I See You[MxB]

Chapter 13 | The one with a head full of thoughts

Preston's absence the next day was an immediate relief to Alastair. It did not come as a shock, but the haunting feeling of disappointment kept poking at his soul. Months of practice to be able to walk without crashing into objects, the doors or the walls within his own house, memorizing the number of steps it took to move from one place or object to another, engraving to the memory where a certain thing was kept, all of it was done to prevent people other than those who already know from knowing his weakness. And it all went in vain because of a bag made of paper. A paper crumbled him. It was laughable but he wasn't laughing. His situation was pitiful.

Dragging a hand down his face, he leaned his forehead away from the pristine white-tiled wall in his shower. The fluffiness of the towel he grabbed next to dry his wet body and wipe his thoughts only did the former. Once the failure settled within him, the soft cloth began to prickle at him like needles. With a grunt, he threw away the towel, hoping it landed in the laundry basket.

The padding of his feet was too loud in the empty house. Just when he was about to drop dead on the bed for a nap to get rid of his intrusive thoughts, his phone rang. He groaned but picked it up nonetheless. "Hello?"

"You sound miserable."

"Bold of you to think I am not miserable. Didn't think you would care anyways after bailing on me yesterday and today."

A short pause later the man on the other line spoke lowly - "I am sorry for today, Al. I really am. However, I am not going to apologize for yesterday. You kicked me out. I could only force you so much when you push back so hard."

"Like that ever stopped you before. Fuck you, Jay!" Al disconnected the call, a loud thump echoing in the room when the receiver touched the telephone box. The phone rang once again. "And the guy says he is not pushy," Alastair muttered before picking up again. "I told you to fuck off, Jay. You are such a pain in my ass. Just let me live."

"Wow...I am very glad to know that I am not the sole recipient of your rudeness, you extend the courtesy to your friends."

"Preston?"

"Yeah."

"I did not think you would call."

Preston did not think either. One moment he was contemplating whether he should be going back to the Cabot household again or not and in the next he found himself dialing Alastair's number. He thought that he should maybe quit and face the consequences later. To be honest, he couldn't keep his mouth shut or speak without passing a snarky comment, especially to assholes like Alastair and that would be a huge problem now that he knew about the man's blindness. He would feel bad if he accidentally made a comment about it or behaved differently. But now, after talking to the man, he decided that it was easy to be his snarky self, Alastair made it easy.

"I called to let you know I had assignments to do, so I did not come today. I'll be there tomorrow on time. No need to go tattling on me to Princey."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Preston hesitated. "Is that an 'okay'?"

"Yeah. Yes." Anything was fine with him. Staying by himself, with himself, was a nightmare. He was driving himself crazy. "So what else?"

Before he could reply, Preston heard his mother in the doorway - "Preston?" - and he hung up the phone, tapping everywhere on the screen. "Are you alright?" His mother asked, looking at him with twinkling eyes.

"Yes?" He winced as soon as he realized the word of affirmation spilled out of his mouth like a question.

"What are you hiding, Tonny?"

"Mom, do not call me that."

"I have always called you that."

"I am older now."

"Older than me?"

He groaned, knowing there was no winning a mother. At the same time, he was thankful that she was off his case about his odd behavior. "I am hungry. What do we have?"

"Nothing. I thought we could cook together."

"You mean Dad and I will cook and you will entertain yourself by talking to us while we do."

"I am in team management."

Chuckling, he grabbed her hand and together they walked to the kitchen where Preston's dad was already waiting. Maximilian Beckett threw an apron his son's way and called him to join using a tilt of his head. Preston swept his eyes over the ingredients curiously - Capsicum, roasted sesame seeds, soya sauce, vinegar, etc. It was clear by the choice of ingredients that they were having Chinese.

"What are we cooking, Dad?"

"Just follow my instructions. It is something I saw on YouTube. Looked tasty."

"Okay."

The father-son duo worked with precision, having done this about hundreds of times while the only woman in the house entertained them by pretending to be an actual manager, making both her boys laugh. Even when he was with family, he could not get Alistair Cabot out of his head.

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I am not very much satisfied with this chapter, content-wise as well as in the case of length. But I will make sure to not disappoint you guys next time ;)

~ Appy