AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One thing at a time…
“My granddaughter loves you!” the headmistress says. “Ha! I had no idea a married man was the frontman of her favorite band. I always thought, well, I don’t know what I thought, but –“
“I’d be happy to sign something for her or –“
“Yes, later, later. Let’s get the interview done first, but... that’s very interesting.”
Rex looks my way and I smile sympathetically. It was worth a shot.
“That must be very hard on your son. You must be gone a lot.”
“I have been, but we have enough acclaim at this point I can take a step back and focus on the important things. Namely Leo. And Isabella, of course.”
I swallow. He shouldn’t say things like that.
I might believe them.
“So, you’d say you’re both involved parents? Must be difficult with your careers.”
“Well, my mother also lives with me. With us,” I say and smile. “Leo’s Abuela.”
Headmistress Rockwell lifts her chin. “That must be nice for all of you.”
“Yes, very much so. It’s invaluable to have her around. Especially when Leo was young and I was… gone,” Rex says.
I look into my lap and wrap my free hand around his bicep. An apology. I didn’t know this interview would hold a magnifying glass up to our reality.
“But now you’re here, hm?”
Rex nods. “Yes. I’m here.”
“That’s good. Entering Tremain is quite a transition and children need their home life to be stable in order to make for good students, you understand?”
“Yes, of course. That’s what we aim for,” I say.
The headmistress looks between the two of us. “How would you describe your son in a few words? Dr. Delgado, you start.”
“Leo is intelligent.” Best to put that first. “Curious. And he’s a very kind boy. A good Samaritan. That’s thanks to his abuela. Loving.”
“Yes, alright. Mr. Redford?”
Rex stops breathing for a moment. He can perform on a stage for thousands of people and I am almost positive that doesn’t make him nearly as nervous as this conversation does. “Well, Leo is… sensitive.”
The headmistress narrows her eyes. “Sensitive.”
“Yes, he’s – it’s a good thing. He’s aware of the world around him. Feels it. You know. He’s empathetic. And he’s musical too.”
I smile to myself. Rex is describing himself. And he’s not wrong. That’s probably not too far off from how Leo really is. However, if Rex is going to stick around, he’s going to need to work on the musical part of it.
“You know, had him sitting with me at the piano since he was just a peanut,” he says.
I barely care that he’s lying when he describes Leo as a peanut.
“But I think what makes Leo so special is the curiosity piece my wife mentioned.”
I think I’m going to die.
“Leo is willing to take a chance on things he’s not sure of because he sees the possibility that things could be…” Rex glances my way. How dare he. With tears wavering in his green eyes. “Things could be beautiful.”
