Mandy knocked and was welcomed in Arthur´s office.
“Dad, just a quick word.”
“It´s okay, Mandy. I am all ears.”
“Our lawyers advanced the papers for the scholarships, and they have been in touch with professor Jackson. But now for the final signatures, they can´t get an answer from him.”
“How long have they tried?”
“It has been two weeks since they last talked to him.”
“Come to think of it, I haven´t heard from him in a while too. I will try his phone.”
Arthur doesn´t get an answer but he sees that Mandy had more luck, since she is talking on her phone.
“I see… And what hospital was that? Thank you very much.”
“Hospital?”
“I had the idea of calling his school. They told me that he got sick there and was taken to the Municipal Hospital some days ago.”
“It´s useless to call the hospital. I am going there right now.”
“I will go with you, dad.”
On the way, Arthur called Rebecca. She a
Eric and Louis couldn´t help but be impressed by Arthur´s house. It really caused an impact on anyone. Mandy tried to make them feel at home.“Once you rest a little, I can show you the swimming pools and sports courts.”They nodded, still too shy and worried to talk much.Grass had order from Carol in an adjoining guest room, so she took them there, while explaining, “This guest room is next to the one that your mother will be using. It is connected by this door, see? Why don´t we just leave it open for now?”They liked the idea. Grass seemed ot have a way with children because she offered comforts that they could assimilate. Louis had a request, “Can I call my mom, now?”“Sure you can, Louis. But if you both have showers and eat something, you will have something to tell her that will make her happy. And you know what? This phone I have here is only to contact my friend Green. She is als
Because Mark didn´t know any other people at school, he settled with Noah and Ted to chat during breaks and go to lunch together, since it would be so depressing being alone, after having been part of a very close group from his old school. And he would never get used to not being with Mandy. He felt like if he had a chronic pain because it was a bad feeling that never left him, this missing Mandy pain. What he most wanted was to listen to her laughter, to touch her silky hair, kiss her lips very slowly. But he had not seen her in days, after that first glimpse.Instead he had met Charlotte and she gave on his nerves. This annoying girl would never stop talking nonsense. Things about her nails, and deodorants and her hair clips. Her voice was a pitch too high and she thought the world about herself. Because she was Noah´s big sister, she joined them for lunch and lectured them about every unimportant matter that ever was.“When you are lawyers, guys,
Now that Jackson had a great tem of doctors all working in his case, he soon found out that his heart was okay as well as his brain. Other conditions were also dismissed and he was talkative and happy when his sons and his wife came for their visits.But Don, as an experienced doctor, told Arthur that something was indeed wrong with Jackson. They just didn´t know what it was yet.“But you have your suspicions.”“I always do. And I never talk about them, Arthur. I am just explaining to you that his stay will us will continue for one more week. We can´t do all the exams in one day. It would exhaust the patient.”“Okay, Don. I trust you.”“Sure Arthur. We are family.”“As long as our children get a grip.”“They will, my friend. Give them time.”The visitor´s waiting room was always crowded with Jackson´s students. They weren´t all
When Rebecca met her mother and sisters, there was a blast of joy. They kissed on the cheeks and hugged and sat very close on the sofa.They were speaking in their native language, so Carol gave them privacy to talk among themselves.Mandy and the boys were at school, since the visitors had arrived in the morning. It was hard to convince the boys to go to school that day, because they were anxious to meet their family.It took all the ability from Grass to convince them, which included the patient explanation of plane´s delays. Also, they had already missed some classes and it was better for them to go back to their routine.Carol had noticed how patient and understanding Grass was towards children. She mentioned it to Mandy.“You know, sweetheart, maybe she has the qualities to be a manager in Mandy Foundation.”“I see what you mean, mom. She really cares for the children´s feelings and she is great at communic
Mark felt lonelier than ever. Not only his best friend Charlie had moved to another town to study, along with his girlfriend Dorothy, but he also missed the guys from the swimming team, who would often get together after practice to have some sandwiches and chat all afternoon. He even missed Steph, because she was always singing a beautiful song or talking about arts and culture.It was very different from his new acquintances who debated hours about the thickness of a napkin. It was unbelievable that they were in College instead of kindergarten. To annoy him even more, there was the issue of Charlotte´s strange voice which she would use nonstop.He felt tired after just a few moments with these guys.But when he thought about Mandy, he almost couldn´t bear how much he missed her. While others debated the future of the world in general, and though Mandy was well informed about this subject, she rathered discuss Mark´s future and what could make
That night Louis had a world map in his hands and he was really interrogating his grandparents about the beauties they had seen in their lives. They showed him locations on the map and told the stories.Maria was translating for grandpa Antonio and he told about the many struggles his people had passed to overcome the hardships of colonization. Since 1975, Angola was an independent country, after centuries of foreign domain by Portugal.“Did you fight for freedom, grandpa?”“Many times. You know Eric, after the Independence war we had a devastating civil war. It is not always easy for men to agree towards peace. So we are thankful to finally have arrived at a point of understanding and cooperation.”“Do you like living there, grandpa?”“Yes. I am proud of my country and my people. They found resources in their spirits that go beyond what the monetary system provides elsewhere. Even in the poor families ther
The next morning from the parking lot fiasco, Mark received a package that was delivered to him at home. Mandy was returning the compromise ring he had given her.It was too much for him to take calmly. He had to blame it on someone and Pam´s timing was perfect, because she just entered the living room when Mark was staring at the ring.That is when Mark had a fight with his mother too. In some sense of wanting to be fair he thought he shouldn´t blame only Mandy for what had happened, so he was straight in his talk to Pam. He said, “Mother, you and Mandy had a talk behind my back.”“And we took turns spitting on your picture too.”“Come on, be serious. What was all that charade of a trip together to Europe? You did this just to impress Mandy, just to keep a good image to society and your sophisticated friends.”Pam looked at him in silence for a while, like if she was savoring what he had just said an
When the phone rang, Mark was really glad to talk to Charlie.“Hey man, how are things with you? I miss you buddy.”“Charlie, don´t even get me started on missing people, man. If you insist on that, you could witness your best friend cry.”“Come on, Mark. Don´t make me laugh, man. You are always the same, a joker.”“Believe me, Charlie, my life has turned upside down since the last time we met.”“Yeah, man. I heard some crazy thing about you breaking up with Mandy. I suppose it is true, then.”“Yeah. It is a long story, Charlie.”“Then you will just have to tell me all about it. I am in town.”“I don´t believe my ears, Charlie. It is the best news I hear in such a long time.”“You see, Mark, I came here to spend a week because both of my parents wanted to go and watch Steph´s concert in Miami. I c