The car cornered the waterfall fountain in the compound and pulled up close to the front porch.
I got out of the car, feeling instantly nostalgic and somewhat guilty at the sight of my friends.
Richard came to me first. “Thank you for coming.” We shook hands. I took a second to access him. He looked f*****g miserable. Ghostly.
Eyes are puffy. Voice gone sickly croaky. He seemed to have lost more weight than was considered healthy. The situation was killing him slowly. It made my heart wring in guilt. I should have come sooner.
“Good to have you back, man.” Leonardo came to me and we shared a quick hug.
“I came as soon as I could,” I explained more to Richard. He nodded.
“Let's go inside.”
We did, heading straight to his study. Lucy met us in the hallway and she had a cheerful
