We drive for some time until we stop at Daire's rundown apartment complex.

He parks his car in front of one of the buildings and sighs heavily. He turns the car off and looks at me. "I'll be right back," He said before taking another long breath before opening the door and hopping out.

I watch him walk inside the building and disappear inside.

I tap my fingers on the dashboard and wait patiently. I watch as a bunch of kids run around the building and laugh. I notice one of those kids was Colby. She was wearing a red turtle neck sweater and a red plaid skirt. Every time she jump or ran her hair that was in braids with black beads hit her face. But she didn't seem to mind because she was enjoying herself too much.

I watch Daire rush out of the building with a gym bag on his shoulder and crazy looking woman in a robe ran behind him yelling at the top of her lungs. "You piece of shit." She screams and everyone stops to stare at her. "I should have gotten rid of the first chance I got."

Daire throws the bag in the back of the car and hurriedly gets in.

"Think your so special huh?" She yells as she hits the window. "You're just some worthless piece of shit that came in the world by the devil." Daire just stares at her with angry tear-filled eyes. "I fucking hate you." She spits on the car and throws her middle finger up. I gasp at her immature behavior.

"Janice, get the fuck in here the neighbors are fucking staring," A tall dark man said. He had tattoos scattered over his body and he had no hair on his bald shiny head. He wore nothing but a black wife beater and black boxers.

Janice places a cigarette in her mouth and glares at the tented window. "I don't give a fuck, I need to let this ungrateful brat know he's unwanted." She said as smoke came out of her mouth. The man grabs onto Janice's forearm and pulls her into his chest.

He whispers something into her ear making her face turn white as a ghost. She glares at Daire and I could see the resemblance. She walks back inside her home where Hayes stood in nothing but jeans alongside a boy that looked like a younger version of the baldhead man with hair. They both had cigarettes in their mouth and both were smirking at Janice as she walk past them giving them both the finger.

I look at Daire who had tears running down his face and his hands were in tight fists. He looked down as his body tremble in anger or sadness, I couldn't tell.

The bald man knocked on the window.

Daire sniffles and quickly wipes his face as he lets the window down. "Yeah, Alfred?" He said in a very low voice that scared me. Alfred takes out his wallet and takes out a $20 dollar bill. He hands it to Daire. "Don't come back for a while, Daire," He said. "Who knows what your mother and my boys would do to you," He said. He pats Daire's head before walking away and back inside his home

Daire lets the window back up and sighs and wipes his eyes. "I need to return this car," He mumbles.

I nod my head and look back at the house.

I saw a girl standing beside a crying Colby. She looked like an older version of Colby and a female version of Hayes with brown eyes. She had cornrows in her head and was waving to Daire's car.

"Is that your sister?" I asked looking at the girl.

Daire sniffles and nods his head. "Yeah that's Gravity she's a year older than me," He said turning away from the building. "She's another one of Alfred and mom's kids together." He said. "If you don't mind me asking how many siblings do you have?" I asked biting my lip. He sighs. "I don't and I have three. Hayes, Gravity, and Colby," He mumbles. "Xander is Alfred's son from an affair he had when he cheated on my mom with some stripper. He always cheats on my mom, but the psycho loves him. And I don't know why Xander doesn't live in Detroit with his mom even when Alfred is not home or when he's staying at his own home he still at my house fucking my mom."

I look at Daire. You could tell Daire was clearly affected by the words his mother said. I know he has suffered the woman's abuse for way too long. But he couldn't do anything about him because the small boney woman terrified him. I mean the woman could give anyone nightmares.

We drive in silence until we start to drive by nice expensive houses. The neighborhood I dream of living in. The houses were spaced perfectly and the houses were so large and beautiful. I wonder what kind of friend Daire had that lived in this type of environment.

He parks outside a modern-looking victorian house. The house had a bunch of expensive cars parked outside. The garden was decorated with a bunch of lovely topiary and rose bushes and some garden gnomes and beautifully decorated rocks and ponds.

"Wanna meet my friend?" Daire asked unbuckling his seatbelt. "We might be here for a while."

I nod and unbuckle the seatbelt. Daire hops out of the car and gets his duffle bag out the backseat. He walks over to my side and helps me out. He wraps his arm around my waist and walks me up to the double door house and knocks.

I look at the nice house and couldn't help but gawk since I could see inside since the door had glass windows. I watch as an old man with a very round belly dressed in a suit walks to the door and opens it. He has a blank face as he looks over me but as soon his eyes find Daire he breaks out into a smile.

"Dary," He said opening the door wider. "Have you brought back the young master's car?" He asked looking behind us at the line of vehicles. "Yes sir," Daire said his face instantly lighting up at the sight of the old man. "Good boy, come in and introduce me to your friend," He said wriggling his white eyebrows.

We follow the old man into a very spacious room with burgundy couches and chairs made of velvet. On one of the armchairs sat a man with blonde hair and beat headphones. He bobbed his head not realizing we were here.

The older man stops behind the man and taps his shoulder. The boy jumps a little and turns around to glare at him. He removes his headphones and speaks, "Man what?" He said with a slight Australian accent. Or was a British, I couldn't tell the two apart.

"You have company, Master," The older man rolls his eyes and gestures over to us.

The man looks over to us and his beautiful green eyes widen. "Dude, what's up you said you wouldn't be back for a while. I thought you were gonna still my car when you didn't bring it back last night." He rushed over to Daire. They do a bro hug thing and then the man playfully ruffles Daire's hair and pushes him before hugging him again.

He backs away and looks down at me with a slight grin. "And you must be Willow, I heard a lot about you," He said taking my hand and placing a kiss on it. I blush at him as I slowly remove my hand. "I'm sorry, I've never caught your name," I said biting my lip. He chuckles and looks back at Daire. "You're right she does bite her lip a lot. I'm Jeremiah."

I smile at him. "Nice to meet you, Jeremiah," I said. "Are you Daire's best friend?"

Jeremiah chuckles and looks back at Daire. "I guess you can say that," He said running a hand through his messy blonde hair. "I've known Daire since he was 8 when I got him trying to steal from us. I thought the kid was homeless so I begged my dad to let him stay and whatever. He stayed with us for four months until the cops came and said he ran away and his mom was looking for him. I was 11 at the time. But Daire just kept coming back and now you say we're inseparable."

"How old are you now?" I asked him.

"21."

"Would anyone care for a beverage?" The old man asked. Daire looks at me with a raised eyebrow. I shrug my shoulder and nod my head at the old man. "A water please," I said biting my lip. "And me and Daire would have some beers," Jeremiah said. The old man nods and walks away.

"How long are you staying this time man?" Jeremiah asked.

Daire looks down at his duffle bag and shrugs. "Just for the afternoon, I'm going back to Willow's place." He looks at me with sad eyes. "I'll take you up on that offer from last night if you don't mind." He said.

My lips twitch into a broad smile. "Of course I don't," I said. "It'll be so much fun." I bounce on my feet in excitement.

Daire grins and looks at Jeremiah. "But first I would love to get stoned," He said. "Already ahead of you bro," He said taking out a ziplock bag filled with something dark green. It had a strong smell to it which made me smell it from where I stood near the couch and a little far from them.

"What is that?" I asked covering my nose.

Jeremiah looks at me like I was crazy or something. "Only the best shit in the world." He looks at Jeremiah asking if I was serious. "It's weed, Bud," Daire said pushing Jeremiah away. "It's illegal some places and I wouldn't recommend a sweet girl like you to use it," He said taking the bag from Jeremiah's hands. "But Imma be in the attic with Jeremiah doing some men's stuff while you play with his mother's corgis." He said looking around. "Don't tell me she took them on the cruise?" Daire asked looking at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah shakes his head. "She wanted to but dad said pets weren't allowed. So they are in their playroom." He said walking away to a flight of stairs. Instead of going up the stairs, he opens a little door under them. What I see inside makes me wanna squeal in joy.

There were two corgi dogs sitting in what look like a small apartment. One was sitting in an animal print dog bed and the other was sitting in a pink bed while it chewed on a meaty-looking dog bone. I cover my mouth in shock and look around the beautiful exterior of the tiny apartment. It looked better than my own home.

"It's so cute," I said reaching out to one of the dogs but it instantly starts barking at me. I retreat my hands and look up at Jeremiah. "That's Donald, he spicy and dosen;t let anyone but mummy touch him. But Lila his sister loves attention." He said gesturing to the one that was chewing on the bone. I reach out and grab her and she lets me. I hold her close to my chest and give her catches. "You are so adorable." I cooed at her.

"Okay you stay here while I go okay," Daire asked. I nod my head and cuddle Lila closer to me. "And ask Martin to take our beers to the attic," Jeremiah said walking away. I look at Daire confused. "Who?" He chuckles and strokes my hair that I left down today. "The butler," He said before kissing my forehead and leaving.

I blush as I watch his retreating form.

I look back down at Lila and cuddle her closer. "Guess it's just me and you uh?" I say to her.

"Your beverages," Martin the older man said showing me the plate of drinks. I take my water and mumble a thank you. "And Jeremiah and Daire are in the attic," I said. The old man rolls his eyes before walking up the stairs.

For the next few hours, I stay in the living with Lila. I did nothing but cuddle and gave her treats. Sometimes Donald would come out for some treats too. But whenever I tried to pet or touch him he barks at me angrily and runs away. I didn't mind though, because I had Lila.

Sometimes I would end up talking to Martin. He told me how Jeremiah's father Jeremiah Sr. But everyone called him by his middle name Ron, had moved here from Australia. He comes from a poor background where he was 1 of 8 kids. So when he was 22 he left everything behind and moved to America. It took almost a decade but he finally built the life he's always wanted. He built a company that one day would be Jeremiah's, and he's worth 70 million dollars. Ron met his wife when he was 33 years old. After building his company and becoming so rich, he had nothing better to do than find love. That's when he met 24-year-old, journalist Annie. They married four years later and their only child only two years after that.

Martin came along when Ron was still building his company. He was looking for a well-paid job that didn't require a college degree. He needed the money to pay for his wife's cancer treatment. And Ron offered him the job after Martin applied for the college internship at his company. He didn't fit the job for his company, but Ron was looking for an assistant at the time and hired Martin. Martin worked as Ron's assistant for 11 years before becoming his personal butler.

Martin lives here as well. His wife had died long ago and his two sons are adults. So now he has nothing better to do but serve Ron and his family. Which is really easy for Martin since he's been doing it for so long.

I also help him with some chores around the house like washing dishes, sweeping, and helping with the garden. I couldn't help with the entire house since it was so large but I did what I could. And Martin was kind to me the entire time. He called me the daughter he never had.

"And that's why I haven't been fishing in months," Martin said as he took a sip from his coffee mug. "Oh that's too bad," I said drinking the coffee. He nods his head and pets Lila that laid in his lap. "Don't worry Martin, I'll go with you next Sunday and that's a promise," I said biting my lip. Martin smiles at me showing his perfectly white teeth. "You remind me of my sweet, Claire," He said chuckling to himself. "Yet you too couldn't be more different. My Claire would have loved you before she was diagnosed with cancer we were trying for our dream girl." He said.

"She was only 31 at the time right?" I asked.

He nods his head and takes a long sip from his mug. "And I was 34. She died five years later at 36." I look at him and then at his hand. He still wore his wedding ring as if he was still married. "How old was Ron when you met him?" I asked. He shrugs his shoulders. "Um around 27 I think," He said. I raised my eyebrow. "How old is he now?" "60."

I was about to respond but someone's voice interrupted me.

"Hey, bud you ready to go?" Daire asked looking at his phone. "Is getting dark and your dad might get worried," Daire said walking over to me.

I smile and look over at Martin. "I had a really nice time with Martin and I promise to take you fishing next week." I bite my lip and look at Daire.

I frown as I look over his disheveled look. His hair was a bird's nest and his eyes were blazing red eyes. He looked a mess.

"Are you sick?" I asked.

Daire chuckles and shakes his head. "Nah maybe a little high tho," He looks over at Martin. "You don't mind driving us to her home do you?" He asked running his hand through his already messy hair. "I'll tip ya."

Martin smiles at Daire. "I don't mind Darry," He said standing up. He takes my hand and helps me up as well. "Come along, Willy," He said. He walks towards the doors and takes his trench coat from one of the maids. "I'll be waiting in the car."

I turn to Daire who was already looking at me with his stoned blue eyes. I smile at him and he grins back. He takes my hand in his and walks me to where Jeremiah stood on the stairs scrolling through his phone.

"Okay, Jerry," Daire said doing some kind o handshake with him. "See you later Darry," He said smiling at Daire. "Come over anything time you need to release some stress, okay man?" He said. Daire nods and lets go of my hand and wrap it around my waist. Jeremiah watches the gesture and smiles harder. "See you later cutie," He said ruffling my hair. He then runs his hand through it. "I love your hair."

I blush and look down at my shoes.

"Okay stop flirting," Daire said lighting shoving Jeremiah away from me.

Jeremiah smiles and waves his hand. I wave back as Daire walks us to the door and out of the house. He walks us to the same jeep we came in and helps me in the backseat. He then gets in the passenger seat and buckles his seatbelt. "Alright Martin, let's go," Daire said looking up at the older man. Martin smiles and starts up the car.

"Let us go then."