It had been a week in summer, lance had been busy cause he was organising an annual art showcase at the orphanage which mainly involved paintings so he spent most time with the kids. Bruce usually helped him out as well, he was like a brother he never had, they were similar in many ways like football teams, both played instruments and same height and age though lance had a little tan skin due to his asian decent, but if you were looking for one of them, probably you had to find the other too.
They always bonded well, more than he did with his seminary brothers and sometimes Bruce still got amused by lance's ground strong decision to join priesthood, when they were younger at the orphanage, he was usually the sturbbonest and somehow everyone thought Bruce would become the priest amongst the two but it turned out opposite, both had chosen different paths.
Lance had built a bond with these young kids, they loved him. They both loved being bare chested with their shirts tied around their waists as they painted the pictures on the walls with the kids, sometimes Bruce loved to tease him that he would make a great father whilst lance could just laugh it off or maybe tease him about Julie, it was a couple literally everyone shipped . They spent some time with the kids and also gave them some candies lance had brought from one of his prayer tours, he always did whenever he got the chance and after that they usually walked back together to Bruce's home, though this time they decided to pass by the Adam's cause lance wanted to drop the art showcase preparations to charles, as he had requested to get more involved in all activities at the orphanage. Lance knocked at the door as they organised themselves to look more responsible, Charles was a respected man. Julie opened the door
'Arl, Bruce, what a suprise, haven't seen you all day'
'Ohh, Hw're you Julie , we didn't expect you here too, is Mr Adams inside? Lance asked
'Come in handsome .... not you ' Julie looked at Bruce
'....wow seriously, ok Hw've you been ....' Bruce had started
'Am not teaching you manners for free next time,...sir' she replied with a grin as she led them in.
'Muriel, you won't believe who's here,' Julie shouted before Muriel came out from the kitchen, she was in sweatpants and an off shoulder emerald green top, she wore her hair down across her shoulders and was holding an apple, she smiled and walked towards them 'hey Bruce, Mr. Alessandri, what a suprise'
' Mr. Adams asked me to drop these.... is he around?' Lance paused as he looked around
'Oh, he left a few hours ago, and he'll be back late, i guess' she replied
' Then I'll see him tomorrow perhaps, we'll get going' lance said as he looked towards Bruce
'Wait..., join us for coffee both of you' Julie interrupted fast and 'yess' Bruce was smiling at the idea though lance was already hesitant as he looked at his watch
'....uhm, we shouldn't..'
'One cup of coffee wont hurt, its still early' Bruce looked at his watch too, lance looked at both Julie and Bruce still abit hesitant, he was thinking of a professional excuse.
'Mr. Alessandri, join us for pasta too, with Bruce, if you don't mind' Muriel suggested too, they had started on the wrong foot, he didn't want to turn down the chance of burying the hatchet.
'we have some time' Bruce replied as they sat down, he couldn't turn down food, above all, Muriel. They had dinner together that evening though Muriel talked less, she was mostly listening to their captivating island conversations from way back.
The next day, lance had a Bible study with Muriel but he was 20 minutes late because he had been consumed alot in the painting, he jumped off his horse and came in, Muriel was reading her novel in the study, she always was whenever she expected him. 'Sorry, am late' he came in, ready for her tantrums
'Take your time whenever' she replied almost informally. He said a prayer as usual and began the study. It was usually her habit to sleep during these sessions and though she felt a little guilty, today wasn't going to be any different. He knew her signs whenever she was almost going to sleep off, he pulled out a few sticks of gum,
'I thought...these could help...' he tried to sound as formal as possible, she was abit suprised
'....thanks, ...u shouldn't' she smiled
'Its ok...you and Amber seemed to like the ones Bruce had yesterday so i saved some from the painting session today' he replied
'The taste is farmiliar....'
'Italy!' They both said in chorus before they laughed shortly
' you paint?' She asked '..Sort of...' he replied hesitantly, it wasn't something he thought he was an expert at, so he rather explained to her a little about the art showcase preparations at the orphanage, she wasn't willing to go if it concerned the orphanage. She had done some painting some time back in columbia, but it wasn't anything serious, it was just a pass time, lance believed she could give the kids some ideas but she was sure she couldn't do more than promising to pass by some time, they talked about the island and their interests in art paintings,Italy and France. she had been to Paris for fashion week several times while he had been in Rome several times too, though their talk was still abit formal, especially on her side, she often forgot and acted like she was discussing with a buisness partner, he had noticed too but just let it pass.
Lance went back to his quaters, he was a little exhausted from all the planning for the art exhibition, he knew father Patrick and other holy fathers expected alot from him and somehow this pressure exhausted him. Different holy fathers, came from different countries to support father Patrick especially old friends and most knew lance well, though they usually questioned why he handed important matters to a mere seminarian yet commemorated priests and deacons were right in his midst, like recently when father Patrick was sickly, he couldn't attend a meeting with the bishop and other parish priests in Germany, yet he appointed lance to represent him, an act which some young priests on the island weren't pleased with, they claimed he wasn't even a deacon yet and he was favoured all time and now he was in charge of Bible study with Muriel, cause father Patrick had alot on his desk, this time though, most holy fathers thought it was fair, no one had wanted to take up that assignment, word had already spread all over the island that the Adam girl was totally difficult and it would be a waste of time.
Today's session had been his peaceful one yet, though he was sure she picked less from whatever he said. And though he guiltly had no problem with the previous sessions where she slept off most time, he was glad she had been sober this time and he had left her a verse to meditate upon, he usually did, at her table, 'she won't ' he thought with a sigh before he got his violin from the corner, it had been his gift from a priest in Germany on his 11th birthday, he started to play randomly, it was his getaway to a different kind of meditation.