CERTIFIED THIEF

PHOTOGENIC

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    Maverick closed the door gently and they walked in the direction of the couches. They sat down on separate couches and the sitting room was rented in silence. Miles removed his nose mask and dark eyeglasses. He placed them on the couch and gazed at Maverick’s face. He could see sadness written on Maverick’s face. “Are you okay at all?” he said.

    Maverick tried to talk, but he couldn’t, he started crying instead. Miles stood up from the couch and sat down beside Maverick. He held Maverick’s hand and whispered some words into his ears. As if a child who was pacified with a biscuit, Maverick stopped crying. He nodded his head and told Miles everything that had happened. Miles was painstaking as Maverick talked. He never interrupted Maverick and he put on a sad face.

“I am so sorry for what happened. You now see why I said Hawaii is unsafe,” Miles said. He gave some sermons all in the name of pacifying Maverick. Maverick listened to the sermons and nodded his head all along, but he never uttered a word. Miles stood up from the couch and tidied the clutter. He was about to sit down when they heard a knock on the door.

     Miles quickly walked in the direction of the door. He opened the door and saw Sophie. He screamed Sophie's name and attracted Maverick’s attention. Maverick gave a smile.

    Miles closed the door gently and they walked in the direction of the couches. Sophie was dressed in a black skirt and red blouse. She was clutching a tanned bag too. She placed her bag on the floor and sat down. She exchanged pleasantries with the men. Maverick ensured that he was carefree. He didn’t want Sophie to know what had happened because she would call him a careless man.

“I think I should excuse husband and wife now,” Miles said and stood up from the couch.

“Really? I hope I am not chasing you?” Sophie said with a smile.

“No. Actually, I am going for a social function. I wanted to say hi to Maverick before going.”

“That’s nice of you,” Sophie said. 

    Miles clutched his eyeglasses and nose mask from the table and put them on. He bid Sophie farewell and Maverick walked him out of the house. Maverick returned to the sitting room and saw Sophie glancing through a photo album.

“How did you get this?” Maverick said and sat down beside Sophie. Sophie took her gaze from the photo album and said she saw the photo album inside the book shelf. Maverick smiled and joined Sophie in glancing through the photo album. Sophie flipped the pages of the album and they smiled from time to time. She knew she had a photogenic spouse, so she wasn’t too surprised by what she saw.

“Our wedding pictures will join the album very soon,” Maverick said. 

    Sophie smiled and nodded her head. When they finished glancing through all the pages of the photo album, Sophie returned the album to the shelf. She said she would like to cook something.

“It’s your kitchen. We have different raw food,” Maverick said.

    Sophie left the sitting room for the kitchen. She smiled when she saw the varieties of raw food inside the kitchen. She quickly thought of what to cook. She muttered some words and acceded to cooking beans.

    The rain was so intense until it started subsiding. Cameron was alone in the living room. His wife and children had left home since morning and they hadn’t returned. When Cameron noticed that the rain had subsided, he clutched his car key and walked in the direction of the doorway.

    He was about to get his Benz car when he heard the hoots of a car. As soon as the gate went open, he saw a car coming in his direction. The car stopped in the car park and the occupants alighted from the car

“Darling, are you going out?” Naomi said after she had greeted her husband.

“Yeah. I have an appointment with Milo for 4pm and it's 3:30 pm already,” Cameron said.

    Bella watched husband and wife as they talked. When they finished talking, Bella collected Naomi’s bag and they walked in the direction of the door. Cameron quickly sat in the driver’s seat, he started the car and faced the dashboard. He drove the car in the direction of the gate.

    Minutes later, Cameron gets to Milo’s house. He alighted from the car and saw Milo sitting under the marquee. He quickly walked in the direction of the Marquee. Milo was so engrossed in the newspapers he was reading that he didn’t notice the presence of Cameron.

“I have been standing here since, Mr. Man,” Cameron said and tapped Milo on the back.

“Hey, big man. Please, have your seat. I was carried away in the newspapers.”

    Cameron smiled and sat down beside Milo. He wondered why Milo would be sitting under the Marquee in the cold. Milo asked if Cameron would like to drink wine. Cameron said he was satisfied. Milo had no option than to let him be.

    Close to Milo was a glass cup placed on a small table. Milo clutched the cup and gulped its contents. When he emptied the cup, he placed it on the ground and rested his legs on the table. Cameron quickly noticed that Milo was more concerned about the newspapers.

“My in-law, you are raising your eyebrows. Is anything the problem?” Cameron said.

    Milo smiled and said there was an earthquake that occurred in Florida and it claimed about a hundred lives. The facial look on Cameron’s face showed that he was sorry for what happened. He asked Milo other things about the earthquake and Milo replied to him bravely. Milo placed the newspaper on his lap and he fixed his gaze on Cameron. He had only uttered three words when Charlie interrupted him. Charlie greeted the men and walked away, clutching the empty glass cup.

    When Milo observed that Charlie was out of sight, he asked Cameron whether they were prepared for the wedding. Cameron smiled. He said they were very prepared for the wedding and Milo smiled.

“I am ready too. Our kids are about to journey through the roller coaster of marriage,” Milo said.

“You can say that again. My relatives will start arriving from tomorrow. They are longing to share in our joy.”

“That’s good. Have you gotten any calls from our children?”

“Yeah. I got a call from Sophie. She said they would be coming to Colorado tomorrow alongside their friends.

    Milo was pleased with what Cameron said. He said Maverick also told him the same thing. The two friends talked about what the wedding would look like. Cameron painted a vivid picture of the upcoming event. He said the wedding would be elaborate and it would be graced by dignitaries. Milo didn’t argue with Cameron. He knew his caliber, so he was expecting wealthy men at the event.

“The president or his vice president will be in attendance,” Milo said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I had given the president an invitation card since last month.”

“That’s nice of you. Our children’s wedding will be the talk of Americans.”

“Yeah. It will be a red-lettered day.

    As the two men talked, they laughed uncontrollably. They were in the middle of their discussions when they saw a red car. The occupant alighted from the car, she clutched her purse and walked in the direction of the men. She greeted the men and wondered what the men were discussing.

“You look beautiful, Ruth. How was work today?” Milo said as he gazed at Ruth seductively.

“Thank you very much, Doctor Milo. Work was hectic, but we thank God.” “I can sense euphoria here. What’s going on?” Ruth asked. She was more interested in what was going on.

    Milo told Ruth some of the things they had discussed before. Ruth opened her mouth in bewilderment when she was told that the president would grace the wedding. She said she would never miss the wedding for anything.