Stay Away from Pleasure

Chapter Forty-Five

Let's go back to New York...

04:57AM

You could say we're all exhausted out of our minds right now.

Matt was generous enough to organise a quick ride on his jet to get all of us back to New York as soon as possible. There was no time to admire the astonishing interior, as we had more important things to worry about.

This is what we've been waiting for.

We've been sitting for about two hours in this stupid department, waiting on some news about—

"How long is this gonna take!" Denny snaps at a passing nurse.

Her stubby legs are pulled to a stop as Denny snatches her arms. She has her blonde hair coiled high into a bun and her porcelain skin covered in blue scrubs and white nursing shoes. Her aquamarine eyes blaze with alert as she's jolted back by a rough grip.

Matt rests his arm on Denny's shoulder. "Denny, take it easy."

Denny's head flips back to face Matt. His eyes are hooded and hanging low. Reluctantly, he shrugs off the young nurse, with a sulk. Walking away from the scene, he runs his hands through his hair, hissing a sharp inhale through his teeth and exhaling with a grunt of agony. Alice twaddles away to console her husband, pulling his face down to her level, so that all he can see are her soothing brown eyes.

Matt places a gentle hand on the nurse's upper arm, "I'm very sorry about that. It's just that we've been here for a very long time, waiting for some information on a young woman named Claire Cheslaw. Do you happen to know anything about that?" He asks with a forward, yet calm tone.

The nurse shakes her head, "I'm sorry, no, but I can get someone right now, if you like?"

"Yes. That would be great. Thank you." Matt nods.

Simply everything about him is special. We need him, but he needs us too.

Throughout this whole time, ever since my father's death, Matt has been doing his best to keep this family together.

He made sure that I had friendly faces around me when I had just found out that my father died, which helped so much. Looking back on it, I was such a bitch to him that day, but he still stood by me, stood by my family that has now become his own. Generously, he even paid for the funeral and the essentials for the small gathering afterwards. He's done even more; organising that flight back as soon as we found out about Claire is just too much.

Within these few months, Matt has shown a true display of love, compassion and partnership. At the funeral, he met almost all of my relatives and they all seem to really enjoy his company and have given their blessing, especially after that speech he made. It really showed how much he loves our family and how he cherishes it. The sacrifices he has made and the lengths he has gone to, just render me speechless sometimes.

It's just a shame that he has to endure this with us, endure this pain.

Turning away from the nurse that's now walking off, Matt's eyes find my mother. Curled away from everyone else, alone. He walks to her, engulfing her in his arms, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Uh, sir?" The nurse returns.

Matt stands up, taking my mother with him. He supports her in his grasp, almost carrying all of her body weight as she leans against him.

"Yes?" He replies.

"I'm sorry, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. Apparently, you have to wait on level 2 for Miss Cheslaw." The nurse smiles softly and extends her hand towards the lift, "shall I take you there?"