HARLEM
My brothers arrive two hours later with food. When they saw the gifts; I told them it was from Nexa Stage, which isn't a lie of course, Just some of the truth and they were impressed. Violet wasn't buying it though; I could see it on her face but she didn't inquire further.
"I like what you've done with the place sis. It's cozy and aesthetic. I could actually live here." Zoran says with a nodding Violet snuggled at his side.
I roll my eyes "I'd rather you don't. Thank you very much." They laugh and we talk some more.
I go to the kitchen to get some water and Zeke and Zoran come in shutting the door. My brows go up and I pause. "What?"
"Mom said you don't answer her calls. At all. So, she said we should tell you she's proud of you and she saw you on TV." Zeke says and I drop the bottles and tun away. I rake my hands through my hair and sigh.
"Are you going to say something Birdie?" I turn towards them and blink. "I don't know what to say. I'm not answering her calls for a reason."
Zoran sighs. "It's been 4 years Har, since you last spoke to them. Mom is worried." I scoff.
"They wanted to sell me off. Do you understand? I'm still angry, I'm still pissed, I have pride, yes. But it's backed pride. Dad hasn't even called me once. Obviously, he doesn't care enough and it speaks volumes that he actually WANTED to disown me and mom, she thinks I'm going to put up with that again, but I won't."
Zeke walks closer to me and holds my hand "We know sis, I myself, don't exactly love talking to dad, but mom, she really misses you. We're not telling you to go back, or apologize or whatever. What happened was horrible and we stand with you. We just want you to at least call mom, let her know you're okay. She didn't want it to happen and we all know. You know." I look at him and Zoran as he stands with a sad look in his eyes. Guess we're doing this.
"I will. I give you my word, but dad; he disowned me, so he will get the what comes with it. But I will call mom, for the first time in four years." I sigh.
"We can make it a group call, if it will be uncomfortable." Zoran offers.
"No, it's fine. The first time, I'll do it myself then we can group call." I tell them. They smile and I hug them.
"That's our strong birdie." They tell me and we return to the living room. The girls smile at me when they see me but don't say anything. Of course, Lexi knows about my predicament and I'm sure Zoran told his fiancée.
We hang out a bit more before Lexi goes back home and the rest leave later in the evening. We plan to go out tomorrow to d something fun and I'm glad for my brothers and the people I have in my life. They're the best.
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Days later
I'm currently standing in the Maldives with sunglasses on and with the 14 others. I'm cruise lagged but God, was it worth it. This will be my third time ever, traveling outside. The first time was with my family to the US to see family. Then we went to South Korea for a business opportunity with my dad. The world is vast and beautiful. I would love to travel but I'm not very passionate about it and I'll probably keep missing my flights.
"Yup, this is the dream." Zach says. I turn to him and smile, being with the guys is nice, they're funny and all cheerful. Never a dull moment. But I wonder how they were able to sponsor all 15 of us. It must have cost a fortune for Ezra…. And I'm back to thinking about him. I sigh and take off my hoodie; It's pretty sunny here and my pale skin will take the brunt but no regrets.
Lucas couldn't make it because he had been putting off a visit he was supposed to make for the past five months and had to go. So, it's just us.
We are walking to our lodge and I check into my room. It's a beautiful room with a view of clear blue waters and other rooms and I love it. And before I know what's happening, I'm fast asleep.
When I wake up a few hours later, it's dark and I'm starving. So, I put on sweatpants and my hoodie and head out to find the restaurant. The others are spread out across the other part of the hotel I'm in and we agreed to assemble tomorrow to begin our fun.
I step into the restaurant which is sort of filled up by the way and take a seat. I realize that this is probably not the best attire for dinner in the Maldives but I'm too hungry to care. The waiter takes my order and I wait tapping on my phone seeing that I got 11k likes on the last video I posted on my TikTok. Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are, right?
Someone sits in my front and I get ready to tell them that I would like to be alone when I look into the green eyes of Ezra Roth.