“Max, watch the meat, I think you might overcook it," Adam chimed in just in time.

His call woke Max up from his stupor and the boy could only thank his lucky stars that tonight’s main course had been narrowly saved.

With precise movements, Max hurriedly laid down the slices of tender meat upon the wonderfully decorated plates alongside side dishes such as Parmesan Zucchini mixed with corn, and also, yogurt, Adam’s favorite.

“Something wrong? You seemed out of it.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Adam took a brief pause whilst Max exited the kitchen area with dinner on his hands, before then placing them down in order on the table. All the while, the TV was left running in the background.

Perhaps not intending to blatantly push the probe, Adam raised another question.

“So, how’s school today?”

Max reflexifly smiled as he poured fruit juice for his dad before serving his own glass. He sat down after he double-checked that nothing was missing.

“Well, I’d say it went well.”

“Yeah? That’s good.”

“Yeah, I even met Alyss in one of my classes.”

Coincidentally, Adam stopped midway from taking his first bite the moment Max mentioned her name.

“Alyss? You mean―”

“The little tomboy who used to run around the house with me? Correct.”

Max chuckled in glee but inwardly his mind wasn’t fully in the moment, hence he missed the moment where Adam’s expression underwent an unexpected change. However it all disappeared the moment Max cleared his head from further distractions.

“So how’s your end at the workplace, dad? No all-nighters today I hope.”

“About that,” Adam suddenly smirked. “Max, you won’t believe what just happened.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You see, remember the guy I mentioned a while back, named Mr. Keller?”

Max halted for a brief period before nodding. “He’s the one handling the funds, right?”

“Right. So Mr. Keller here…”

A slight tint of fervor lighted up Adam’s expression as Max quietly listened on one side. A small smile plastered on the boy’s face. He liked it when Adam came home with such an upbeat mood.

This was a common occurrence at the dining table of the Trumans. Perhaps one could even say that it has become a tradition of some sorts. Max would always sit through an hour or two of Adam’s ramblings on his daily experiences in the workplace.

It was a strange thing to happen. Oftentimes, people would just refrain from talking about work the moment they arrived home.

But the opposite rang true for the family of two. One of the reasons being, Max.

It all started during middle school when Max began to initiate communicative measures towards Adam.

For clarity, this did not mean that Max hadn’t had enough contact with his father. Not at all.

But what they did lack back then was interactive communication regarding manhood and topics that were more in the realm of ‘adult’ stuff.

At first, Adam attributed it to Max’s need for proper guidance as he had indeed stepped into his teenage years. Yet as time went on, the topics discussed had started to exceed the boundaries on what was ‘necessary’ for teenage boys.

However, Max had no qualms with that. It was understandable that kids his age would find it ‘boring’, yet since Max had already gone through his adult period once, things just weren’t as boring as they say.

In fact, Max held these stories in higher regard as he was able to both sympathize and empathize on what Adam was going through despite the difference in life experience or even their field of expertise.

This attitude in turn, became a defining factor that led Adam to open up like a dam.

For him, it was more of his way of expressing his pent up frustrations.

And if there was one thing that Max identified himself with to his current father, then it was that they were both solitary individuals.

For the past couple of years, Adam had no close friends. At least none that the boy knew of, other than the already deceased Uncle Bob. All the people that had been surrounding the older man during the day were mostly ‘acquaintances’ or ‘work friends’ at best.

And in Max's opinion, such a situation was not uncommon amongst others as well.

This was adult life.

Friends were few and far in between.

Everyone’s busy fighting their own battles.

And when you’re so caught up in it, do you think you have the time to care about another's situation?

This headspace that Adam’s currently in throughout all these years…was extremely familiar to Max.

The man fought the grind day after day, and not only that, he still got a kid to feed three times a day. There’s also his education and other expenses he needed to take care of.

To this, Max could only sigh. He knew that he still had it better. In his previous life, he may have been single, but he didn’t have an extra mouth to feed for at least the next 18 to 20 years.

Single parents are amazing in their own way.

But in the case of single fathers, the support system was negligible.

Because society expects them to go through it like a breeze! Because a man just had to man up!

So the only thing that Max could do to honor this great man…was to just take his example and support him in taking care of the house and listen through all the frustrations he had piled up.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

At times, Max could even end up listening for a good half an hour to Adam rambling about complicated things such as how certain medicines work and how their effects intrigued him. In spite of this, Max cherished every single moment they shared.

Yes, in regards to his occupation, Adam was a well known professor in Kidwell Medical School. Championing most things related to Pharmacology, the man would spend many hours of his day learning and also teaching the use of drugs and other medicinal objects.

Though medicines and their inherent properties were not the only thing that Adam would speak on.

There were also other elements that influenced the environment of this profession, especially the social aspect. Which in Max’s personal opinion was actually a far more interesting topic to invest himself in.

And one of the topics that Adam had been struggling with lately was how hard it was for him to secure enough funding to further his research on some wonder drug, which surprisingly, Max knew little of due to how secretive Adam had been this whole time.

“...Then he said: Prof, you got the funding! I'll update you on the details ASAP. And there you have it. You could not believe just how relieved I was,” Adam sighed at the latter end of his sentence.

In support of this, Max beamed with delight. “Congratulations dad! Hey, that's awesome.”

The boy knew that this meant a lot to his father. As he had noted how much stress Adam accumulated over the past year.

“Thanks,” Adam smiled from ear to ear.

“So, how about making plans for our celebration?” Max raised his body as he picked up the now empty plates. "We could go out somewhere and eat at some nice place."

“Uh, right, about that…"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just that, do you remember our talk in the car earlier this morning?"

Hearing Adam's voice wavering, Max had an 'eureka' moment. He played the oblivious part though, and merely egged Adam on.

"Oh, you mean about my high school?”

"No not that, I mean...about me, about me possibly dating someone."

"What about it?"

"I think I might've booked myself a date," the man uttered those words after taking a long pause.

“Wait, what?” Max stopped his hands from washing the dishes. He took a hand towel and rubbed them curiously. “You already got plans? With who?”

Awkwardly, Adam fumbled through his words as he tried to explain the situation as best he could.

“So, when I got that phone call, Dr. Turner was there.”

“And?”

“And, when the announcement dropped, we just lost it, things got out of hand, and before we knew it, we had already set a date to celebrate the occasion at Wang's Kitchen.”

A boisterous laugh escaped from Max.

“I knew it!'' he exclaimed.

Adam too raised his shoulders before then joined in the laughter.

“I guess I still got it in me.”

“40 plus years and still counting, you sure do Dad, you sure do.”

“So how about it, you coming?”

Max thought about Adam’s invitation. To be fair, it was indeed a tempting offer. Max never knew how Adam fared during dates. Since never in this lifetime had he seen Adam with another woman other than his mother. But he had been too young to remember that time.

Nevertheless, he decided that it wasn’t appropriate.

“Thanks dad, but I’ll pass. Not planning on being a third wheel any time soon. When’s the date though?”

“It’s next Friday night, we couldn’t do it earlier due to our clashing schedules.”

Adam was nonchalant as he didn’t push Max further to come along. In hindsight, it might've been better this way.

Incidentally, while going in strides back to the kitchen area, an idea suddenly popped up in Max's head.

“Hey Dad, mind if I hang out with my friends while you’re out? I’m thinking of taking Alyss and another guy I met in school, Ben, to the theaters.”

Strangely enough, the moment he said this, no immediate answer came.

"...Dad?"

Even after calling Adam several times, no answer came.

So Max could only attend to the dishes first before then checking up on Adam.

When he was done, Max found out that Adam had his eyes glued to the TV. His breath was unsteady.

His gaze followed soon after. In an instant, Max identified a man sitting behind a large desk neatly dressed as one of America’s current popular news anchors. Instinctively, Max searched for the remote in order to raise the volume.

[This is Sean Messer from Messer Reports. Less than an hour ago we've found news of an attempted murder in Carston City that almost succeeded, if not for the intervention of a certain vigilante. Fortunately, we’ve got our reporter, Dan Walters, on-site to give further details. Dan, can you give us a picture of the situation?]

The screen shifted its color as it showed a chaotic scene. Multiple law enforces were seen in groups in the background. Standing in the middle of all this was a man with a microphone in hand.

[Well Sean, what we currently do know as of recently is that an attempted murder was done by a man, aged in his late 20s. We have not confirmed the identity of the culprit as of yet, since the police had barred us from further investigation. What we do know however is that the victim is confirmed to be a 62-year-old female named Barbara Smith, who works here in the local bank.]

[Right, so then, can you tell us how the attempted murder failed in the end?]

[Unfortunately, we couldn’t get any footage of the action for further proof, but what the victim herself had to say on the matter does indeed have its own weight. She apparently said that her life was saved by a woman in a cape named Starlet. As such, allow me to show you our brief interview.]

The camera changed in a close-up position. The subject was a skinny woman of advanced age with brunette hair. Her face overwhelmed with a myriad of unspeakable emotions drew both the father and son's attention.

[Yes, I can confirm it with my own eyes, she's a wonderful soul. I used to think that strong individuals such as her might be a problem for our country, our community, our neighborhood. But that is clearly not the case. Starlet, my dear, if you're seeing this, do know that you have mine and my family's gratitude.]

Sean Messer then swiftly popped up and he took direct control of the program.

[There you have it folks, another stellar save from one of humanity's best. That is all for today, I'm Sean Messer, signing off.]

Max turned to Adam. His squinted eyes haven't left the TV.

Unsure of what's going on, Max stretched out his hand and shook the older man's shoulder.

"Dad."

"Huh?! Oh."

Adam's erratic breath calmed down. His gaze cleared of whatever cloudiness it had moments prior.

"You okay?"

"I-I'm good...so what are you saying earlier?"

"I was thinking that maybe I could hang out with Alyss and a new friend I just made, Ben, to go see a movie together while you're on your date."

"Right...movies."

Max crossed his arms, bewildered.

"So can I go?"

Adam took a long hard stare on the ground. He looked as if he was having an internal debate with himself, but ultimately sighed as he came to his decision.

"...Sure, go ahead."

"Are you sure about this? I'll go home early if you want. 9 p.m. I'll even notify your phone once in a while too."

Adam raised his body and let out a strained smile. "I'd like that. Please do."

With heavy steps Adam headed to his room, but not before getting another call from his son.

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"Do you have beef with Starlet or something?"

Adam halted before shaking his head.

"I don't."

"Then why the intense expression? It looked as if she's your nemesis or something."

Adam took one last glance of Max before entering the darkness of his bedroom.

"I just...remembered something unpleasant. That's all."

Standing as a lone figure, a frustrated Max sighed.

"...I don't know what's going on anymore."