"Stuart’s claustrophobic. He hates tight spaces. When he was a little boy, he was locked in a small dark closet. I don’t know how long he was in there. He was found unconscious and rushed to the ergency room." Cecil’s tone sounded serious. "Another ti when there was a power outage, he got stuck in the elevator on his way to the tenth floor. The re idea of being around any small spaces traumatized him long after." He increased his volu as he went on. "My father said he almost died." He told Edie the best he could recall it
With a look of horror, shook, and surprise all mixed into one, she gasped suddenly. "Does it still bother him now?" she asked, suddenly becoming nervous and worried, which automatically made Cecil feel nervous and worried.
"I don’t know, .....maybe." Cecil’s voice quivered as he spoke. "He’s a big strong man now! He’s smart. He’s a survivor." Then he paused to think a mont. "I think he might be cured because, to this day, he still goes into that closet." He tried to comfort Edie by giving her a hug.
"Why would he do that?" Edie asked curiously. She looked as though she debated completing the rest of the sentence and hesitated for a second before saying, "I’ve never heard him say anything." She lifted her eyebrow as she looked down at Cecil. She wondered what happened, but knew that Stuart frequently dealt with all kinds of volatile situations. A secret that he shared had vowed never to reveal to any other beings. "He always changed the subject when talking about himself, so I never inquired much. He’s very powerful and seems almost invincible. At the sa ti, he has weaknesses," she said with a tone of sadness in her voice.
Then Cecil scratches his head and says, "I don’t know all of the details. I overheard my aunt and my father talking. They said Stuart blundered into sothing he wasn’t supposed to see. Since that day, things were never the sa. He never wanted anything to do with won at all," he said quietly. "Kind of strange though, huh?" he said.
Edie widened her eyes and put her hand to her mouth in a show of shock. "How old was he when this happened?" There was sothing about the way Cecil looked at her. It gave her a bad feeling.
"Um...." Cecil hesitated, trying to rember. "Fifteen years ago? I’m not sure. They made leave the room. I was upstairs playing and listening to them argue. At first, their fighting would make cry because it would scare . I wasn’t used to adults fighting," he explained. "I would yell out to them to stop, but they ignored ."
"Is there anything else you can rember?" Edie asked.
"Yes," he said, shaking his head. "I heard them ntion a na." Cecil looked up at Edie and whispered in her ear, "Tommie Lynch. I think my aunt knew him quite well."
Edie looked stunned as soon as she heard the na. "Tommie Lynch," she repeated. It was Donald’s father, but he died fifteen years ago? Then his wife Carey Bath took over as the president of Hawk Real Estate. What happened to Stuart? Did it have sothing to do with Tommie’s death? "What else did they say?" She wanted to know more, to ask about his family but didn’t want to probe too deeply. She didn’t know how to go about convincing Stuart to confide in her.
"My father got very angry with my aunt. I rember him screaming at her and telling her she shouldn’t have done it. I was too young, and I didn’t understand. My father is in love with my aunt, but he would never admit it. There’s sothing that keeps them apart. I don’t know what it is? All I know is whenever they see one another, and they always start arguing when Tommie’s na is ntioned. I could never understand what they were talking about. That’s all I know," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Edie knew Cecil did his best to explain, but sothing he said stirred her curiosity. What happened fifteen years ago? She was positive that whatever happened was the reason Stuart disliked won so much. But what was it?
Just then, the teacher entered the room, and Edie had to put her thoughts to the side. When the class was over, the driver was waiting for them outside the building. "Where’s Stuart?" Edie asked.
"He’s homaking you a delicious dinner," Jon replied.
When they arrived at the house, Edie sat on the sofa, thinking about what Cecil told her. Stuart was busy in the kitchen cooking, and Cecil was running around looking for snacks. Edie rely sat there staring, as if in so kind of trance. ’Stuart must have been hurt a lot, but he never said a word. He should be able to rely on and know I’ll be there for him.’ Edie felt so strongly about his traumatic past. ’How do I talk to him?’ She had no idea. He didn’t like talking about that kind of thing.
She was concentrating so hard, and she didn’t even notice when Stuart walked up behind her. He leaned in and put his arms around her shoulders. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, trying to keep a casual note in his voice.
Edie tried not to let her thoughts be shown upon her face. She sat back on the sofa, pretending to be relaxed. Then, in a tone of mingled pleasure and contempt, she said, "I was wondering what you were making for dinner. It slls good. I hope Cecil likes it."
"I’m not a finicky eater," Cecil blurts out.
Stuart rolled his eyes as if saying, ’You always seem to show up at the wrong ti.’ He knew what Edie was going to do. She would dote over him.
He was right. Edie gently pulled away and took Cecil by the hand. "You’re starving, aren’t you?" she said as she led him to the table.
Before they had a chance to sit down, Stuart said with a stern voice. "I believe that Cecil should start by being more aware of what he’s putting into his body. He looks as if he’s put on so.
Edie looked Cecil over as she carried the platter to the table. "You’re right," she agreed.
"You need to start eating more fruits and vegetables." Stuart narrowed his eyes, assessing him. "You also have two small cavities."
Cecil began to tremble. He covered his mouth to hide his teeth. "No, I don’t want to," he said, shaking his head and turned to look at Edie.
Edie put her finger on her chin and frowned. "I don’t know if you have a cavity, but you are starting to put on weight.".
"From now on, he’s on a strike diet. No more junk food, and you’re going to start exercising every day." Stuart turned and stared at Cecil. "You look unhealthy. This is for your own benefit."
Cecil’s face beca pale as an onion leaf when hearing this, "No!" he pretended to scream in agony in an attempt to solicit at least a small portion of sympathy from Edie, but she was having any of it.
Edie nodded her head in agreent. "You’ll understand and thank us one day," she said.
"Oh no!" exclaid Cecil, and he felt his last hope was gone.
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