SON MEETS FATHER [2]
Tom was staring at the incredibly handsome man in front of him who just called him handsome too then he thought, should he follow his mother’s teachings on not talking to a stranger or should he talk to this handsome man so he would buy him ice cream? What option should he go for?
Raphael was still bent on his knees, he was staring at the green eyes dude. For a reason not known to him, he felt attached to the kid and his heart seemed to quicken fast while awaiting his response. He was speechless while awaiting Tom to speak back to him.
“Hello, handsome.” Tom finally replied with a cheesy smile, he wasn’t going to let go of this offer. Moreover, who would want to harm or kidnap a small and cute boy like him in this big school? Nobody!
Raphael was completely charmed by his voice and his smile that he couldn’t help laughing.
“I see where that is leading. What exactly do you want?”
“An ice cream.” He pointed.
Raphael then stood up and looked at the vendor who immediately put on a smile…the ‘ welcome rich man ‘ smile. The vendor started introducing to him the type of flavors that were there but Raphael couldn’t pick one since he did not know the kid’s choice so he lifted him and told Tom to choose the one he liked.
Tom looked at all of them carefully before making his choice.
“Good boy.” Raphael praised when he saw him pick the banana flavor. Sincerely, banana flavor was also his type of ice cream.
“Are you attending this school?” Raphael asked.
“Yes, I will start coming tomorrow,” Tom replied and licked a side of the cone, his eyes fixed on the ice cream while replying.
“I see.” Raphael then faced the vendor to give him a few instructions, “Whenever he comes here, give him anything he desires and then add it together, I will pay for it monthly. My assistant will contact you for more information.”
“Of course, Mr. Raphael.” The vendor replied joyfully and Raphael nodded before taking one last look at Tom.
“I need to go, take good care of yourself. Wait, what about your parents?” He asked quickly, he almost forgot.
“She is in a supermarket.”
“Okay, don’t wander off. Goodbye.”
“Bye.” Tom waved back and within a few minutes, he was done eating his ice cream.
Evelyn groaned as she carried the bags with her. What the hell? Like what the freaking hell?! She thought buying these things was going to be that easy and maybe just a few but rather she bought thousands for just a three-year-old. Inside the supermarket, she kept on explaining to the woman that her kid was only three therefore there was no need for the huge loads but she disagreed and said that the only way to change it was if she could go back and complain to Oliver which was impossible for her to do.
As Evelyn was walking, her eyes searching for her son, she felt bad for leaving him alone. If she had known that things wouldn’t end up this way then she would have at least brought him along with her. On getting to the spot where she instructed her son to stay, her face turned sour and she gritted her teeth.
“Oh no.” She whispered and then looked around. The school surrounding was empty, no students were roaming around except the last graders, only a few of them so where exactly was Tom?
“If I should get my hand on that kid, I will teach him a lesson that he won’t forget.” She threatened and went to search for him.
While walking aimlessly for a while, she finally found him standing in front of the ice cream shop with a cone of ice cream in his hand. His whole mouth was messed up and so were his hands.
“Tom Rosé!” She called out his full name and the poor Tom coughed hard as he was yet to let the ice cream dissolve in his mouth before swallowing. Evelyn quickly rushed to meet him and checked his mouth, she bought a bottle of water and gave him a little to drink.
“Are you alright?” She asked worriedly and he nodded.
“That’s good…because you are about to be in real trouble, young man. Where did you get the money to buy ice cream? Excuse me, sir…”
“You don’t have to worry. It has been settled already. He is free to have any ice cream of his choice here at my shop. I can see a bright future ahead of him and he is very intelligent.” The seller interrupted with sweet words that Evelyn found unbelievable and fake to even listen to.
“Okay then, thank you. We will take our leave now.” She said and pulled her son along with her.
Evelyn continued scolding him after listening to his story.
“I have told you countless times not to talk to a stranger but your dogged attitude won’t let you listen to me. Why are you proving to be so stubborn, dear?” Evelyn continued ranting on their way home while Tom just wished to have that handsome man with him, maybe he would be able to prevent his mum from scolding him anytime like this.
__________
Back in the Headmistress’ office, Jeremy and Raphael listen to all Oliver had to say within thirty minutes of their arrival.
It was no other than the problems they were facing as other schools were now growing in length and breadth and some were already taking over them. Raphael had no say in this even though he wasn’t in agreement with schools having competitions, not in terms of intelligence but in terms of wealth.
“Thank you very much, Miss Oliver. I will convey this to the Chairman.” Raphael replied after the long talk and discussion.
“I will be very grateful, Mr. Raphael.”
“I will take my leave then.” Raphael stood up and pulled his suit with a bit of force, Oliver nodded with a smile and watched him leave.
After his departure, she sighed in relief. Raphael was incredibly breathtaking and very handsome, he had one thing he was good at that she had noticed whenever he was having a conversation and that was, he maintained eye contact always. Maybe that was the reason why many girls fell for him in secret, he was cold in appearance and was even feared and much better than his brother, at least that was what Oliver saw in him so she believed that she was speaking on behalf of some people in that aspect.
“Boss, before I forget, I need to talk with you about that little boy,” Jeremy said after they entered the car.
Raphael picked up the laptop that was beside him and opened its flap. Jeremy took a look at him from the rearview mirror, when he saw that he was silent, he took that as a clue to continue, knowing that he was listening.
“He so much resembles you a lot. I do not know if you noticed that the kid has the same facial features as you and even likes your favorite flavor.”
“And your point is?” Raphael asked lazily and his eyes scanned through the building project information that was on the laptop’s screen.
“What if he is your son? The one you have been looking for…” Jeremy said.
Raphael sighed and flicked his forehead before looking at his assistant from the back seat. What type of dummy did he have?
“You are dumb, Jeremy. Now, I know the reason why you haven’t been able to just find a woman in three years. Mind you, I am looking for a woman, not a child, quit your inability to think. Last year, the media rumored to have found a person who looked just like me and wondered if I had a twin in secret but here you are with the illusion that a little boy looks just like me. Ridiculous!” He snorted and closed his eyes while Jeremy just turned ignorant.
“I apologize, sir. That was too imaginative of me. Anyway, boss, a lot of people have been sending in their credentials for the post of secretary needed. I have their lists with me.” He informed him.
“That’s no problem. Send them to me via email and I will go through them by myself. We don’t have much time to waste regarding employing capable people. We don’t need people who graduated from the best universities, we need people with skills.”
“What about the ‘ back enter ‘? ”
Raphael thought about it, “I believe in fairness and equality.”
The rest of the journey was in silence. Then Raphael thought about the whole thing being the truth but a child. That was impossible. Yes, he was the one who deflowered her but the actual possibility of her keeping the child was low. Who would want to be a single mother? And also, it was just a one-night incident, how could she have gotten pregnant? So these were all baseless theories.
He had heard about someone having one or two lookalikes because it’s possible so that explained everything.
TBC…