Langston’s POV
Langston Terrell was a rich man.
It did not matter which currency his wealth was converted to. When it ca to money there were very few that ca close to how much he had. But in all of the ways that mattered, Langston had been feeling like the poorest of the poor for many years now.
Sure, he lived in a big house with a large number of staff. But even though it was not sothing that he would ever acknowledge, Langston envied them. He was certain that so of them might have wished for his vast wealth, but in his eyes, they were far richer than he was.
At the end of the day those people had families. Friends that they could rely on. But Langston was all alone. His son was gone, his daughter in law was gone. For a ti he’d had two grandsons, but now he was left with only one. But that child rarely ever visited, and even when there were calls, Langston could tell that Ryan just wanted the whole thing to be over with as quickly as possible.
If he’d had any idea what had caused the giant rift between him and his one remaining blood relative, Langston would have taken steps to redy the situation long ago.
But despite the growing distance between them, he still had no idea what had pushed his grandson away from him. And so day after day, the old man had to contend with only having his employees for company. He had taken to walking the grounds of the Terrell ho just to keep himself busy.
It was a boring existence, but every once in a while there were deviations to the pattern that reminded him that life could be exciting.
Having just finished with his morning walk, Langston was about to go take a nap. When one of the mates brought him a ssage.
"You have a visitor sir, she is waiting for you in the winter room," His mind instantly on high alert, Langston tried to figure out who it could be. Was it perhaps one of the older ladies that he played bridge with on a regular basis. Or maybe it could be a writer looking for a scoop on the Terrell family, he’d turned away a fair share of those.
Deciding to stop from unnecessarily stressing himself. He just picked up his pace as he made his way to the winter room, his cane clicking softly against the floor as he moved. The sooner he got there, the faster the mystery would be solved.
***
The first thing that Langston Terrell saw of his visitor was the light green dress that she was wearing. It reminded him of the designs that his late wife used to prefer back in the day.
His heart instantly settling. Langston found himself smiling without even aning to. And when his guest turned all the way around, his smile brightened even more. His cane held loosely in one hand, he took a seat and watched as his guest moved closer.
"Mr Terrell, it has been a long ti," Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth said softly, and Langston could not help but huff good-naturedly at her.
"Co now child, have I not told you to call grandfather?"
Her pale cheeks turning pink in embarrassnt, she bowed her head briefly before raising her eyes to et his.
"I am so sorry grandfather, I did not an to offend you. It is just that it has been such a long ti that I did not wish to just assu,"
Waving a hand dismissively in the air to let her know that all was forgiven, Langston beckoned her over and she instantly moved in to plant a soft kiss against his cheek.
"I seldom get any visitors to this place. Now tell , what have you been doing all of these years since my grandson made the awful mistake of ending things with you?" A flash of hurt showed in her eyes but Gwendolyn, sweet and gentle child that she was, rallied quickly.
"Oh grandfather, I have been having such great fun. I have been travelling the world, Paris...London... Accra. I have simply been allowing myself to enjoy the different cultures of as many cities as possible," Settling in, Langston let her regale him with stories of her travels.
When the staff brought them so refreshnts. Gwendolyn’s stories beca even more colorful as she began using the macaroons on her plate as storytelling props to really get her point across.
It was the most entertainnt that he’d had in quite so ti and he found himself utterly delighted.
"...then the tour guide ended up having to carry all the way to the top of the temple and then all the way back down. I was so embarrassed but the view was well and truly worth it," Laughing softly as her tale ca to an end, Langston could see that she was searching for more stories to tell him. As much as he wanted to hear them all.
Langston was a practical man. He might have been happy to have her as a guest but he knew very well that young people were far too busy to just drop in randomly to check in on the older generation. There had to be a reason she was there, and whatever it was, the young woman was far too polite to just co out and say it. So Langston knew he would have to be the one to bring up the topic.
"As lovely as it has been to spend the morning with you. I cannot help but be curious. What exactly is it that brings you to my doorstep?" With his question asked Langston expected Gwendolyn to hesitate for a bit before answering him. But her reaction took him completely by surprise. Instead of answering him with words, big fat tears began falling down Gwendolyn’s cheeks. The poor thing overco by sadness all of a sudden.
What could possibly be eating away at her to cause such a reaction?
User Comments
0 comments from readers