Chapter 392: The Past (1)

Chapter 392: The Past (1)

"I think I might need to get a bigger bag," Lucas told his parents, who just walked into his bedroom to see him trying unsuccessfully to zip his luggage box.

"You don't need a bigger bag. What you need is to learn how to organize the stuff inside properly," Janet said in amusement as she walked over to him took out everything in the bag.

"Make sure you don't skip your meals, okay?" Janet told Lucas as she helped him carefully arrange his clothes neatly into his luggage box.

"Mom, this is the fifth time you're saying that this evening. Don't worry. I don't intend to starve myself to death," Lucas assured her with a wide smile.

"I'm not saying you intend to starve yourself. I'm just saying eat healthy and hearty meals. You must not lose an ounce of weight," Janet said, giving him a pointed look.

Lucas turned to his father for help, but Andrew shrugged, "Listen to your mom, she knows what she is saying," he said, and Lucas sighed when he realized that they were both going to keep nagging him until he finally leaves.

"Do you want me to send you a picture of every meal I eat? Will that make you feel better?" Lucas asked dryly, and Janet gave him a nod.

"As a matter of fact, yes. A video preferably. I want to see you eating the meal from start to finish," Janet said, and Lucas laughed incredulously .

"I already told you that I'm fine. You need to stop worrying about me. This trip isn't about Rachel. I just need this break to figure out my life and next career move, trust me," Lucas said, and Janet looked at him for a moment before giving him a nod.

"Is there something else you want to add?" Janet asked when she was done, and there was still room in the bag for more.

"Wow! How do you always do that?" Lucas asked in amazement, and Andrew chuckled.

"I ask myself the same question every damn time she does that. It's like a superpower," Andrew said, and Janet laughed softly.

"..." The sound of her ringtone interrupted whatever she wanted to say, and Andrew who was holding the phone handed it to her.

Once she saw the name of the caller, Sara, the smile on her face died, and was immediately replaced with annoyance as she rejected the call, and dropped the phone on the bed beside the bag.

"Is there a problem? Who was that?" Lucas asked when he noticed the annoyed expression on his mother's face, and the knowing look on his father's face.

"It's nobody of interest. Have you called to let Lucy know you're going to see her?" Janet asked, changing the subject.

"Not yet. I will give her a call on my way to the airport," Lucas said, and Janet gave him a nod.

"Alright, we'll leave you to finish up and get ready so we can drive you to the airport," Janet said, and picked up her phone before walking out of the bedroom with Andrew following behind her.

Immediately they walked into their bedroom, Andrew looked at her, "You're still not going to speak with her?"

"I told you before. I have nothing to say to her," Janet said, not bothering to act like she didn't know who he was talking about.

"You don't have to say anything. But why not hear what she has to say to you?" Andrew suggested.

"After thirty years? No. I don't think so. I don't want to hear whatever she has to say," Janet said as she looked through her closet for clothes to change into for the drive to the airport.

"Jane, Sara is your sister. Your only relation," Andrew reminded her softly as he walked over to where she was and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't care. Let's not talk about her anymore, Drew," Janet said as she walked away from him, and started taking off her clothes while fuming silently.

She wasn't going to waste a second thinking about her selfish and self-centered sister. As far as she was concerned, Sara died thirty years ago after she stole their father's money and only left a note telling them she was leaving to pursue a career in modelling and they shouldn't search for her.

Things never remained the same for their family after she left. Their father never recovered from the shock, and he died a year later, while their mother had been left broken by both the disappearance of her daughter and the loss of her husband.

Things had been quite difficult for her mother and her as they struggled to repay her father's debts since most of the money Sara had stolen had been given to him for a contract.

Not once in the last thirty years did she reach out to her. So how dare her try to come back after all these years? After all the pain and hardship she had made her face? She was never going to forgive Sara. Never.

"Jane..."

"Lucas is waiting, you should hurry up," Janet said, and walked out of the bedroom before Andrew could say another word to her.

As she walked into the living room, her phone beeped with a message notification and once she saw that it was from Sara, she deleted the text without checking the content, and then she blocked Sara's line.

Few minutes later they were ready to leave for the airport, and once they were seated in the car, Lucas took out his phone and dialed Lucy's line.

*************

Lucy who was now seated on the bed beside Aaron, watched him as he slept restlessly, muttering words at intervals in his sleep.

If she had not chosen to excuse Tom and Harry so they could have a moment to discuss alone, she would have returned to the living room, since was beginning to feel like she was intruding on Aaron's privacy by listening to all he was muttering in his sleep. She knew for a fact that the man wouldn't be happy if he found out she had heard these things.

Despite knowing this, Lucy couldn't deny that she was curious. Perhaps it was Sonia's nosiness that was beginning to rub off on her.

From all she had heard thus far, she had been able to gather that Sara was his wife, and she had left. What she couldn't understand was if this happened before he met Harry's mother, or after. She also could not understand why he was being disturbed by this now. Or was this a recent development? Was Harry aware of this? Lucy wondered.

Unknown to Aaron that he had an audience in his bedroom and the sleeping pills he took was messing with his mind, Aaron relived the events of the past thirty years. How Sara had come into his life.

He was twenty-six years old again. Young, vibrant, and ruggedly handsome.

He was back in his studio apartment which also doubled as his photography studio where he took photos of upcoming models for their portfolios.

Twenty-two years old Sara walked into his studio, clutching her portfolio tightly in her hands as tears ran down her cheeks.

Aaron who had been busy attending to another female model, paused when he saw her, and immediately excused himself to go meet her.

"I thought you were supposed to meet with the CEO of the modeling agency you talked about today, didn't you meet him? Why are you crying?" He asked with concern, but she only cried harder.

Seeing how she was weeping noisily, Aaron led her to the little corner that was his bedroom which he had demarcated from the rest of the photography studio with a curtain. And once she was seated on the bed, he offered her a box of tissues, and excused himself to go discharge the model he had been attending to.

By the time he returned to join her, she had calmed a bit, but he could tell that she was very unhappy, "Do you want to tell me what the problem is?" He asked softly.

"I was duped. All the money I gave him is gone. There is no agency. They were all con artists," Sara said before breaking into a sob.

"Money?" Aaron asked, startled to hear that new piece of information since the couple of times she had told him about having an agency that wanted to sign her, she never mentioned it.

"I gave him all the money I had on me. I have nothing left now. I have no place to go to," Sara cried, and Aaron embraced her awkwardly, since they were not exactly close friends and she only came to the studio to take photos for her portfolio, and sometimes interact with him and other upcoming models in the studio.

"Calm down, and tell me exactly what happened. I'm lost. Who did you give money to? Why would you give money to an agency to sign you as a model? Why didn't you tell me about it?" He asked, confused.

Sara sniffled as she pulled away from him, and looked into his face, "He said the agency was very picky, and he promised to make sure I was selected if I paid him. He said I couldn't tell anyone else about it as that would cause a lot of problems for both of us if I did," Sara explained tearily.

"And you gave him money? How much money are we talking about?" Aaron asked, and when she mentioned the amount of money she paid, his jaws dropped.

"Where did you ever get such an amount of money from?" Aaron asked in surprise, and she looked away from him guiltily.

"It's my life savings. I've been saving for a very long time," she said, and then broke into a sob once again.

"Calm down. Your tears won't solve this. How did you find out it was a scam?" He asked, and by the time she finished narrating everything to him, he sighed.

"Well, you were pretty naive and gullible. However, you won't be the first young lady that has fallen prey to men like that, and you won't be the last either. You have to move on," Aaron said, feeling sorry for her.

"How can I move on? I have nothing. I have no place to go to. I don't have any money. I don't even have a place to stay. He assured me I would move into the accomodation the agency has for their newly signed models after meeting with the CEO today," Sara complained bitterly.

"Where were you staying before now?" Aaron asked in confusion.

"A guesthouse," she said, and Aaron shook his head.

"What about your family?"

"I don't have a family. My parents are late and I'm an only child," Sara cried, and Aaron looked at her with pity.

"I'm sorry about that. Where were you living before you moved into the guesthouse?"

"I was living with a friend, but she threw me out. That was when I met the con artist who duped me," Sara cried, and Aaron sighed, not knowing how to help her.

"You've had quite a tough life for a young lady of your age," Aaron said as he patted her back, and then she looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Can you help me?" She asked, and when he frowned she quickly grabbed his hand.

"I'm not asking you for any money. I could work for you. Clean your apartment, cook for you, do your laundry, even assist you with the models. All I need is a place to stay while I try to find my feet," she pleaded, holding his hands.

Aaron shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea. Where would you sleep? This place is tiny. It's barely comfortable for me," he said, making her look around the tiny room.

"I could sleep on the couch in the studio," she assured him.

"Please, don't say no. I have no where else to go. If you turn me away I would have to wander around in the streets please," she begged, her honey-brown eyes beseeching him to come to her aid.

"I don't need you to do anything for me. You can stay here, but only for three months. Get a job if you must so you can move out to your own place," Aaron said, and she jumped on him happily.

"Thank you so much. I promise you won't regret this," Sara promised, but Aaron said nothing as he stood and returned to attend to his business.