Lust, Loss, LOVE

Chapter II

NICK

Most people would say that having a diplomat for a father meant never having a home. You never know when his job demands his transfer to a different country in order to manage a different embassy. You are always hesitant to make connections with people you know you will only share a year with. Two tops. Maybe less. You never fully unpack and become an expert in being "the new kid in school." Basically, its a life you wouldn't wish on anyone. And no one knew it better than Nick. The first move came when he was seven years old. He remembered his mother came into his room, sat on his bed and told him they were moving to China. 

"You'll learn to speak Chinese!" she'd told him as an attempt to have him focus on the 'positive things'.

"I don't want to learn Chinese." he had replied. "I'm fine with English and French, mom." His mother had waved it off and asked him to pack his clothes. Despite missing Toronto, the idea of living in China was starting to grow on Nick, mainly because of the friendships he had developed with fellow sons of diplomats. However, soon enough those friendships were forced to be put on hold when, after ten months, his father announced they were moving to Buenos Aires. You're joking, Nick thought. He had finally managed to make friends who actually spoke English, and now they were moving someplace people spoke Spanish?! He knew the move to Argentina would be hard, but he never thought it would take him several months to connect with people. I can't take it anymore. 

"I want to go back, Mom." he finally confessed one night. They were having dinner, his father was on the phone. "I hate living like this."

"Like what?" she replied. 

"Like this! Moving around all the time." It had been a year since their move to Argentina.

"What do you want me to do?" she said calmly. Nick had always admired his mother's ability to stay calm and serene in moments when all you wanted to do was scream and storm off. Unable to think of a response, Nick stayed silent. "Look at your father." she ordered. Nick obeyed. "What do you see?" Nick stared for a minute, and shrugged. 

"I see a man who is working as hard as he can to give his family the best of everything." Nick turned to look at her, holding down his anger. "This may not be the ideal living situation, but its what your father's job demands." Nick stays silent as his mother gives him one last glance, before turning back to her husband. "And he loves his job." Nick looks back up at his father who was staring out the window, coffee cup in hand, laughing. There was a glow to him that Nick had failed to notice before. Has it always been there? 

"The moving around?" his mother says, interrupting his thoughts. "It's the only thing your father doesn't love." she adds, and places her hand on Nicks arm, caressing it gently. "He knows the weight it has on you, honey. And he hates it." Nick turns to look at his mother, surprised. 

"He does?" His mother nods, and as they both look at each other, Nick realizes that the sadness, the anger and the bad days in school were not his father's fault, but Nick's. It was up to him to make the most of his situation. For his parents, the two people who had given him everything. If his dad was representing Canada, then so should he. Besides, what kid his age got to travel the world and live in fancy mansions with high definition television and 24/7 room service? Ten years later, Nick loves being a diplomat's son, and now considered every transfer to be an adventure. Although the latest one didn't seem that exciting.

"Dull? You find Washington D.C. 'dull'?" his mother asked him. They were sitting at the table in the dining room of their brand new mansion, located only a couple of minutes away from the Canadian Embassy. Nick nodded and put a spoonful of Honey Nut Cheerios in his mouth. His mother chuckled. "And why would you think that?" she asked him. Nick shrugged.