The Corner Store

Chapter 22- Spencer? Your pervert cousin?

Axel's POV:

"Okay, mom just tell me when you're ready and I will bring her over." 

My mom just looked at me lovingly, and hugged me without a warning.

"I've never seen you like this honey. So... happy and at peace. She must really mean a lot to you." She cupped my face, and stroked my cheeks like she did since I was a baby.

Naturally, I blushed. Whenever I thought of her, I always felt giddy and warm and I guess it showed on my face.

"She really is, mom. And I know for a fact that you would love her."

"I already do darling. Let me just straighten a few things out with your aunt and grandma first and I'll come find you both, okay?"

By 'aunt', she was referring to Spencer's mother, AKA her sister; Meredith De Leon. They've been arguing about who should be CEO of my late grandfather's electronics company. My mom is the eldest, so naturally it should be her, but my aunt said she has experience being a CEO because she owns a jewelry line, and my grandma has been trying to be a mediator but all their arguments end in yelling. As if my mom wasn't singlehandedly running my dad's LA branch of whatever company he owns. As a result of this mini feud, her and her son don't like us very much and we don't like them much either. By 'we' I mean just me; my mother's too much of a saint to hate anyone. 

Since she was too nice, she saw that this party was a good time to invite my dad to make up for things. I saw the exhaustion in her eyes, trying to raise five adult kids the past years, and I knew that I owed it to her to try and accept him back in to our lives. She knew how he abandoned me because she lived it with me, how I eagerly waited up for him when he never even showed up. How I used to look for him in the crowd during my basketball games, but he was never there. Eventually I stopped looking out for him, and I knew that I never wanted anything to do with him again. I got a full ride athletic scholarship to university, and played all four years, I had enough people rooting for me then that I didn't feel the need to even look for him. I excelled at all my classes and I'll be graduating Magna Cum Laude this year, again no thanks to him. I did that myself, with my own effort.

The only reason I felt the need to reconcile with him was for three reasons. One, because he decided to be a part of my siblings' lives which meant that I would be seeing him a lot at our house; his house. Two, my mom loves this man more than anything in the world, and it really took a huge toll on her when he was gone half the year, and I love her too much to stand in the way of that. Third, and the most important reason, was that it made Sophia happy. She didn't even know him personally, but she insisted that I fix it with him. Two ladies that mean a lot to me, three if you include my sister, so I decided to bury the hatchet and turn a new page.

I was never this touchy feely before, and for reasons unknown, it really bothered me. Sure, I'm nice and whatnot, but changing my life around for a girl has never been a thing for me. Yet, somehow this girl managed to quite literally wrap me around her little finger and the worst part is; I don't seem to mind. It just dawned on me that I forgot her standing outside, looking all gorgeous in that emerald green dress. I mean she looked wonderful in everything she wore, even her plain black hoodie that she wore to work half the time. I can't pinpoint one thing I adore about her, it's just her. Her smile, her eyes, her hair, the way she blushes when I say something remotely kind to her, the list went on and on.

I caught myself smiling in the mirror, like a psychopath, and went back to baseline. Speaking of her, I totally left her out there on her own. I knew she wasn't very social because she always had her eyes down and seemed to mind her own business when she had no customers. She always kept to herself, and was kind with everyone; but she wasn't a pushover. It still killed me that I called her that last week. The look on her face broke my heart, I should have never said anything to her. Even though she refuses to tell me why she is the way she is and why her walls are way up high, I know that she tries very hard to look and act tough. Despite the act, she is just a squishy marshmallow inside, even if she didn't want to show it. I know it, and that is all that matters.