Chapter 14 - His two fathers

They found a partially remote cafe and went inside. Mrs Smith turned to her son and said.

" What would you like?"

" I have A cup of cappuccino, Please."

Hirvan had a sweet tooth and couldn't stand the bitter taste of Americano or other bitter drinks. He used to secretly add a pinch of sugar from his pocket to his drinks in his past life. 

"Sure, I will be in a minute."

Mrs Smith went to the cafe counter to order. 

Hirvan found a free table in the cafe's corner and settled down.

He had the first experience of his mother dropping him off at school and going to a cafe with her. He was in good spirits despite their heavy talk.

" Here, Hirvan."

Mrs. Smith returned with two large cups and put them on the table.

" Thanks."

" So, Where were we?"

While taking a sip, Mrs Smith asked Hirvan. 

"While we were praising my good father, we were simultaneously dissing my other father!"

Hirvan said jokingly. 

" Yeah. That one."

Before Mrs Smith could decide on what to say next, Hirvan abruptly said while gazing at her.

"I have a question. If you never told me about my biological father, how did I know about his information and try to connect with the upper class?"

" You knew it from your Aunt Suzy. Not in a blunt way that if I have cheated, but you have asked her about how your father and I met. 

God bless her, she is a good friend of mine, but she is a chatterbox. She shared with you that we attended the same university. Your father studied business while I was in the design department. Our first encounter was when we were working on a project. Your aunt was studying finance, and your biological father was studying IT and programming. Anyway, we had to create a new game for our extra credit. So all of us meet at that time. Inadvertently, as she was telling the story, she mentioned a love triangle between us. And something about how rich he was in the uni and how many girls were in love with him. You asked about his name without hesitation. At that time, Suzy noticed his gaffe and changed the subject. Afterwards, she informed me."

"So my clue was that he is an IT graduate from your university and rich? I was searching for a needle in a haystack. How can I find someone without their name? Was something wrong with my IQ?"

" Haha! That was my thought!"

Mrs Smith's shoulders trembled from laughter. 

" Hey! You are my mother, even if I turned into a silly fool, you should still love me!"

Hirvan protested against her reply, but the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

" But really, Why should I ruin my four years of life merely for this stupid reason?"

Mrs Smith sighed and explained.

" Do you still have memories of your father?"

"Yes, he was a gentle and reliable man. He always had a smile on his face. His hug has the power to dispel all your worries and sadness. He would tell me about the importance of being a strong and good son and brother."

Hirvan's face was filled with a smile. The memory of the original owner was more focused on his father than any other person. He had developed a favourable impression of this man from those scenes. 

" So, do you recall how he died?"

Hirvan pondered seriously. A gap existed between those memories. 

He shook his head. 

"When you were six years old, you had a craving for ice cream and begged your dad to buy it for you. He went to the supermarket near our house and had an accident. We waited for a while, but he never returned. So we all went into the street, searching for him. When we got to the supermarket, There was a commotion not far from it."

Mrs Smith closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

"He was rushed to the ambulance immediately after we found him, and the police were standing outside the supermarket, gathering info about the hit-and-run case."

Hirvan firmly held the cup. It dawned on him why the original owner's memory was so disordered. 

" The worst part was that you blamed yourself for his accident, and I realised it too late. You were diagnosed with depression." 

"After we moved into a new home, the pressure of losing my husband and implicating my son led me to drink too much at a bar one night, and Bradly's father exploited my vulnerability."

They both became silent. Hirvan digested the details he had heard.

' Well, the original owner and I shared the same pain to some extent.'

Glancing at the melancholic woman seated across from him, Hirvan attempted to brighten up the atmosphere.

" Why are your luck with men is so bad? Except for my gentle stepfather, the other two were totally trash."

Hirvan expressed his dissatisfaction. 

" I know, right?"

His logic did not annoy Mrs Smith. 

She also thought the same until three weeks ago. 

"In any case, have you not been curious about the identity of your biological father?"

"Do you want to tell me now? Why? That's right! You stated that I would be sent to him! Have you had contact with him recently? Does he have any knowledge about me? So where is he? Why is he not interested in seeing me?

Besides, it shows that he is a dogman!"

" Wait! Why are you so quick to judge him?"

Mrs Smith interrupted his series of questions. 

"What is the reason I shouldn't? His track record is poor!"

Hirvan did not have a favourable opinion of this unknown man. He did not appear to be a very capable man from every angle you looked at him. He had no affection for this cheap father!

" Let me speak! Until three weeks ago, he had no idea that he had a son. He had repeatedly suggested coming to meet you in the past two weeks, but I declined his request. I told him I had to get your permission first."

"What led him to learn about me?"

Hirvan was very sceptical about this cheap father of his. Working and living in the high society of Astra City for more than twenty years, his mind was flooded with multiple conspiracy theories about why, out of the blue, he came to them and why he wanted to meet his son. 

" It was accidental. While you were unconscious, his sister was also in the same hospital. He still recognized me even though we hadn't seen each other for nineteen years, and asked why I was here. I just told him about you. My perception was that he was exchanging some pleasantries as a way of being polite. Yet, two days later, he returned with a sack of documents and demanded an explanation!"