Rraindrops streamed down on the outside of the round glass window, Landon slouched on a leather couch in his father's old study. Everything looked exactly as he remembered, the only room in the whole house Lucia hadn't redesigned. She almost never steps foot in there.
His eyes wandered fleetingly around the dimly lit room with waves of nostalgia seeping into him until they fell on a portrait, an acrylic piece by his father that hung proudly on the wall behind his desk.
The painting was easily his father's most provocative in his opinion, it was also enlightening, like a gateway into his mind before he imploded and crumbled their entire lives with him.
Caleb's suicide sent him into a dungeon of rage he had not since escaped from, even though lately he had started to see how alike they were and looking into that painting felt like looking into a mirror.
He had come to his childhood home to speak to his mother and met with her absence, he decided and to walk around the house and wasn't quite sure what gravitated him towards this room, but the pull was so strong he doesn't even know how long he's been in here. It certainly wasn't raining when he came in.
The time spent wasn't a total waste however, as it had helped clear his mind a bit from the jigsaw it had been;
The issue with Katherine had been taken care of, but he still worried about her emotional state and her relationship with Camile no one ever thought to mention.
The mystery of the stolen watch was another matter, how does a woman who died in a car crash six months ago end up robbing him of an heirloom?
He was determined to find out, but finding a dead person was as complicated as one would imagine. So finding the fences with whom she could've contracted was a more effective way to go. So he thought to speak to his mother, who had an affinity for high end jewellery.
He got up from the couch and picked his phone up from the desk to see he had been here for a few hours. Lucia must've returned by now, he thought.
Her voice was heard as soon as he opened the door of the soundproof room situated in the east wing of the mansion. It came from the living room on this floor and she seemed to be engaged in a conversation.
"You should've seen how red he looked, like a tomato about to detonate." An unfamiliar female voice said as he walked closer to the source and Lucia laughed heartily in response to the comment.
"Can't believe they almost gave that man control of the company." The voice spoke again, giving Landon more details about what the conversation was about.
He glided slowly towards them and stood quietly by the doorway as both women sat across each other. A maid who was refilling each of their teacups was the first to notice his presence but didn't announce it.
Both women were too engrossed in the conversation to notice him. "I hope the rest of the board can see just as we can, that Noah Thomas isn't the solution."
"He intended to make us lose faith in Bernado and somehow he's the one we lost faith in. However, Noah strikes me as a very sore loser and I'd be surprised if this ends here." The woman says in a serious tone and Landon finally puts a face to the voice.
He recognised her from the meeting yesterday as one of the few members who didn't move on an inch or contribute even as the turmoil ensued.
She noticed him standing there before his mother who had her back to his direction at the door. "Look who the cat dragged in."
Lucia snapped her head backwards with surprise written on her face as she sees him. "Hello mother." His voice was soft but loud enough for the entire room to hear.
"How nice of you to join us, we were just talking about you." Lucia said.
Landon walked in towards them, He leaned forward and placed a kiss on his mother's cheeks. "I don't believe you've been properly introduced, Landon meet Beatrice Hoult. She's the company's CFO."
He leaned towards her too and kissed her cheeks. "Beatrice, meet my son." Lucia concluded her introduction and Landon went across from them to take a seat.
"Please don't tell me you were telling her about that ski trip we went on." He started, pretending not to know what they were really talking about.
"Goodness, no." Lucia let out her another hearty laugh. "She was telling me how you all but saved the company yesterday." She picks her cup up from the table and takes a sip.
"You're giving me too much credit mother, I merely came in late and he got really upset." Landon responds languidly, earning a light snicker from Beatrice.
"You knew he'd react that way so you egged him on." Beatrice pointed out astutely and a small grin appeared on his face.
"He most certainly had it coming though." Landon looked towards his mother who was smirking knowingly at him and he quietly scoffed in response to that.
The two ladies began to talk more about the company and Landon chipped in here and there but stayed quiet for most of the conversation.
Soon, Beatrice had to leave. Since it wasn't raining any longer, they walked her to her car where a driver waited for her.
Once she had left, Landon and his mother decided to keep walking for a while.
"So, Noah had it coming? I wonder what he must've done to you." Lucia asked teasingly as she walked the grounds side by side with her son who had grown a lot taller than she was.
He scoffed again. "I just don't like assholes in general."
"That must be it. It certainly has nothing to do with the mayor, his lovely wife, am I right?" She asked in a sarcastic tone and Landon stopped in his strides and stared at her quizzically.
"That was a long time ago, how do you even know all that?" Realising the jig is up, he no longer had to pretend to have no reason for antagonising Noah.
"You think I wouldn't know when my son who's supposed to be at college is seen at a restaurant in Seville or an hotel in Paris with a certain supermodel?" Her detailed account of some of his whereabouts surprised him for a second but amused him too.
"So you knew the whole time?" His question wasn't much of a question as he already knew the answer but still, Lucia nodded in affirmation.
"I wasn't exactly pleased considering she was a lot older, but you had just lost your father and you seemed happy at the time." Lucia points out, not hiding the obvious judgement in her tone.
"If you found out, then it's likely Noah did too, and that's exactly why you had me at that meeting."
She gave him and simple wink and proceeded with her walking across the beautiful vineyard at the backyard of her mansion.
He was impressed by how she orchestrated the whole thing but he wasn't surprised, other people might underestimate her but he never had.
"Enough small talk, why the hell are you here?" Lucia questioned and searched his body language for any clues leading to truths he'd typically refuse to give her.
"Here in the city, or here in the estate?" He looked to her blankly, giving her no hints as to what he might be thinking.
"Both." Lucia answered honestly, her son wasn't fond of coming home in any sense and she was used to it. The only times when he ever came to the city were usually for some serious business and those times, he seldom came to visit.
"I have some things to take care of and as to why I'm standing here right now, I happened to miss home and decided to come see my mother." His reply was partly true, recent events had caused him to be nostalgic and sentimental.
She sighed heavily as she knew there was something else he was hiding but there was no prying it out of him unless he wanted to reveal it.
Landon contemplated for a bit and alas, decided to ask the questions he really came here to ask. "Why didn't you tell me about Camile?"
"What about her?" Lucia feigned ignorance, not wanting the topic of conversation to spoil the rare moment, even though that wasn't anymore possible.
"You know what." Landon retorted swiftly and Lucia rolled her eyes at him.
"I didn't tell you when Mr. Jerry died either did I?" Her question throws him off and made him wonder what that had to do with anything.
"Who was Mr. Jerry?" Landon asked.
"The fucking gardener!" She raised her voice and instantly regretted it. She took in a deep breath and continued. "You don't call a lot and we have dinner a few times a year, forgive me for not wanting to ruin those precious moments with talk of… her" She struggled to utter the name from her mouth and groaned in frustration.
Landon understood how delicate a topic this was and that was why he hesitated to bring it up in the first place, after all these years the pain still echoed in her voice.
"She made something of herself in the art world after your father willed his entire collection to her. So she started helping Kat put her works out there." Lucia explained after a brief moment of silence, which she used to pull herself together.
"They've got a good thing going on and I'm definitely not gonna come between my daughter and pursuing her dreams." She added and Landon nodded slightly at her words.
"Also, I can say with absolute certainty that whatever's between them is platonic, just in case you were wondering."
Landon looked at her, completely baffled. "I wasn't."
He tried, but couldn't help but wonder how she was absolutely certain.
"She isn't the devil Landon." Her tone goes serious again and he noticed it. "She cared for your father in ways that even I couldn't, and she was there when he needed it the most."
She's had a lot of time to think about it and this was the perspective she had gotten, regardless of how much hurt it brought to her.
Landon refrained from saying anything further, not wanting to reopen her old wounds anymore than he already had. But before they enjoyed rest of their walk in peaceful silence, he had one final question to ask…
"If one was looking to acquire incredibly rare jewels, without the tedious formalities of going through the normal means in this city, who would they go see?" He was still adamant on recovering the watch and this was the only option left.
"I haven't had interests in that for a while now so I wouldn't exactly be much help. However, as we just established, you have history with somebody who does." Her smirk returns and this time he's the one rolling his eyes at her childishness.
"Gisele." He sighs knowingly.
"Perhaps she'd still be willing to help you out even after what you did to her husband." She giggled at her own comment and all he could do was shake his head in disbelief.