Loving Him

Chapter 23

Ama's baker friend had managed to squeeze her in last minute, although she'd charged a little extra but Sophie didn't really mind. Contrary to that, she was actually pretty excited. She still didn't understand why Alex was so against celebrating his birthday. She chose to believe that deep down he loved it, how could he not? She herself loved birthdays, especially hers. She'd never gone out of her way to celebrate before, mostly due to lack of funds but it had always been special to her.

The cake was going to be delivered anytime from noon and that was perfect. She wanted Angel to be back from school and Raymond from work before surprising them with it. Her excitement was so glaring and contagious she had almost given everything away when Raymond had laughed and teased her about how hyper she was being that morning. She'd laughed it off instead and told him it was just a good morning. And it was, until Alex decided to make an appearance.

"Good morning!" She greeted him eagerly immediately she saw him climbing down the stairs, the anger she'd been nursing against him forgotten. How could she stay angry at him? It was his birthday after all.

"Good morning," he mumbled back hesitantly, seemingly wary of her good mood.

Sophie just gave him a huge smile in return, her eyes taking in how good he looked that morning. Was it because it was his birthday?

He made his way into the kitchen to get his breakfast. It'd somehow become his routine to get his breakfast then take it back to his room.

On his way back upstairs, she blurted out, "Happy birthday!" then waited nervously for his response. Despite her excitement, a major part of her was still worried about what his reaction would be.

His back went rigid as he stopped and turned back to her with an hooded expression. She saw his jaw physically clench before he replied, more like mumbled, "Thank you," before continuing back upstairs without another glance at her.

If that wasn't a red light, then what was? But she decided to be oblivious to it.

He came back down a few hours later, dressed in a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

"Going somewhere?" She asked, taking in his appearance.

He nodded shortly, going for his car keys.

"How long will you be gone for?" She questioned, surprised he was making any attempt to go out. Except for the doctor's appointments, he'd never made any attempt to leave the house the past few months.

"A while," he replied vaguely.

Her excitement dwindled considerably. He obviously didn't want to let her know where he was going or how long he was going to be gone for and she knew better than to question him further, she didn't really have any right to.

"Alright," she finally conceded, deciding not to push it. "Uh... Have fun?"

He didn't reply her before making his way out of the house. She watched him leave glumly. Something was definitely off about him and now, she was rethinking her bright idea of getting him a cake.

Was it really a good idea? Now that she was taking her time to really think about it, her brilliant plan wasn't looking so brilliant anymore.

Maybe I should have tried finding out what the problem was first? she reasoned but then she couldn't cancel the order now, could she? None of them were going to be home for a while; maybe there was a way she could get rid of the cake before they got back? Or have it delivered to Ama instead?

She decided the latter was the better option so she picked up her phone to call Eliza, the baker but then, as her luck would have it, the phone was switched off. What? Why is her phone off when she has an important delivery? She decided to call Ama instead but her friend wasn't picking up either.