"Ger, you're back?" Becky Whitmore, Gerald's mom asked. She was a lady of refined nature. Her hair was tucked neatly into a bun. She was holding a spatula in one hand, and her other hand held her smartphone.
Gerald sat up as soon as he heard her voice. Oh, how much he missed his mother. He wished he could run to her and hug her.
"Yes yes, he's here. What? Ok ok. Do whatever you want. Yes, love you too, darling." She kissed the caller goodbye on the phone and dropped it inside the pocket of her apron, which was laced with some tomato sauce.
"I'm making your favorite pasta. Wanna taste some now before your father arrives to claim his stake on it?" Becky asked her son.
"Sure," Gerald croaked.
"Water?" A servant holding a tray stood at the edge of the door and asked.
Becky took the tray from the servant and dismissed them before bringing the glass to Gerald's lips. "Drink."
Gerald sat there in awe. She was just the same. She could make one feel at ease just by having a conversation with them.
"Mom, I've missed you." Gerald threw his arms around his mother's waist and burrowed his face into her apron. "I'm sorry, I should've come earlier."
"Don't worry about it, Ger. Your father and I understand." Becky set the glass on the tray before hastily throwing the spatula in it. She held her son and stroked his hair lovingly. Her son did not need scolding. They only needed to tell him that they loved him; that he was loved and he deserved to be.
"Enough crying, let's go to the kitchen and you tell me whether the pasta I made is good or not. This is a new recipe I'm trying and I need someone to taste it and tell me." Becky told him in a cheerful mood. She was energized at the mention of food and the possibility of feeding her experimentation on them.
Gerald hoped for his dad to come home sooner. No sooner had he wished, he heard a deep voice saying, "Darling, I'm home."
A face with french-cut beard came into view and the person immediately swooped in to plant a kiss on his wife's lips.
"Good to have you back, son." he said before looking at his wife, waiting for her to return his kiss.
"Go freshen up," Becky admonished him, but her voice carried a fondness for her husband.
Robert Whitmore was the Owner of Whitmore Group of Industries. He had built his empire from scratch when he was in his late twenties and since then, he had never looked back. He gave his children the freedom to choose whatever they wanted to learn. He never interfered with their decisions as long as they were doing them legally.
Robert looked at his son and then at his wife and heaved a sigh. He left the room to freshen up. He knew it would take time for Gerald to adapt.
Emily woke up with a jerk. The cab had come to a halt near the petrol station. It was scary. There was not a single person in view for the entire radius. She tried to look everywhere, but except for some zooming cars, and the staff at the petrol pump, no one was around. Her senses heightened. This was partly the reason why she hated traveling at night, especially when she was alone.
She closed her eyes and prayed to God. She tried to search in her handbag for some pepper spray, but she never had the need so she never packed it. It was probably lying somewhere in their kitchen. Gerald always told her to bring it along with her.
She promised to the Gods that she would never forget to pack pepper sprays and to show mercy on her. Her heartbeat skyrocketed and when she heard a click, she was so alarmed that her heart almost stopped beating.
"Miss, are you alright? Do you need some water?"
Emily tried to normalize her breathing. She did not reply immediately. After convincing herself she was in no danger, she opened her eyes and came face-to-face with the cab driver.
"Yeah, I'm okay. How much longer?"
"30 minutes, max, Miss. You sure, you don't need the water?" He gulped some of the water from the bottle and asked.
"Positive." Emily nodded.
"Sorry, I was too thirsty. I tried to call you but you were sleeping. I couldn't go on anymore, so I had to stop the car to get some water. Hope you don't mind, Miss. Miss, may I say something?"
"Go ahead." Emily looked at the driver. He was not more than 40 years of age. His face had the same look as that of a scholar, especially with the round glasses perched on his hooked nose. His hair was parted from the middle and was waved up into two peaks around his temples. His white shirt had no crease. He was wearing an old watch.
"Ah, you have great eyes Miss," he said after seeing Emily's eyes lingering on the watch for a while. He broke into a huge smile and said, "This is my grandfather's, you see? Good ol' man, he was. Are you hurt? You see, life throws us in all these situations and tries to test us, but we must remain firm. My grandfather used to tell me that."
"You are so close to your grandfather, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I was."
"What's your name?"
"Mark, Miss. Ah, Phoenix City, we are almost there, Miss."
"Mm hmm." Emily nodded. The scent of the grass was uncannily familiar to her. It was as if she smelt them yesterday. She moved her face outside the window and breathed a lungful of air. It was something she missed a lot.
They stopped in front of a small house. The gates were open and standing there was her parents. With a big smile and open arms, they accepted Emily into the house.
Her grandmother was standing far and muttering something under her breath, which Emily assumed to be some of the new curses she learnt over time. Emily rubbed her forehead with her hands. Did she do the right thing coming here?
She shivered remembering her past days when she had to wake up early in the morning after having a late night call just because her grandma was shouting nonsense at some random crow or neighbor or cow. There was not a single living or non living being in Phoenix City that she spared cursing.
Her parents pleaded with her not to clash with her grandma. She obliged. After all, it was not hard. She could phase herself out of situations nowadays. Only time would tell if it was a good skill or bad.
She took a deep breath and walked inside the house. Her room was full of webs. As soon as she entered, three big spiders came out of the room, and she ran in full speed towards the other end of the house.