One Wild Night

"You must be a very proud father," Andrew Perry said as he played soccer against Desmond Hank.

"Why? Because all three of them are successful?" Desmond asked curiously.

"Yes. Lucas mentioned how proud your wife was the first time he met you both at his office," Andrew asked, and Desmond chuckled at the memory.

"Evelyn is always that way. I love my kids and I'm proud of how much each of them has been able to achieve on their own," Desmond said, but Andrew heard the silent but in his tone, so he turned to face him.

"But what?"

Desmond chuckled, "I never said that there was a but."

"You didn't need to utter it. I heard it," Andrew said with a knowing smile.

Desmond sighed, "It's just that the more successful they became, the more difficult it has been for me to see them too. I worked hard to care for my family and help each of my kids to achieve their goals, but while doing that I always tried not to let my job get in the way of spending time with them. Now they're all just so grown up and they barely call or visit. It hurts. I think watching your kids grow away from you hurts," Desmond confessed as he dropped the pad with a resigned sigh.

Andrew sighed as he also set aside his game pad, "You should let them know that you're not happy with them," Andrew suggested, and Desmond scoffed.

"Like it's going to make any difference. On Monday is my birthday. And I can bet on it that none of them would even remember it unless my wife tells them about it," Desmond said, making Andrew feel bad on his behalf.

He couldn't compare either Lucas or Lucy to Tom and his siblings, but he knew that despite Lucas' busy schedule, he tried to visit them at least once in two weeks. And Although Lucy had been quite occupied with trying to settle in since she moved to Ludus, communication hasn't been a problem for them.

"I miss my daughter, Jade. It's been a while since she last visited. I miss her a lot," Desmond confessed when Andrew didn't say anything, "In a way, both Sonia and Lucy seem to remind me of her. I can see her in them both," he said with a smile which Andrew returned.

"I think they will learn to appreciate you more when they're all settled. I think humans generally grow to appreciate our parents more when we become parents," Andrew said thoughtfully.

"When they are settled and are too busy trying to balance their careers with their immediate families?" He asked with a shake of his head.

"I'm not asking for too much, am I? I just want them to initiate phone calls without us begging for it. Visiting once in six months isn't too much either, is it? It bothers my wife a lot, and I try to comfort her so I can't tell her how upset I feel about it either. Sometimes I imagine that when we grow old they're just going to dump us in a nursing home and forget about our existence. It worries me a lot."

Listening to him talk, Andrew could tell that it was really bothering him and he probably had no one else apart from his wife to talk to, "I suppose you don't have a lot of friends?"

Desmond scoffed, "It's hard to maintain genuine friendships when everyone is coming close to you because they want something from you. I can barely have a decent conversation with some acquaintances without them trying to matchmake my kids with theirs, or asking me to introduce them to either Tom or Bryan. It gets tiring so I'm better off without friends."

"Hmm! I can't imagine what that feels like," Andrew said as he leaned back into the seat.

"What about you?" Desmond asked curiously.

"Well, Lucy is a workaholic, and sometimes we do most of the reaching out, but she only just moved away from home so it's fine. Lucas is always busy as is expected of a medical doctor, but he tries to visit us at least once in two weeks. So it's also okay."

"You're so lucky. Sometimes I secretly wish that my kids weren't so successful. I know it doesn't make sense," Desmond said with a shake of his head.

"You should take it easy. I will still suggest that you should talk to them about it now that you are here and you can see them," Andrew suggested.

"I will try to do that," Desmond said as he picked up his pad, "Let's play some more. You should practice against tomorrow if you intend to win against Tom," he said with a chuckle and Andrew chuckled.

"Shouldn't you be siding with your son?"

"I'm all for fathers being the one true love of their daughters. Every other man comes second, I'm sure Tom will understand when he has his own little girl. So I'll be cheering for you," Desmond said, and both men laughed out loud.

Away from there, Bryan who was heading for his bedroom stopped when he saw Candace at the other end of the hall standing just outside one of the guest's bedrooms, "Is everything okay?" He asked, and Candace swirled around in surprise.

She flashed him a smile as he approached her, "Yes, everything is okay. I just came out to receive a phone call since I didn't want to disturb my son's sleep," she explained, while Bryan watched her curiously.

"Can you spare me some minutes of your time?" Bryan asked, and she glanced at the bedroom door with a frown.

"I don't want to go too far from here in case he wakes up," she explained even though she actually needed the distraction so she wouldn't get worked up over what Jade had said about Jero wanting to see her or worry about Matt's anger as well as her sister's wellbeing. There were just a lot of things on her mind right now.

"He is a big boy. I'm sure he will find his way around if he needs you. Besides we are not going far from here, if he calls out loud enough, you will hear him," Bryan said when he noticed her hesitation.

"Okay, give me a moment," she said as she returned inside the bedroom to make sure that Jamal was well tucked in before leaving the bedroom.

Once she returned to join Bryan, he led her down the hallway, "Don't worry, I won't take too much of your time," he assured her as he led her down the hall to another door that opened to a balcony. One thing Bryan loved most about the building was that almost all the bedrooms had their own balconies.

There were two seats and a table positioned there as it was in all the balconies around the house, and Bryan took one of the seats while Candace took the seat opposite him.

"Thanks for not telling your..." The rest of her words trailed off when Bryan raised a brow.

"How long have you been here? And how has your stay been?" Bryan asked, ignoring what she had been about to say.

She sighed, "We got here on Thursday. We have been okay. Jamal likes the place, and the staff adores him," Candace said with a small smile as she thought about her son.

"He's a smart kid, so it's easy to love him," Bryan said as he watched her.

"I know that you might think that it's none of my business, but can I ask you what's going on between you and Matt? He's my best friend and the last time I saw him he wasn't his usual cheerful self," Bryan said, and Candace sighed.

"Nothing is going on between us," Candace said with a shrug.

"Nothing? You do know that he really likes you though, right?" Bryan asked, and Candace shrugged.

"I've got a lot going on with me right now and I don't want him getting involved in my mess. He just doesn't seem to get it."

"So it's not like you don't like him either? You are only trying to push him away because somehow you feel that you are protecting him?" Bryan concluded, wondering what it was with these women and pushing away the men they claimed to love.

"You do realize that the mere fact that you are here right now for whatever reason, means that he is already involved in your mess whatever it is, right? So what's the point?" Bryan asked when Candace said nothing, and then he took out his phone from his pocket when it started vibrating. He raised a brow when he realized that the call was from Jade.

"Is everything okay? Why are you calling so late in the night?" Bryan asked in concern immediately after he received the call.

"I can't talk right now. I'm in a haste. I just wanted to ask you to give Matt a call," Jade suggested as she got into the jet with Harry, after receiving the flash drive from Bill as promised by Cassidy.

Immediately the yacht exploded earlier, a car had driven up to them and Bill had handed them the flash drive before continuing to the port to pick Jero.

"Matt? Why? Did something happen?" Bryan asked in concern, and Candace immediately glanced at him when she heard Matt's name.

"He is upset over something. I don't know what it is. You can find out yourself. I'm hanging up now."

"Did something happen between you and Matt to upset him?" Bryan asked Candace since it somehow made sense to him that she would have a hand in it. He was certain that she was the reason Matt and Jade were communicating, and he had seen her standing by the passageway after a phone call.

Candace sighed, "It's probably because he found out that I lied to him about something."

Bryan watched her for a while without saying a word, "I'm going to ask you a personal question that I'm hoping you'll answer honestly, do you want Matt or not? I need to know what to say to him when I call him."

Candace only considered his question for a moment, "I don't know. I really do like him, and we could even be friends. But I don't think I'm ready for a relationship yet," Candace said, and Bryan gave her a nod before pushing his seat back to stand up.

"Thanks for being honest with me, I'll speak with Matt. And thanks for your time, I won't take any more of it," Bryan said as he stood up, and Candace stood up too.

"Have a good night's rest," Bryan said and waited until she had left before sitting down and picking up his phone to dial Matt's line. He sighed when his eyes fell on the time displayed on his screen and he saw that it was past midnight. Judging by Jade's call, it seemed like it wasn't just the people in Tom's house that were keeping a late night.