Chapter 4: Chapter 4

"For once in your entire miserable life, hurry up!" Karen yelled at Elizabeth as Elizabeth increased her pace with what she was doing.

Elizabeth was arranging Clinton's bags for the impromptu travel Chief Smith mentioned to them that morning. Nothing was mentioned to them (house keepers) prior to that moment. Elizabeth never bothered about it. It wasn't like it was important for her to know their whereabouts. Her only problem is Karen. She truly is a thorn on her flesh. She wouldn't just cut her some slack nor would give her a breathing space. Good thing her plan was going well and soon enough she would leave the mansion for her.

"Is everything packed?" Ms Smith asked as she walked into Clinton's room.

"Yes ma, this is the last of the bags." Karen replied and continued what she was doing.

That moment, Clinton walked into the room and with a surprised look asked, "What's going on here? Mother, why are they packing my things?"

"Honey, your father and I have been waiting for you, come." She led Clinton outside of his room to meet with Mr Smith who was seated calmly in the sitting room holding a glass of wine in his hand.

"Father, what's going on?" Clinton asked as he approached his father.

"Sit down son," Mr Smith ordered without even looking towards Clinton.

Clinton was a little furious with his father. He stared at his father for a few seconds before he finally took a seat sluggishly. Mrs Smith sat down equally beside her husband.

"This trip is unplanned," Mr Smith started to say but was interrupted by Clinton. "What do you mean unplanned?"

"Clinton, be quiet and listen to your father!" Mrs Smith warned.

"There's an important project I'm about to embark on in the Elites group. But before that, I need to get equally important evidence that would help me achieve that." Mr Smith explained.

Clinton laughed, "When did we start embarking on such journeys with you? Besides, I need to be here to monitor the company's progress…"

"I have taken care of that," Mr Smith added.

Clinton was beyond shocked. He couldn't believe his father would want to control his life in this manner. He opened his mouth to talk but words couldn't come out.

"Father, I can't believe you! You wake up one morning and decide to control my life?" Clinton was literally yelling now.

"Clinton! Mind your tone! You don't talk to your father in that manner." Ms Smith tried to caution Clinton but it was already late as Clinton was already in rage.

"I can't believe you are supporting him on this. I don't have a right to make decisions that concern me? God, I can't believe you guys right now," Clinton said and stomped out.

"Clinton! Clinton! Get back here now!" Mr Smith yelled at Clinton but Clinton was far gone out of the room already.

"Calm down honey. Let me talk to him," Ms Smith said and ran after Clinton.

Mr Smith shook his head in disappointment. He wasn't one to exchange words with people, why would he start with his son. Besides, he is a man of few words but many actions. He believed in what one can do and achieve and never for once believed in people that only know how to make mouth.

He blamed himself for Clinton's outburst and outright rudeness. If he had brought him up well, he wouldn't be this disrespectful to him, his father.

He had his reasons for not giving him beforehand information concerning their travel. Clinton wasn't one to trust with information he considered vital and secret.

He stood up and began to walk towards the direction that Clinton and his wife went. He would try to persuade Clinton one more time, if he refuses to go with him, then he would go with his wife alone.

But he made a mental note to deal with Clinton his way once they got back. He is his son after all, he knows how to get him to behave well.

"Clinton!" Ms Smith yelled once she caught up with Clinton.

"What do you think you are doing? Where do you think you are going? How dare you disrespect your parents?"

Clinton stopped in his tracks but didn't turn to face his mother.

"Mother, I can't travel with you and dad. That's all I can say," Clinton said and continued to walk.

Ms Smith looked perplexed. She was too shocked and disappointed to stop him any longer. She figured out it would be best to let him be. She was a bit reluctant to go and tell her husband that Clinton has refused to join them because they might have a quarrel yet again.

Her husband, Mr Smith always blames her for Clinton's rude and nonchalant attitude. He claims she spoiled him and overlooked his silly characters while he was growing up.

It hurts her when her husband says that to her forgetting that they both are responsible for anything Clinton is turning into.

Ms Smith remembered the time she had a heated argument that almost led to a fight between her and Clinton's father one time and shivered at the remembrance of it.

She knew she had a major hand in Clinton's rotten behaviour. She sometimes blamed herself for it but it was totally unfair for her own husband to castigate her forgetting that he as his parent should also take part in the blame. After all, his upbringing was supposed to be the duty of two of them and not just her.

It made her realize that the saying of when a child ends up good, he becomes a child of the society but when a child ends up bad, he becomes a child of the mother is really right.

One time, Clinton had destroyed the shop of one of his fellow student's parents. He had just gotten into the university then and was acting like an untamed animal. Destroying things and disrespecting people.

Due to the happiness that filled her, as a mother whose child is now in the university, she had taken a wrong judgment and had handled that situation wrongly.

Clinton was never punished for his wrong. When the school discovered he is a child of a billionaire, they had died the matter just like she asked.

She regrets it all now.

Then, all she needed was just a phone call and get her husband to release some funds and Clinton is out of his mess.

"Honey!" Mr Smith called her back to her environment.

"What's going on? Where's Clinton?"

"Honey, can't we go without him? He said he is not coming."

"Not coming? You see it? Can you see your son? You see what he has turned into? He has no respect for even us his parents. Is this how I will leave my company in his hands?" Mr Smith blasted angrily and left.

Ms Smith sucked in the tears that almost escaped her misty eyes. She had been told to refrain from speaking back at her husband due to what happened the last time she did. It had ended badly.

Even though she so badly wanted to scream at him to stop heaping the blame of Clinton's behavior on her, she just couldn't as she wouldn't want to escalate things the more that moment.

She used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.

"Ma, boss said I should inform you that he is waiting for you in the car."

A guard informed her.

Ms Smith took a deep breath and headed out to meet her husband in the car that would convey them to the airport.

Mr and Mrs Smith headed out for the airport without Clinton. Mr Smith, still angry with his wife, refused to say any word to her since she entered the car. They all kept to their thoughts and avoided each other.

Ms Smith was feeling bad inside of her. She believes her husband's treatment towards her is unfair and uncalled for. It hurts her the most to think that he who sponsored and allowed everything that Clinton did while he was growing up is heaping all the blame on her and taking none of it.

She made a mental note to confront him on the issue whenever his head cool down. While Mr Smith made business calls in the car and wasn't feeling much of the coldness and tension between them, Ms Smith got tired of waiting for him to speak to her and fiddled with her phone.

"Hulk, stop me somewhere around the next bus stop," Mr Smith ordered the driver. Ms Smith gave him a quizzical look which Mr Smith didn't see as he wasn't paying attention to her.

Once the driver made a stop at the bus stop, Mr Smith got down from the car and entered inside a building.

He came out after ten minutes and got back into the car without a word said to his wife.

Once they reached the airport, they boarded a plane heading to the United states of America.

"Honey. I thought you said we were going to China?" Ms Smith asked, confused at her husband's sudden change of plans.

"Something came up. I had to readjust things," Mr Smith answered without bother.

Once again, Ms Smith felt like she had had it up to her neck and needed to speak out but she held herself. The last thing she would do is to disobey or disrespect her husband in public.

She was nothing before she married. It is because of him, people now respect her in the country. He had taken care of her and made sure she lacked nothing. It was only because of this, she always chose to remain silent at times like this. She has known Mr Smith for long and she knew he hated being disrespectful or challenged.

So she kept mute and boarded the flight with him without asking him further questions.

A lot of things started to go on in her head. What exactly is the plan of her husband and why did he suddenly change plans? All that and many more other questions rang in her head but she waved them off that moment hoping to ask him at the right time.

In the plane, just like in the car, they both kept to themselves with no one saying a word to each other unless it was necessary.

Mr Smith felt it less as he was going through his laptop and doing business. Ms Smith got tired of fiddling with her phone and slept off in the plane hoping that before she wakes up, her husband must have calmed down and would be ready to talk to her like they used to.