in the walls of the stall which he used and cleaned himself very thoroughly. He sighed again putting his face in the shower spray while closing his eyes to rub his hands on his face focusing on his cheeks as the water washed off the soap and shampoo from his body. He rubbed hands on his head on his hair as he lowered his face opening his eyes to sigh and then removed his hands to shut off the shower once sensing the soap and shampoo completely washed from him. With a loud sigh he walked out of the shower stall to spot folded towels on the vanity along with folded clothing in the collar of black with black sneakers below the vanity with socks in them. His pajama pants were gone from the floor. He spied a hair brush next to the towels.
Groaning out loud he spoke as he eyed the clothes “Who’s idea was it for me to entirely wear the color black anyway?”
He frowned as an image of Lance from the waist up with black eyes flashed in his mind as he heard spoken in his father’s voice sounding annoyed “It was mine and don’t complain, Jinks.”
With a sigh he went to the towels to grab one and dried himself thoroughly then picked up the folded clothing to examine them he saw were sweats shirt, sweat pants, and underwear shorts which he put on his form. He picked up the shoes and went to the stool to sit putting on the socks and shoes on his feet then went to the vanity to grab the hairbrush which he brushed his hair in a neat style then placed the brush down on the vanity and walked out of the bathroom opening the door.
Jinks halted to see Robert standing with arms folded looking serious on his face who spoke “Come with me Dad. I’ll take you to where you can get something to eat.”
Jinks wordlessly followed Robert who unfolded his arms out of the room taking the familiar route outside to the gazebo where once reaching it he saw Victoria sitting reading a book who looked up to smile at him and then turn her attention towards the book. He eyed the book seeing it looked like a romance novel judging by the couple on it in a clinch position and stared at Samira who looked at him. He gestured towards the book by pointing at it and stared at the woman with a narrowed eyed look.
Samira he saw walked up to him and whispered in his ear “Victoria admitted that her homework time in the library room at your place since she turned thirteen was to read the books from the shelves. She’s been reading those romance novels since finding one hiding behind a cushion in the chair in the library room put there by the cleaning maid. The maid in question later admitted to Gustav to be spending some of her cleaning time reading some of the books in the room after your butler caught her reading.”
Jinks frowned as Samira paused to chuckle some laugh then continued whisper “You should ask Victoria’s school about her studies, Gustav did that. They tell Gustav who later told me that she’s very bright in her studies and has scored high on all of her tests along with being nearly perfect on her homework assignments with them always handed in on time.”
Jinks frowned to stare at Victoria who kept reading her book as Samira continued to whisper “I’m told she’s very good in playing the sporting game of soccer in the position of goalkeeper in gym class when their outside. The gym teacher Mrs. Israel is thinking of recommending her to try out for the school’s eight grade soccer team next year for the goalkeeper position.”
Jinks turned his attention towards Samira who paused then spoke in a loud tone “Jinks there’s a buffet of food over there so help yourself.”
He saw where she was pointing to see rows of covered dishes with labels on them along with dishes and silverware in a pile next to them along with cups. He saw clear jugs holding liquids next to them spotted one of them looking pink and feeling himself hungry walked up to the plates to grab a plate. He grabbed some silverware and went to examine the contents of each covered dish by reading the labels and lifting up the lids to peer at the foods before making up his mind on what to eat. He piled his plate full of food bringing it to the table setting it down then went to the cups to pick one up and went to the jugs spotting labels on them which he read. He found the pink one was for pink lemonade which made him annoyed as he again eyed the jugs and their labels struggling to figure out what to drink.
He felt Samira besides him and heard her speak “Take the milk. Its part of the ingredients to making those strawberry milkshakes you drink.”
He nodded his head and poured himself some milk into the cup and carried it to the table which he sat down in a chair feeling like it was made out of plastic. He felt himself terribly hungry forced himself to take his time eating the food till there was none left then he gulped down the milk sensing that Samira was correct about the milk for it reminded him of his drink from the taste of it. Jinks sat back in the chair folding his arms which he looked around the gazebo then settled on Robert and Samira standing in front of an opening appearing to be having a whispered conversation while giving each other kisses on the lips with their one of their hands on each other’s shoulders and their other hands on their waists. Jinks sighed recalling he doing what Robert was doing to Samira to Katherine in private of his bedroom in the penthouse after hearing the news of Guard Kensington passing away. He remembered that he was reassuring Katherine that her father was no longer suffering and was in a better place with no pain while seeing that she looked upset. He groaned softly from the memory running through him to stare at Robert and Samira who broke up their love moment and walked towards him to the table where they sat down with serious expressions on their faces.
Jinks frowned as Robert spoke “Dad how are you feeling?”
He saw Victoria out of the corners of his eyes put a bookmark in the book before setting it on the table to stare at him.
He spoke “I feel better but ok.”
He heard the firmness in his voice tone that bothered him as Robert spoke “Think you can come back home to face the crowd again?”
Jinks frowned inwardly as an image of Lance flashed in his mind followed by his father’s voice speaking “Get over your fear of the crowd by facing them again.”
He spoke still hearing the firmness in his voice tone “I think so.”
He stared at his son who spoke “I’ll arrange for transportation, excuse me.”
Jinks watched as Robert got up leaving the gazebo which he saw went into the house.
He frowned as Samira cleared her throat and looked at the woman who spoke “The purpose of the house dubbed Summerland and its grounds is for people to recover from medical issues and once their healed they leave to where they’ve came from.”
Jinks frowned hearing the firmness in Samira’s voice tone nodded his head as he turned towards Victoria to speak “Vicky how are you doing?”
He saw her grimace with a frown on her face before she spoke “Dad, don’t call me Vicky. Reminds me of the joke sticky Vicky and I hate it.”
He sighed and spoke “Alright Victoria but how are you feeling?”
Victoria spoke “I’m doing alright.”
He heard the nervousness in her voice tone reached out a hand towards her hand and gripped it as he spoke “Do you think you can handle living with your father being under public scrutiny or you prefer to live with someone else?”
He saw Victoria’s face turn into a big frown as she spoke “I don’t know about the public attention or living with someone else.”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice tone.
Jinks sighed then spoke “Victoria, if you think you can’t handle living with me in the public spotlight then I’ll see about arranging someone to raise you till you’re either ready or old enough to live without parenting.”
He saw relief appear in Victoria’s eyes despite her still having the frown on her face as she spoke “Ok Dad.”
He patted her hand releasing his hold on it as Robert arrived with a Highlander wearing a driver’s uniform.
He stared at his son who spoke “Driver’s here to take you to the airport where there’ll be a plane waiting to fly. There’ll be a guide according to the driver waiting for you at the airport in New York City who’ll see that
you’re safely transported to the Castle.”
Jinks nodded his head and got up as Victoria got up from her chair. He opened his arms and hugged Victoria feeling her grip on him tight before him and she released their hold on each other. Jinks walked around the table towards Robert and he hugged his son who hugged him back then he followed the Highlander driver out of the gazebo taking a path around the house passed the porch till he saw a dirt driveway with a car looking like a black sedan with windows tinted black which the Highlander reaching the car opened the one of the rear doors. He got inside the car seeing it was tan colored and sat as the driver shut the door closed. Sighing Jinks hunted for the seatbelt and put it on as the driver got into the car and heard him putting on his seatbelt followed by speaking voice commands for the car to start up which he felt its rumbling vibration. Jinks turned his head to stare out the window on his right side as the car drove down a dirt driveway that appeared to be very long in length with rows of fruit trees scattered in his eyes sight appearing to be quite vast. He heard a familiar humming sound that sounded like a garage opener sensor as the car paused from its driving then drove on again. He saw an open metal gate fence appear into view along with stone walls as the car turned left and felt the road become smoother from the car’s