Guarded Masterwork

Chapter Three

 "Everything's looking good, Harry." Doctor Kadesh ducked his head to wrap his stethoscope around his neck. "He does need a couple of shots to start school, but it'll be a breeze. Have you given any more thought to the cochlear implants we were speaking about?" The older man turned to sanitize his hands before turning back to the nervously fidgeting father.

"That's the thing, Doctor. I can't afford them right now. I recently obtained a job, but it's still too early to know if they'll keep me or not. I just don't think I can make that type of commitment yet." A knock on the door, a nurse arriving with the child's shots, preventing Harry from babbling any further about his current situation nobody asked for.

At the sight of the syringes on the tray, the boy sharply turned to his father. If Harry had a dime for everytime he received the death glare from his son, he would be able to afford the implants for the little demon.

At times, Harry feels hopeless. He doesn't believe his son likes him, but that doesn't sway his love and adoration for his boy. He's always trying to make him the happiest kid, but he's never even met a deaf person prior to his son, so he doesn't even know where to start. He doesn't know how anything will work, the man is just trying to get through one day at a time. He's doing the best he can. As soon as the father found out about his son's condition, he buried his head in books and online resources to learn sign language. However, Will isn't aware of how difficult it is to learn another language at the age of twenty eight, the little twerp.

Harry refused to look away from his stare, so he managed a playful glare towards the pouting boy who was using his peripheral vision to plan an escape route if needed, but then he looked down from the examination table and decided it was too far of a jump down to risk it. So his sole focus floated back up to meet his father's that was already zoned on him.

"Okay! We are finished! Checkout is to the left, and I'm going to want to see him again in six months. Of course, if you notice anything, I'd like to see him sooner, but he's looking wonderful. You're doing a great job, Harry." Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. His worried face wasn't as discreet as he'd hope, but the reassurance was a small weight lifted off his shoulders. It didn't relieve his son's hatred though.

Harry took a large breath, thanked the doctor, and then grabbed Will to help him down so they can schedule his next appointment in January. In order to informally apologize, Harry took his son to his favorite restaurant because he's a sap.

Will lightened up and even laughed at a few pokings from Harry, but Harry was still nervous over his constant pout. It was as if every time he was left alone with his father, the child's mood would be tarnished. Whenever Trish sauntered her way into the room, it'd be like Christmas morning.

But he couldn't shake the worry about his son's mental health.

The gold car slipped into the driveway next to Trish's blue one. She's been taking night shifts in order to care for Will until he could go into school, or Harry found a proper day care. Whichever came first. The blonde sat on the porch already seeming to have raided Harry's freezer while she shoved a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, lowering her utensil for another bite straight out of the carton causing Harry's eye to twitch.

"Your Christmas gift is going to be the female version of getting," Harry looked to his son to make sure he wasn't looking before he mouthed the words, "dicked down," as if his deaf child could hear. "Thank you so much, again. I love you, but I have to go, so, bye lovely!" Harry quickly ran to his best friend, in a rush, to give her a sloppy kiss on her head before turning to his son who left the front door open to let the dog out so he could play with him. Gently nudging Will's shoulder to gain his attention, Harry lifted the three fingers Will saw everyday and gave him a little wave.

What surprised the struggling father was the return of the same gesture. He'd only seen it a number of times, but it still fills him with happiness and hope that his son might not completely hate him.

The dog got his goodbye of a kiss on the head following the son before Harry had to make it in time not to be two hours late for his lunch break.

Sofia gazed at the artwork covering different sections of the wall in the art gallery. "Fifi, you know I love you, and I support you with everything you do... But I met a guy at the club last night and-"

"You have a date, like, three minutes from now, so you have to leave?" She sat next to her on the couch, and Liani kept showing her their text messages while speaking endlessly of their date in the afternoon. Honestly, Sofia was surprised the girl was bringing back up the topic so close to the arranged date. "It's okay. I don't mind. You have fun, girl. I hope he's good to you and if he's not," the latin beauty raised her ringed hand and did a version of a karate chop, "you tell me."

"I'm so sorry. We are going to have a day together, I promise. Love you!" The darker girl ran to hug Sofia before heading out to catch an uber to her destination half an hour away.

So Sofia stood in the aisle alone. She didn't like to be alone, she loved hanging out with Liani, but there are times, like these, that she wished she could be more outgoing. That she had more friends. That she'd be comfortable with a significant other.

A particular painting caught the girl's eye. It was a surrealism painting, something she could never do. She always had a specific admiration towards the slightly wonky artwork. It was a melt of bright hues, however, as an ironic contrast, the emphasis was displayed the dark vignette surrounding the edges. It went against the principles of art in a rebellion of traditional works. Everything that was wrong with the painting combined into a mesh of disabilities that captured her attention entirely. The lighter areas consuming the middle striated as a blur, like cardiac muscle, but the darker exterior had more detail. She's not too fond of dark paintings, but she knows people will pay a good deal of money for something so rebellious.

If only her minor in art got her anywhere.

The beautiful artwork herself sighed, feeling an emptiness in her chest, and pulled out her phone to order herself an uber for herself. She was getting tired of feeling incompetent and jealous of people who did something out of their artwork - something she didn't have the courage to do.

"Oomf!" Liani had all but run in her stilettos to get to the car at the other end of the parking lot. Unfortunately, Harry was trying to get to work without being too late from his lunch break.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! I shouldn't have been ru-" Liani could only stare at the handsome man above her, trying to pull her up. He was in a violet velvet suit with wisps of curls all over his forehead.

He was mesmerizing, and he could have easily put her in a trance for hours if her phone had not vibrated on the pavement.

"Oh shit! I'm gonna be so late!" Reality clicked in for the girl who had an attention deficit. Her mind could only focus on one thing, and Harry's looks were traded for the most likely pissed driver. So, while forgetting the manners her mother smacked into her as a child, without a farewell, or even an acknowledgement of the young man hovering over her to make sure she was alright, Liani grabbed the phone, assuming her ride was messaging her, and bolted to the white carolla near the mouth of the parking lot.

"Uh, yeah, I'm all good too, thanks. Have a nice day." The confused man whispered the rest of their conversation to himself while getting up and patting down his new suit.

What no one realized yet, were the two phones Liani suddenly had.

And Harry's lack of.

A/N

lol now we're cookin'