Chapter 2 The Arrival

After a five hours drive, Albert and James finally arrived at Joe's place. It was exactly 12 noon.

Joe had already gone to work but was aware they were coming so he hid the key below the foot mat.

"He has already gone to work" James said as they arrived to a locked door

"Of course it's 12 noon, where do you expect him to be?" Albert replied with a smile.

"Hold on let me call him and ask where he kept the key".

"Sure dad". James replied as they sat on a bench in the balcony tired from the journey.

Ring... ring.....ring... Joe phone rang.

"Hi Bro, you're already there?" Joe asked.

"Yes, we're at your balcony right now and the door is locked". Albert replied

"That's great! By the way I'm at work and will be back in the evening. However I left the key under the foot mat. Open the door, go in and feel at home till I'm back!" Joe said

"Alright bro. We'd be expecting you". Albert said as he ended the call

"Son, check under the foot mat, you'll see the house key". Albert said

James then bent down to lift the foot mat and then took the key. He opened the house immediately.

He then went to the car to get his stuffs which took some minutes before finally packing all.

Albert headed to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine.

"I'm so exhausted" he said to James as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"I need a shower" James replied as he went to the bathroom.

He then removed his clothes, turned on the shower and allowed the cold water to run through his naked skin, feeling the chills down to his toes.

It was in that moment he started thinking about his ex-girlfriend (Betty) back in grade 6 of high school.

The couple were really in love but sometimes things doesn't go the way we want.

Betty father got a transfer at his working place. So the whole family had to relocate making Betty leave the highschool she and James attended.

All contacts were lost and he didn't hear from her again.

Albert then knocked the bathroom door. "Is everything alright in there son?" he said

Lost in thoughts, only for James to realize that the shower has been on for almost an hour.

As he regained consciousness, he stammered a little and said "Uhm yeah, everything is good in here dad".

Few minutes later James came out of the bathroom and went to the living room to meet his dad who had already put on the TV and started listening to news.

"You spent almost an hour in the bathroom. Were you washing away your sins?" Albert said jokingly.

"Hahaha, no dad, I just needed to clean up well after the long journey." James replied

"Well I'm hungry, try looking into the kitchen and see what we can cook to eat." Albert said

James then went into the kitchen and checked.

"Dad! There's nothing much in here, just noodles and eggs". He said from the kitchen

"Okay that should do" Albert replied as he made his way into the kitchen.

Oh did I forget to mention? Albert was pretty good at cooking too but not up to his younger brother Joe.

15 minutes later Albert and James were both sitting in the living room watching TV with a hot bowl of noodles each.

"I'm impressed! Uncle Joe's place has really improved over the years." James said

"Absolutely! It's a good thing to progress in life as time goes by and I believe you'll do the same." Albert replied

"By the way I'm going to the guest room to take a nap. I'm exhausted due to the long journey and need to regain strength for tomorrow so as to drive back." Albert said as he finished his noodles and walked to the guest room.

"Alright dad" James replied still eating as he changed the TV channel to wrestling.

James has always been a lover of WWE.

Few hours went by and uncle Joe was back home.

Knock knock knock

James stood up and opened the door. Behold it was uncle Joe.

"Wow, James! You've really grown." Joe said as he hugged him.

James gave a warm smile and said "Long time no see!!!".

He assisted uncle Joe with some food stuffs he brought to the kitchen.

"Where's Albert?" Joe asked

"He's in the guest room sleeping". James replied

"I guess he was really exhausted from the journey" Joe said

"Yes we were." James answered.

"Alright go and relax while I prepare dinner for us to eat" Joe said

Some hours later, dinner was ready. Both brothers were in the dinning room with James.

"Well I'll be leaving tomorrow morning". Albert said while eating

"Sure! Besides you can't leave your wife unserviced for too long. Joe said jokingly

"Hahaha, you have a dirty mind". Albert replied

"Speaking of that, Joe when do you plan on getting married? You're almost 30 now" Albert asked with concern.

During this moment, all James could do was eat his meal quietly as the conversations were off his level.

"Well, soon bro. I'll get married soon. Still searching for the right woman". Joe replied.

"Over the years, all you've been saying is soon. Please make your soon as quickly as possible". Albert said

They all laughed hard.

"I'm a man of taste." Joe said with a smile on his face.

"Uncle Joe, how many neighbors do you live with in this compound?" James asked

"Just one family". he replied

"Don't worry within your one week stay here, you'll get to know them." Joe added

"Cool." James said

"By the way, how's Diana?" Joe asked

"She's doing great! She just gained admission into highschool and will be resuming on Monday." James answered

"She really wanted to come pay you a visit but her schedule was too slim". he added.

"That's my girl! I look forward to seeing her during her vacation." Joe said

The conversation continued for a while and when it was getting late at night. They all retired to bed so as to have a sound rest ahead of the following day.