Henry had just finished having dinner and was about to go upstairs to freshen up when his phone started to ring. It was his best friend.
“Hey, Bryan. What’s up?” He greeted in a cheerful voice while unbuttoning his shirt.
“Nothing much. Are you home?” Bryan replied at the other end.
“Yeah.. I got back a while ago”
“And Amy?”
“Amy’s at her best friend’s place. She decided to stay a little longer”
“Oh”
“Is there a problem?” Henry asked in concern.
“None at all… I just thought you both will see the surprise together”
“What surprise?” Henry sat on his bed, his complete attention now on the phone call.
“If I tell you, then it’s no longer a surprise” Bryan could tell from Henry’s voice that he was eager to hear the details.
“You know I’m not good at surprises. That’s Amy’s thing”
“Don’t worry. You’ll know what it is soon enough” The line went dead after that, confusing Henry all the more.
He hasn’t heard his best friend sound this happy and enthusiastic in a long time. He took off his formal clothing before going into the bathroom. Henry got out of the bathroom after ten minutes, in a black tank top and black joggers. He picked up his phone and was about giving his daughter a call when a text message from Bryan appeared on his phone screen.
‘I’m at the door’ it read.
Henry didn’t bother sending a reply, he took long strides towards his bedroom door and headed downstairs. By the time Henry got to his living room, one of his maids had already answered the door. To say he was disappointed when he didn’t spot anything with Bryan was an understatement. He thought he wanted to show him a surprise, so where’s the so called surprise?
Bryan on the other hand smiled when he saw the disappointed look on his best friend’s face. He then stepped away from the door, to reveal the person standing behind him.
“From the look on your face, I think I’m finally ready to beat you at basketball” the person said to Henry, who was wearing a confused look.
His confused look was soon replaced with a surprised one when he realized who it was.
“Sean?!” He exclaimed in surprise.
“The one and only” Sean replied with a smile, taking few steps towards his father’s best friend. They shook hands and hugged each other.
“I can’t believe this! You’re a man now” Henry stared at Sean in disbelief. The last time he saw Sean, he was barely a teenager.
Sean is Bryan’s only child with his late wife, Monica. He was only twelve years old when his mom died from breast cancer. Sean was really affected by his mother’s death because he was really close to her. Bryan tried everything he could to console his son when his wife died but he was unsuccessful. So, he flew him to New Jersey, to live with his grandparents, as he was quite fond of them. Living with Monica’s parents helped Sean a lot. He gradually returned to his old self to Bryan’s relief.
After two years, Bryan decided to bring him back home but Sean refused. He told his dad that the memories of his mom was still very prominent in the house and he didn’t want to fall back into depression because he knew Bryan wouldn’t be able to comfort him since they never really had a strong bond, so he’d be better off living with his grandparents.
Bryan was sad and disappointed at the fact that his own son preferred his grandparents over him, his father but he had to respect his decision. So, that was how Sean separated from Bryan, causing the relationship between father and son to become strain over time.
Sean is an adult now and has successfully started his own company in New Jersey, making his father proud.
“I sure am… I’ve been working out” Sean confirmed Henry’s compliment by flexing his muscles.
Bryan and Henry laughed at Sean’s attempt to look manly. He still has a long way to go if he wants to be like his dad or his dad’s best friend.
“Make yourselves comfortable” Henry gestured for them to sit down.
“What would you like to drink?” He then asked.
“No more orange juice for me. I’m way past that” Sean said stressing the last part.
“I’ll keep that in mind” Henry smiled leaving the living room to get a bottle of one of his most expensive wine from his wine cellar.
“What brings you to this side of the earth?” He jokingly asked when he returned to the living room.
“I realized I haven’t been fair to my dad and to you, so… I decided to take a break from work to come spend some quality time with you guys”
“Wow! That’s a first time” Henry whispered, but it was audible enough for Sean and Bryan to hear.
“Or, let me guess… You wanted us to have a basketball rematch since I always beat you” he continued.
“Yeah… That too” Sean admitted while taking his glass of wine from Henry.
“I’m not going to lose to you this time” he added with a determined look.
“Let’s toast to that, then” They toasted to Sean’s return and Henry started throwing questions at Sean.
The three men talked until it was way past midnight. Since it was already too late to go back home, Bryan and Sean ended up spending the night at Henry’s place.