42. Caught
Lordy gathered all the needed documents and made his laptop ready with the necessary information. He uploaded all the photos he had taken and edited them all. When he mentioned he was also a photographer, Sir Bradford had asked him to get some of his shots for review. So he had made them all ready. He had photos of nature and animals, changes in the weather like sunrise and sunset, and random shots of people going about their daily lives, some being Miriam in the kitchen and even shots of some of her meals. He also had his sketch pad full of arts on so many things. He arranged them all into his backpack and headed for the location sent to him by Sir Bradford.
Lordy got to the location, a cafe in the next town, in forty-five minutes time. He went in, casting a look around to see where best will suit their meeting. He sauntered deeper into the cafe and made himself comfortable at a far end. He ordered a cup of coffee and waited, glancing at his watch every now and then. He had actually gone there about one and a half hours ahead of the stipulated time. He didn't want anything to go wrong. He kept crosschecking all his stuff, making sure everything was in order before Sir Bradford's arrival.
After waiting for almost two hours, Sir Bradford was seen making his way into the cafe. Lordy waved at him, drawing his attention to himself as he was now looking around, obviously for him. Bradford smiled, closed in and offered his hand for a handshake, glancing at his watch.
"Sorry I'm a bit late." Bradford apologised. "Have you been waiting for a long time?"
"Not at all, Sir. I just got here some few minutes ago." Lordy smiled and pulled a chair for him with a neutral expression, though he had been waiting for nearly two hours. It was his own doing for coming earlier than the expected time, he thought.
"No, we won't be meeting here. I booked a private booth at the VIP section." Bradford said and led the way into a private room. "Order whatever you want."
"I'm fine sir." Lordy replied and readied himself to get out his stuff to show him, and Bradford chuckled.
"Lordy, we can't work on an empty stomach, well at least I can't, and it's still early. I'm not sure you've had breakfast yet, have you?"
Lordy smiled with his head bowed. He was indeed very hungry. He had been working non-stop for some days now and he had been dwelling on soft drinks and coffee and pastries. He didn't have time for himself.
He took the menu and ordered some vegetable fried rice and beef sauce. Bradford also ordered some rice and vegetable stew. They ate in silence and after the meal, Bradford ordered some red wine and Lordy just went for mixed fruit juice.
"You don't take alcohol?" Bradford asked.
"I do." Lordy simply answered. He was not a fun of alcohol. He actually tasted alcohol out of sheer curiosity. He had grown in a home where most of their drinks were made of fresh fruits, and he had become used to it.
"Alright, let's get to work." Bradford said to the eager young man seated across from him, who smiled.
He took out his files and began showing Bradford all his designs. Bradford kept nodding in response. He was quite impressed. It looked like the boy had improved a lot since their last meeting. All the constructive criticisms he gave to this boy had not gone to waste. He had worked on all the mistakes and improved on his work. Since Bradford himself had some knowledge in art and craft, he knew that this was a work of perfection.
"This is highly improved and I'm very impressed, Lordy." Bradford commented after a while, flipping the sketch pad from page to page with a broad smile on his face.
"Thanks, Sir. You can check out these shots as well..." Lordy chipped in with excitement as he turned his laptop to a better angle for Bradford.
Bradford, who thought he had seen something better, had his lips gaped in utter surprise. Those shots looked very professional. How could the boy be so good at everything he did?
"You are sure you took these shots yourself?" He asked, not that he didn't believe in Lordy, but that he was too surprised the boy could take such clean photos.
Lordy chuckled and, ignoring his question...
"That's my sister, and this is my mom." He pointed as he spoke, and swiped to the next one. "These dishes were made by my sister, she's already a chef but is studying to become professional. Yeah, and she baked these... That is our backyard flower garden and vegetable farm... These photos, I took them when we were at the beach..." He kept explaining and swiping the pages to the other photos.
"Your sister is also talented, just like you." Bradford complimented.
"Yes, she is. She plans on opening a restaurant one day."
"That's a really great idea. And she has the body of a model. If she can have some time for that as well she can do well with that..." He was cut short by a fit of laughter from Lordy. "Why?" Bradford asked, smiling at the way Lordy was laughing.
"Ptts, who? My sister?" He laughed even more. "She won't. Oh God, I can't wait to tell her this to see her reaction. She'll probably freak out and laugh at the idea."
"You haven't asked yet. Why do you think she won't like the idea?"
"Trust me, Sir Bradford, I know her very well. She isn't someone who likes to be in the limelight."
"I see. It's such a waste then, with such figure." Bradford said and Lordy smiled. "Okay, so now that I've seen your improved work, I think it's time to meet the boss."
"You know, at first I thought you were the boss." Lordy said with humour.
"Well, my boss is a great person, but very low-key, you wouldn't know she's the boss at first glance."
She? Lordy wasn't expecting a she as the big boss.
"Right. So when are we meeting her?" Lordy asked with bright eyes. He was eager.
----
Miriam got home in about thirty minutes. Dominic was now seated in the living room with a graphic in hand, flipping through its pages as he adjusted his round spectacles from time to time.
Miriam's heart skipped a beat when her eyes settled on him. For a moment she stayed rooted in position, looking at the once strong and energetic Dominic Hammond.
God! Wasn't it so obvious? He looked quite emaciated now, compared to the last time they met. And his complexion... He looked pale. Well, not like the last time, but still...
"Mimie?" Dominic called, pulling her from her thoughts. Miriam blinked a few times and went towards her dad who had a bright smile on his face. She knew he was trying to act strong. Oh God, now she was so scared. She was almost certain that her dad was not in a good condition. She went ahead and hugged him, lingering a bit longer until Gerry's voice came in as she entered.
"Oh, Mimie, you're here." Miriam pulled herself from Dominic's embrace and went ahead to hug Gerry. "I'm sure you just got in because I left some few minutes ago."
"Yes, I just got in." Miriam said and sat down beside her dad and turned to look at him carefully. Dominic shifted a bit in his seat, but flashed her a warm smile which almost broke her heart. Her dad was such a sweet man, he didn't have to suffer like that...
"How is school? And work?" Dominic asked after a while. He had a feeling that his daughter was going to bring up something about his health.
"How are you, dad?" Miriam asked, ignoring his question, and Gerry sighed. Looks like she had also been talking about it.
Dominic took a deep breath and turned away from the prying eyes of these two ladies. This condition was taking a great toll on him, making it impossible to hide it any longer. He knew he had to tell them someday, but he wasn't expecting it to be this soon. He had a lot of things in place, but that indefinite leave to remain home till he was strong enough to work again had exposed the severity of his weakness to his family. At first, he would drown himself in work so that nobody suspects him, but after two episodes of sudden collapse, he was asked to go on sick leave.
He was becoming frailler by the day, which worried Gerry so much that she decided to go with him for a check up, but Dominic insisted on going alone. After the check up, he had come with a report that he was fine, and that it was extreme tiredness which needed enough rest. Gerry had sighed in relief, not knowing Dominic had actually hidden the main report which was as scary and heart breaking as she had felt it would be. At first, she doubted it, but Dominic was good with words, and had found his way into making her relax. But now, with the look on Miriam's face, he knew he couldn't hide this anymore. He had to come up with something to tell them, at least, to make it look less scary. He opened his mouth to say something but his heart almost stopped at what he saw in Miriam's hand...
"Why did you hide this, dad?"