The First Draft

Chapter 16

Spencer was eagerly waiting for his Mom's arrival. She was away for only 2 months but for him it felt like an eternity. John wanted to welcome her too but he had to go for work urgently.

Spencer walked from one corner of the room to another. Is his mom fine? How is she? When will she arrive? Why is she late? Different questions raised in his head.

Finally, the bell rang. He ran to open the door. The door opened to reveal his door. He hugged her immediately, "Mom! I missed you so much!" She hugged him back,"I missed you too, dear!"

Taking her bag inside, he welcomed his mother. The mother and son duo chatted for a while. His mother tried her best to avoid talking about his breakdown. She noticed that he was in a better mood now.

She asked him,"How is work?"

He rolled his eyes,"Work is good but mom! Do you know what John did?"

She giggled,"No, I don't."

Gesturing her to sit on the sofa, he said,"Take a seat. He brought a friend of his home and that too unannounced. Also, he has a crush you know. And...he plays computer games with my working partner all the time."

His mom laughed again,"A lot has happened when I was gone." He nodded and kept complaining about how John called his food poisonous. At night, John returned and the three of them finally sat together for dinner.

They laughed and talked about many things. After dinner, their mother ordered both her sons to sit down.

The brothers could sense the tension. Something was wrong, really wrong. Their mother kept quiet for sometime.
She cleared her throat and looked at the two boys. The boys kept staring at her waiting for her to drop a bomb.

She started,"Your father called."

As soon as their father was mentioned both of their eyes burned in anger. They were about to protest but their mother stopped them.

She said in a stern voice,"Listen to me first." Both of them became quiet. She regained her composure,"So,as I was saying. Your father called. You know your father was in an archaeological research. Because of that, he couldn't contact with us. Now, he gave us a good news. He's travelling around the world now to give lectures. He will visit us very soon."

Spencer looked at her," Mom, he didn't talk to us in five years. Did he not find time to call us once?"

John agreed with his brother,"Yes, mom. How could he not call?

Their mother defend her husband,"Everything your dad does is for the betterment of the society."

John mimicked,"Betterment of the society....my foot."

She ignored him,"He sent gifts. He even sent letters, remember?"

Spencer and John looked at her cluelessly. Did their mother really compare letters with phone calls in this age? They finally understood that they are not going to win this argument, so they decided to drop this topic.

Spencer couldn't understand how his mom could forgive his dad. She should be the one who was most upset. But, she wasn't upset with him at all. Rather, she was excited that her husband, the love of her life would be back. Sighing Spencer decided to sleep.

Spencer and Eleanor met again after some days. She had already told him about the deadline thing. He thought it was a crazy idea. A sudden deadline? Why? Eleanor obviously didn't want to tell him why Alex was so desperate. So, he dropped the matter again. Why was he losing every single argument in these past days? He felt frustrated.

She asked him,"How is the story going?"

He replied,"Pretty smoothly. I think you have written the characters nicely in the last few chapters. They are getting developed. But, don't you think as its a romance novel... the book should have more..you know scenes?"

She raised her eyebrows,"Like? Umbrella in the rain? Fixing scrafs? Shoulder lean? Accidental hug? Kabedon? Do you mean that kind of things?"

He nodded,"Yes, that kind. Wait, what's Kabedon?"

She looked at him in disbelief,"Don't tell me you don't know about Kabedon? Really? Its that thing...umm...you know, wall-slam?"

He looked surprised,"Oh... that push against the wall."

She nodded quickly. He didn't know about Kabedon. How was that possible? No, this won't work. She had to teach him some things. How on earth would he draw them if he didn't know about them!

She took a deep breath,"Spencer! We need to work on it."

"Did she just call me by my name? Has she done that before?" He thought. Shaking these thoughts from his head,he said,"On what?"

She looked at him in shock,"This! You don't know kabedon. How will you draw these scenes?"

He said with a tint of annoyance in his voice," I know all of the things you mentioned. I just didn't know the term."

Not listening to what he said, she replied sarcastically,"Yeah. Right..."

Spencer observed how her way of talking and her behaviour has changed now. It feels like she is more open around him now. He smiled thinking this.

They both started walking outside. Cold wind was blowing. Eleanor wondered why it was not snowing yet. They walked in silence.

Suddenly she asked,"Nick." He looked at her instantly. "This name.. how did she know this?" She noticed this,"I saw this name in your notebook."

He said,"My grandmother used to call me Nick. I loved her very much. So, I kept using this name after she passed away." Eleanor simply nodded.

Suddenly, two kids ran past her. She tried to avoid the kids and stumbled. But, Spencer caught her. They eyes locked for a while. But, he quickly let her go and said,"Kids.. they are never careful." She fixed her hair and nodded. A tint of red was visible on her cheeks.

They walked for more 5 minutes. Spencer was liking this quietness and this environment. He suddenly noticed that Eleanor had stopped walking. He looked at her and saw her staring at someone.

That person looked at her. He was quickly shocked to see her. Still, that guy managed to wave his hand and made his way to her.

Eleanor said,"Aiden..."