Her Substitute Groom

“Open the door, Connor,” Mrs. Hughes’ voice resonated from outside the room as she banged on the door hard, but Connor was just seated on his bed and puffing smoke from his mouth. The ground was littered with cigarette ash and five cigarette butt. On the nightstand were two packs of cigarettes with one opened and six sticks missing from it.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

‘How did a murderer like you keep me by your side for so long?’ he huffed and threw his head back as tears streamed down his cheeks. His heart wrenched painfully and his breath hitched. No matter how much he tried to get those words off his head, it proved abortive.

Slowly, Connor gritted his teeth until they started to hurt, but even with the pain, it was still nothing compared to the pain in his heart. How did she say those words to him? What did he do so wrong that she couldn’t forgive him? What the heck came over her? He asked himself, and even though he tried hard to hate her for hurting him so badly, he ended up falling for her and thinking about her even more.

“Open the door, please, son,” His Mom banged on the door again, but he didn’t flinch. He just sat on the bed like a log of a tree, not moving.

“Mom… Where is Connor?” Chase’s voice sounded from outside accompanied by his thick footsteps.

“Thank goodness you are here. I don’t know what’s wrong with your brother. He came home late last night and just went straight into his room. He has refused to come outside or open the door… What if something happened to him?” Mrs. Hughes’s worried voice panicked from outside, and Connor sighed.

“I’m fine, Mom. I just want to be left alone,” Connor finally spoke up to ease the woman’s worry.

“Goodness! Open the door now, Connor. I need to speak with you,”

“I’ll go get the spare keys,” He heard Chase say from outside, and he sighed. Knowing that he couldn’t hide from his Mom now, he stood up sluggishly from the bed and dragged his feet toward the door. He twisted the key then the doorknob and finally pulled the door open.

“Goodness! What is that smell? Have you been smoking, Connor?” Mrs. Hughes shrieked as the horrible smell of alcohol greeted her as soon as Connor opened the door.

“Mom, my room is in a mess now. I’ll come outside when I’m done here…” He was still saying when she forced her way into the room, and her jaw dropped to the ground when she walked inside and saw the mess.

“Connor!” She shrieked as her eyes slowly narrowed.

“Mom…” He called almost in a whisper and burst into tears. Being like this in front of this poor woman was the last thing he’d ever wanted, but he was rendered helpless at this point. No matter how much he tried to hold the pain in if not for anything but for his Mom, nothing was still working.

“It hurts… It hurts so much,” He cried out as he hugged the woman and cried on her shoulder.

“She said she doesn’t want me anymore…” He cried out painfully, and tears streamed down Mrs. Hughes’s eyes. It hurt that she couldn’t take his pain away even when she wanted to. He had been through shits in the past and he really didn’t deserve this now that he’d finally learn to give love another chance. He never deserved this.

“Shhhh! Don’t cry, son… Please don’t cry,” She patted his back, trying to comfort him.

“I want her, Mom… I want Janice,” He cried out, but she closed her eyes and sighed.

“We will sort things out. Everything will be fine, I promise you, Connor. Just calm down,” She assured him.

“You don’t have to live like this. You are going to get lung cancer if you keep being like this. I won’t be able to forgive myself if anything happens to you. Your siblings won’t forgive you if anything happens to you,” She pulled away from him then cupped his cheeks and said to him.

Chase who was standing outside all this while finally walked inside.

“I will go talk to Janice. I will make sure I bring her here. I promise,” Chase uttered as he patted Connor’s back.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Again, his Mom assured him…

*****

“Everything is ready now, Boss,” Royce said to Carl as he walked into the large living room with a small suitcase.

“Let’s go,” Carl uttered and advanced toward the exit door. When they arrived at the parking lot, Royce kept the suitcase in the trunk of the car and went to hop in the driver’s seat after he opened the door for Carl.

“Boss, your seatbelt,” Royce reminded him, and he nodded. Furthermore, he fastened his seatbelt and the ride to the airport began.

Carl rested his head on the headrest and closed his eyes.

‘You don’t force love, Boss. You need to earn it instead. Janice will never have a soft spot for you if you keep treating her like this. You might lose her in the end’ At first, he thought those words from Royce last night meant nothing, but after giving it a thought, he knew Royce was right. His hatred for Connor had clouded his mind that he didn’t realize he had spread it to Janice, the woman after his heart.

“What do you think I should get for Janice?” He asked out of the blue moon after he opened his eyes, Royce glanced at him through the rearview mirror, and a smile laced up his lips.

“Are you finally taking what I said into action, boss?” Royce asked excitedly.

“I don’t know. Maybe giving it a try won’t be a bad thing. I must confess that you were right. I should really win her heart like a normal person would do,” For the first time in the few months they’d known each other, Royce was seeing him smiling.

“I’m glad you are doing this,”

“So, what should I get for her?” Carl asked.

“I don’t know because I haven’t had a girlfriend in a while. Also, I think you should apologize to her for the way you’ve treated her before now. Just make sure she sees your sincerity…”

“What if she sees Connor in the future?” He cuts Royce off.

“I don’t think I have that much patient to not do anything,” He further said.

“I understand. You should make her not have a reason to go back to him instead,” Royce replied to him, and he slowly nodded. This was going to definitely become a love triangle, and restraining himself from using his power was going to be difficult, but he needed to do it to prove his love to Janice…