Chapter 3. Reality

Jason*

"Wake up, wake up!" My mom gave me a light tap on my bare back. I twitched on the bed as I turned around to meet the sun rays emitting through the glassy window into my eyes.

For a moment I kept blinking so I could regain my sight. Mom was smiling a kind of smile I couldn't comprehend.

"I sent in one of the maids to wake you a couple of minutes ago, good morning son." She said and rose to her feet with folded arms looking down at me still wrapped up in the duvet.

"Good morning mom," I mumbled and sat up on my bed, my eyes walked up to the silver wall clock and my body reacted to the shock it discovered. It was already nine o'clock and I was lazily sleeping and dreaming about something that would never occur.

I exhaled feeling relieved that I had been dreaming all along because I was never engaged let alone thought about elopement. I do not have a lover and I cannot fall in love.

I've got a tight schedule, I celebrated my 29th birthday four months ago and my dad has been pressing that I get married or else he would fetch me a bride himself.

Lately, I've been having weird and abnormal dreams about being married, having a family, and tending to children.

All these will interfere with my job and I can't count the number of times I've told my father that I am not in a hurry to settle down with a woman.

"Michelle, fetch my chauffeur immediately," I shouted out to my mom's favorite maid.

"The party is over mom, I should go home now. Where's my father?"

"His cancer is getting worse so I asked two

guards to take him to the airport, we are flying him out for the surgery."

"What! And Justin?"

"Damn! He's not here, your brother has stayed away from home for four years now. You look lost and nervous did you have a nightmare?"

"I guess so, do you know any lady named Jasmine?"

"No, I don't." Mom sat by me. "Is there anything I can help with?"

After I narrated my dreams to mom, she let out a weird laugh, I'd never seen her laugh so much.

Last night was a party staged here in my father's house. I flew in from Broken Hill so I could spend some time with my family.

"Get dressed, we leave in fifteen minutes." Mom moved to the window and opened the curtains. "Dreams don't matter at all in reality." She finished.

The shrill sound of the telephone rang out. Mom left through the door silently.

"Michelle, pick up the phone," Mom ordered the oldest maid.

I heard Michelle's footsteps running into the living room abruptly. I was still on my bed listening.

The first thing Michelle did was scream followed by dropping the telephone from her hand perhaps unconsciously so that it crashed on the floor.

I tried to remain still and continued to listen. I knew mom will rush in immediately to hear what message the caller conveyed to have left Michelle destabilized.

I took out my cell phone and peered into it, it was now 10 am. I took out my pajamas while expecting someone to knock on my door.

Unfortunately, no one came around. The entire house seemed quiet, I barely heard footsteps.

Suddenly, I heard someone say: Don't Tell Jason about this yet, he doesn't need to know.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of my room and into the bathroom to wash up.

I was done within a few minutes. I got dressed and laid my hands on my briefcase, I turned around for a few seconds before the magnificent mirror in my room and forced a smile.

I knew what was waiting outside for me, some bad news.

"Mom, mom your son is ready. We are flying dad to India now."

I said as I stepped into the living room and sank into the cushion.

I began to hear dull footsteps and in no time, mom walked in. Her face was sad, there were traces of tears underneath her eyelid.

"No, there's no more need for that son." She heaved and tried to keep things in control, all she was trying to do was to let me take in the news gradually but did it go as she had expected? No, it didn't.

I pressed on. "What do you mean by that? Dad's dying and you say this rubbish? Come on mom, go, get dressed."

There was no other way to make her spill the truth, so I had to make her to.

"There's no more dad, he left us. This is not what we planned son, this is not what he told me." Mom refused to let the tear fall, she held it back for me. She was jolting between wearing a stern look and a smiling face.

Dad was my favorite parent but now, I'm left with mom and Justin, my twin brother who might be coming back home anytime soon to fight over dad's modeling agency.

Reluctantly, I pulled off my tie. Michelle stood at a corner weeping, Oscar at the other end trying to act as the man that he was but clearly, he was extremely struck by the news.

"I'll be in my room, can you get me a cool glass of water? I thirst."

Before I ended talking, Michelle had disappeared. I hugged mom and left for my room.

I ruminated over the times I spent with dad. All he needed was a daughter-in-law but I failed at that.

I never imagined being in love. It doesn't work on me, it seems like a fantasy. There were rumors about me being gay in the past.

A lot of people believed that as a CEO of the porn industry, I should have had a taste of every succulent lady at work.

Funny enough, those ladies do not move me a bit, I do what I do for money, status, and recognition.

My door opened slightly, "Sir, your water is here."

"Put it down on the table," I pointed to a glass table by the wall. "Call my mother in immediately, just her alone."

"Yes sir."

Mom walked up to the door and paused, though I was backing her, I knew she was wiping her face.

"You sent for me."

"Please sit."

"Your brother just called moments ago, he is after the agency now. He doesn't even care about my feelings." She broke down.

"That's enough, we should begin to think about the way forward or, else everything will crumble before our faces

She suddenly realized the uselessness of her tears and then wiped her face with her flannel.

I have had enough of Justin in the past; a fleece, a rogue, and a fraudster! Except otherwise, he changed over the years.

Once, he had pushed dad over the stairs which caused him a fracture on his elbow.

All he ever wished for was to own dad's modeling agency after his demise, at some point I was forced to believe he was capable of killing so he could be in charge.

"Are you still on a holiday?" Mom interrupted my flow of thoughts and I reluctantly turned my face to her.

"I have two more days of rest, I will resume duties ASAP. I'm not going to wait for your son to come home, but if there's anything I should know, you can send me a mail."

"Okay. Your father's corpse is at the city's private morgue, have you fixed a date yet?"

"The day after tomorrow. I will be cooling off at the caravan park on the eve, if that guy gets here before then, ask him to meet me at Caravan Park."

"At Caravan Park?"