wall was so close that it touched the compound wall of the hotel.

"I know, it seems like a serious security concern but we were assured that it would be ok." A voice came from behind Dana. Turning around she gasped. It was the same guy she saw last night in the rain.

"I dint mean to startle you, It's just that I asked the manager the same question this morning. She gave a small smile and asked "So you are new around here?"

"Yes, I drove down here last night."He replied.

"Me too." Dana said.

There was a bit of awkward silence and then he cleared his throat and said "I gotta get going, first day you know."

Dana didn't say anything. She just watched him walk away till he disappeared from site. Suddenly her mother appeared.

"Where have you been! Don't you know better than to wander about?" Alice said angrily.

"I'm not a child mom! Soon I'll be in college and I'll have to take care of myself." Dana said, walking back to the hotel. Alice was furious but followed quietly after that. Dana could not understand what brought about this strange behavior from her mother. She always respected her boundaries and taught her independence. When Dana reached the corridor where their rooms were she realized why her mother was so upset and worried.

Derrick was standing by the door of his room, moaning and hitting the side of his head on the door frame. His eyes were rolled to the back of his head but he was able to hold his body up straight and continues to hit his head.

Sophie was starring at him with a worried look on his face, she had locked the boys in their room and was using her body to barricade the door, obviously because sight of their father like this would upset them. When she saw Alice and Dana approaching she sighed in relief.

"Thank god you are ok! Where were you?" She asked. But Dana could not reply. Her eyes fixed on her father's strange behaviour.

"What is he doing now!" Gasped Alice, going up to Derrick and gently pulling him away from the door and back into the room. Dana helped as Sophie was still blocking the door.

" When we woke up, we found your Dad just standing  outside in the corridor, staring into space. He would not respond to anything we said. He dint even react when I pinched him. And then we found your door open and you weren't there. Alice said as she covered Danny with a blanket. He was still trying to hit his head on something.

Dana looked at her mom. " Thats why you were worried. I'm sorry."

Alice shook her head, wiping off a tear. Suddenly Danny stopped moving and he just lay still.

"Dana, take the boys for some breakfast. Don't let them see your father like this. Sophie, please stay with him. I am going to get some help." Alice said, trying to hold herself together.

******

Alice Moore-Hall.

She and her kids did not change their names after she divorced Derrick and married Sophie, she did however add Sophie's surname. She felt it was easier that way. She felt that Derrick would still be part of her life as family.

Derrick however, was a broken man. He never really recovered from the shock. He tried moving on but not in the right way. Sophie would bring him home drunk whenever she could and he would spend the night on Alice's couch. Night after night this went on, until Alice broke down into tears. Sophie was there for her too. Once she settled Derrick down on the couch, she would sit with Alice in the kitchen and drink coffee. She would let Alice cry her eyes out and blame herself for Derrick.

It was a slow courtship. A few months into Derrick's drinking problem, Sophie confessed that the reason she took responsibility to bring Derrick home was to see Alice. She always had a crush on Alice when she was just the boss's wife. Alice was caught off guard and slammed the door on Sophie's face. But she returned the next day, Derrick hanging by her side.

Finally Alice gave her a chance. They fell madly in love for each other. They understood each other. But Derrick completely fell apart from this news and stopped letting himself get dragged to Alice's couch. He ended up bringing strange women to his place but would never see them again.

Sophie knew that Alice would forever hold herself responsible for breaking Derrick's heart but she supported her in every way possible. They wanted to get married but Alice refused, in attempt to salvage the broken pieces of Derrick's heart. She was convinced he would find love again.

She was right in an unexpected way. Derrick did find love, not with a women but a child. His drunken ways was distracted with the unexpected arrival of a baby from one of his one night stands. He felt a sudden freedom from Alice, this was the only child of his that did not come from Alice. He stopped drinking and took better care of himself. Since he was not at home a lot while raising his other kids, Derrick had no choice but to go to Alice and Sophie for help.

Soon his life fell back in place. There was still something missing because Eric would often ask about his mother and he would find himself lost for words.

Alice took responsibility for Eric too. She treated him equally as her children, and now her thoughts were on him as she ran down to get help for Derrick.

When she first saw him she thought he was drunk, staring blankly into space. It was strange because she had seen him drunk many time but never like this. She immediately checked on her kids to find Dana missing and her room door wide open. Panicking that someone took her, she left Sophie to look after Derrick as she ran around the hotel looking for Dana. She dint want Eric to see his father like this, not until she figured out what was wrong.

"Help!" she gasped, out of breath from running. The manager of the hotel was standing at the end of the hallway, showing concern, he came forward.

"My husband, something is wrong. He is acting strange." She explained, urging him to follow her.

Without a word, the manager followed her , when he entered the room, Derrick was still unconscious. Sophie was sitting by his side.

The manager checked his temperature, checked his pulse and then laughed.

"Don't worry Madam, this happens all the time." He said, smiling. He pulled out a tiny bottle and put a few drops on a tissue before keeping it under Derrick's nose.

With a sudden jerk, Derrick woke up, eyes wide and he was sweating. "What happened?" he choked, mouth dry.

"Nothing to worry about sir, Some of our drinks are too strong, but you will be fine." The manager said before pocketing the bottle and taking leave.

With the 3 of them alone in the room, there was silence, which was broken by Alice.

"You drank last night?" She said, staring at Derrick .

"Just one drink, and I swear I went to bed." Derrick said. He looked very sorry. He had stopped drinking since Eric came into his life and then he only had them for occasions. Alice always told him not to tempt himself but he could not stop completely.

Shaking her head in anger, she walked out of the room without another word.

"She was just worried about the kids seeing you like this. Just take some rest and then come down for a bite to eat, ok?" Sophie said kindly before leaving.

Derrick sat on the bed, upset with himself.

What a mess!


  ****** 



Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Things are so complicated with this poor family... and its only going to get worse from here.

If you like reading this please vote and leave a comment. I would like to know what you think about this family.



Also.... I was thinking of writing a Harry potter fan fiction. For those of you who love Harry Potter, please check it out..... Its about Harry's life after Voldemort's time.

Let me know what you think! I'm so excited...Will publish the first chapter soon!!

<3<3

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top