chapter 8

Taking another glimpse at his watch, Henry Adamson knew there was no chance of meeting up with his clients anymore. The meeting was two hours late and they were yet to call or reach out to him about their respective situations. It wasn't his first rodeo meeting up with investors on business deals and it wouldn't be his last.

"I guess they chickened out on me", he said to himself while he shook his head slightly to show he was somewhat disappointed.

Learning to grow a thick skin to people who don't show up for business meetings was something he was quickly growing to appreciate and while his plans for the day had been automatically ruined, the elderly Adamson sought to make the best of it by getting some refreshing cup of coffee from his favorite coffee shop.

It was the best he could treat himself to, or at least that was what he thought of in that particular moment.

Humming his way across the road, taking note in incoming vehicles as he remembered his son's latest incident with what he and his wife called a malicious and careless driver, he did well to remain alert and not fall victim as well. It still puzzled him as to why Vukan had declined the need to press charges or to even call the culprit to order.

"You don't have to do anything about it", Vukan had said over and over and again without end. "It was a mistake and it could have happened to anyone".

He could only wish his son wasn't protecting a dangerous person as he successfully made it to the other side of the road unscathed.

"Two cups of coffee, black and with no sugar please", he ordered promptly before a queue began to form behind him.

Being first in line on a weekend was nothing short of a miracle and it would be the first time ever for Henry Adamson. Yet, he kept coming back, regardless of the queue or the time it would cost him. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he watched the petite lady behind the counter hurry around to serve his drink.

"How are the kids, Jenine?" he asked.

Jenine was new in the coffee shop and had recently just been transferred there. Just like the others, Henry Adamson made it a habit of engaging them and knowing what he could about them every time he came to get his coffee.

Jenine soon arrived with the coffee cups and replied, "John is doing well in med school, while Sarah is being a typical teenage girl, if you know what I mean".

Henry Adamson shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I don't have a daughter, but I have a wife and I know what that comes with".

They shared a chuckle and he paid for his drinks before asking her to keep the change.

"Oh, sorry! I wasn't… ", the apologetic man standing just two feet from Henry Adamson stuttered for words as he stared at his shirt and the pilled cups of coffee on the ground.

The tall, bald headed man with deep black eyes clamped his hands over his mouth before looking up at Henry Adamson. "I am so sorry… let me get you a refill. Please".

Henry Adamson continued to stare at the man and in a rather odd manner without speaking about his ruined shirt or the fact his coffee had just been messed up. The bald head, perfectly shaved beards and the rather unique mole just beneath his lower lip, seemed to place him in a state of trance for a moment. He wondered if he was right or if he was assuming things, but the tone with which the fellow spoke only seemed to strengthen his conviction.

The man hurried past and ordered for another round of coffee for Henry Adamson, but the latter simply asked Jenine not to bother.

"Hold on with that order", he demanded.

"Is something wrong?" the stranger asked.

Henry Adamson shook his head and replied, "Peter? Peter Douglas?"

He noted the bewildered look in the stranger's face, before it slowly began to warm into one of recognition.

"Henry freaking Adamson!" the man replied. "Oh my world! Henry Adamson! Is this really you?"

Henry Adamson cocked his head aggressively as he realized he had just bumped into someone from his past, and not just anybody, but a very dear friend.

"Who would have thought it? I mean, it has been how long now?" Henry Adamson asked.

Peter Douglas held up both hands and showed his ten fingers before replying, "Triple it".

They had not seen for the past thirty years and Henry Adamson was quite surprised that he could still recognize the man well enough. Granted there were distinctive features like his bald head and mole, but the deep black eyes gave him away immediately.

"What are you doing here?" Henry Adamson asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you here before".

Jenine cut in and replied, "He comes here quite as often as you do".

Henry Adamson couldn't believe is ears. He wondered how he had never run into the man every single time he came to get his coffee.

"This is totally unbelievable", Peter Douglas attested. 'I must have done something right this morning".

The duo chuckled and ordered for another set of coffee with some doughnuts to keep themselves buys while they discussed and caught up on old times. Henry Adamson was free for the day after all.

"So, tell me, Henry, where have you been and what have you been up to?" Peter Douglas asked.

Henry Adamson could not believe his eyes while he continued to stare helplessly at his high school friend. To say they were tight as a pair of pants was an understatement and when they lost touch, Henry Adamson had done everything within his power to reconnect with Peter Douglas but to no avail.

"Life has been good actually", Peter Douglass confessed.

He sniffed and took a sip from his drink, while Henry Adamson watched him keenly like a hawk. He had aged, but his receding hairline remained the same. His eyes looked as sharp as ever if not sharper and the manner in which the man exuded of calm brought Henry Adamson some too. The smugness still existed in the man, coupled with some rather telling changes.

"I'm a professor now with about fifteen years' experience", Peter Douglas explained. "I'm married with two kids, and my wife is a wonderful angel. You should meet her sometime".

Henry Douglas smiled wildly, showing how happy he was for his friend.

"You're obviously doing good", he mentioned. "I mean, you don't look your age and asides the screaming hairline, you look awesome".

They both shared a laugh on the bald joke and slowly sipped from their cups once again.

Back in high school, their friendship had been cemented in the oddest of manner. Henry and Peter struggled with being bullied and would seek shelter in the most bizarre places around the school, all in bid to get away from their bullies. While both looked fragile, they still managed to find a way to survive the harsh realities of their lives and Henry Adamson was certain that his friend was still doing the same until date.

"What about you? You got something new going on with you asides still trying to sell the craziest schemes to people around you?" Peter Douglas asked.

The duo paused, stared at each other in the face without uttering a single word for the next few seconds.

"You mean something in the form of vanishing cream or levitating notebooks?" Henry Adamson asked.

Peter Douglas nodded his head and the duo shook their heads as they realized what wild life they lived in their own way through high school.

For most of the periods they were friends. It was safe to say that Henry Adamson was the brains behind their schemes. They ran several Ponzi schemes through the entire school and even managed to get themselves into trouble on a few occasions. While most of the schemes brought them trouble, a few brought them notoriety and some kind of cult hero amongst the students.

For a period of time, the duo was known as inventive, innovative and sly.

"Well, nothing in the frame of such crazy school schemes, but yeah, I'm still in the business line", Henry Adamson finally said. "I'm into legit businesses now and I actually own some really good slots across town".

He smirked as he watched the look on his old buddy's face. They were without doubt, proud of one another and nothing could change that.

"So, you're married then, yeah?" Peter Douglas asked while he nudged his head towards Henry Adamson's ring.

The latter nodded his head in response, fiddled the ring on his finger and smiled heavily.

"Wow! There is someone good enough to make you happy? This is fucking amazing", Peter Douglas teased. 'I mean, after so many claims of never finding what you need in a lady, you finally landed yourself one".

Henry Adamson cocked his head and reclined in his seat for a moment. His pal was right as rain and it made him revisit high school days when he could barely nail down a woman. In fact, things had gotten so worse and noticeable that others were beginning to bring up the possibilities that he was gay. Granted Henry Adamson was straight, he still found it hard to shake the tag off.

The irony of having a son who was now gay brought a rather thin smile to his face. He shook his head and smiled even harder before reaching for his coffee.

Stuffing a mouthful of doughnut into his mouth and rinsing it down with some coffee, he replied, "Well, I finally found the perfect woman and she sure as hell has been coping with my madness for years now".

Peter Douglas smiled hard and responded by saying, "Well, these women knew what they were getting into before we dropped on one knee to propose to them".

The buddies laughed hard and continued to regale each other with tales about their experiences after high school. They both got into college immediately after high school, but Peter Douglas ended up picking an interest in the academic line while his buddy, Henry Adamson sought after money and making it fast.

"In fact, I made my first million bucks when I was 24", Henry Adamson boasted. "It wasn't pretty and it came by luck, but damn, it was awesome… I never wanted to look back ever since".

Looking impressed, Peter Douglas whispered, "Whoa! As a public servant, if I wanted that, I'd have to go to the bank with a buttload of grenades".

They had a quick toast to old times, before ordering for some more pastries without caring for the fact that time was slowly passing them by. Henry Adamson would rather be there than head back home to get into a potential fight or scuffle with his son again. While their relationship over the past few days seemed to be going on fine, there was the fear something would light things up without notice.

"Speaking of old times and families right now, would I say karma decided to visit me by giving me a gay son?" Henry Adamson let the cat out of the bag to his friend with a raised brow.

Peter Douglas replied with a raised brow and a rather plain look on his face.

"No way!' he responded in words to show how shocked he was. 'To think people used to assume you were gay back then in school".

Henry Adamson shrugged his shoulders and sipped his cup dry before sighing out loud and in relief.

"Well, I have a gay son and he happens to be my only child, He is an artist and is getting really good at it since that's what he is in school for", he explained. "Hasn't been easy to handle the fellow but we are hanging in there and I cannot complain. He is awesome though and I'd love you to meet him".

Peter Douglas seemed to be taking his time to respond as he shrugged his shoulders, tapped his fingers into the table in what Henry Adamson wanted to interpret as nervous ticks. Yet, if he still remembered Peter Douglas it was that the man never fret or got nervous about anything. He was as bold and outspoken as his glistening eyes and he still had not seen anything to think otherwise.

"Well, I have got something better", Peter Douglas finally responded. "I happen to have a gay son too, and he hasn't been in any healthy relationship for a while now. He is a graphic designer and I really see prospects in him but I also want his stability and happiness".

The smile on Henry Adamson's face widened.

"We could match them up for a double date or something", he continued.

It sounded like the best idea for Henry Adamson's son, Vukan. Ever since the accident he had in school, he had been somewhat torn and reclusive. His mother had been worried about him and they still had not been able to get through to him.

"Well, I don't know how my son will take it, but I'd rather have him become close to my old time buddy's kid than some bum simply trying to prey on his emotions out there", Peter Douglas said. "it reminds me of the good old days when our folks tried setting us up to no avail".

Henry Adamson's father tried and failed every single time for reasons none of them could figure out. Henry Adamson would complain about whatever pick his parents made for him, and settle for none until they got tired of attempting to match-make him all in bid to prove he wasn't gay. The joke was on them when they saw him march through the door of their house with the woman he had chosen to marry.

"In addition, he hasn't quite had a rosy life and until I adopted him as my own, the boy had to suffer through a terrible ordeal with his biological father", Peter Douglas explained.

"Really?" Henry Adamson asked in shock.

"His father would pick on him and assault him both physically and mentally for being gay, and even tried to set him on fire before I intervened and filed a restraining order against the vile man", Peter Douglas explained with a saddened tone and a catch in his throat. "It did nothing to stop the vile creature though and we were forced to take him to another city entirely to avoid the threats from his biological father. He still has nightmares till today and we can only do so much".

The words weighed heavily on Peter Douglas as he paused at intervals to sigh and take some sips from his drink. His eyes glowed with untold tales and his breath became thickened as he explained his difficult ordeal. Henry Adamson could understand the castigation young kids faced for being gay. He had been subjected to abuse growing up too, even while he was clearly not gay.

It felt glad to be able to grant his friend some emotional support though and they shared tips on how best to manage such situations so they don't get out of hand in the end.

"Well, asides our meeting today, getting our kids together would be the second best thing to happen to me in this week alone", Henry Adamson professed. "We should totally go on ahead with it".

They agreed without fuss and exchanged contacts immediately. Henry Adamson couldn't quite picture how his son, Vukan, was going to take the news, but he was willing to give it a shot and hopefully, watch whatever would come through the entire thing.

"It was nice seeing you today, buddy", Henry Adamson confessed while he shared a tight hug with his friend before they headed out of the coffee shop.

He escorted Peter Douglas over to his BMW and smiled at the thought of how much the professor must be making to be able to afford such an expensive car. Regardless it was awesome to see that Peter Douglas was doing well. It brought Henry Adamson profound joy and he could not wait to share the news with his wife and son.

There was one aspect of the entire ordeal that brought Henry happiness though; being able to prove his father wrong about having a gay son. Vukan's grandfather had never provided an ounce of support to his grandson since he found out the boy was gay.

"In your face, dad", Henry Adamson laughed.

He could not wait to break the news to his wife.