The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 153: Meeting Mrs. Hayes. (Patreon)

On Wednesday, you spend all day studying as if you were in school. Or at least trying to. You’re very distracted and not even your Quick Reader trait can fix that. Your mind keeps wondering to all the things clouding it.

You think of everything you’re missing for not being in class right now. Hayes is very strict, after all, and missing a whole day is going to hurt. Sophia and Katherine said they’d let you copy their notes, so there’s that.

However, against your better judgment, your mind is also replaying the scene of your brother talking to Julia. You try to immerse yourself in math problems and text analysis to keep your mind off of it, but it always returns. No, your brother didn’t take a girl from you because she was never yours to begin with. Stop being such a kid.

The worst thing is that the time to meet Mrs. Hayes is fast approaching. Jonathan is going to pick you up at 7:00 pm, so while your schoolmates come check on you at 4:00, you can only reassure your teachers that you’re okay via chat messages since they get out of work by 6:00.

Your foot is feeling a lot better, though it still hurts to walk. You’d feel stupid about having to use a walking cane to move if not for the fact Mia lent you one that’s really cool. An antique she had lying around. It’s made of oak with a few metal rings near its ends.

Jonathan picks you up on time, and you force yourself as best you can to only focus on the matter at hand: Talking to Mrs. Elena Hayes. You don’t know what to expect, but you want to ask her “why”. Why has she been this way with you? Why did she even accept your application if she didn’t want you in? You get the feeling you won’t be satisfied with any answer, but at least you’ll know.

If she even answers, that is.

Your brother is once again in a blue business suit. He probably comes from another meeting. You can say a lot of things about him, but he’s definitely hardworking. He’s probably the embodiment of the saying “work hard, play hard”.

Jonathan drives you through one of the fancier part of the town. You can see how the houses start getting more… expensive looking. They’re bigger, prettier, with big, well-cared gardens and the like.

You stop in front of a one-story house with a tall, if elegant metal fence and an automatic gate. Your brother takes out his phone and sends a message to Mrs. Hayes, probably telling her you’re waiting outside.

The gate opens slowly and your brother drives inside. He parks the car in front of the house, next to other two. You recognize one of those as Emma’s car.

“You ready, Dave?” You brother asks.

“I am.” You nod. “I don’t I have to remind you not to say anything about me and…” You finish by clearing your throat.

“Of course, of course! Trust me for once in your life, for god’s sake.” You brother laughs as he gets off the car.

Man, how can he be so calm when he’s about to face his own biological mother?

The door to the house opens and it’s Emma who comes out to greet you. You’re both about to greet each other with a quick kiss before your brother grabs you by the back of the collar of your shirt and pulls you away.

“I promised I’d keep quiet, but don’t fuck it up yourselves.” He gives you both a look that clearly says you’re idiots.

“R-Right.” Emma laughs nervously. “Force of habit.”

See? This is why you didn’t want to come here. Minute one and you were already about to fuck it up. Just… focus on what you came to do. Emma quickly asks if your leg is doing okay, so you tell her is healing well.

Your teacher, or your brother’s sister, you guess, walks you to the living room. It’s a well decorated room with several different painting on the walls, small scale sculptures and potted plants all around. Only the wall to the backyard has any windows. They’d be enough to neatly light up the room during the day, but with the sun just about to hide completely, Mrs. Hayes has the lights already on.  There’s two brown leather couches opposite to each other and separated by a glass coffee table. Mrs. Hayes is already sitting there, waiting.

The table is set with four fancy porcelain teacups, a matching teapot and several different sweets; small samples of cakes, pies, cookies and chocolates. This is really not something you expected, and you don’t think it was Emma’s idea, either. Well, considering the tea set and the preparation, you’d say this isn’t something new to the headmistress. Maybe Mrs. Hayes has more friends than her personality would lead you to believe.

“Welcome. Please, take a seat.” The headmistress says, not quite inviting but her tone is a far cry from hostile. “Would you like some tea? Or I could get you some coffee if you prefer.”

Emma sits down next to her mother while you and Jonathan sit opposite to them. Having seen your brother do this a few times over the years, you recognize he’s in business mode. This isn’t a casual exchange. You’re supposed to follow the protocol set by your host. This is a situation where both sides are judging each other, you realize. To Mrs. Hayes this is an opportunity to show her hospitality and her high lineage. For you and Jonathan, it’s a test to see how well you can behave in this kind of social encounter.

…

To be honest, you don’t give much of a damn. You know your mother loves this kind of stuff, but you hate how every move, every gesture means something here. People read each other in five different layers. Honestly, it’s stupid. However…

…Emma shoots you a quick, but subtle pleading glance. She’s silently asking you to play along. And when you think about it, it’s an opportunity. Yes, if you manage to give Mrs. Hayes a good impression, her -15 score will undoubtedly go up. Really, it’s an opportunity that you should take. After all… urgh, she’s one of your future mothers-in-law.

“Please, I’d love some tea.” Jonathan nods politely. “Brother?” He prompts you to answer as well.

Alright. You’ll play along. Time to perform your best.

“I’m not usually much for tea,” You start, and you think you catch Mrs. Hayes eyes twitching. “However, I can’t resist this smell.” You chuckle softly.

The headmistress lips curl into the faintest of smiles as she pours everyone a cup of tea. As she offers everyone snacks, she starts the conversation with simple pleasantries.

“Mr. David, is your foot doing well?” She asks. It’s probably one of the many formalities she feels has to be taken care of before anything gets done. What’s more, since you and your brother are both Walkers (not that you can do much of that right now. HA!), she’s referring to you by name, which feels so freaking weird.

“It’s healing well. Thank you for your concern.” You answer honestly. “The doctor says that I should be able to walk and return to school this Friday.”

“Those are good news.” She nods. “Finals are right around the corner, after all.”

Urgh. She doesn’t have to remind you.

“What about you, Mr. Jonathan? Is business going well here?”

“Better than expected, thankfully.” Jonathan smiles in satisfaction after taking a sip of the tea. “It turns out that a bit of the Asian mindset for business does wonders here.”

“Really? I would’ve expected it would make things more difficult. They seem so methodical there in the east. Not at all like over here.”

“People can appreciate politeness no matter where you go. It’s all about understanding cultures, I’ve found.”

They keep that conversation going for about 5 more minutes. You let them, but you catch Emma getting impatient, and you don’t blame her. You’re all here because Mrs. Hayes has some explaining to do to everyone present. You don’t think she’s purposely delaying anything, more like she’s just very set on her ways.

Finally, Mrs. Hayes sighs softly, butting down her cup on the table.

“I see your father has raised you well.” She tells him.

“He’s always been strict with us.” Jonathan answers, glancing at you and smiling before addressing the headmistress again. “We’ve always been up to the challenge, however. And we’re stronger because of it.”

Are you though? Even if it’s true for Jonathan, you’re not so sure about yourself.

“I won’t mix words here. I know that if I don’t give you the facts as they are, your father will do it for me and make me look like a liar.” She lets out a long, drawn out breath and sits up straight before finally starting.

“I met Joseph 30 years ago. Back then, his business was a lot smaller but was quickly gaining fame. I had taken over as headmistress of the academy recently. I contacted his company to perform some maintenance and improvements to our infrastructure. He was, and apparently still is, a brilliant man. No matter what happened between us, that’s a fact that can’t be denied.”

Emma giggles when she sees both you and your brother grimace and nod at the same time.

“Eventually, we got together. And during that time…” She sighs. “We had an unplanned pregnancy.”

There it is. It’s not like it should be a surprise, all things considered, but you wonder how it hits your brother.

“I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want any children.” Her words show no hesitation. She’s even being aggressive in her way of telling the story, maybe even defensive. “My work was difficult enough. The academy was going through difficult times and I couldn’t have something, anything, keep me away from it. My relationship with Joseph worked because we thought the same. We were both more committed to our jobs than to one another. But a child was a different matter.”

“Did you consider abortion?” Jonathan asks with an unexpectedly cold tone. His eyes carefully watch his biological mother, studying her yet not quite judging.

“…I did, but Joseph disagreed immediately.” She admits. You think you almost hear the guilt in her voice. Almost. “He wanted the child. He wanted you to be born and wanted to raise you. When I told him I didn’t want a child, my presence there became irrelevant to him. In the end, we agreed I’d give birth to you, then he’d take you and disappear from my life.” Mrs. Hayes tells with a knot on her throat.

“I see.”

“Mother…” Emma’s eyes widen and she covers her mouth in shock.

“I know very well I look like the worst person in the planet to you right now.” The headmistress continues. “But the moment you were born, the moment I held you in my arms… I regretted everything. I regretted the deal I’d made with Joseph, the mere memory of considering abortion disgusted me and knowing I would have to give you up almost broke me.”

Even as she says this, even as you watch the woman’s body tremble slightly, she still carries herself with pride and dignity. She sits up straight and has never once looked away from Jonathan. Your own opinion of the woman hasn’t really improved, but you can respect that, at least.

“Joseph is a man of his word. So much so that he expects the same from everyone he makes a deal with. I tried to contact him a few times, but he wouldn’t answer. I even sent him a written letter hoping he would at least read it before throwing it away.”

“Is that why… I never knew?” Emma asks.

Her mother nods. “Yes. He didn’t ask me to take responsibility, to support him with money or anything. He took Jonathan… and disappeared.” She sighs deeply. “A few months after, I would enter a relationship with your father, get married and we’d have you.”

You can hear what’s left unsaid by seeing the way she looks at her daughter. She already knew the pain of losing a child, so she welcomed Emma’s coming.

“Mrs. Hayes,” You say, suddenly scared of her attention on you. Still, you push forward. “If I may, does this relate to the reason you accepted our father’s request to allow me into the academy?”

Mrs. Hayes sighs before answering.

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 Does it?