If you have no idea what is going on in this story, asking me will benefit you in no way, because I do not know either. You can, however, check out part 1 if it makes you feel better.
It was Aaron who opened the door and bounded into Theo's office, closely followed by Steve. Theo noted at once that they didn't bear resemblance to each other in any way. Steve was on the heavier side and had short, sandy hair and glasses. Aaron was extremely energetic, and his every movement caused his brown hair to tumble into his eyes.
“Uh, Theo, this is Aaron,” Steve said.
“Hi!” Aaron smiled widely. “I'm ten. How old are you? You know, your office is really boring. It could use more posters. Maybe a few posters of hamburgers, Star Trek, and race cars. I really like race cars. Do you?”
“Haha,” Steve laughed unconvincingly. “Aaron likes to talk.”
“So I see,” Theo said. “Did you find your flight?”
“Yes. We can leave in an hour,” Steve replied. “I brought some of Aaron's things with me; they're in the car.”
“Ah, yes, of course,” Theo said. “I can follow you outside and we can transfer them to my car, unless you want to drop them off at my house.”
“Which ever works for you,” Steve shrugged.
“I was thinking of working for a little bit longer, so maybe if you put them in my car it will work best.”
“Fine,” Steve said. Theo and Aaron followed him out into the hall.
“I brought my comforter with me, the one with all of the race cars on it, though you know, most of those cars look pretty lame. If I was a race car driver, I would drive a cool car. You know, one with -”
“Yes, Aaron,” Steve interrupted.
“Dad, did you remember to pack my Star Trek movies? Not the fifth one; I really don't like that one because it's too confusing and lame, but I'm going to want some of them with me if I'm going to be stuck with a boring grad-student all day.”
“Aaron!” Steve exclaimed, turning red with embarrassment.
“You're right,” Theo said. “I am an extremely boring person. You'll need more than just Star Trek to help bear the tedium.” He grinned at Steve encouragingly.
“Now look, Aaron,” Steve said sternly, “while I'm gone, you must remember to be polite. I'm going to be calling Theo to make sure you're being good.”
“Yes, dad,” Aaron said humbly.
When they reached outside, the sun was already beginning to set. The sky was pale blue with a pink glow by the sinking sun. The sun itself shone golden, glinting off of cars in the parking lot. The air was growing chilly, so Steve and Theo worked quickly to transfer Aaron's things into Theo's car. By the time they had finished, the sky was growing dark, and a thin band of color with a rainbow gradient was all that was left of the sunset. Already, the planet Jupiter and several of the brighter stars were becoming visible nearby a full, yellow moon.
“Now Aaron, don't talk off Theo's ears,” Steve reminded his son. “Theo is very busy working on his thesis, just like I am at home.”
“Yes, dad. I know,” Aaron said. “When will you come back?”
“As soon as I can,” Steve said. He hugged Aaron tightly, and squeezed Theo's arm. “Thanks again, Theo! I'll call you when I land in Florida and better know the state of things.”
“Right. Have a safe trip.”
“Thanks.”
Aaron was silent as he watched his father pull away, but he smiled up at Theo as soon as the car was out of sight, and eagerly inquired about dinner.
“I really like hamburgers, but I'll eat just about anything, so if you want Chinese food or something, I'm ok with that too.”
“How kind of you,” Theo commented sarcastically as they entered the building again. “I hope you don't mind waiting a little bit, though, because I'm trying to finish up a few things before I go.”
“Oh, that's ok,” Aaron said. “Do you have a computer I can use? I like looking up race cars and things online. My dad set up a racing simulator on our computer at home, and I like seeing if I can beat the other drivers in the simulator. Of course the other drivers are just computer-generated, but -”
“I'm afraid I don't have any extra computers,” Theo admitted.
“Shucks!” Aaron exclaimed. “This is turning out worse than I thought it would!”
(C) Copyright Curious Cognitive Content (CCC) - November 2010
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