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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN.
“Good morning Mr. King.” Christine, Jamal’s main secretary, greeted as he approached her table.
“Good morning, Christine.” Jamal replied with a smile.
“Mr. King, there’s someone waiting for you in your office.” Christine announced and Jamal halted on his tracks and turned to face her with a curious frown on his face.
He wasn’t expecting anyone that morning and he knew that if Christine had let whoever it was wait for him in his office, then he or she was an important person.
“And, who is that?” He asked.
“Your father, Mr, dominick.” She deciphered and Jamal’s heart fell into his abdomen. That was the last name he was expecting to hear. He closed his eyes and silently exhaled and straightened up his tuxedo before going into his office to face his father.
He had no idea why the man had come to his office so early in the morning. The last time they met to have a one on one discussion, they had separated on a bad foot so he had no idea how the talk that morning was going to go.
“Father.” He called the moment he walked into his office. His father was indeed waiting for him. He was standing by the transparent wall that gave a view of the city beneath and when he heard Jamal call, he turned to look at him.
Jamal walked over to where his father was standing and stood before him.
“Good morning.” He greeted me almost inaudibly.
Jamal did not want to greet his father. He did not eat to talk with the man and he wished he could order him to get out of his office. Despite everything that had happened between them and the power and fame he had acquired, he still did not have the audacity to tell his father to walk out of his office even though he wanted to.
“Good morning, son.” His father greeted and he fight his urge to roll his eyes.
The fact that he addressed him as his son irked him.
“My secretary told me you were here and here you are. What brings you to my office at eight am in the morning?” Jamal asked, keeping a straight face.
Mr. Dominick shoved both hands in his trouser pockets and turned back to the transparent wall. He looked down at the buzzing city and heaved out a heavy sigh. Jamal waited patiently for what he had to say.
“I remember the day you walked into my office to tell me you wanted to try out a business strategy that could get the company back on its feet. I could tell from your body language that you were very nervous and it had taken you a great deal of courage to come up to me to make such a suggestion.” Mr. Dominick began narrating with his gaze focused on the wall.
Jamal, despite not wanting, joined him at the window and shoved his hands in his pockets as well. He fathers mannerisms was one of the things he had inherited and there was nothing he could do about it.
“And you are right. I was very nervous the day I came to you to make that suggestion. I almost peed my pants.”
“I saw it in your eyes. When you told me, I did a quick reflection on everything you had accomplished and I saw that you had potential so I decided to let you do what you want to do and it worked. You did your magic and Dominick Co was back on its feet again. You saved our family, our conglomerate from going bankrupt. I was so proud of you.”
“Then what happened, father? If you were so proud of me, why did you do all those things to me? Why did you want to ruin my reputation? Why did you want to send me to jail?” Jamal questioned his father in a hushed voice.
“Bad company, bad advice and greed. Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed, it is never enough. I chose to entertain that demon and it destroyed me. It almost destroyed everything. I have no greater regret in my life.” Mr. Dominic lamented as he turned to face his son who was looking at him. “Jamal, this will probably mean nothing to you, but I am proud of the man you have become. Because of me, you reached your breaking point, both in your career and in your marriage, but you were able to pick yourself up and now you are back on your feet. You are nothing like me. You have the soul of your grandfather, my father. I used to think he was the most resilient man who graced this earth, but I was wrong. You are. I know no amount of apology can change what I did to you, no amount of apology can take away the pain and hardship you went through because of me, but I’m going to apologise, anyway, because I should. Jamal, my son, I’m sorry for disappointing you, I’m sorry for everything I did, I’m sorry for being the worst father to you. I hope that one day, you will find it in your heart to forgive me. That is my ultimate wish.”
Jamal sniffled tears and lifted his face up to prevent the tears in whiskeys from spilling down. He had come into that office, not knowing what to expect. He had thought his father was there to ask him to send his mother home, he didn’t think the man had actually come to apologize.
That was the moment he had always hoped for. That moment when his father would realise that he had done him bad and apologise. The moment had finally come, but he had no idea what to do or say.
He didn’t want to cry and look weak, but the tears in his eyes kept trying to betray him.
“I have been a horrible father to you and father-in-law to your wife and I am very ashamed of that fact. If you and your wife would just give me a chance to make things right, I promise not to disappoint. Please Jamal, find a place…”
“Father.” Jamal cut him off. His voice was shaky and he kept sniffling tears. When he looked at his father, the tears spilled down uncontrollable and he crashed into his father’s arms and cried hard.
“I’m sorry.” Mr. Dominick kept apologizing as he held Jamal tight in his arms. He thought he had lost his son forever, but after seeing the way Jamal had hugged him, his hope had been restored.
Both father and son stayed in each other’s arms for a considerable amount of time before separating. Jamal just kept looking at his father, not knowing what to say.
“Does this mean you are ready to forgive me?” His father finally asked after a long moment of silence and Jamal calmly nodded his head. He took out the handkerchief from his tux jacket and wiped his tears. “This brings joy to my soul. I will finally be able to have a good night’s sleep. Thank you very much, son.” He thanked Jamal and all he could was nod his head. He did not want to talk because he was scared that he was going to cry.
There were a lot of emotions flowing through him at that moment and he couldn’t think straight. The least thing would make him break down which was what he did not want.
“Your mother was at your place yesterday, I guess.”
Jamal burst into laughter.
The drama his mother had caused replayed in his mind and he couldn’t help but laugh. His father looked at him in awe, wondering what was funny.
“Did I say something funny?” The man asked, confused and Jamal shook his head.
“No. Not at all dad. You didn’t say anything funny. I just remembered mum’s reaction when she came to the house. She crashed into my arms and started apologising. Caused a scene as usual and I didn’t even have the courage to say no to her.”
“Your mother has always been a drama queen, Jamal and the unfortunate thing is that the drama only increases as she ages. There’s nothing neither you nor I can do about it.”
“I figured and I know mother has always hated the idea of moving out of the mansion. She used this as an opportunity to come back home.”
“Don’t you worry, I’m gonna come get her tonight.”
“Well, I’m going to talk with my wife and she accepts, you two can move into the mansion again, that’s if you want. You two are my parents and the family tradition has always been that we all live together in that mansion. I don’t want to be the one to stray away from that tradition. So if you want to come back to the mansion, let me know so I can talk with my wife.”
He told his father who just smiled at him and nodded his head.
The Dominick family was finally becoming whole again.