When they reached Raven International School, Jimmy was impressed by how unnerved Ben was. The chid was composed and acted indifferent – his only sign of nervousness being the tight hold he had on his mother"s hand. His mother, obviously, was an entirely different story. She was holding Ben"s hand in a death grip, all the way from the school entrance, till the car stopped before a separate building where the princ.i.p.al"s office was situated. She seemed fascinated and awestruck. Jim particularly noticed her gasp more than once when she saw high school girls in their uniforms pa.s.s by.
Her face was a curious blend of fear and amazement. The young master was amused.
In the office of the princ.i.p.al herself, Jimmy was warmly greeted. Mrs. Tusk had been informed beforehand, of her best student and alumni Jimmy Hunter coming to pay her a visit after a long time. And even though the elderly woman had a stern face, with short blonde hair and gla.s.ses that sat threateningly on her nose, she smiled – and when she did, Miya was warmed all the way to her toes.
Mrs. Tusk welcomed them joyously.
Miya had thoroughly reminded herself of the Chairman"s lessons once they had stepped out of the car. Until then, she hadn"t realized how useful the old man"s weird training was. Thanks to it, she had been able to maintain a calm demeanour even though her heart had been jumping at the sigh of children, uniforms and at the books in their hands.
When she was met with the deep gaze of the princ.i.p.al and her toothy smile, Miya was infatuated. It was strange to her, how the woman who had such a strict face could seem so gorgeous once she smiled. Her expression particularly warmed when she looked at Jimmy.
"It"s been a while, Mrs. Tusk," Jim greeted her with a benevolent smile too, "I hope you"re doing well."
"Sixteen years since you pa.s.sed out, Hunter," she shook his hand, "Raven High is yet to groom another prodigy since."
Jimmy laughed modestly at that. Mrs. Tusk smiled too.
Her gentle gaze then fell over the boy who stood smartly between Jimmy and a rather pretty girl. Mrs. Tusk gave the child a smile, then with a quick glance observed the trio in front. They wore colour coordinated clothes and had come to her with a child. It was obvious why Jimmy was here.
"My wife, Miya," Jim responded to Mrs. Tusk"s searching look. Miya quickly shook hands with the elderly woman, her heart mushy once the lady smiled brilliantly at her too. Jim then proceeded to introduce Ben.
"And here, ma"am. This is my son, Benji Hunter."
Miya"s mind vaguely registered the word. Her heart almost stopped at it.
Meanwhile Ben, though greeted the lady politely, almost frowned when Jimmy said "son".
Son?
Wasn"t Ben mommy"s son alone?
And why was he called Benji Hunter?
His name was Benji… but mommy always called him Ben. And why was he Benji Hunter?
He wasn"t Jimmy"s son. He was mommy"s boy alone.
That was what mommy had always said to him anyway…
They all took their seats once pleasantries had been exchanged. While Mrs. Tusk glanced at the three of them, her eyes stopped thrice at Miya. Jim noticed the approval in her look, and somehow, the nerd in him leapt with joy.
Jimmy took over the conversation singlehandedly then. He talked about Ben being admitted to school, how he wanted him to be enrolled directly in third grade and how brilliant the boy was – the princ.i.p.al heartily agreed to it all. She wouldn"t have refused him anything either way – Jimmy was one of the trustees of the school. She did however eye Ben curiously when Jim proceeded to call him an extraordinary, fascinating child.
Beside him, Ben was blushing from all the praises that were being showered on him by the young man. For a second, Miya too saw Jimmy Hunter in the light of an excessively doting parent. The man"s exact words, she believed, were –
"He is as smart as he is handsome, Mrs. Tusk, but you should listen to him talk about the Gulf War. This child is amazing in every sense of the word – I was so captivated when I first found out about his intelligence. And he is good at self defence too! He has a good hand, I think he would make an excellent boxer with the right training. But he leans towards academics more – he loves books! He studied about taxes from my father, and history is his forte. Wait till he scores 100s in every course and bedazzles you, Mrs. Tusk. He"d shine like a diamond, if ever he were to –"
The rest was lost to Miya.
She actually wanted to hold her head in her hands – because all Mrs. Tusk had asked was, "So, tell me something about your son, Jimmy. A single characteristic should do."
And that was Jimmy"s response to her want of a "single characteristic".
What was up with the young master?
Why was he being such a… cheerleader?!
She had to admit though…
It was insanely cute. Someday, she"d just hold down the man and kiss him to death!
The thought made Miya go red, and she vaguely realized how the man was still going on about Ben being agile as a tiger. Miya"s breath almost wedged in her throat when Jim said "flexible like a ser –" She cleared her throat and smiled at Mrs. Tusk, who somehow looked shocked and uncertain.
This man… he was clearly referring to the time when Ben had slid down the pipeline from her apartment! She was pretty sure he was going to say "flexible like a serpent"!
He was too enthusiastic!
Miya cleared her throat, and dared to interrupt Jimmy when she cut in between his words and said, "Jimmy is too kind with our son, ma"am. Don"t mind his exaggeration – but yes, our Ben is smart."
She smiled, satisfied with her performance of the good wife. It was kind of fun too, especially when the princ.i.p.al actually looked in her direction and smiled back with a hint of gratefulness in her eyes.
Jimmy, of course, was not satisfied.
"Smart?" he immediately looked at Miya, "You do Benji discredit, my dear. He is –"
"Yes, Jimmy. But let"s save something for Mrs. Tusk. I"m sure she would like to find out for herself."
Mrs. Tusk jumped in to say, "Of course!" and Jim smiled tightly, dissatisfied but not particularly unhappy. Ben was extraordinarily intelligent – having an understanding of complex physics and world history at that young an age was a miracle – what was wrong in describing a miracle just as it was?
A miracle?
He too was one of those rare species!
But of course, these common folks would never understand.
Once Jimmy had fed his excess love for himself some air, he wasn"t discontent anymore.
Miya made some light conversation with Mrs. Tusk meanwhile, which the elderly woman heartily welcomed. Within minutes though, it reached to the taboo topic of their marriage. The princ.i.p.al seemed to be itching to ask about it for a while, and Miya was extremely uncomfortable when she did.
Playing the wife was nice, but soon the situation turned to chaos.
"I never heard about Jimmy"s marriage," Mrs. Tusk said carefully, as she treaded the topic, "And I"ve been in the country for the past ten years or so."
Miya smiled. She didn"t dare glance at Jimmy for help, it would have made her seem weak – but she did curse the man for not paying enough attention to the conversation to actually b.u.t.t in.
"When Jimmy was in school," Mrs. Tusk went on, "He hardly showed any interest in anyone. He was always studying, excelling at everything. I remember him once telling me to my face: Madam, I"m going to remain a bachelor forever!"
It was then that Jimmy huffed. He rolled his eyes, as if to say he had been correct all along. Mrs. Tusk had missed a vital point according to Jim, and he pointed it out, "Of course I thought that back then, Mrs. Tusk. I had no idea a rare gem like my wife could exist!"
Miya"s heart stopped.
She could have cried.
d.a.m.n him, this beast!
What the h.e.l.l was that?!
Mrs. Tusk was disoriented, looking shocked even with her best effort at putting on an indifferent appearance. It was as if she was unable to relate to this new, doting Jimmy Hunter! In her memories, he was still a sixteen year old boy, unsmiling and unsympathetic, ready to drive a dagger through the world for being too idiotic.
Wasn"t he a bit too gentle with his wife and son?
"How did the two of you meet, Jimmy?"
Mrs. Tusk asked by way of conversation.
Jimmy and Miya"s minds immediately went back to thirteen years ago – to that masquerade party when they had unknowingly kissed. And then they remembered that fateful day when Jimmy had met her in a washroom. Smiling to himself, Jim said, "Very unusual circ.u.mstances. It was so hard to get her to marry me, Mrs. Tusk. You have no idea."
Miya whispered lightly too, "It was still chance that I agreed to your proposal, mister."
Mrs. Tusk looked on at the duo, unable to get along with Jim"s obviously love struck expression and Miya"s blushing face. Shrugging uncomfortably, she remarked, "You"re too much like Mr. Simon Hunter, Jimmy. I wouldn"t be so surprised if you had made your marriage public!" She then turned to Miya, "Of course you must know this, but Senior Mr. Hunter was the same, Miya. I never once met Jimmy"s mother while he was still in school, even though old Mr. Hunter came to each one of his teacher-parent meetings. I even asked to meet the lovely woman who had borne this brilliant child, but to no avail!"
For a second, the atmosphere turned tense.
Miya secretly panicked and glanced at Jimmy, while the young master though maintained a straight face, his eyes turned cold. His jaw tightened, but before he could react, Miya quickly spoke up, "Eshni is a very busy woman, Mrs. Tusk. Sometimes, months pa.s.s by and I don"t see her too!"
And the matter was resolved.
The princ.i.p.al nodded in understanding, then sighed, "It would be a shock to everyone when he does go public with your marriage. I mean you have been together for over five years! Ben, my dear, you"re five, right?"
Ben, who had long before decided to ignore the adults and was recalling the numbers he had learnt, nodded slightly at Mrs. Tusk, then continued to look lost and revise the phone numbers in his head. He had to recite the list to uncle Hunter in the evening!
He had promised!
"Keep it a secret till I do go public with it too," Jim said plainly. Mrs. Tusk nodded, saying, "Of course."
It was then that Mrs. Tusk turned her attention solely on Ben and began to ask him a few questions. Miya was nervous at first – afraid that Ben would screw up. But her boy was too smart, and for a second she found herself falling in love with her son all over again. She restrained her urge to hug and kiss her boy right then, but delightedly held the young master"s hand and squeezed it tight.
Jimmy beamed at her in response as well.
They glanced at each other, ecstatic, almost as if to say –
"That"s our boy!"
The sight didn"t escape the princ.i.p.al"s notice. She shrugged.
These two really were head over heels in love…
With their kid.
That was lame.