Chapter 4
1157 Words
Lachlan went through his weather update and saw that predictions were made of an incoming storm. “s**t!” The airport had also sent an email informing him about the storm and possible turbulence. His flight had been canceled and rescheduled for the day after.
Lachlan then ordered a breakfast of fried eggs, pancakes, baked beans and a glass of milk. After eating, Lachlan informed Laura of the storm and instructed her to make a reappointment. He considered calling Paula to inform her of his delay. Paula has been the only mother figure he had. He grew up in a home with a nonchalant father. His father provided the basic necessities, he painted himself as a doting father to the public but was a raging bastard at home. He would come into the house roaring like a lion with poor Lachlan scurrying like a rat and lurking in the shadows of their massive hall. His mother had become so depressed, she was always in and out of the rehabilitation centre. Paula was attentive enough, she listened to his little worries as a child, built his confidence and provided all the emotional needs a child might require. Why couldn’t she achieve this with Elijah too? Lachlan himself wasn't the perfect father but he had vowed to never raise his hands against his child. All along, he had planned to raise his kids in a happy and complete home. He had everything planned out until that horrible occurrence. He would prefer to put Elijah first in all cases but now, he had lost the grip of being a father at all. He sighed deeply as he dialed the home number.
“Gray's residence.” Lachlan smiled as Paula’s warm voice flooded the speaker.
“Paula. It is a nice morning, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it's not so nice for me. There’s a big storm coming.”
“Mr. Gray. That storm is a blessing, I hope this time you really get to rest. You never take any time off work. And yes, Elijah is fine and I’ve got everything under control. The tutor is a lovely lady. Wait till you see for yourself.”
“Thanks for the update. Paula. I’ll take a break. Also, Jake is coming over.”
“That devil's spawn. You guys have always been full of mischief. I’ll try as much as possible to accommodate him,” Paula said with a laugh.
“Do have a nice day. Bye.”
“Bye. I’ll let Elijah know you called.”
****
A loud bang woke Halle up. She jumped off her bed and looked around to find the source of the noise before heading out of her room. She scratched her neck as she walked in on Charlie standing on a ladder and banging a board against the wall. “Morning Charlie. What’s going on?”
“Did I wake you, love? I’m so sorry. I was just putting a picture up. You should be awake now though. Aren’t you going over to teach little master royalty?”
“What picture? Yes, I should take a shower and be on the move. Classes start at 8 am. I have more than an hour to go.”
“Just a little thing, a picture of both of us. You stay here now so I’m making you feel more at home.”
It was the picture they took at the drama presentation that day. They both looked innocent. A beautiful sight to see. Halle stared at it for a couple of minutes and smiled. “You are such a good person, Charlie.”
“Don’t get soft on me now darling. We have to take nicer ones later.” Charlie got down from the ladder and poured himself a banana smoothie from the blender. He was very devoted to good health.
“Sure. How’s work?”
“Not much, you know. I’ve got it handled. I trust you’ll do extraordinarily well at yours.” He slid an extra cup of smoothie towards Halle.
“I hope. That kid was really strange. He didn’t seem to care that I could leave at any point. It’s almost like he’s used to disappointments. He has this air of neglect around him. His parents weren’t around to meet with their son's new tutor.”
Charlie pointed to the smoothie as if making a statement that Halle drink up her smoothie then replied, “Are you going all psychic like you do on me? He’s just a child. How old? Say 10?”
“He's a seven year old.”
“Hmmn. That’s the way kids are. They are stubborn, can be a little too demanding and stubborn. I know you are used to them. Plus, I’m guessing busy, rich parents.”
“I know. The boy spoke like he was way older. I could sense that he wasn’t having any of those sweet lovey-dovey act I pulled up.”
“Hmmn.”
“I feel so attached to him. I’ve been thinking of many ways to get to him.”
“And what did you decide on?”
“I’ll first get close. Get to know him and understand him. We'll start building the connection today.”
“Go, Halle! I have to run. Keys stay under the mat. See you in the evening.” Charlie placed a brief kiss on her cheeks and made way for the door.
“Bye.”
Halle kept waving many seconds after Charlie left. She was going to make a to-do list to plan her approach and track her progress with Elijah. But first, she was going to call her dad.
The phone barely rang before her father answered the call. “Hey, baby. I was looking forward to hearing from you. How's everything? Are you settled in?” her dad said in a rush without taking a breath.
“Calm down daddy. Yes, I got the job. The interview wasn’t a lot. Apparently, I was the only one who applied. Everything is fine and I’m setting down easy. It's so beautiful here. There’s a lot of people, I love the rush.” She paused for a bit before continuing slowly, “How are you doing?”
“For the most part, very fine. It’s barely a day that you left. You sound so happy. I’m happy for you baby. Don’t stress it, have fun and don’t miss us much. I don’t want you holding back.”
“Thank you so much. Your voice is like a soothing balm. I needed that. Now I’m pumped up to go to work. Got to go. Regards to Derek.”
Halle downed the smoothie, turned the radio on, and sashayed her way to the bathroom. She slipped under the shower and moaned in relief as water cascaded down her body. Those tears weren’t of sadness, they were tears of freedom, tears of moving forward, and tears of letting go.
- Writer
