Unexpected Rendezvous

Prodigium

I barely slept after my last encounter with father. I couldn't even tell the time when I finally opened my eyes. The room was still dark and grim, it literally took my eyes a couple of minutes to adjust to the darkness. I turned to my side and noticed that Rowena wasn't in bed.
"Where could she be?" I wondered to myself.

I forced myself to got up from the bed and freshen myself up in the bathroom, before I heard a loud crack noise from outside. The thunder had yet struck the ground with a mighty force and it had destroyed an oak tree on our backyard. I was horrified. Not because of the thunder, but because I was concern about Rowena's safety.

Before I knew it, I was practically running frantically from my bedroom, along the hall, and then found myself in the dining room with a short of breath; where my father and Rowena were eyeing me from head to toe with a confused look on their face.
"Take a seat, darling," Rowena said softly and patted the chair next to her.

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"I hate thunderstorms..." I murmured under my breath.
"I know, darling..." Rowena said while rubbing my arms. "But hey... it might be the perfect time to rekindle your relationship with your father. I mean we're stuck here for the next couple of days..."
I looked at the ceilings of my bedroom absentmindedly as my thoughts traveled to the night before - when I had the confrontation with my father. The thoughts of us being stuck here didn't seem like an opportunity, but more of a feeling of being locked up in prison.

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The day went by quickly with the thunderstorm still roaring ghastly outside. Before we knew it, Lucius had called us to join my father in the dining room for lunch. I was wearing a long knitted dark blue sweater, accompanied with a khaki trousers; whereas, Rowena was wearing a matching aquamarine sweater and a long khaki skirt.

My father had been waiting for us in the dining room and his eyes lit up when he saw the both of us walking towards him. He put his arms wide open when Rowena went over to kiss him on the cheek and I gave him a proper nod, before we took our seat on the table.

"How was your rest, my dear?" He asked Rowena while chewing a piece of smoked salmon.
"It's very refreshing, sir," she replied cheerfully
"Oh, stop with the 'sir'," he replied while rolling his eyes before giving out a hearty laugh, "You're a part of the Hammond family now, you can call me Alistair."
Rowena's grin grew wider on her lips as she nodded and replied, "Alright then, Alistair. Thank you... for everything. For welcoming us into this beautiful home"

I had been quiet since we started our lunch and I could feel my fist clenched when I felt a pair of piercing blue eyes were watching me like a hawk.
My father cleared his throat and for the first time of the day, he spoke to me, "And you, Alexander. How was your rest?"
I put down my cutleries and wiped my mouth before looking up to him. My brown eyes were locked with his as I replied, "I didn't get much rest. Not with all the bloody thunder roars."
"Ah... I'm sorry to hear," he said with a sigh before continuing, "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the greenhouse?"
I looked at him with an arched eyebrow. A part of me was in shock that my father had asked me to have a walk with him, another part of me was deeply terrified. My father had always been unpredictable and I was not sure if this was one of his trick or a set up.

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My father and I had changed into our hiking boots and we wore a matching black coat with grey umbrellas, as we walked out of the Hammond Manor's main building into the building on the right - the greenhouse.

We patted our coat from the rain that had splashed on them when we walked over. I could see the smoke coming out of my lips and my father's as he turned on the yellow lamps that had been scattered around the greenhouse for a proper lighting.

The greenhouse were filled with different kind of flowers and plants. A small pond was placed in the middle of the building and it was filled with different species of fish (some even exotic ones), and in front of it was a long bench that was overviewing the pond and more exotic plants and flowers behind it. Mum always said that it was our little Eden. She loved gardening and she even taught me how to do it on my own.

My father was the first to take the seat on the bench. He looked up at the sky as the black clouds were hanging above us. Our view was blurry from the heavy rain. The greenhouse seemed too quiet, as the only sound we could hear was the tapping sound of the rain hitting the glass roof above our heads.
I took a seat next to my father and I was gazing through the fish in the pond and then it hit me. A reflection of an aging man who looks so similar to the man next to him - an older version. I never noticed how I looked so similar to my father. Our gesture, our face, our style, everything really... the only thing that differed me from him was my brown eyes. His were piercing blue.

I looked away when the older version of the reflection were locking his eyes on mine through the reflection. My father was looking at me with a kind of stare, in which I had forgotten what it looked like for a long time.

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"Alexander..." My father started, "The reason why I brought you here is because we need to discuss something."
"Let's get on with it then," I replied while locking my eyes on the pond.
I heard my father let out a heavy sigh, before shifting his figure to face me.
"This needs to end. Our little... disagreement, if you'd like..."
I kept my position, but I replied with a weak smile, "I've never wanted this."
"Then what do you want?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.
"A father..." I replied in what almost sounded like a whisper.
For the first time in history, my father seemed to be taken aback by my response. He said nothing.
I braved myself to face my father as I continued, "I have always needed you, especially after..." I choked, "mum's passing. Instead of being there, you pushed me away. You sent me away. Why, dad? Why?!"
"I..." he stopped as his lips began to tremble, "I can't stand to look at you..."
Tears were starting to fall uncontrollably on my cheeks as I got up from my seat.
"I can't stand to look at you, because you remind me so much of her. You're the exact copy of her. Your personality, your laugh, your smile. Everything. And it God damn hurts to keep being constantly reminded of the love of your life, who's not even here anymore!" He shouted at me.
I was starting towards the door when I stopped my step and turned to look at him. "I was supposed to be your prodigy, and you were supposed to be my mentor. Heck, you should be my father, and I should be your son... but here we are now..."
"Defecit, et defecit ibi prodigium et oraculi," (a failed prodigy and a failed mentor) he whispered to himself.

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At this point, I couldn't even give a damn about the rain. I stormed off from the greenhouse and into my car. I was soaking wet , but I started the engine of my Mercedes and started to drove away.

I couldn't stop the tears from falling down and I felt numb and suffocated. My mind was empty, my chest was hurting and all I could do was stepped on the gas even deeper. I didn't quite remember what was my speed at that time, but the last thing I remembered was I lost control of the steering wheel and everything went black.

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Hey guys... sorry it took me a very long time to update this story. But I hope you enjoy this new chapter... I'm starting on the next chapter already, so hopefully I can publish it soon. Your support means a lot, so please do give this story stars and comments! Much love xoxo