Common disclaimers apply. If you're reading this , you are doing so of your own free will and thus you're the one to blame if it's illegal. Also this is copyrighted material, so ask for permission before you mess with it.
This may be a bit confusing , but bear with me . all will be cleared in the next few chapters.
Of Meetings Julian K. Pearlson PT.4
The clock showed two minutes to the appointed time and Chris let go of the folder and smoothed down his appearance. Exactly at 6:30 a quick clicker of heel sounded along the hallway announcing his guests arrival. It grew closer and closer and he began to fidget with anticipation. Then finally, at about five minutes past the appointed time , a smallish figure stopped by the opaque glass door of his office. A hand knocked and was answered with a steady "Come in!"
"Mr. Randolph, Hi! I'm sorry I'm apparently late" said the twenty something woman. Her timy stature didn't diminish the image of power she projected. She looked to be about his age , and yet her rigid suit and hair made her look quite a bit older. The black hair was bobbed and the inquisitive blue eyes seemed to take in and file away anything they encountered. That made him feel uneasy to the point of feeling threatened. Chris rose from the chair an offered his hand in the mandatory gesture of politeness. Her handshake was storing, he liked it.
"Please, make yourself comfortable. This may take a while." The woman sank into the leather cushions of the armchair and fixed her enormous blue orbs on him.
"Coffee?" he offered and hoped for her to agree so he could escape her scrutiny. "That would be delightful" " No milk, two sugars, right?" her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How'd you know?"
He shrugged, more to relieve himself from the sudden spasm that seized his back than anything else. "Just a lucky guess." He busied himself with the coffee whilst crazy thoughts swirled through his head. It wasn't a guess, he somehow knew exactly how much of what she wanted. He also knew better than to serve her with one of his "sissy" cups and poured the potent drink into a clay mug. There was something incredibly familiar about her. A bit of a fraternal feeling that kept on nagging on him No matter how he tried to busy himself with anything else. He seemed to know her very well, but logically, they'd just met.
"There you go. I assume you know of the reasons for this visit?"
The woman nodded, her mouth too full of coffee to respond. He decided it was cute . " I truly did hope we would meet under better circumstances, but your son.."
"...Stepson" she corrected.
"stepson hadn't left me much of a choice. He's a generally great kid, a devoted student and I appreciate him. Most of the time the feeling appears to be mutual. Did Lucian tell you exactly what happened?"
She finally disconnected herself from the mug and fixed him with her unnerving stare. For a moment she was silent and then answered. "He did tell me and he's sorry. As far as I know, he's prepared to take any punishment you deem fit."
Why did parents always jump for the whip?
" well discuss punishment later. Do you have any idea as to why he snapped? He is after all , more than a bit unusual. He's a lot more reserved than most of his peers. Frankly, I just wasn't expecting an outburst."
Chris was in fact very concerned. Admittedly, he was a new teacher, but he doubted he'd ever turn into one of those dry and lifeless professors who delighted in punishing anything and anyone who remotely deserved it. He was a teacher, not a disciplinarian. Lucien's stepmother took another long swallow from the mug and said, " He's been through a lot for a child his age. He lost his mother four years ago, when he was twelve and never really recovered from that loss. It's amazing that he doesn't hate me with a passion." She took another long sip and swilled it around her mouth, obviously enjoying the taste.
"I marred his father two years ago and it seems that Lucien apparently adopted me as a bit of an older sister of sorts. I really don't know anything about parenting though so my guess is as good as yours.
"Tell me, Mr. Randolph, how old are you?" taken aback by the unexpected question he mindlessly answered'
"I'm twenty-five, but I've taken four years of college and I've been teaching here for three,"
" No need to be defensive," she laughed "a teacher isn't judged by age, it's not like wine. We're the same age you know, and both of us are trying to help Lucien"
The wine analogy send a shiver up his spine. Eileen used the same one quite often. But Eileen couldn't be here, could she? For one, she'd never cut her hair, or marry, and if she was here , he'd know it. He always had a bit of a sixth sense about her. Having thus reasoned away the twinge of fear he looked at her again. She looked too old for twenty-five. The beauty was there, but the innocence and joy of life weren't. "So what do you suggest we do? I don't suppose dragging him to a shrink won't do him any good."
"I don't think we could come u with anything half way workable in just one conference. I also want his father involved. After all, Mark knew the boy from birth, plus, three heads are better than two. So if you aren't busy, why don't you dome down to our place for dinner?"
Well, wasn't this an unexpected twist? He'd do it, the idea wasn't half bad. Besides, he was intrigued by this woman. She was like an enigma sucking him in. "God, after six years, I'm getting into a married woman. Way to go! But this way, no one would get hurt," he blinked out of his thoughts to an expectant "Well?"
"Um. Yeah, that would be nice. When?"
The woman smiled, put down the cup and announced, looking every inch the queen.
" Sunday, at 6 PM. You'll be driven to our home, if you don't mind. The dress code is casual." Looking like a satisfied cat, she took out a business card and placed it on the table. " if you need to contact either me or my husband: she explained.
When she left, Chris sat in his office, fingering the card. Somehow he'd get through to Lucien. He sighed and stuffed the card into his wallet without reading it. He had Lucien's number in his records anyway. Sunday night would be interesting, especially since the card read "Mark V. Duncan & Eileen A. Duncan. Partners at Law."
This is part 4 of the saga and the story is getting much more complicated than I originally intended. The conflicts are forming and will be obvious in chapter 6 which is already written but not typed. As always, I crave feedback and opinions and advice, so feel free to e-mail me at Lherelenfeline@aol.com