Chapter 18 : Ride

" Good morning Justin ."

Justin looked up from his breakfast to look at the tall man . James had just entered the kitchen with a briefcase in hand . He was wearing a navy blue suit , a red tie and his brown hair was slicked back in a professional manner . He looked ridiculously tall and Justin couldn't help the sneer from taking over his face .

The man was watching him expectedly as if waiting for him to say something but Justin chose to ignore him . He wasn't in the mood to entertain his mother's fling , not when he had other things to deal with .

" You have every right to hate me ." James spoke again and this time he was making his way to where Justin was sitting . The man pulled out a chair from the table and sat down elegantly . It almost reminded Justin of how his mother would sit .

" I don't know what you're talking about ."Justin answered while chewing his cereal loudly , he was purposely annoying the tall man .

He could see how James's left eye twitched when he spat the mashed breakfast back inside his bowl . Justin almost laughed when the man's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched his next move . His green eyes lit up instantly when an outrageous idea popped up .

He immediately dropped his spoon on the floor and placed his fist inside the bowl without breaking eye contact . He whirled the contents of the bowl with his hand , the milk ebbing as he fastened his pace . But his attempts at chasing the man away were futile . James sat silently and watched the man with calculative eyes .

James watched in subtle disgust as Justin , a 17 year old played with his food . He was making a mess but the boy didn't care . He was adamant on chasing him away but James couldn't leave things unspoken between them . He had to make it up to the boy . Justin deserved that much .

" Can you at least acknowledge me , please . " James said after a while and it seemed like his plea hit a spot for the boy . Justin's green eyes hardened , his jaw clenched as he waited for James to say something . "I want to apologise for everything ."

" What are you apologising for , I'm not the one you're sleeping with . Apologise to my mother and after that , go back to where you came from . I don't know who you are and I do not care about your little feelings . But you're not going to come here and act like you own the place . Do you even have a fucking job ?"

" I'm just sorry okay ? That's all I can say for now . I hope that one day you won't see me as a threat but a friend to you ."

" A friend !? Are you fucking serious ?"

" Justin mind your language !!" Justin's mother yelled as she made her presence known in the tense space . She was giving Justin a hard glare as she stood by the counter . Justin hadn't seen her come in . He was too preoccupied with the man opposite of him to notice anything else .

" But mom , he's the one who came to me apologising for nothing . He's ruining our lives ! "

" What happened here , why is there a mess in my kitchen ? Justin-- what ?! " She exasperatedly shrieked when she saw how Justin had turned everything upside down on the table .

Justin looked at the man opposite him before shrugging his shoulders . His mother was looking at him suspiciously like he was guilty of something .

" It's James , he did this ." Justin lied .

" Don't even think about it , I know for a fact that it wasn't him . Look at your hand ! Why are you acting like a child ?"

" Mom can you please sit down , I need to have a chat with you ."

" Not before you wash your sticky hands . You're not 5 Justin , why would you make a mess like this ? "

" I was trying to get rid of him . " Justin said pointing his index finger at James who was watching them quietly . "Look at him , does he seem normal to you ? What normal person would be that tall ?"

" Seems like you have a big problem with me ." James observed .

" Yeah , you're the big problem I have !" Justin shot back .

" Honey just go wash your hands and stop harassing my guest . Please respect him like you respect me . "

" Guest ?" Justin asked as he stood up and made his way to the sink . "Well I'm your son ."

" I don't understand why you're so upset all of a sudden ."

Justin scoffed loudly and washed his hands . He could faintly hear his mother's voice as she spoke to the man in hushed whispers . He couldn't make out what she was saying but she sounded frustrated . Justin could only guess why . After washing his hands , he went back to his previous seat . He plopped down loudly before clearing his throat like his mother would and spoke without blinking .

" I want you to promise that you won't yell at me when I tell you this . I need you to act civil and no more calling me by my middle name."

" What is this about ?"

" I -- please don't don't freak out when you hear this mom !" Justin said before glancing at James , who was looking at him too . "And tell him to look elsewhere ."

" Justin I don't have time for this !"

" Okay okay , I'm sorry . But he makes me so uncomfortable ." Justin confessed dejectedly . He knew that he was acting like a real spoilt brat but he couldn't help it . The man was making his blood boil and he didn't know why .

James had barged into their lives unexpectedly . He was still looking forward to seeing his father but then someone had to come in between them .

Now he didn't know when he'll ever see his real father again and it made him sad . Although he hardly spoke with the man , he still loved and appreciated him . So having James around didn't sit well with him .

" Justin honey , we don't have all day . You still have to go to school remember ?" His mother's voice brought him out of his distracted mind .

" I kissed a boy and I liked it ."

"..."

"..."

" So uh ... I'm gay mom . Please say something ."

Justin looked at his mother anxiously . Her face was bored as if she was waiting for him to change his mind again . But that was impossible , not when he developed so much feelings for his friend . He did like kissing Tip and he would do it over again if given the chance .

Both James and his mother were awfully quiet as they began process the information in their heads . Justin took the time to look at James and found the man's upper lips quirked up in amusement . He squinted his eyes at the tall man who was clearly mocking him . Justin was about to say something rude but his mother spoke before he could utter a word  .

" You know , I'm still waiting for you to tell me who's the lucky boy . After dropping this kind of bomb on me , the least you could do is tell me his name ."

" His name is Tip . "

" What kind of name is that ?" She asked lamely which elicited a soft chuckle from her lover . Justin looked at James again and this time he pierced the man with his green eyes .

" It's not his real name mom . Wow , you're so hard to please . I'm starting to ask myself how he managed to stay here this long . It's been over a month now ..."

" James is a lovely man ."

" Are you his spokesperson ?"

" No but I'm rightfully defending him from you . You did not give yourself a chance to get to know him but you're already judging him . That's not nice ."

" He's here to take dad's place !"

" That's not what I'm trying to do Justin ."James interrupted .

Both Justin and his mother turned their attention to him . The man was sitting stiffly as two sets of eyes studied him . Justin's green eyes were filled with curiously as they roamed his shaven face .

" I just -- I'm trying to do things right ."

" Well couldn't you do that elsewhere ?" The boy suggested .

James shook his head slowly . Justin almost felt bad for the man because he always looked like something was bothering him . Justin had noticed the odd behavior from the first time he met James . At first he thought that the man was an attention seeker not knowing the real meaning behind his pained expressions .

" I lost a son years ago ... I wasn't there for most of his life and ... now my only son hates me . He doesn't know who I am . Its painful because he was everything I've ever wanted  but I couldn't raise him , I missed out on his whole childhood . His first words --"  James said as tears flowed from his green eyes .

Justin had never seen a man cry before and it made his heart ache . His own tears began to  free themselves as he looked at the pained man . His mother was rubbing a soothing hand behind James's back all the while looking at Justin worriedly . Her eyes were brimming with tears as she listened to the soft sobs coming from James .

Justin didn't know why he was crying but something inside him stirred . He felt responsible for making James cry because of his shitty behavior . The man was hurting and he was fueling the fire by making him feel unwelcomed . Justin wiped his tears with his knuckles before he breathed a calming breath .

" I'm sorry about your son ... I didn't mean to open old wounds ." Justin stopped himself from saying anything else and looked down on his lap . He couldn't afford to say the wrong things that is why he had to choose his words carefully .

" No it's okay ... You have nothing to apologise for . Everything was my fault anyway . " James  answered softly .

" Okay I'm not sorry then ."

" Really now ? Do you have to be that insensitive ? Can't you see that he's hurting ?" His mother said .

" No it's okay Amber ... I totally understand . I'll be going now ." James announced softly .

" You're going to work ?" Justin asked from his seat .

" Yes ."

" Could you drive me to school then ?"

"..."

" Or not ... I'll just --" Justin was cut off by the sound of his mother laughing .

" Sure , I'll drive you to school . "

Justin nodded his head before rushing up the stairs to his room . He grabbed his phone and his wallet before leaving his safe haven . He made it downstairs to find the tall man waiting for him patiently .

" Is mom gone already ?" He questioned at the absence of his beautiful mother .

" Yes , she just left seconds ago ." James answered .

" I thought she was your business partner , shouldn't you be driving in the same car then ? "

" She wants us to bond ... her words not mine . She's very persistent you know , she loves it when everything goes her way ."

" Yep , that's my mother ."

They both laughed as they made their way to the car . Justin as usual climbed in the passenger side and buckled his seatbelt . James revved up the engine and drove silently . They didn't say anything for a while before James cleared his throat and spoke .

" So you have a boyfriend ? "

" I wouldn't say he's my boyfriend ." Justin said looking out the window .

" But you kissed ? "

" Yes "

" How was the kiss then ? "

Justin whipped his head to the side to give the man an incredulous look . James wasn't expecting Justin to answer that question right ?

" Okay forget I asked ."

" Okay ." Justin said before looking out the window again .

This is going to be a long ride .