The man in the painting

1. The Office

Philip was pretty excited. It was his thirteenth birthday, and after long hours of whining and begging, his father had finally agreed to take Philip with him to his work.

Philip had always wanted to tag along, but he was always told that he was to young. Now that he was 13, Pops couldn't say no any longer!

Mom had questioned why Philip would want to go to his father's work. Pip had said that he was just curious, and his mother had believed him.

He felt kind of bad about lying, but he didn't want to worry anyone. You see, Pops never really has time for his family. He spends most of his time at work, and even when he was at home, he just locked himself away in his office. Philip only ever saw him when he came down to eat.

Pip knew it hadn't always been like this. When he was younger, Pops had spent lots of time with him and his sister, Angie. They would write poems, went to the park together and his father would even read to him before going to bed.

And even though Philip knew he shouldn't , he still missed those times. It wasn't fair to his dad, because Pip knew Pops was busy. He was the secretary of treasury now, and he had enough problems with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. But still, in the back of his mind, Philip would miss hanging out with his father.

So today, Philip hoped to see why everything had changed so much. Maybe he would finally learn that his father just didn't have time for him, so that Philip could quit whining for his Pops.

The ride to the office was quiet, and Philip spent the time wondering what he would do while his father would be working.

He had brought some books and paper, so he could read and write poems. Pops had never really liked poetry, but Pip had tried writing some for him anyway.

When he was nine, he wrote his first poem to his dad. It wasn't really good, but it had been a lot of fun. That summer Philip had gone upstate with his family and aunt Angelica.

Pops had stayed behind of course, saying he 'had to get his plan through congress'.

His father had seemed different when they returned.

Very different...

"Philip, wake up! We're here!"

Philip had been so lost in his mind that he hadn't even noticed they had arrived. Hastely he got his bag out of the carriage and went inside with his father.

Pip wasn't sure what he had imagined the place to look like, but this certainly wasn't it. The main hall was full of people rushing past with stacks of paper under their arms.

Sadly, he didn't get to look around more, because he saw his father was already walking away. As Philip started running to keep up with him, he wondered if he could actually meet president Washington and Thomas Jefferson today.

His Pops' office was defenitely not what he had expected. It was full of papers, letters and pamphlets, that covered both the desk and the little sofa on the right side of the room.

It wasn't a very big room, but Pops had managed to fit everything he wanted in. In the back stood a huge bookshelf, that seemed to cover most of the wall. A small desk was placed in front of it, where Pops had already sat down and started working. On the right side of the room stood a little sofa, and some windows that brought in most of the light.

On the left was a doorway, and Philip could see a small room on the other side.

As Philip turned around, he saw a huge painting hanging next to the door, so that you could see it when you would sit at the desk.

(You can see the painting at the start of the chapter! I'm not very good at drawing, but I tried anyway)

Philip immediately recognized Washington, who stood all the way to the right. He had his army uniform on, and just like in all the other paintings that included him, he looked very triumphant.

On the generals left stood Aaron burr, looking quiet and uncomfortable. He stood a little bit in the back, like he didn't want to be in the painting at all.

Next to burr stood two men who Philip knew to be Hercules Mulligan and Lafayette. Lafayette had placed his hand on hercules' shoulder, and they both looked like they were having a wonderfull time.

Left to Lafayette was Pips father, Alexander Hamilton. He had his hair tied in a ponytail, which made him look so much younger then he was now.

Philip also couldn't help but notice how much happier he looked then he seemed now.

He decided not to think to much about that.

Next to Pops came a man he didn't know. He held his arm around Philips father, and had a smug grin on his face. His face was covered in freckles, and his curly hair was neatly tied at the back of his head.

"Hey Pops?"

"Yes, Philip?"

"Who is the man with the freckles?"

His father looked up now, with a weird expression on his face. He looked at the painting, and for a second Pip thought he could see sadness flash through his father eyes.

"That's noone."

And his father had gone back to his writing, acting as though nothing had happened.

Choosing not to ask for more information, Philip walked into the small room on the left side of the office.

Philip sat down at the little desk in the  room, and took his papers out of his bag.

Already abandoning the idea use the papers for poems, Pip started writing.

Operation Freckles

Philip knew what he would be doing this afternoon.

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And here's the first chapter! I'll probably update around next week! :D

Please comment and review!!
-Alex