CHAPTER EIGHT
Justin Kiriakis sat by the couch with a plate of sandwiches, watching TV as he heard a loud slam of the door. He turned around and saw his son stomping into the living room.
"Sonny, where did you…" Before Justin could finish his question, his son lifted the vase of flowers up and threw it on the ground, shattering it into pieces.
"He's happy!" Sonny shouted.
"Sonny!" Justin turned off the TV and placed his dinner on the coffee table. "What happened?"
"What happened?" Sonny's chest was heaving, nostrils flaring. "I spent the past few weeks, thinking this was all my fault. I kept on thinking about the emotional turmoil I had put him through. I kept on thinking that he has to leave because I was dating Paul and he couldn't handle it. I thought he left because he didn't want to disrupt Arianna's life!"
"Calm down Sonny!" Justin grabbed his shoulders, trying to restrain him. "Now tell me, what's wrong?!"
"I saw him." Sonny answered. "I saw him!"
"Where did you see him?" Justin asked.
"I saw him at the restaurant he used to own." Sonny answered. "And guess what he was laughing away, drinking!" He spat out those words in disgust. "He was telling everyone how much he loves New York, and that leaving New York for Salem was the worst mistake he has ever made in his life! And then he continued laughing away!"
"Ok Sonny, you need to take a step back and think why he said all of this." Justin tried to console, "He thinks you don't want him anymore. You have already moved on with Paul! He thinks you have forgotten him!"
"I poured my heart and my soul out to him when I didn't know who he was. I told him how much I missed him time and time again! I told him how much I want to hold him in my arms again and he ignored all of that!" Sonny yelled. "He threw me away! He threw Arianna away!"
"Ok, Sonny you really need to calm down!" Justin raised his voice to compete with Sonny's volume.
"I can't calm down!" Sonny broke free from Justin's firm grip on his shoulders. "He knew I still loved him and he threw everything we had away like I was nothing! Like Arianna didn't mean anything to him!"
Justin could stare at Sonny. He did not want to add any more fuel to the fire.
"Will Horton, you will not get away with this!" Sonny Kiriakis promised. "I won't let you have your happily ever after!"
"Thanks Mr Robertson!" The babysitter smiled, taking the money from Liam.
"Anytime! I will probably need you more in the long run!" Liam took another 10-dollar bill. "A little tip for you!"
"Thanks!" The teenager rejoiced as she made her exit. "Thanks Mr Robertson!" She repeated herself before closing the door.
Liam smiled and entered his son's room. He took a few steps to the crib and gazed at the infant lovingly.
"Devon, you are all I have left." Liam used the back of his fingers to graze his cheeks gently. "From now on, it's going to be just you and me. And whatever comes our way, we will face it together."
Flashes of Sonny Kiriakis came running into his head once more.
"If only I put myself in his shoes, if only I knew then what I know now… I wouldn't have let him go. I wouldn't have let him out of my sight. I wished he knew how much I loved him." Sonny Kiriakis said while looking at Will's tablet in the columbarium.
"Li, you have to stop thinking about him." He told himself. "You have to keep on moving on. You need to be strong, you have a kid depending on you. You need to be the father Devon needs. You can't afford to think of what could have been."
"Sonny, let's take a step back, maybe you misunderstood something." Justin tried to pacify.
"No, I didn't misunderstand anything." Sonny refused to listen. "He's been the time of his life for the past five six years while I had to tell our daughter her father's dead!"
"I just want you to be rational!" Justin effused in a frustrated manner.
"Look, all I want right now is all the details. I'm going to dig up everything he has done for the past five years and how the hell he became a chef! The Will Horton I know could only make pancakes!" Sonny ranted.
"I think we should go home." Justin suggested.
"If you want to go home, go ahead. I'm not leaving New York till he returns to Salem!" Sonny shook his head in anger.
"Hey!" Liam Robertson greeted his brother-in-law. "I got you some breakfast." He placed the plastic on the overbed table.
Zeke Barrino stood up from the chair. "Thanks Li for always bringing me my meals. And thanks for taking over as the new choir director. Means a lot to me."
"I gotta say, these are some big shoes to fill. Arranging the songs isn't an easy thing to do." Liam tried to lighten up the mood to distract Zeke from his misery.
"Don't worry! You will get the hang of it!" Zeke assured. "You used to help out with some of the arrangements. I specifically told Dad to delegate the job to you!"
"If I screw up, it's your fault!" Liam hit Zeke playfully. "But anyway, I'm here today to give you a little something to help you." He took out an envelope and passed it to the African-american.
"What is it?" Zeke asked.
"Open it!" Liam nodded his head in excitement.
Zeke opened the envelope and saw a cheque.
"10 grand?" Zeke furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you giving me a cheque for?"
"Well, I figured since Remonda's hospital fees aren't getting any cheaper, I figured this is my way of helping you out." Liam smiled. "I managed to save some cash and I really thought that you could
"Liam… I don't know what to say!" Zeke was touched.
"OK come on… Bring it in! Bring it in!" Liam opened his arms as Zeke gave a tight hug.
"Thank you Li!" Tears were flowing down Zeke's cheeks.
"We're family!" Liam patted his back. "Family help one another."
Sonny Kiriakis hated to admit it, but one of the benefits of having your great-uncle controlling a criminal organization, is there are men all around the country waiting to serve you at your beck and call.
"I heard you two are best at digging out information." Sonny remarked at the two men standing right before him.
"What can we do for you Mr Kiriakis?" One of the two men asked.
"His name is Liam Robertson, find out everything you know about him. I want to know where he lives, where he loves to hang out down to his favourite colour. You got that?" Sonny ordered.
"Yes Sir!" The two men acknowledged as they took their leave.
"Sonny, are you sure you just don't want to go home?" This was not the son he knew. Justin was getting more afraid that Sonny would turn into someone he's not.
Sonny ignored his question. "I'm going to take a nice long shower." He proceeded into the bedroom and took his clothes from the closet.
Sonny Kiriakis sat in the long bath pondering. He recalled how joyous the blonde chef bobbing his head up and down singing, dancing and laughing away at the restaurant.
"All these mistakes I made have truly led me to a better place." Liam Robertson smirked.
"A better place?" the brunette scoffed, "I will turn this place upside down. I won't let you abandon our daughter like this!"
Chloe Lane's barged into Phillip Kiriakis' office. She could not believe what just saw on YouTube.
"Phillip!" She called out! "You will not believe what I just saw on Youtube!" She quickly rushed towards Phillip's desk and crouched down.
"Chloe? What's going on?" Phillip wondered. "Did something bad happen?"
"I was just in the studio with Bruno Mars and he showed me this video on Youtube which has gone VIRAL!" Chloe hyperventilated.
"There will always be a Youtube video that goes viral! What's your point?!" Phillip was getting more and more frustrated with Chloe beating about the bush.
Chloe quickly scrolled through her phone and played the video! "You need to look at this!" Once she found the video, she quickly passed her phone to Phillip.
"What's the matter with you?" Phillip furrowed her eyebrows. "Is this guy that talented?" He turned his head down to the phone.
"Just look at who's singing!" Chloe groaned.
Phillip' eyes widened when the camera zoomed in on the singer's face.
"What the hell?" The CEO of Meridian Records cursed.
"Ok choir! You guys are awesome today!" Liam complimented. "Keep focusing the bridge of 'This too shall pass'! We need those harmonies intact! Until next week, keep on practicing!" He dismissed them as the choir began packing up.
"Li! My boy!" Liam heard a voice from behind him.
He turned around, "Hey Ernest? You working late?"
"Yeah, I have to prepare a little sermon for a funeral tomorrow." The pastor proceeded towards him. "Wow! I just heard that and it was amazing! Did you arrange the song?"
"Yeah," Liam replied. "It's kind of my first time doing it all by myself. I promise I will do better in future!"
"Are you kidding?" Ernest scoffed, "That sounded great! I know you don't believe it but you have great musicianship!"
"If you say so." Liam shrugged his shoulders.
"Anyway, let's have a seat." Ernest directed them to the pew. "I would like to discuss something very important with you."
The two sat on the pew.
"Li, before you left New York, you were taking the eldership course. But since Tam…" Ernest caught hold of his tongue before he could complete his sentence. He did not want to upset Liam. "But you stopped your classes when everything fell apart."
Liam nodded his head slowly, he knew Ernest was trying to be sensitive about Tameka.
"But now that you're back, I would like you to finish up your eldership course. The other elders and I have talked about it. We want you to become an elder of the church." Ernest smiled.
Liam's eyes widened. "Whoa! Ernest, are you sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Ernest said confidently. "You have contributed to God in so many ways! You have been such a faithful servant to him. You even got your restaurant to help out by giving food out at the homeless shelters. The other elders and I have talked about it. We think you should be on the board of elders."
Liam Robertson hesitated. He was not sure whether he was worthy of the title. After everything he been through, every sin he committed before he lost his memory, he wasn't sure whether he deserve to be an elder.
"Just tell me you will think about it alright?" Ernest implored.
"Ok." Liam smiled, I will think about it.
"What have you found?" Sonny Kiriakis interrogated.
One of the minions placed a huge file on the table.
"Liam Robertson, 27 going on 28. He is known to be one of New York's top celebrity food bloggers. His blog was listed as the Top 20 most popular blogs in 2018 and the top food blog in New York for three consecutive years, 2017-2019." The latino minion informed.
Sonny picked up the photos of the blonde man walking down the street in a jacket.
"He owns the Italian restaurant, 'The LT' which stands for Liam and Tameka, his wife." The minion continued. "If you look through some of the pages, we have done some research on Facebook. These are photos taken at their wedding."
Sonny skimmed through the photos of Liam and Tameka's weddings. He saw the loving look in his eyes as he stared at the black woman. With each photo he flipped through, his glare became more intense.
"According to our sources and what people around the area says, Liam Robertson is the most devoted man ever. Plenty of other men and women went after him but he had only eyes for Tameka."
Sonny threw the photos on the coffee table when he heard that?
"You were faithful to her?" Sonny's fingers were now digging into his palms. "Faithful to her? What a bunch of lies!"
The minion continues to take out a few more photos from the envelope. "Over the past two years, the restaurant had been facing problems with the landlady, Dorcas Johansson. Apparently, Liam and her do not see eye to eye on a lot of things. Just recently, the two has been rumoured to have had yet another argument. Dorcas Johansson then changed the terms of their lease agreement."
"Why?" Sonny questioned.
"We talked to some of the waiters at the restaurant, they weren't too sure either. But rumour has it that Liam Robertson's has some sort of hold on her." The minion reported.
"As in he blackmailed her?" Sonny asked once more.
"We believed that's the case." The minion nodded his head.
"If you can blackmail Paul's mom, you shouldn't have any problems doing the same to other people." Sonny remarked, he didn't even know why he was surprised.
"Do you have this Dorcas lady contact details?" Sonny asked.
"Yes Sir, right here." The minion took a piece of paper out from the envelope and passed it to his boss.
Sonny screened through the details.
"Ok, that's it. You may go for now!" Sonny dismissed them.
"If you need anything else, don't afraid to contact us. My men and I will be ready to serve you." The minions informed before taking their leave.
Sonny Kiriakis pick the photo of Liam up from the table and glared at how he gazed at the black woman beside him.
"You think you can get away with this?" Sonny scoffed, "Not a chance!"
Liam Robertson collapsed on his bed after changing his son's diapers.
"What a day!" Liam groaned as he massaged his own neck. His slowly recalled what Ernest have said earlier.
"Should I become an elder of the church?" He wondered. "Am I really qualified to become one?" He looked back on his life and his life in Salem, his cheating, his scheming and his lying.
"Do you think I will make a good elder?" Liam asked.
"Of course you would!" Tameka rubbed her protruding tummy. "I believe you would do what's best for the church and for the Lord. Most importantly, I know that you will do what's best for our child!" she laughed.
Liam recalled those words of encouragement from his wife. He wondered, would she same thing if she knew who he truly was, and what he did.
He decided to clasp his hands together and say a prayer.
"Heavenly Father," He began, "please give me wisdom to make the right decision. Please help me make the right choice. Please tell me whether I am walking right with you. Forgive me for all the horrible mistakes I have done. And I thank you for giving me a second shot at life." He prayed as sincerely as possible. "Father, grant me the strength to be able to move on from my awful past and help me look forward to the future. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
"Yo Al! Since you're now my boss, I would like to take a few nights off." This was the first time Liam Robertson was asking to take leave, as he is now an employee of The LT. Thankfully, Alfonso wasn't as strict with as he would be with the rest of the crew.
"Why you need to take time off for?" Alfonso asked.
"I may take up eldership classes in church. My father-in-law wants me to become an elder." Liam answered.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Stop right there!" Alfonso raised his hand. "You're going to become a pastor? You of all people?"
"Elder, not pastor!" Liam corrected with a blank stare. "It's sort of like one rank below the pastor. The elders usually have day jobs but they take part in big decision-making in running the church."
"You, run a church?" Alfonso chortled, "You curse up in here 24/7, are you sure you can run a church?"
Liam whipped his best friend's bicep with a towel he was holding.
"Ow!" Alfonso groaned.
"You asshole!" Liam chided lightheartedly, "If I can run a damn restaurant, I sure as hell can run a damn church! Same script, different cast!"
"Then you better get your Christian on!" Alfonso continued to laugh away. "Because I'm sure nobody in church wants to see you and that wack ass mouth of yours!"
Liam tried not to cave in when he heard the remark but within seconds, he began giggling.
"Liam! Alfonso!" The two turned their heads as they saw their waitress rushing into the kitchen.
"What's the matter Ruth?" Liam asked.
"Dorcas is here! She says we need to leave the restaurant by next month!" Ruth panicked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Liam stated in a rough manner. "We just signed a new lease agreement."
"I don't know either." Ruth shrugged her shoulders. "You need to come out and see this!"
"What the hell!" Liam stomped out of the kitchen and saw his landlady sitting on a table. Alfonso trailed behind.
"Dorcas Johansson, what the hell are you doing?" Liam raised his voice.
"Good afternoon Liam!" Dorcas stood up from her chair.
"What the hell is all this nonsense about?" He scowled.
"It's not nonsense." Dorcas shook her head lightly. "I'm planning to sell the restaurant."
"Why are you selling the restaurant? We have an agreement!" Liam raged.
"I have a potential buyer that's willing to buy over this place!" Dorcas laughed. "Speaking of which, here he is!" Dorcas waved her hand. "Come on in!"
Liam turned around. His eyes widened as he saw the brunette entering the restaurant. The man was wearing a trenchcoat and a pair of sunglasses.
"What the hell?" Liam mumbled in shock. "I must not be seeing things correctly."
"So glad you are here!" Dorcas exclaimed. "This is the place!"
The brunette took off his sunglasses as Liam stared into his green eyes.
"No it can't be…" Liam's mouth gaped wide open.
"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Dorcas asked snidely.
"Hello everyone! I'm Sonny Kiriakis!" The brunette offered Liam his hand for a handshake.
Liam Robertson took a step backwards in shock.
A/N: Ok, that's it for now! I tried fast-forwarding a little so we can finally get to the good parts! Tell me what you think! Is it too rushed? Do you feel like there's a lack of development?
Let the shitstorm begin! :D
And as always PLEASE REVIEW! :D
Thanks for reading! :D