6/ HOW CAN I FIX YOU?

The Moore mansion was Grande. Every single inch was particular and made to perfect taste. From the chandeliers to the furniture and the Elegant paintings that sat on the gold-plated walls.

When I was younger; My father had always spoken about how he wanted to work with Moores one day. He was as fascinated with them as I was. The only difference was that I was in it for my career. He was in it for business.

“You look perfect,” Christine commented when we locked eyes.I kept my lips pursed in a straight line. I had practically been whisked out of work for this circus, so I hoped it would be worth it.

There were maids everywhere, running around like ants; attending to various things that didn’t even need attention: until now, I thought my mother had OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) because of how she handled everything, but these people took things to a whole different level.

“Louisa!” A woman practically cried. I raised an eyebrow in the direction of the voice. She looked a lot like Christine. Her blonde hair was longer than Christine’s though. She had baby blue eyes and a wide smile spread across her plump red coated lips. “I knew you would come back!” She shrieked and I felt myself being pulled into a hug.

I must have been so engrossed in my thoughts that I did not realize when she broke the distance between us.

I glanced at Christine for some sort of explanation. Who was this woman and why was she calling me Louisa? “Excuse me, ma’am, I’m not —” I began but was fit off abruptly.

“Mother, Louisa just arrived. She needs to get rest. You’ll have all the time in the world to chat with you tomorrow” Christine interrupted, I made eye contact and her baby blue orbs silently pleaded with me.

“I knew it. I knew that man could at least do this right. come, I am going to tell Andrew the news!” The woman sounded too excited for her own good and scurried off. I frowned and felt my shoulders slack. I stared at Christine as if to ask; What was that?

“That was my mother,” Christine answered my unspoken question and twiddled with her thumbs before we made eye contact again. “She has Alzihmers.” She added softly. I nodded in understanding.

I was about to ask her why the woman called me Louisa, but before I could a man who seemed to be in his late fifties approached us. I had barely even entered the house and the entire family was already up in my throat.

I wondered where Moore had wandered off to. The last time I had seen him was at the Hospital. But after signing, he stormed out and Christine brought me here.

“Father, Louisa is here.” This time it was Christine who initiated the conversation. I could see the tension in her shoulders as she spoke to the man.

They maintained eye contact for a while and his brown orbs seemed to be eyeing her down after. He let out a sharp breath and turned to me with a wide far fetched smile.

I half expected him to react the same way the other woman had, but instead, he maintained his smile that soon turned into a smirk and pulled me into a hug. I could feel his breath on my skin, while he nuzzled into my neck and I felt his hands snake around my waist. My eyes widened.

What was he doing?

I broke out into a fake coughing fit and he pulled away almost immediately; He started at me with genuine concern and then confusion at my reaction. What was I missing out here?

Moore and Christine had told me that this entire thing was just so that Moore could recover from his trauma and guilt from many years ago. Yes, they had not gone deep into what exactly happened.

All I knew was that after that fateful day, everything in their lives changed. I thought Christine had been exaggerating but now that I saw things from my point of view and with the brand new interaction with my supposed inlaws. This wasn’t normal at all.

Christine claimed that she wanted me to be his private psychologist but they didn’t want the public eye in their matters.

According to her, it would be a huge disgrace for them to find out that the Heir of Moore Industries was secretly going to therapy over an incident that happened years ago.

She also informed me that Moore had been closed up about the issue but deep down she knew something was wrong with him, he had not remained the same after the incident.

Christine had refused to open up about what the incident was though. Instead, she told me that I would either figure it out on my own or Moore would tell me. I was not getting anything on that man peeping a word.

We had spent the entire car ride to the mansion with multiple questions answered and others unanswered.

I had asked why they hadn’t just hired an in-house psychologist. I mean, if that was the job offer, I was cool with it. I would no longer have to live off Belene and she could focus on herself.

But then, Christine told me that their family members were against Moore getting help and I was lost from there.

What parents would not want their child to get better? So much so that he would have to resort to an alliance to fix everything. All of it sounded too problematic to handle.

“You seem to be lost in thought.” Christine snapped me out of my thoughts and led me to a chair. I had not noticed their father leaving or walking away. I hoped he was their dad though, it was the only logical explanation.

I let out a deep breath and sat up on my seat. Christine shot me a small smile and adjusted her dress. She seemed too nervous for someone who lived here and I suddenly felt like I should be nervous.

The sound of loud fast-paced slaps filled my ears and threw me out of my thoughts.

“What was that? Did you hear it?” I snapped my head to Christine and asked, she stared at me with worried blues.

“I don’t know, why don’t you go check?” She offered and I swallowed. I had just arrived here and I barely knew my bearings around this place, why was she putting me in such a situation?

The sound of the slaps did not stop at all. If anything, the force increased. Before I knew it; I was up on my feet and taking hesitant steps up the stairs in direction of the sound. It led me to a closed door and I shut my eyes and recoiled a bit, because of the intensity of the noise.

I swallowed my fear and hesitation. I reached out and opened the door. Moore glared at me with a cold look in his baby blue eyes.

His entire body was coated with sweat and his blue jeans was barely hanging off his waist. That wasn’t the problem though;

The problem was the black leather belt that was in his right hand, slightly coated with blood. I swallowed thickly.

How in the world could I fix this in twenty-five days?