Summer's Haven.

A blast to the past

It was one of those unusually hot days, the children were in the pool being carefully monitored by the house sitter while summer relaxed on the side and let the cool breeze soothe her troubled mind.
"Just friends; Good friends; Best friends; Like a sister"
Summer kept muttering to herself. Years had flown by and she never even thought about him, but just few hours within the same vicinity and a lot of memories came flooding back. Memories she had long since buried. Memories of Eric trouble Grayson.
Summer could recall when they first met. It wasn't anything cliché as running into him or anything. He was simply introduced to her by her cousin, Dave, in his usual bored voice and dry humor.
"Winter, meet my friend Eric, known him since blabla none of your business.
"Eric, that's my little cousin Summer, Her attitude actually depicts her name. Stay far, she might infect you with her excess cheer".
Eric had looked confused for a moment before voicing out his thoughts.
" but you just called her Winter. Which is her name? Summer or Winter "
Dave had laughed and told him to call her Autumn, Spring or what ever caught his fancy, he couldn't care less and was just too hungry to even recall her actual name.
She had just smiled awkwardly and told the strange boy she was actually Summer.
Summer was just a gawky 13year old girl with no visible sign of body development anywhere in site. She was usually teased for being a late bloomer and always up to mischief with the boys.
"You have beautiful eyes" Eric had commented and she had run from him with her hands covering her face in embarrassment. From that day onward, she had developed a huge crush on him.
They never saw each other until two weeks later were he threatened to punch a persistent admirer at a party she didn't even want to be in. They had left the party early and had talked for hours into the night.
After that Day, summer and Eric were practically inseparable and she had fancied herself in love with him and felt the feelings were mutual.
Days had rolled into nights, months had gone by and they had only grown closer. it had taken her all of 4years to finally develop the courage to confess her love to him. Lucky her that he had beaten her to it and introduced his girlfriend. He had called her his "good friend" and "one of the boys" to ease his girlfriend's mind. Summer had felt her heart breaking and barely managed to keep a forced smile on her face. Denise had given her a piercing stare and a creepy smile like she could read summer's mind and found delight in the pain she was causing.
"Mum!!! come join us!"
A douse of water on her face jolted summer from her reverie.
Shoving her unwanted thoughts to the recess of her minds she played along with her kids.
"Who dares wake the water monster!!!! Rooaaarrr! She is coming to get you..."
Gigglingly, the kids began to swim to the farthest side of the pool to stay clear from their mum who had jumped into the pool for the chase.
Thankful for the day off, summer decided to put Eric off her mind and vowed to steer clear during work hours.

                   ***************************************

"Dad!!! You are cheating" a pouty voice rang all over the empty halls.
"No, I am not"
Sophia gave her dad the death glare.
"Okay, maybe a little" Eric conceded.
"But you are not allowed to" folding her hands and looking deeply offended, Sophia pouted and stared her dad down. She looked so cute, Eric had to swing her in his arms and spin her around. Laughter and giggles filed the air as father and child seemed to be in their own world.
"Sorry munchkin, daddy will play fair next time"
"You said that the last time you know, pinky promise daddy"
Eric knew he was still going to cheat, because no matter how much time he spent playing her made-up game, he could never win. Once he was getting the hang of it, she would change the rules again.
"Fine, I will pinky promise not to cheat, if you pinky promise not to change the rules halfway through."
Sophia was a smart child and knew what her dad was upto.
"No way! Grandma May, daddy is bullying me!"
As if on cue, May suddenly appeared and scolded Eric
"I wonder who the child is among you two. Alright Munchkin, it's time to prepare for bed, we go shopping for school item tomorrow".
"I miss my old school grandma May, what if they don't like me here?"
"Who could resist my adorable pumpkin" tickling and hauling Sophia up the stairs, their voices gradually faded as Eric's phone rang.
Taking out his phone from the pocket, he picked up moving towards his study.
"Whats'up Ken?"
"Hey, buddy" they both busted out in laughter.
"Grow up Ken, it's been over 10years and you have never let me hear the last of it"
Ken and Eric had been childhood friends, growing up in the same neighborhood and attending the same school, they had been the two musketeers before Summer had joined them. At the beginning of Summer always tagging behind him, he had tried convincing his friends there was nothing between them only for them to tease him harder. In a last bit of attempt to convince them, he had once yelled out "hey buddy!" When he spotted summer running towards them. Everyone had looked stunned including summer and he was about to die  with the awkward silence that ensued when Summer had eased the tension by waving "hey buddy!" in return and jumping on him. They had stopped teasing him about summer at least, but Ken never let him forget the awkward greeting.
"Hello, have you been listening at all? I said I ran into Dave and was thinking we should all hang out now before you officially resume and no one gets to see you as always"
"I'll pass. Need to unpack a whole lot of boxes and sleep early tonight. The new week is gonna be busy with my new work and new school for Sophia."
"Don't you have a maid for that? Or is that fear I smell from the almighty doctor Grayson? "
"The only thing you smell is your bad breath. Plus I don't need anyone moving my own sh*t"
Eric was really good at his job and had made a name for himself, but he honestly was feeling a little bit anxious about working closely with summer. He was very shocked firstly to see summer there in that profession and being so high up for that matter. Summer had always loved drawing. As wild and as rough as she had been as the next guy, she had always found time to get lost in her drawings. She was going to be a world renowned artist. He wondered what had changed.
"So you say, see you at work in Monday, don't forget to report first to my office"
"Ai ai captain" they both laughed and ended the call.
Ken was the CFO of the hospital, and had been the one to finally convince Eric to return. He had needed a new chief gynaecologist as his was retiring and Eric had needed a change of environment after his nasty divorce with Denise. It was a win-win situation.
Five hour later, and the last of his boxes were unpacked. The big house was beginning to look like people actually lived in it. He still had a lot of furnishing to do, but at least,they had the necessities taken care of. It was a duplex with two suites downstairs and five suites upstairs. Honestly, he had no idea what to do with such a large space. It had been Denise idea to buy the enormous mansion as a thing to boast about knowing fully well she never planned to live in it. It was just for bragging rights and then he had foolishly thought that pleasing her would keep her long enough to be real mother to her daughter whom she had always neglected.
Walking up the stairs to the master room, Eric signed as he recalled Denise gushing over the pictures of each place and painting a picture of how each room would be decorated and all the parties that she would host in the ballroom. He had been fooled one again by Denise and had paid a lump sum to purchase the house. The house alone wasn't just grand, it was accompanied by a large expanse of land, with two indoor pools, gaming room, family room, three office spaces and a sauna. The surround land still housed the staff building where att the household staff stayed with the exception of May who was family. The land was so wide, although fenced round, it still required a cart to go around it. The stable had five horses he had no idea what to do with and was thankful he had employed all his late grand father's loyal staff including the gardener, butler, the cook and some maids. He and Sophia alone in this house would have been hell. All the extra hands would help Sophia adjust quickly as she was familiar with them.
Thinking about Sophia, Eric could not help but smile as he recalled her outrage when she discovered he was not playing fair. He was thankful she was the splitting image of his mum and the only thing she used toesemble her mum was the small height. She looked quite small for her age but what she lacked in size, she made up in demeanor. She was really nice and cute when she wanted to be, but the moment she had an inkling that she was being looked down on, she would give the cold stare and put the person right in their place. One moment she could be as gentle as a dove, and the next moment, as wild as an animal. Thinking of someone who was wild, summer immediately cross his mind. It's not like he wanted to think of her at this moment but after meeting her again without her recognizing him he could not help but remember his childhood with her. Summer had been an only child of her parents and had lost her mom at a young age she had been raised by her dad and strictly speaking he had tried his best although she looked and dressed more like a boy than a girl the first time he met her he had noticed her wild green eyes that didn't seem to go well with her gawky body. He had thought she had beautiful eyes and did not realize he had spoken out until she covered her face and ran away shyly. Dave had busted out in laughter and he could not help but smile, she was a real cute child. He had just moved with his family to the neighborhood when he befriended dave and in extension, Summer. So much had happened between them that he could not really recall the exact point Summer became his best friend and confidant; she was always there with him when he was low and celebrated with him in the highs. Everything had seemed to be going smoothly between them for years and even his group of friends had accepted her as "one of the boys" although she seemed to have always preferred his own company. Those that used to tease her for her gangly look immediately stopped when they discovered that she had some "powerful" friends and hung out with them all the time.
With a chuckle, Eric turned in his bed as he remembered how he and summer always made fun of Denise when they were all growing up as she always acted prim and proper and spoke like she was better than everyone else. Denise had always dressed to the nines and walked like she was a princess. He and Summer would mimic her when she wasn't looking and laugh behind her back when she acted up. Little did he know that some years down the line, he would eventually fall in love with all that he used to make fun of.