“What the…? Shit!” A pan clattered into the sink as she turned around, clutching a hand over her heart. “Bloody hell, Theo! Sneaking up on me like that. You were lucky I weren’t chopping anything up.” Her shock mostly over, she grabbed a tea towel off the rack to dry her hands and then beckoned with them. “Come here, luv.” He did and let her kiss him on the cheek. She hadn’t changed much from the last time he had seen her. A few more wrinkles, a little grey in her hair, but still the welcoming smile that he remembered from each afternoon when he came home from school. “Are you staying? You’ll stay for dinner, right? And don’t forget to say hello to Harry. Here, let me take your jacket.”
He smiled. Yes, just the same. “Already have, Mum, and I’ve got to go play videogames with him in a couple of minutes. But I came to speak to you and Dad, it’s important.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket and gave it to her to hang over the back of a chair.
“Oh, okay. Well, we can talk over dinner, if you want. I’ll get Harry a plate so he can eat in his room. He loves doing that.” She was looking him over closely and pointed at his arm with just a hint of disapproval. “Is that a new tattoo? Surely you have enough now?”
“Yeah, that one and a few more, too.” He didn’t offer to take off his shirt to show them off. It wasn’t that she disliked all tattoos, just that she didn’t get why her son would want to mar his beautiful skin. “Maybe, but I could think of something else to get. I better go up to Harry before he wonders where I’ve got to. Let me know when Dad gets in.”
***
Just as his mum had said, Harry was elated to be able to have his chicken nuggets and chips and still play his game, and it gave Theo and his parents the chance to talk without having to take his needs into account. Not that it would be an easy conversation, Theo thought.
His dad was not as welcoming to his oldest son when he came in from working on his car as his mum had been, but that didn’t surprise Theo. Steve Garnon was old school. King and country and everything British, which could sometime be awkward in such a multicultural city. It still rankled that his son gave up his military career for what he believed was a cushy job in the City. They all tucked into the traditional Sunday roast dinner, tasty lamb, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, peas and carrots, and gravy.
After complimenting his mum on the lovely dinner, and some generic small talk, Theo opened up the conversation. He finished his mouthful. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve got a new job, and I’m going to be moving.” He had told them that he worked security for a bank in the CIty of London as they would never understand why he was a mercenary. As it happened, his cover now provided a logical step to his new position.
“Moving? Where to, sweetie?” Lynne asked, interested. “Out of London?”
“Out of the country. Switzerland. I’ll be heading the security for a Swiss bank. It’s a good job. Lots of responsibility, and it’ll keep me busy.” Theo helped himself to some more roast potatoes as he tried, and failed, to ignore his mum’s obvious upset. “Switzerland isn’t far, and it’s not as if you’ve both seen much of me, and I just live a couple of miles away.”
“And that’s it? The only time in ages you come visit, and it’s to tell us that you’re leaving.” Steve was not impressed. “So now you’re not only going to be working at a bank, but a foreign one. You know that your old regiment is being posted to a combat zone. Kyle sent me a text, looking for you and mentioned it. Not where though, of course.” And the world had been for a long time now, that could be a number of places.
Theo sighed. This was his dad’s way of ‘hinting’ that he should never have quit the Army. It rankled because the old man couldn’t understand that he wasn’t able to do what he wanted or see the action he wanted. So, it was easier to ignore the remarks. “It’s a better job than the one here, more responsibility, money. It looks like it’ll be a challenge.” He wasn’t going to get more in depth about his new employment than that. MacDonald had firmly stated how much privacy was valued. “But anyway, that’s not what I needed to talk to you about.”