Jamal's POV
"Come on dad, you promised," Summer complained as she tugged on my pants while I was making a phone call.
"Shhh!" I hushed her quietly, "You're interrupting my call," I told her in a whispery voice before resuming my conversation over the phone, "Yes hello, where were we?...Oh sorry, it's my daughter."
"Dad!" she shrieked in her shrill voice.
"Hold on, I'll call you back," I said over the phone before I hung up. "Dammit Summer, what is wrong with you?!" I yelled at her. She sniffled a bit as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Oh baby," I said compassionately as I squatted to her level holding her two little palms in my hands. "I'm so sorry for yelling at you, okay?" I said to her as she sobbed quietly. "Will you forgive Daddy?" I asked using my index finger to gently lift her chin up so we could make eye contact.
"Uhn-uhn," she responded shaking her head in rejection.
"Seriously? Okay, what should I get you? An ice cream?" I asked in a bid to placate her.
"Hehehe," Summer giggled in response.
I took a look at her. "What's so funny?" I asked with my eyebrows arched upwards, "I thought you were crying just a second ago," I said.
"It's funny when you get angry," she said still giggling.
"Oh yeah? let's see how funny it is when I eat you!" I said as I pounced playfully on her lifting her off the ground and tossing her on the bed. She giggled and screamed in laughter as I pretended to eat her stomach.
"Hehehe, stop it dad, it tickles," she pleaded in ecstatic laughter as I ignored her plea.
"Never! I'm gonna eat you! Roar!" I replied in a feigned deep monstrous voice as I continued the staged carnage.
"I honestly can't believe the two of you," Autumn said from the corner in which he was seated with a book on his laps. I and Summer instantly paused what we were doing, as if frozen by his stern words. "We should be finding a way to get mom back and you both are here, acting all silly," he said and paused for a while as if to let his words sink in, "I guess age really is just a number," he added while shaking his head in pity as he flipped the page and continued reading his book.
"Yeah dad, I really do wanna see mom" Summer said, staring at me with the most adorable eyes.
"Okay fine, I'll try to convince her to come see you guys," I said.
"Good," Autumn responded, his eyes still glued to his book, "I'm sure her negative attitude towards you will change once she meets us," he added.
"Negative attitude? Pffft! What negative attitude?" I asked with a scoff.
"Don't try to deny the obvious dad. We got eyes, you know?" he replied now looking me in the eye.
"Uhun, and not to mention ears too," Summer chipped in, "We alweady know she don't like you," she said further in her innocent childish voice. I literally felt a stab in my heart on hearing her words. "They can tell just by looking?" I thought. Yeah, obviously Autumn can easily tell, but Summer too?!
"I never thought it was that noticeable," I muttered. If they could notice it that easily, then she probably didn't like me for real. But I was going to change that, no matter what.
Methis POV
Today we were at the press box at the stadium and Xander was pissed about something.
"Arrghh! For God sake!" Xander cussed as he stubbed his foot against one of the steps, almost tripping over in the process.
"Sorry, are you okay?" I asked as I quickly walked over to check on him.
"I'm okay," he said stoically and walked out on me. I could tell he was still a bit angry at me.
I sighed as I watched him continue without me. He hadn't talked to me much, not since he and Jamal had their little squabble. I wanted to help him out with the checking of the seats but I'm sure he didn't want me around at this point. So I went down to the field to do a little bit of exercise.
A few minutes later, I was done with my task for the day. I sighed as I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my forearm, "Alright, I think we're done for the day," I said to Xander who was seated in one of the spectator’s seats, staring at me with no emotion on his face. As expected, he didn't answer me a word. I kinda felt bad that he wasn't talking to me much anymore. I wanted to talk to him, but this certainly wasn't the time or place.
My phone beeped in my pocket. I dug my hand in to get it out. "Damn these pants," I muttered as I searched blindly through the deep pocket of my sweat pants. Finally laying hold on it, I brought it out. Then squinting my eyes and placing my left palm over the phone to create some shade, I saw a notification pop up on the screen. It was a text from Jamal.
"Hey can we meet up this evening? The kids wanna meet you. Please don't decline," the message read.
I was going to decline but thought about it for a moment. I am already his tour guide, so I'll still have to meet him anyways, I thought, though I didn't really want to meet the kids. They were practically a business deal so I don't want any attachment to them. Besides, I've got a great career ahead of me, so the last thing I need right now is dead weight to carry along. They almost ruined my life once and I'm certainly not going to let it happen again.
"Sure, what's the location?" I texted back.
"Aren't you gonna sign out?" Xander asked, finally breaking the awkward silence between us, howbeit stoically.
"I'll call the professor," I replied, "I've got somewhere important to go," I said.
"Ahhh," he said nodding his head slowly with his lower lip extended downwards as if processing what I just said, "It's the strange guy from before, huh?" he asked, his eyes staring expressionlessly at me.
"Uhhm, no it isn't," I lied, "I've got an appointment with......"
Ting! my phone beeped again, interjecting me. I lifted it slightly and stared at the screen. It was another text from Jamal.
"I'll send you the location right away," it read.
"An appointment with who?" Xander asked snapping me back to our conversation.
"Oh sorry," I replied a bit flustered, "I can't tell right now. I'll see you later," I said as I ran out. I'm pretty sure he didn't buy my lie.