Chapter 100: Chapter 100

"Look, I don't know why you seem so eager to see Mr. James, but I don't think it's wise to take you along with me. I mean, the man is recovering from a sickness and he doesn't know you. It would seem rude for me to just bring a stranger to visit him without even informing him about it." An exasperated Carol protested finally, hoping that Jessica would see reason with her and get down from the vehicle to go back to wherever she had come from. Jessica was nodding her head as though she was listening and could understand Carol's point perfectly well, but she made no move to get down from the vehicle. Carol's driver left the car idling, looking from woman to woman as he waited for them to make a decision.

"It's not your fault, you sallow-faced nincompoop. By right, I should be closer to that bastard than you could ever think of being." Charlotte wanted to say, but of course, she didn't. Instead, she turned and faced the driver. "What are you waiting for, young man? Let's get going." She told him as though the so-called 'young man' was not old enough to be her father.

"Melissa..."

"Listen, Carol. I don't know what your problem is. I thought that you apologized for acting like a jerk before. You're doing it again, and I'm wondering if you were sincere with the apology you rendered before. What is wrong with it if your friend wants to meet members of your extended family? Absolutely nothing. The man is sick. What he needs is company...good company, and I'm good company even if I do say so myself. I imagine that it must be lonely for him to sit by himself all day, having no one to talk to and all."

"He has his wife."

"Well, fine. If he seems agitated by my presence, or he is upset that you brought someone along with you, then I owe you a thousand bucks, and if he's not, then you owe me a thousand bucks. I know what I'm saying. When my grandpa was sick and dying, he always wanted his grandchildren around him. He always said that being old was lonely, which is the exact reason I'm sure that Mr. James moved here in the first place. Granted, I'm not his grandchild, but then, I'm a new face. He can't go out and make friends, you know. I just feel bad for the poor man." Charlotte finished, praying that Carol would buy her speech. She needed to see this man by all means, and she was going to do it one way or the other. It was just sheer luck and providence that she became acquainted with Carol, who would make seeing him far easier than Charlotte had hoped.

"Alright. Fine. But please, you have to promise not to stress him out, okay."

"Why on earth will I stress him out?"

"I don't know. You can go, Magnus." Carol told the driver, who nodded, and then, they were on their way to Mr. James's house, Charlotte's heart pounding the whole while. Shit was about to go down.

***

Waking up each day was a painful experience that Mr. James would not wish on anyone, not even his worst enemies. Every goddamn thing was painful ... breathing, eating, swallowing, and even existing, but he tried his best to maintain a strong outlook and try not to show his pain so that his wife would not cry. He knew that she did that a lot, especially after the heart attack that had almost claimed his life. In a way, Mr. James wished that it had. She would have grieved hard, no doubt, but then, she would start the healing process. His still being here only prolonged her grief and the time that it would take her to heal.

He had had a good and fulfilled life, despite the many hands that life had dealt him, and he had no regrets about going to meet his maker. The only regret he had was one that had tormented him for so many years now and still tormented him to this very moment. He knew that his wife blamed herself for it every day, and the truth was that sometimes, he secretly blamed her too and that in itself, caused him to carry so much guilt in his heart. He had made his peace with it, though. There was nothing else that he could do that he had not done to make his wrongs right, and he was tired of trying.

Another thing that weighed greatly on his sick, weak, and tired mind was Sebastian's odd behavior. At first, Mr. James had wracked his brain very hard to guess what might be the cause of his nephew's sudden and painful change, but for the life of him, he could not figure it hard. And then, that day at the hospital when he had gone to visit poor Jessica, Sebastian had accused him of something so horrible ... something that he would never have done even when he was still living a bad life those days peddling drugs. He guessed that it was the shock of the fact that Sebastian could think such an evil thing of him and was even punishing him for it that had caused the heart attack. His greatest fear was him dying and Sebastian still thinking that he had done what he had accused him of. His hands were clean, and he was innocent, heaven knew. Maybe he should not have come here in the first place.

Mr. James struggled into a sitting position on his bed and then got out of it, after which he paced gingerly to go sit on the balcony of his sick room. The joy on his wife's face each time she saw that he had managed to move from the bed to sit on his favorite chair on the balcony made his pain worth it. He would keep being strong for her until the very end, he decided. Somehow, he knew that although he looked a bit stronger, the end was far nearer than any of them believed. He tried to shake off the feeling of déjà vu that suddenly came upon him and refused to leave.

A few minutes later, the door opened and one of the maids who had come down with them to this new house entered it, coming straight to the balcony where he was sitting and enjoying the morning breeze to smile at him.

"Good morning to you, Mr. James."

"Good morning, my dear Silvia. How are you today?"

"I'm fine sir. Mrs. James asked me to let you know that she has already gone to attend her niece's wedding. She wanted to tell you herself, but you were still sleeping and she did not want to wake you up. She left about an hour ago."

"Oh, okay. She should have woken me up though. Thanks, Silvia. I'll call her later. Can you bring me my drugs?" He asked.

"Right away, sir. Oh, Mrs. Sebastian is here to visit you, but I told her that you were sleeping, so she's about to leave. She came with one of her friends."

"Oh, no. As you can see, I'm wide awake now. Please tell them to come up here to the verandah. I'll gladly welcome the company. Also, have the cook bring up some food for all of us."

"Alright, sir. I'll usher them up." The maid said, curtseying and exiting the room. He had told her times without number that she did not need to curtsey for him, but she always did it anyway. Carol was here. That was good. That girl was a lovely girl, and she was good company too. Maybe he could convince her to tell Sebastian to come to see him and they could hash this thing out before he died. Yes, that is exactly what he would do. He would not die a happy man if his name was not cleared, and there was no telling how many people thought the same thing about him. Right now, he was very bothered, but it wasn't the issue with Sebastian that was bothering him this time around. What was bothering him was that he still could not shake off that sense of impending doom no matter how he tried.