Chapter - 02

The lady climbed down the stairs, engrossed in her thoughts about Alex. She failed to notice the man sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper. When the man saw her walk past him without saying a word with her face full of concern, he called out for her from behind.

"Honey, what's the matter?"

But the lady, as if deaf to his calls, continued to walk away.

"Honey!" The man called out again, this time a bit louder.

"..."

"Martha!" The man called out her name this time.

"Huh... George? What's the matter? Why are you shouting?" Martha asked, getting out of her thoughts.

"I should be the one asking this. What's wrong? You look lost over something. Did something happen?" George asked.

By this time, Martha had walked up to George and sat beside him.

"George, we need to do something about Alex. His nightmares are getting more and more frequent," Martha told George.

"Did he get one today too?" George asked, knitting his eyebrows. The matters concerning their son were of extreme importance to the couple.

"Yes, so I asked him to go somewhere. Spend some time and relax as my friend suggested, but he won't listen to me. Why don't you try convincing him?" Martha said.

"I will try, but I don't think he will listen to me. He may look like it, but you know he can be pretty stubborn. No one can change his decision once he has made up his mind," George said, "And I as a father will be behind his every decision, supporting him. That's what a man does."

"Aahhh... Why do I even bother?" Martha complained and pinched George's arm in anger.

"Ouch! Dear! Why would you do that for?" George asked, wincing in pain.

"You deserve it," Martha said but soon changed her tune. She pulled her chair just beside George and said, "George, why don't you just stay at home today? Alex will be out for a while," Martha said as she drew circles over his chest, "It has been too long since we..." By now, her hand was making its way down.

"Honey... not today," George grabbed her hand, stopping her downwards expedition, "I have some important work at the company, and Alex will be down soon. Sorry, but next time. I promise," George said.

"Okay, don't stay at home, just go a bit late. Alex will leave after having breakfast, and after that, we can have a quickie." Martha said as she grabbed his arm.

"I... I will leave soon after Alex. You know how important my job is. I can't just ignore it. I promise, next time," George pulled out his arm from her grasp.

This was it. Martha pushed George aside and walked away to the kitchen.

"Don't be like this, honey. I promise next time we will..."

George wanted to follow Martha, but instead, she walked out of the kitchen with a knife in her hand, and pointing it towards George, she warned him, "Go to hell with your honey... You better not be here when I come out, or else you will see the worst of me." And she walked back inside the kitchen, fuming.

Alex, who was listening to his parents talk from upstairs when felt that everything was over, climbed down the stairs donned in a white shirt, blue trousers and the coat in his hands. Being nearly 6 feet tall with broad shoulders, a great build and a fair complexion, Alex was like the perfect partner in every girl's dream. The best selling feature of Alex was his flawless face, dark black hair and his grey eyes with shades of blue. No one would guess from the outer appearance and his flawless face that underneath those clothes is a body covered in scars.

"Good morning, dad," Alex greeted George as he walked down the last of the steps.

"Good morning... Good morning. You are all dressed up in the morning, going on a date?" Although he knew, George teased his son.

"Dad, you know that I have an interview today. Do you really have to joke like that," Alex complained.

"Fine... fine... I won't say anything," George laughed and put the newspaper in his hand on the side," But you know, I will still say that you should come and join my company. Why do you want to slave for someone else when you can be anything you want in my company." George said.

"I know, dad, but..." Alex wanted to say something, but George cut him short.

"You don't have to work even a bit there. Let me in you on a little secret," George looked around and bent close to Alex and whispered, "Don't tell your mom, but there are a lot of beautiful girls in my company. You can go on dates with every single one of them," George had a lecherous smile when he said that.

"Where are beautiful girls?" Martha, who just walked in with plates in her hand, asked.

"Honey, it's nothing," George began to sweat when he saw Martha behind him.

"You are still here?" Martha asked, glaring at George.

"I... I..." George could not help but stammer under the deadly gaze of Martha.

"Alex, you better not be like this man when you find a girl for yourself. He is the absolute worse," Banging the plates on the dining table, Martha left without hearing a word George had to say.

"Honey... Honey... Martha... Listen to me... Please..." George followed Martha, leaving Alex behind.

Alex also busied himself in eating his breakfast. He was already a bit late because of that dream, so now he was bolting down his food.

"I said leave before I split your head in two," Alex heard Martha from inside, and the next moment George came running out of the kitchen, picked up his coat and bag and dashed out of the house. Martha also followed behind him with a pan in her hand. From the looks of it, she was really going to split his head open.

"Calm down, mom... Calm down. Why are you so worked up all of a sudden," Alex hurriedly stood up and grabbed hold of Martha from behind, trying to stop her from going after George.

"Leave me, Alex. He has not seen the worse of me yet," Martha struggled to free herself from Alex's hold.

"Mom, I am getting late for my interview. I... I will see you in the evening then," Alex was struggling to keep hold of Martha, "Let's talk about this in then, bye," Alex said and tried to kiss goodbye to Martha on her cheeks, but ended up kissing her nape because of her struggle to break free from Alex's hold.

Alex grabbed his things and dashed out of the house, leaving a stunned Martha behind. Martha could only feel the place Alex kissed her as she gently caressed her nape with her hand. Thinking about what just happened, her face was all red with embarrassment.

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