The boy, or Xavier – as she finally had a name for him was all too happy to shake her hand, in display to their professional meeting. She was taken aback, when he placed a sloppy kiss on the back of her hand, ‘you are beautiful, ma’am.’ He said, and Jeraldine fell in love with him.
‘Aren’t you a gentleman, kind Sir?’ She replied, playing along.
‘I am. My dad says every man needs to be a gentleman because not many man are these days.’
‘Well, your dad seems like a smart man. So how old are you?’ She asked him while making him his food.
‘I will turn 5 in a month.’
‘Oh, you are a Scorpio?’
He looked at her weirdly, ‘What is that?’
‘So basically, for every month there is a number, stone, and star assigned to it. The star is usually a symbolic representation. Basically, those who believe in it think that their stars have glimpses of their personalities.’ She finished and cursed herself.
Wow, Jeraldine, You cannot explain to a 5-year-old what a horoscope is.
‘Do you get it?’ She tried asking.
He looked lost in his thoughts and replied only after a minute, ‘I think so. So all Scorpio’s have the same personalities?’
The boy was brilliant for his own age.
‘They are all not the same, but yes they have similarities. Like, I think you and I will have a lot in common, because I, too, am a Scorpio.’ She was doing better. He smiled at her brightly, ‘Let’s see, do you like Batman?’ she asked, knowing this would be something he would like.
‘Yes. Do you?’ He asked so excitedly that Jeraldine let out a loud laugh.
For the next five minutes, he kept asking her different things of what he thought they might have in common, and she was happy to see that they had a lot in common.
She gave him his ramen and sat on the chair before him. Not being able to keep it in any longer, she finally asked him, ‘Who is your father?’
‘Nathan.’ He replied as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Her whole world stopped. No, this could not be happening. Needing to confirm, she asked again, ‘Nathan Blackwood?’
‘Yes.’ Came the reply.
Only it wasn’t from the kid, it was from his dad, and if looks could kill, she would be six feet under the ground by now.