Karl Gordon Is Back

Chapter 6: The Start

Morning came quietly.

Karl stood alone in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, the kettle resting on the stove as steam curled softly into the air.

The house was quiet almost like its occupants were rethinking the exchange from last night. Good. That was exactly where he wanted them to be, on their damned toes.

His eyes scanned the house, it looked terribly unkempt. Dirty plates piled on the table, throw pillowcase on the floor, used tissues littered the living area.

He looked away, his attention returning on his kettle of boiling water.

Usually, he'd be up earlier to do the cooking and cleaning before everyone was out.

Now, he felt none of that urgency.

The kettle whistled softly. Karl turned it off, poured the water and set the mug down on the counter.

“Oh my goodness!”

Karl had barely lifted the mug to his lips when he heard Melody’s voice behind him.

He lost his appetite all of a sudden. He set the mug down and exhaled.

“Why isn't this place cleaned yet?” she demanded, standing near the doorway, arms crossed tightly over her chest, eyes fixed on his back.

Her hair was slightly disheveled, her face bare of makeup, which made the irritation in her expression harder to hide.

He had to admit, she was a very beautiful woman but knowing what she was going to do to him, he could hardly see the beauty he fell for back then.

“I'm talking to you.” She said, shocked he was blatantly ignoring her.

Karl finally lifted the mug and took a sip out of it. He had a long day ahead of him and he needed to fuel his body.

“Karl!” she snapped.

He turned to face her, “Tell your sister to do it.”

He walked right past her, heading to the living area.

“What?” She breathed, turning slowly to stare at him. “Listen, I'll put up with whatever that was last night because Caden asked me to. Whatever the hell this is, cut it out!” she snapped“You want to explain what that was last night?”

Karl didn’t turn around immediately. He took another sip of his tea.

“What exactly are you referring to?” he asked calmly.

She scoffed. “Don’t play dumb. You embarrassed me in front of my family.”

Karl took a slow sip of his tea. It was hot, grounding. “I asked a question.”

“You threatened to expose me,” Melody snapped. “You made it sound like I was lying.”

He turned then, an amused look in his eyes, “You were lying.”

Her eyes flashed. “That doesn’t give you the right…”

“Whose name is in the deed?” Karl interrupted.

The words landed harder than he expected.

Melody froze.

She stared at him. “What is wrong with you? You never had a problem with ..."

“I’m selling the house,” Karl said instead.

The color drained from her face.

“What?!”

“You heard me.”

“You can’t do that,” she said quickly. “This is my home! How could you make a decision like that without informing me first?!”

Karl chuckled, “I need your permission to sell my own house?” He laughs, “ Impressive.”

Melody took a step forward. “ You said this was our house! You can’t just decide this on your own.”

“I already have.” Karl said evenly.

Her breathing quickened. “My family..”

“Will move out with you."

Melody gasped in shock, “You better have somewhere you're taking us! ”

“Us?” Karl repeated and smirked, “Nah, you and your family are on your own.”

“What?!” She snapped, "You can't be serious!”

“Come on, I'm a broke ass,” he said, waving his hand towards Rita's room, “Just like your sister loves to say. I can't afford another house.” He smiled but there was something very sister about that smile on his face.

Melody scoffs, folding her arms, “What is this? Are you trying to punish me?”

Karl sips his tea, he intends to do way worse than that.

“You proposed to Anna and I'm getting punished? Are you serious right now? How could you embarrass me and do all these crazy things and…”

She exhaled and lowered her voice.

“I know you've been preparing for the Leon pitch and the process has been stressful.” She started in that patronising tone again. “You can take a break and rest. You're not thinking straight and I don't want to have you ruining that presentation while you're busy doing all this..”

Karl tried not to laugh but couldn't stop himself. Of course she thinks the version of him that was way more logical and wouldn't put up with her bullshit was insane and irrational.

“Yeah. About Leon pitch, I'm out.”

He turned towards the door but Melody blocked his path.

“Are you insane?!” She snapped, “Do you know how much is banking on that pitch?!”

Of course he knew. Even though he was nearing his death, he could still recall what Caden had said.

He had prepared a pitch for Leon Group, Gordon's biggest rival, not knowing the partnership with Melody's company, Allure and Leon would lead to the demise of Gordon group.

Even Maxwell , who had tried to get him to think straight, got affected by his terrible decisions.

Not again.

“You have to do this!” She snapped, her fist clenching his top, “You can't be this irresponsible..”

She searched his face, as if looking for the version of him that would soften, that would reconsider.

It didn’t surface.

Karl glanced at her hand and back at her, his eyes as cold as ice.

She took a step back unconsciously, her grip on his top loosened immediately.

“You…” she said quietly.

He straightened, put his mug down, and walked past her without another word.

“Two weeks.” He announced as he approached the door, "That's all you have until I sell the house.”

Melody scoffs, “I'm going to wait until whatever is going on with you, gets sorted.” She said, folding her arms.

Karl didn't respond, simply stepped out of the house. He would be selling the house and he would be there when her things alongside her family's, get tossed out of the house by the new house owner..