My Stepbrother-Too Hot To Handle

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Avoiding Damien for the next few days was going to be easy, because of how things were. I wasn’t going to school, and I usually went downstairs after everyone had left the house.

I took strolls in the evening to the cafe to help Mason out, as the new part-timer at the cafe. His mum hired me immediately he told her over the phone, and he also did the paperwork that documented me as an employee.

The entire week for school was gone already, and mum suggested that I resumed the next week instead of a day to weekend. I also talked to her about my new job, but she didn’t seem too pleased.

“Darling. You said you wanted to study medicine, or nursing science. Aren’t working jobs going to distract you from your studies? I mean I can give you the money you want if that is a problem,” she tried to cajole me with her sweet and seductive words, but I wasn’t going to fall for it even if I knew that she wanted the best for me.

“I’ll be fine mum. It is just in the evenings, and I can still do very fine in academics. My records are great already,” I tried to make her understand, because that was the only way that I could be free from thoughts about Damien.

“Working isn’t as easy as you think. You have to try and keep up because that isn’t how your life has always been. You probably don’t even know how to openly relate with people,” she complained again.

“Fine, Mum. I know that, and that is why I am trying to be a better person now. Less closeted than I have been. Relating more with people naturally without having to gulp hard over simple conversations,” I tried to make her understand, by putting the reality of my feelings before her.

“Argghh,” she sighed hard, her redundant red lipstick made her lips look like an attractive apple. She was really beautiful, and her charms were hard to resist, “Promise to quit a month to final exam and prom.”

“Alright mum. I do that. Thank you for accepting my new job,” I finally relaxed my anxious mind, and turned to leave the dining after dropping the jar of cookies that I came to return.

“So your friend’s mum runs the store, hmmn? His name is Mason, isn’t it?” She sassed, with a coy smile to her face. I knew exactly where she was going.

“Mum! Mason is just my friend” I called out and corrected her again so that she would stop, and Damien entered the house immediately. It made me really awkward. He still looked so good in his outfit, regardless.

“Hi Damien. How was school today?” Mum turned to Damien’s direction and asked him with a smile, and he gave a concise reply to her and went ahead to climb the stairs.

“Why didn’t you say hi?” She asked me immediately when he left, and I almost frowned. I didn’t want her to force us to be close as expected.

‘If only she knew the many things that had gone wrong with leaving both of us home alone.’

“He didn’t say hi either, and it wasn’t really necessary either. I will soon leave the house for my new job, and I will be back by 8:30pm. Don’t make my dinner too. And one more thing, Mason is just my friend,” I reminded her.

“Alright, if you say so,” she sassed again.

~~`|`~~

It was Saturday, and it had been the same routine until the weekend. Mum and Mr. Anderson went to work, Damien went to school, while I remained at home. I spent my morning playing around and cleaning the house, afternoons to read, evenings for my new job, and nights to watch movies.

Everything was going smoothly, and I was doing really fine after Mason taught me some few basic things. He took notes in class because of me, and it was easy to read because he had really good handwriting.

I was getting Damien out of my head and thoughts since we rarely saw each other, because I was so good at my hide and seek game. Dinners could always be avoided because I could lie that I had eaten at work. Mum was still kind of skeptical about me working, but I tried my best to show her that I was capable.

Saturday was different because everyone was home, and it made working even harder. Ms. Davison came around to do the chores, and two other people came to clean the surroundings.

Mum did her own laundry alongside everyone’s after I reminded her, and I made breakfast. She wasn’t used to that kind of life, and I knew it was going to be difficult for her to adjust to becoming a home mum.

Damien didn’t come down for breakfast, and mum made me hang it on his door knob instead of entering to give him as instructed. I checked the internet for ideas on how to make the perfect lunch, and I soon got cooking again before mum could even plan it out.

I think Mr. Anderson forced Damien to come down for lunch, because I could sense the cold air between both of them when he came downstairs. I was trying hard not to make eye contact with him, but I ended up looking at him twice the normal times I usually looked at him. It was crazy.

We all settled down to eat, and I was glad that everyone seemed to be enjoying the meal. I just wanted everything to be cool at home, while trying my best to cover up for mum’s shortcomings. Never did I know things would become more ruined because of a simple lunch.

“Your mum told me that you are aspiring to be a doctor,” Mr. Anderson said out of the blue, and it took me extra two minutes to know he was talking to me until mum nudged me. It was kind of weird, because we have never had a new daughter-new dad talk before.

“Yes, sir,” I replied so sharply, and it sounded rude to my ears probably because the reply was too short, “I want to be in the medical field generally,” I continued.

“That is a good profession. Keep it up, and you are going to be proud of the woman you become,” he talked so sweetly, and nodded his head in affirmation of his words to me. I didn’t know if I was mistaken, but he had a proud look in his eyes. Like I was his real daughter.

“Thank you, sir,” I smiled modestly and bowed my head, as I picked up a glass of water to wash down the food I had eaten.

“You should always choose the right part in life. No some squished up dreams, that is going to end you in a mess later in life! Handicapped and regretful,” he said so sternly this time, like he was suddenly angry over something. My eyes trailed to see what was going on, and he was looking at Damien with so much anger.

“You see your sister? She is trending on the right part, and a road to success. Have you seen her results? Even if she has changed schools a number of times, she still manages to ace her courses. She knows what she does! You should get a grip of yourself too before it is too late!” He deplored strongly over the table at Damien, venting out his pent-up anger and frustration. It made me choke on my food immediately.

“Calm down, Spencer,” Mum tried to placate him by rubbing on his back gently, and Damien suddenly stood up from where he was sitting.

He turned to leave the dining room immediately, with so much anger in his facial expression. He was literally boiling.

“See that rude attitude of yours! I want the best for you, and nothing more! It is just a few months to get ready for college. Few months!” Mr. Anderson raged further, and mum quickly passed him a glass of water, so that he wouldn’t choke on the food we were eating.

I just sat there, confused and scared. I had seen Damien in his worst, and it was something that he really hated if I had noticed him right. His father had succeeded in turning everything over, by comparing I to him in the most harsh manner.

‘He could never like me again. He would even hate me more. Lunch had gone wrong. Everything was now a catastrophe. I was probably at the mercy of Damien all over again.’