The Externals Reloaded - Chapter One

The New Man

Quinn lived with his birth mother yet felt like the most lonely person ever. However, months ago, she was all he needed to have a great day. The promising young man enjoyed the privilege of being an only child to a single parent. Her eyes, a queer blend of light brown pigmentation, yellowish lipochrome pigment, and a splash of Rayleigh scattering were once enough to make his day smashing. They were inseparable even on days when Rochester was freezing or freaking hot. It was Quinn and his mom against the world until someone stole that privilege!

You might have guessed Miss Claire abandoned her son because she got herself a new husband or kid but that wasn't the case. There was no way she could trade her precious son for anything else. Even though she did get a fiance, she never stopped caring about him. It was Quinn who stopped leaning on her for strength on gloomy days. Still, she was hurt that despite being an award-winning therapist, there was only little she could do to help him and he refused to see any of her colleagues.

At a point, she had to get used to seeing him home lying on his bed or working on his laptop most of the time. Even though his new lifestyle wasn't convenient for her, she had to tolerate him because she didn't want him to become more upset than he already was. However, when she realized Quinn wasn't ready to make moves that would save him from his emotional woes anytime soon, she had to take action.

Miss Claire was willing to do anything to make her only son, the center of her world smile again. For his sake, she pleaded with her fiance to organize a party for his fortieth birthday and send him a special invite so he'd be motivated to step out of the house for something that wasn't work or academic-related. Quinn loved parties so she was sure to some extent that it would cheer him up until the tenth hour.

"Quinn, you must be kidding. How can you do this to Sean?" Clare tried to stay calm after Quinn told her his intention to ditch the party but her emotions failed her.

"Sorry, mom. I was never interested in his party. I only said yes at the beginning because I knew you wouldn't stop bothering me if I didn't", Quinn continued what he was doing before she interrupted - feeding his dog, his second most reliable companion then.

"Baby, Sean added a garbage plate to the party menu just for you. Can you still resist the temptation to go?" Claire moved from the tip of her son's bed where she was sitting to a spot where he could conveniently see her winking at him.

"Mom, we both know you make the best garbage plate in the world!" He didn't take his eyes away from the Pomeranian which was facing him directly.

"Quinn, for heaven's sake!" Miss Clare exploded as if she were a bomb. "Are you seriously planning on not meeting the man your own mom's getting married to in a month? Don't you want me to be happy?"

Miss Claire's last sentence hit Quinn in a bad spot. For years, he saw what she went through after his biological dad whom he called, "the world's greatest asshole" left them. To make her a happy woman, he had set up several blind dates but none worked. Her meeting Sean and agreeing to walk down the aisle for him still seemed like a miracle to him. Quinn used to be eager for his mom to meet a man that would complete her but since his predicament started, he couldn't even stand seeing a male fly around her. He wanted to have her all to himself like old times. If he chose to be a manipulative person, he could have turned the table around. His pale lips would have accused his mom of being selfish but he chose to do what would make his sunshine happy.

"You're right", Quinn replied her. "I don't want you to be happy. I want you to be extremely happy!"

"Oh, my God! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Miss Claire touched her chest.

"Seriously?"Quinn laughed hysterically and hugged his mom."I love you, sunshine".

"I love you more and nothing will make me 'extremely happy' than seeing you this way every day", She gave him a peck.

"Don't tell me you planned on wearing this outdated dress to your fiance's party!" Quinn changed their subject of discussion.

"Here we go again - my fashion critic is back!" Miss Claire rolled her eyes.

"I can already imagine how irresistible you'll look in a black lace applique mermaid gown with long sleeves", He tried to be cheerful

"If I'm to wear that, I'll have to use a long pendant and you know I hate it", She groaned.

"If you don't wear it, I ain't going anywhere with ya", He threatened.

"You're just like your father", Miss Claire trailed off, remembering how he too used to have his way with her and forgot Quinn hated being compared with his dad even though he used to be his role model."I'm so sorry". She was scared he had now found a new excuse to cancel the trip.

"It's okay", Quinn got up to open his bedroom door. Miss Claire thought he would ask her to leave his bedroom afterward but instead, he went to her walk-in closet to help dig out the outfit he wanted her to wear.

Quinn wore the navy blue suit with a white shirt and red bow his mom got him at a mall on her way to work the previous day for the party but refused to get a haircut. Miss Claire hated his long hair which reached his neck because she felt it made him look less handsome than he originally was. Still, it got him the attention of many ladies as he drove them to Sean's home. Some who were bold enough flirted with him despite assuming Miss Claire who looked young was his girlfriend while others just drooled over him, scared that she might tear them into pieces if they try getting close to him. All the while, Miss Claire kept blushing. She felt lucky to be the mother of such a handsome boy and couldn't help reminiscing the days she used to get angry when his Dad also got the attention of ladies even with her beside him and their wedding rings glaring into their eyes. Too bad she couldn't dare mention that to Quinn.

As her eyes spotted the Village Gate Square, one of the best shopping malls in town, Miss Claire remembered Quinn didn't have a gift for Sean and advised him to pull over into their parking lot. Quinn didn't find anything fun in getting a gift for someone who was going to be his stepdad - take the place of his dad in her life yet agreed to do that so his mom would be happy. He believed she deserved every form of happiness after all the troubles he and his dad made her go through. He also felt there was no reason to keep his Dad's space vacant since he wasn't deserving of it. Regardless, he wasn't planning on making Sean his new Dad either. After all, he had begun to see himself as a man capable of surviving without the need for a paternal figure even before he turned eighteen. Quinn began to act as the "man of the house" since his Dad walked out of their home with no intention of returning.

"Sean likes brogues. He's gonna like it if you get him one", Miss Claire decided to help out her son who seemed confused about what gift to get him, since he kept looking at the products in the men's section without selecting any.

"You shouldn't have said anything, Mom. I already thought of getting him that. Just looking for the perfect color", Quinn lied. He was too engrossed with thinking about losing his mom to a man he barely knew. The perfect gift to offer such a man was a gunshot, he thought.

"Okay. I'm sorry", Miss Claire figured out he was lying because he blinked twice, yet chose to ignore that so he wouldn't feel terrible. He hated lying to her and being discovered.

"Could you please wrap this for me?" Quinn gave the finest of brogues in the shopping mall to the attendant on standby.

"Sure", She collected it with a flirty smile.

"Hold on a sec", Miss Claire collected the shoe from the attendant to check the size so she'll know whether it'll suit his legs perfectly or not. To her utmost surprise, he got it right!

"I once overheard you telling Patricia he was 5 feet tall so I assumed his shoe size would be 9.5", He said like a genius.

"Speaking of which, you're not even going to ask if Laura will be at the party", Miss Claire knew before anyone else that her son crushed on her childhood friend.

"Because her presence is of no use to me", He was upset he could remember the blonde color of her hair which turned irritable to him after he literally worshiped them for years.

"I just want to let you know you have my blessings if you realize you still have a thing for her and would like to go into a relationship with her", Miss Claire said with expectations. Yet, she already knew how funny love could be because her heart only yearned for a guy as tall as a Nigerian Iroko tree until Sean came along.

"Mum, seriously?" Quinn gave her a bewildered look. "Are you really going to be convenient seeing your son make out with your best friend?

"Did you have to sound like it's the most disgusting thing in the world?" Miss Claire rolled her eyes.

"Don't listen to her, Quinn. Never follow an old hag when young and pretty ladies like me still exist", The attendant winked at him.

"How did you get my name?" Quinn asked like an old man, then he remembered how big of a burden his social media life is to him.

When Sean first saw Quinn with Miss Claire as they arrived at his party, he got scared because he looked more manly and was way taller than he was. Memory failed to remind him she had a son or asked him to plan his party especially because of him. He thought he was her ex-boyfriend or high school crush and still wouldn't believe he was her son when she introduced them. It was not until they got closer by talking about their love for surfing that Sean felt comfortable having him around and they soon made plans to enjoy the activity together at Lake Ontario the next weekend.

From surfing, they proceeded to talk about the woman that brought them together though it was awkward for the both of them. Sean assured Quinn that he would take good care of his mom, of which he sounded truthful. Miss Claire who seemed engrossed in telling people who loved her outfit about its maker with a wide grin was stylishly staring at the two most important men in her life. Many thought the reason for her happiness was the fact that most people at the party couldn't stop admiring her outfit but it wasn't so. It was because Sean and Quinn were getting along with each other. She was worried that Quinn wouldn't like him because he had the blue eyes he hated so much. Therefore, she was surprised when she saw them chatting casually like they'd known each other for years.

The happy feeling Miss Claire felt went drown the drain when she saw one of the people who ruined her son's life at her fiance's party. She wanted to prevent her from getting close to him because she knew that would ruin his mood but she got to Sean earlier and he didn't waste time in revealing her identity to Quinn who was already feeling nauseated by her presence. It never occurred to him that the same girl who made a mess of his life would turn out to be the only child of his future stepdad's younger brother. Becoming family-related to Beth Miller was something he could never accept.

Here are the links to the remaining chapters:

https://talesofeni.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-externals-reloaded-chapter-two.html

https://talesofeni.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-externals-reloaded-chapter-three.html

https://talesofeni.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-externals-reloaded-chapter-four.html

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Dear reader, I want to specially appreciate you for giving this book a chance and I look forward to getting more support from you as the book progresses. Do you think Sean will still be able to marry Claire with the situation on ground and can you guess what Beth did to Quinn? Please, your opinion will be much appreciated in the comment session. Don't also forget to drop your general comments or observations about this chapter and share them with people. God bless you as you do so.

Yours teenfictionly,
Eniola Oluwamuyiwa 😁🥰