Page 27 of Leon
*****
Robert Whitlock stared at his children, eyes bright with an anger, he was trying not to show. It always pays to be cool and in complete control. The main course was finished and with his daughter playing the perfect hostess, they had adjourned to the elegant living room for coffee and tiny cakes. He would play along with the entire thing, listen to the conversation floating around him and bide his time.
She had come back from her crusade. That's exactly what it was. A damn crusade, designed to piss him off! She had come back two days ago, and he was just learning of it now. His own son had kept the matter from him. Yes, he had been away for those past two days, but that's what telephones and emails were for.
"More coffee, dad?" He snapped to attention when she hovered at his side with the coffee pot.
"No." His answer was short and brusque, gray eyes ready for battle. "When are you leaving again?" He directed the question to her husband, cutting off a lively discussion between him and Leon about the logic of using AI in medicine or some such crap.
"I... er..." Anthony cleared his throat and tried valiantly not to look to his wife for guidance. But she jumped to his rescue anyway.
"We're staying put for a while." Lisa breezed by and put the coffee pot on the refreshment table. "Unless something comes up."
A sneer touched his lips as he swung his gaze towards her. "Is that the way you intend to spend your life? Gadding about God knows where, instead of settling down to be a proper wife? When will you start making a family?" He swung his gaze back to her husband, blazing him with eyes that looked like storm clouds. "And what the hell kind of husband are you to allow all of this to happen?"
"I would kindly advise you to pose the questions to me." Lisa's voice was tight; her face flushed with anger. "This is supposed to be a family reunion. Anthony and I have been away for more than six months. I planned this dinner." She shook her head as her brother started to rise. "No. This has been brewing for a while." Her eyes flashed as she rounded on her father. "I will not have you dictating to me, trying to run my life the way you think it should be run. And I will not have you come into our home and talk to my husband in that disrespectful manner. Planning a family is our business, Anthony's and mine, and none of yours. You do not get to tell me what to do. I am not a bloody child you can order around at will. I am an adult."
They sat there glaring at each other for a few minutes, the silence in the room pulsing with tension. Pushing from the chair, Robert finished the coffee and slammed the cup down.
"I can see I am not wanted here."
"Robert..."
"Dad..."
Both Anthony and Leon spoke at the same time, but nothing stopped his flight from the room. "I will see myself out."
No one spoke for a few minutes as they heard the front door slam.
"I should go after him."
"No." Lisa shook her head, eyes blazing as she stared at her brother. "He had it coming."
"You were pretty harsh on him, darling." Anthony grimaced as she sliced him with a look. Rising, he went towards the table. "Why don't I take these into the kitchen?" Picking up the tray, he made his escape.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" She demanded.
Stretching his legs out, Leon crossed them at the ankles and picked up his snifter of brandy. "And get my head blown off? No thanks."
She sighed heavily. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes wearily. "I had every intention of playing it cool. This was supposed to be a nice dinner where I planned to feel him out about what happened with him and Luke Donaldson, to get to the truth of it."
Her brother gave her a sharp glance, a frown touching his brow. "That's not your call to make."
"Then whose is it?" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "I happen to like your wife. And I can see how unhappy being apart from her is making you."
His expression softened. "I'm dealing."
"Are you? And for that matter, is she?" She sighed again and shook her head. "I have no doubt you will work things out, but..." She paused and knotted her brow. "There's something not quite right about her dad."
"No surprise there."
"No." She shook her head and leaned forward, expression intense. "The man permeates a kind of..." She spread her hands wide. "Malice and self-awareness that shows through, when he thinks no one is looking."
Leon frowned at her. "You're not making much sense."
She shrugged, picked up her wine and took a sip just as her husband walked back in.
"All clear?"
