Love Under An Illusion

Chapter 10 - Turning A New Leaf

Author's Note: Sorry for not posting a chapter yesterday, I had something come up and I couldn't get round to writing this one.

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Alex woke up one morning with the alarm on his phone ringing obnoxiously loud for a Monday morning. He switched his alarm off so that he could further snuggle with his extra large duvet in his king-sized bed.

Alex barely had a minute to delay getting ready for school when a knock could be heard coming from his bedroom door. Instead of answering it, Alex flipped himself onto his stomach and covered his head with one of his pillows.

Victor Hubbard didn't expect anything less from Alex when he saw how the younger man was blocking out the world. The head butler acted as a second alarm as every day he would have to make sure Alex would get out of bed on time.

The older gentleman was dressed in his suit as he stood over Alex's bed. He began prodding Alex and jostling him to get up. "Wake up, Mr. Alex. You need to start your day."

"How do you get up so early every day?" Alex whined, in a whinged muffle underneath his pillow.

"Because I get paid a lot of money to do so," Victor laughed. "And I get that by taking care of you, Mr. Alex."

Alex always hated the formalities Victor used whenever he addressed him. He was a stubborn uncle figure that insisted on remaining professional by never just calling him 'Alex' despite knowing each other for so long. 

"Alright..." Alex yawned. "I'm getting up..." 

Victor moved the pillow away from Alex's head which resulted in him rolling onto his back. Victor then moved the blanket off Alex slightly as he then further encouraged Alex to start getting out of his bed.

"Okay, now I'm up."

Victor chuckled as he then started making Alex's bed for him. "Breakfast will be ready for you when you drag yourself downstairs."

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Alex descended the grand staircase with his letterman jacket all buttoned up, along with some fitting dark jeans and squeaky clean trainers. He was in a good mood because he felt a great energy coming from the universe.

A plate was already set down in front of him when Alex took his usual seat at the dining table. He already began grabbing his knife and fork as he grinned at the smiley face of whipped cream on his fluffy pancakes.

"Thanks, Victor." Alex took his first bite of the pancakes as he also looked around the room. He noticed that there was only his own place setting when he asked, "Are my parents not coming down for breakfast?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Holloway are currently on a plane to Hawaii for a business trip with the Oswalds."

Alex was slightly surprised as he didn't realize that his parents had left. "Already? But I just saw them last night?"

Victor focussed on the clock on the mantelpiece as he wanted to avoid looking at Alex's hurt face. "They left a message for you by the door."

Alex simply nodded his head because he understood that this was his normal. His parents were very busy people and they had very time-consuming jobs. They couldn't always be around each other and Alex knew that he had to force himself into remembering all of this.

"Is there anything on it that's urgent?" Alex calmly asked.

"They want you to behave well at school." Victor was teasing as he added, "But surely none of us need to remind you..."