-LONDON-
In his office again that morning, White Francis was busy scanning some paperwork's his secretary handed him earlier when his phone rang. He frowned when he saw it was his mother's name on his phone's screen. His mother doesn't make a phonecall unless it's very urgent, so what's the emergency now? Frowning, he accepted the call.
"Yes, mom?"
"Son.. Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinsons are here. And they want to talk to you."
Now his frown became deeper. "About what?"
"Come home, hijo, and you'll know."
White Francis softly cleared his throat as his maids opened the main door of his mansion for him and saw his parents and Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson sitting in his spacious living room. Then his parents immediately smiled at him when the old couple saw him walking towards the four. While Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson were obviously shy and awkward when the two finally saw him personally.
"W-White Francis, hijo.."
"Good evening, White Francis.."
White Francis gave Mrs. and Mrs. Dikkinson a formal smile as he reached the living room of his mansion. "Good evening too, Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson." He greeted back and formally extended his right hand to them. And the old couple were obviously hesitant to take his hand for a formal handshake. But in the end, the old couple took his hand and smiled awkwardly at him. He cleared his throat once again when he took a seat already on the single couch, fronting Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson and his parents.
"Uhm.. We're very sorry if we disturbed your business hours right now, hijo."
"No, it's okay, Madame. I'm not that busy today and I let my COO handle the company while I'm gone for this important matter." He said with a formal smile.
"O-Okay. Then how are you, White Francis? It's an honor to finally see you personally after six years." Mr. Dikkinson said and smiled at him.
He smiled back. "I'm good, sir. It's an honor to finally see you and Mrs. Dikkinson in person as well. How are you both also by the way?"
The old couple both smiled at him and answered in chorus. "We're good." Then Mrs. Dikkinson sighed and said, "B-But our daughter isn't."
He wanted to look away and scoff then say "Oh please not again" but he stopped himself. That's such a rude behavior and he doesn't want to be like that, especially towards the old couple. So he preferred to just clear his throat once again, smiled formally and asked, "Why, Madame? May I know what happened to her?"
"She's.. She's still in deep pain up to now, White Francis. She hasn't moved on from what happened six years ago. Just like you."
He wanted to raise an eyebrow because of what he heard. "Just.. Like me?"
"Uhh.. Actually, son, I was the one who told them about what your father and I observed in you for the past six years now and that you haven't.. Moved forward yet from the things and.. Persons. Of you past."
His eyebrows eventually furrowed of what his mother stated. "Mom, you're exaggerating things."
"No of course not! You're not the same White Francis that we used to know. You've changed. A lot. And that changes of yours happened after you were so devastated on what happened because of us. And so because of that, son.. You're not enthusiastic anymore, yes you still smile but we always see that it didn't reach your eyes when you're talking to us. Your eyes only glow when you talk to Baby Neo. And.. You even acted cold sometimes, hijo. And that's all because of us. So now that we have finally opened up that topic to you, so your father and I wanted to apologize for that arrange marriage we created to you and to Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson's daughter. We didn't get the chance to talk about this for the past six years because you keep on avoiding it. But now.. It's totally different."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Now the past was being brought up again and he hates it.
"And we.. We wanted to apologize too, White Francis.. For everything we caused to you and to our daughter too. We are so sorry for everything."
He sighed and smiled plainly at Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson. "It's okay now, Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson. Let's just forget about that and focus on the present." Then he glanced upon his parents and smiled plainly at the old couple too. "Same goes with the both of you, mom and dad. Let's just leave the past behind."
"We have already left our pasts behind actually, son. But you and Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson's daughter.. Haven't."
White Francis wanted to groan in total irritation and really wanted to walk out already because of what his father stated. "And with all due respect, dad, but what are you trying to drive at exactly?"
The old couples looked at each other eventually. And he can clearly see the nervousness and uneasiness that was clearly written on the old couples' faces. And he's not liking it. Because there goes that feeling inside him again that states something unpleasant for his ears was about to come out from the couples' mouths. And he was silently waiting for it to be spilled out finally. And so after a few seconds of silence, his father cleared his throat and said, "Uhh.. Actually, son.. There's a big.. Reason why Mr. and Mrs. Dikkinson went here to see you. Not just to see you finally in person.. But also to uhh.. To ask for your help."
He frowned. "My help?"
"Uhh..Yes, White Francis.." Mr. Dikkinson answered.
"And actually.. Me and my wife made a hard decision last night after we saw our daughter so devastated again. We know we sounded so selfish but we couldn't find any more ways to solve this problem. At first, we're so hesitant to make that decision and very hesitant to come here but in the end, we have come to realize that we have to do what we already had in mind. So we contacted your parents immediately first to ask where we can see them to talk to them on a very important matter and when we already did, we found out that they're here taking a one month vacation in your house here in London so we went here without hesitation thinking that luck was on our side because the three of you can be found together in one place and that would be easy for us to state our agenda to you."
Francis automatically cleared his throat. Now he's not liking the atmosphere even more because of what he heard. But still, he remained calm and formally asked. "And what agenda is that if I may ask, Sir?"
"The.. The agenda.. Regarding our daughter.
Whiter Francis frowned. "Your daughter?"
"Y-Yes, hijo. We need your help for our daughter, White Francis. Please help us." Mrs. Dikkinson said.
His face became so formal and dead serious. "And what kind of help for your daughter do you want me to do, Madame?"
So Mrs. Dikkinson suddenly reached for his hand and held it. "White Francis, please. We need you to meet up with our daughter in the Philippines."