Karl Gordon Is Back

Chapter 5: The Offer

Karl pulled a stop right outside the apartment he got with Melody six years ago. This house meant everything to Karl, not anymore.

He exhaled and walked into noise the sound that came from a television playing in the background and a voice cursing vehemently.

Karl stepped inside slowly, the familiar scent of the place hitting him all at once; cheap air freshener, leftover food, and a faint trace of Melody’s perfume that lingered stubbornly in the air despite everything.

He closed the door behind him without locking it.

“About time,” a sharp voice snapped from the living room. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting?”

Karl didn’t respond. He knew the only one who cursed like a damned sailor was Melody's younger sister, Rita.

Rita appeared from the kitchen, arms crossed tightly over her chest, eyes scanning him from head to toe with disdain.

She looked exactly as she always had and never seemed to hide how much of a leech she really was.

She wore Melody’s clothes, Melody’s slippers, and the same condescending expression seemed to run in their family.

“You’re late,” Rita continued, irritation dripping from her tone. “Lunch is overdue, and the sink is full of plates. I don’t know what kind of nonsense you were pulling outside, but you live here, so start acting like it.”

Karl set his copy of the house keys down on the console table, he won't be needing it anymore.

“I’m not making lunch,” he said calmly.

He had been doing everything around the house for years now; washing, cleaning, cooking. Everything and anything to make Melody happy.

Rita blinked, visibly caught off guard, before scoffing. “Excuse me?”

Karl didn’t repeat himself. He loosened his tie slowly, his fingers steady despite the tension settling deep in his chest, and walked past her toward the hallway.

Rita turned sharply, her irritation flaring into anger. “Did you not hear me?” she snapped, following after him. “Melody pays the bills here, not you. The least you cook a fucking dinner!”

He reached their bedroom door and pushed it open. Melody had told that lie for years; he was the leech and she was the sole provider when that was never the case.

The room was exactly as he had left it that morning. The bed unmade, Melody’s clothes scattered carelessly over the chair, shoes scattered into all corners of the room. For a moment, something tightened painfully in his chest, an old habit of wanting to fix everything.

He ignored it.

Karl walked straight to the wardrobe and pulled out a suitcase from the bottom shelf.

“What are you doing?” Rita demanded from behind him, her voice sharp with suspicion.

He didn’t answer. He opened the wardrobe and began pulling out his clothes, folding them and placing them into the suitcase. He had imagined how he would pack up his things and leave all through his drive from Maxwells.

Rita’s eyes widened slightly. “Ypure savoring your things?”

Karl said nothing.

Irritated, Rita yanked the next clothes he grabbed from the wardrobe, off his hands and tossed it to the floor. “Are you fucking mute or something? I asked you a damned question!”

He sighed and turned to face her. “I'm leaving.” He said simply and returned back to folding his clothes.

Rota burst into laughter. “You're leaving?” she scoffed. “After everything my sister has done for you?”

Karl paused briefly, his hands resting on the edge of the suitcase. His mind seemed to wander off to the past, to the countless moments where he had been made to feel small and undeserving.

He resumed packing.

“That’s rich,” Rita continued, her voice rising. “Without Melody, you’d be nothing. You’d still be some useless dropout pretending to be important.”

Karl felt a flicker of anger tighten his jaw, but he kept his expression neutral.

“You don’t get to speak to me like that anymore,” he said quietly.

Rita laughed, the sound mocking. “Look at you. Acting tough now? You really think you’re somebody all of a sudden?”

She stepped closer, pointing at him aggressively. “You should be grateful my sister even tolerates you. Any other woman would’ve dumped your useless ass a long time ago.”

Karl zipped the suitcase shut.

Rita’s expression darkened. “Oh, so that’s it?” she sneered. “You’re throwing a tantrum because Melody didn’t come running after you today? She told me all about your tantrum at the office. This is laughable, aren't you embarrassed?”

Karl stood slowly, turning to face her fully for the first time.

His eyes were calm, but there was something different in them now, something completely different from the man she thought she knew.

“I’m leaving,” he said evenly. “This isn’t my home anymore.”

Rita stared at him as if he had insulted her personally. “You don’t get to decide that,” she snapped. “My sister owns this place and if you leave, you can as well kiss your chances of returning good bye!”

Karl lifted the suitcase from the bed and set it down beside the door. “Is that what your sister told you? That she owns this house?”

Rota chuckles “who owns it then? Ypu, dont fucking make me laugh! You're doing this to get her attention parents young?” Rota laughs. “You're failing miserably. You see your friend Caden, yell replace you in a twinkle of an eye, you fool!”

Karl chuckled, “Sure. I mean, you'll be needing a new househelp when I leave. Neither of you can cook or clean. You would be needing the replacement..”

Rita’s temper snapped. She lunged forward, her hand swinging toward his face with aggression.

Karl reacted instantly.

He caught her wrist mid-air, his grip firm around her wrist, finger digging into her skin.

Rita froze.

His grip was strong enough to stop her movement completely. Her breath hitched as she looked down at his hand wrapped around her wrist, disbelief flooding her features.

“Let go of me!” she shrieked, trying to pull away.

Karl didn’t move.

His grip tightened just enough to make his point clear, his gaze locked onto hers with quiet warning.

“Do not hit me,” he said calmly. “Ever.”

Rita’s eyes widened, shock and fear mixing with anger.

“You..” she stammered, her voice faltering. “You think you can touch me like that?”

“I’m not touching you,” Karl replied evenly. “I’m stopping you.”

For a moment, they stood frozen like that, the air thick with tension and disbelief. Rita had never seen this version of him before. The man who stood in front of her now was not the obedient man she was now used to bossing around.

Karl released her wrist sharply and stepped back.

Rita clutched her arm, staring at him as if he were a stranger.

“Just wait till I tell Melody what you've done! She will…” she muttered, more shaken than she wanted to admit.

“Tell her,” Karl said.

He picked up his suitcase and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“ And while you're at it, tell Melody I’ve moved out,” he added, his voice calm but final. “She doesn’t need to contact me.”

Rita scoffed weakly, trying to recover her composure. “She won’t care,” she spat. “You think you matter? Your ass will be back begging soon!”

Karl paused at the doorway, his hand resting briefly on the doorframe.

“For someone who leeches off her sister, you sure have a lot to say” he said quietly.

Rota gasped in horror, too stunned to come up with a comeback. He walked out without looking back.

The door closed softly behind him, but he could hear Rita cursing again in frustration.

---

By the time Karl reached the elevator leading to his penthouse, his hands were shaking.

The release he felt from everything he had been holding in for years, caught him off guard. His chest felt tight, his breathing uneven as the weight of what he had just done settled over him.

He had walked away. Hell he didn't have the gall to do that years ago.

As the elevator doors slid shut, Karl leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes briefly. Images from his past life flickered through his mind; the man who apologised at things that were his fault and those that weren't, the man who gave his heart out, worked his ass off to make a woman who didn't even love him happy. The man who trusted his best friend blindly.

That version of him no longer existed.

When the elevator reached the floor of his penthouse and the doors opened, Karl stepped into his new home with his suitcase in hand.

He had a lot to prove right now to Maxwell, that is his first step to his plan.