Chapter Three
As I sat in the backseat of the car, my driver making the ride back home as smooth as possible, I thought about the chaotic day I had just had. It had been such a long day, I just wanted to go home and fall into my bed after taking a long shower. I leaned my head on the window and watched all the lights and buildings pass by. There was so much going on in the world, and I felt like my part was so small.
We stopped at a red light and I watched as a dad walked across the street, one son on his shoulders and the other one holding his hand. All three of them were smiling and talking excitedly. What must it be like to be able to have such a wistful moment with a loving father?
That thought brought me into a sad memory:
It was a hot, summer day and I had been playing outside with some of the neighborhood kids. I was only five and very small for my age (which always used to bother my dad). The other kids loved to run around and play tag and I would run after them trying to keep up, giggling the whole time. The only problem was that I was supposed to be at home with my English tutor and my father had forbade me from playing with the neighborhood kids.
It was my turn to be “it” and one of the older boys was helping me go around and catch the others, he held my hand as we ran. We weren’t looking where we were going, so we bumped into what we both thought was a huge tree. It wasn’t a tree, though, but was actually my father and one of his bodyguards. My father grabbed me by the arm while the bodyguard grabbed the other boy and walked him away.
“Kevin, what are you doing?” My father asked me, angrily, shaking me slightly. “I told you many times to not play with the common betas around here.”
I felt tears come to my eyes as I tried to get away from his harsh grip. “We were just playing tag. I was trying to have fun, daddy.”
I didn’t have a chance to move away before I felt the slap that landed on my cheek. I looked up at my father, holding the cheek he had just hit. He was so angry you could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. “Don’t you ever call me ‘daddy’ you insolent child.” He dragged me into the house and threw me into the study where my tutor was waiting for me. “Make sure to stay for three hours today.” He yelled at my tutor, then he shut the door and walked away.
I spent those three hours silently crying as my tutor tried to get me to practice speaking English. Once he decided it was a futile effort, he brought out some paper and crayons and told me we could just draw until the time was up. I drew as I cried, but stayed silent, even as my tutor tried to get me to speak. The drawing was of a man holding his son’s hand. They were smiling. I cried harder.
“We’re here, sir.” My driver’s voice brought me back into the present. I nodded at him, left the car, and walked into my building. The doorman tipped his hat at me as I walked by and entered the elevator. With a big sigh, I pressed the number to my floor and rode up to the penthouse apartment.
Once I walked into my apartment, I turned all the lights on and placed my briefcase by the door with my shoes. My cat, Noir, walked up to me and rubbed against my legs to beg for food. I walked over to his dish in the kitchen and filled it with his favorite wet food. I gave him a quick scratch on his back and left him to eat.
I walked over to my refrigerator, pulled it open, and grabbed a beer. I popped the cap off and walked over to the living room with it. I plopped onto my couch with a huge sigh and took a big gulp from the bottle. This long day will not end, I thought to myself. I gulped down the rest of my beer and placed the bottle onto the coffee table before me. I thought about flipping through the channels on TV, but thought better of it and pulled myself off of the couch to go to my room.
When I got to my room, I flicked on the light to look around at how I left it that morning. My pajamas were where I left them earlier, my bed was still perfectly made, everything was still in its place. I walked over to my bathroom, stripping my clothes as I went. My towel was on my sink where I left it that morning. I tossed it to my hamper and picked a clean one out of my linen closet. Placing the towel in the rack by the shower, I turned to the mirror to sigh at my reflection.
The bags under my eyes were growing more pronounced by the day. The nightmares kept me up most nights, work kept me up other nights. My eyes strayed to my bare chest and I had to look away. I couldn’t grow hair on my body which was why I didn’t have a mustache, beard, or chest hair. The only hair I had anywhere was on top of my head and my eyebrows. All other hair just wouldn’t grow- an omega trait.
I walked into the shower and turned it all the way to the hottest setting, cringing at the cold water that spewed out at first. When the water finally turned hot, I was able to relax and let the water run over all of my muscles. I finally felt myself relax, but not for long as another memory decided to creep itself into my mind.
This time I was twelve years old and my clothes were torn and bloody. I had a black eye, my lip was busted, and my cheek was swollen with a bruise forming on it. I had gotten beaten up on my way home from school. My father was looking at me with rage in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that I would come home looking so disheveled.
“Why are you looking like that?” He asked me furiously.
“Some of the alphas in class beat me up. They say that I’m an omega because I don’t try to assert my dominance by releasing my pheromones.” I held back my tears as I told my father what had transpired.
“Why don’t you bear down on them with your pheromones and show them you’re superior?” He asked me, unable to fathom how a son of his could be such a coward and weakling.
“Sir, you know that I don’t produce pheromones yet. I am unable to assert my dominance in such a way.”
My father scoffed. “How could any son of mine be so weak! You need to start being more like your brother.”
I flinched at those words, words I had heard so often since I was little. “I’m trying, sir, but all of the other alphas are bigger and stronger than me.”
My father hated hearing this and walked away from me without another word. The next day, I met my first martial arts sensei.
I cleaned myself and washed my hair meticulously. I hated being dirty in any way, which was why I usually took two showers a day. I turned the water off and walked out of the shower, drying myself off while looking in the mirror again. The muscles I had gained from all those years learning martial arts were still prominent on my body since I worked out regularly. I was still as lean as a dancer, though, which made my father annoyed whenever he happened to see me shirtless for whatever reason.
I sighed for the umpteenth time that day and put my towel back on the rack. I walked into my room to put my clothes on and lay in my bed. The clock on my bedside said 8:45 so I was actually going to sleep early for once. I laid on my back with my hands behind my head and stared at my ceiling. When would I be able to get over my inadequacies? When will I be able to get over the past? That last thought made me think about Paris and our relationship.
That made me get up and walk to the kitchen to get something quick to eat. I roamed around until I found some quick ramen and some crackers. I quickly made the ramen and sat down at my kitchen table with it and the crackers. I ate fast, barely noticing how hot the broth was as I drank it down. Once the last bite was gone, I put everything in the trash, the spoon in the sink, drank a few gulps of milk from the carton, then walked back to my bed to lay back down.
Now came the dreaded wait all over again. I needed to clear my head so that I could settle down. Different memories swarmed my brain, making me think of so many difficult times: the first time I fought back when I was bullied and they all landed in the hospital, the first time an omega turned me down, when my father found out I had been dating a beta for a few months, when I had to break up with Paris.
I rolled my eyes and turned to my side to try to fall asleep. With my eyes closed, I breathed in softly, slowly, deeply. Finally, sleep overtook me and I entered one of my least favorite dreams…
When I was eighteen, I was in the biggest karate match I would ever fight in. My father had even made room in his schedule to make a rare appearance. I was very nervous because I had not told him that my fighting class was aligned with the omegas and betas- I would not be fighting any alphas. This didn’t bother my father, however, because he figured I would be assured the win. I wish that he had been right.
The matches before me had ended quickly with most of my classmates coming out victorious. I was scheduled to be the last fight which always made me extra anxious. I hoped my father didn’t wait for my fight and would just go back to work. Of course, my wish would not come true.
It finally became time for my fight. I walked onto the mat to face my opponent. This omega was about my height and he seemed to be just as muscular as I was. He was pretty (of course) and he looked at me with a mischievous smile that told me that he planned to use the pheromone technique. I admit that I had become smug at the thought because pheromones don’t work on me. I should not have been so smug.
The referee walked between us, turned to the omega and asked, “are you ready?” When he received a nod, he turned to me and repeated the question. I nodded. Both the omega and I bowed to our senseis, then we bowed to each other. Once the bell rang to signal the beginning of our fight we began our vicious dance.
The first round ended with me on top. We shook hands and began again. The second round went to him as the victor. The third round was when I started to fear that I was going to lose. He showed signs that he was releasing his pheromones, trying to get me to fall to temptation. Because this had no affect on me, I was able to keep my head. This didn’t give me an advantage, however, because the next thing I knew I was on my back with the omega straddling me. The match was over and I had lost.
I looked into the crowd when I got back to my feet and saw the pure hatred in my father’s eyes. He was beyond furious and it was obvious why. I stayed for the award ceremony so that I could cheer on my classmates, but I skipped the showers knowing that my father was waiting to speak to me. I rushed home where I received a horrible smack as soon as I walked through the door.
“You dare to embarrass me like that?” My father yelled at me. If I had been able to sense pheromones, I bet I would have been subjugated to the floor from the angry pheromones he was sure to be leaking.
“I did not mean to embarrass you, father, he was just better than me.” I replied, holding back my tears yet again.
“You let an omega pin you down and beat you! You are no son of mine.” With that, he left the house and went back to work. I fell to my knees, sobbing, unable to regain my composure for quite some time. When I finally found the will to calm down, I walked to my room to take a shower and fall asleep. The next day, I found out I would be going abroad for college and my father didn’t want me to come home until I graduated.
My alarm startled me back into the waking world at 5:30 in the morning. I yawned, stretched, and rubbed my eyes as I sat up and looked around my neat room. That dream haunted me, making me want to go back to bed and not deal with the day. I chose to still get ready for work because I knew my father would take it personally if I didn’t show up.
After taking my morning shower, I put on a pin striped suit. I walked into my kitchen to grab a pop tart, I filled Noir’s water bowl, gave him a quick kiss on his head, and walked out my apartment. Hank was outside of my car waiting for me, which was never a good sign.
“That new writer, Chris, has called to speak with you today.” Hank told me as he held the car door open for me. He got into the car after me and watched me for my reaction.
I signaled for my driver to leave before I answered Hank. “Did he say what he needed to talk about?”
Hank shook his head. “No, he just insisted he needed to meet first thing in the morning.”
I nodded. “That’s fine, I don’t mind meeting with him.” Internally, I wondered what the man could want. “Did you have a good night?” I asked Hank, changing the subject briefly.
Hank smiled. “I did. Little Ally drew me a picture in school and Mikey is learning how to walk.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face. “Already walking? I feel like he was just born yesterday.”
Talking about his children lasted all the way until we made it to the office. Once we got up to our floor, I saw that Chris was waiting in the lobby for me. I walked over and offered my hand for a shake. “Hello, Mr. Rollins. It’s a pleasure to see you so soon.”
The smile he rewarded me with was the highlight of my morning. “Oh, please Mr. Daniels, you may call me Chris.”
I nodded and flashed a smile of my own. “Then, please, call me Kevin.” When Chris nodded his agreement, I led him to my office door. “So, my assistant tells me you were adamant that we had to meet today. May I ask why you needed to see me so soon?”
Chris walked into my office and sat in front of my desk. Once I was sitting behind my desk he answered my question, “Well, to be honest, my cousin said I needed to try to get to know you as quickly as possible. He seems to think we will be great friends.”
This took me aback a bit. “You want to get to know me?”
Comments (1)
See all