Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

1Noah, Ian and Joshua waited patiently at the airport, ignoring all the curious glances thrown at them. Being the creme da la creme of the society, it was not astonishing to find people gawking at them. It was not every day that they got to see the three men in public and that too all at once.      2

But nobody dared to get close to the men. The guards protecting them were fierce looking and capable of killing anyone with just a smack. Even if the possibility of them misbehaving with the general public was zero, nobody had the courage the approach the three men. All they could do was sneak glances at them repeatedly from their places.     

"Will Jared fall for this trick?" Joshua questioned, his lips barely moving. Other than Noah and Ian, nobody heard him.     

"He will. He has to." Noah replied with conviction and looked at his friends through his goggles. "Anyway, he knows what to do exactly. I'm sure we will fool that guy."     

Noah's confidence boosted Ian and Joshua and their doubts vanished immediately. If their friend was sure they could trick Jared, it meant they could do it.     

"Have you found him yet?" Ian mumbled and Noah shook his head when he understood who he was referring to.     

"He must be here somewhere keeping an eye on us. If I catch hold of that bastard..." Joshua pushed his sleeves up as if he was ready to fight it out with anyone if required and Noah clicked his tongue, berating him for his reckless actions.     

"Calm down, Joshua." Noah tapped his fingers on his biceps and tried to calm the agitated man. "Although we are not being heard, I still do not want to gain more attention than we already are receiving."     

"It just makes me angry to think that there is someone out there who is keeping an eye on us constantly and relaying all the messages to Jared. It just bugs me out." Joshua spat, his voice barely above a whisper.     

"Same, Joshua, same." Ian agreed and sighed lightly. "But let's not discuss this matter here. We cannot be heard."     

"Yes, let's talk about it some other time. I am sorry I got carried away." Joshua returned to his playful self and smiled widely, faking a scene as if he was teasing his friends until they gave up talking to him.     

"He is here." Noah's voice quivered in excitement and his two friends followed his gaze to look at the familiar man walking towards them with an undecipherable expression.     

Although the man had disguised himself to look like an old man, the same age as Noah's grandfather, they could still sense his familiarity and immediately knew who it was. Unknowingly, their expressions changed and they stiffened in their places, not knowing how to greet the man they had once assumed to be dead.     

Theo too was no less excited to meet the three men he had nurtured to become who they were. However, his guilt and regret overshadowed his excitement and he clutched his luggage handle tight until his knuckles turned white.     

But it was all momentary. All four men composed themselves before they gave away their predicament to the spy in their group.      

"Young man, are you so surprised to see your Grandpa Carlos that you even forgot to greet me?" Theo's voice fell on the three men, and they were pleasantly surprised to hear his Spanish accent. His attire, behavior and even his accent put up a facade before the others that he was Spanish when the truth was far from that.     

"Grandpa Carlos, it's good to see you after a long time." Noah greeted him and took the luggage from his hands and Theo patted his back warmly, his eyes tearing up unknowingly.     

"Welcome back, Grandpa Carlos. How have you been all these years?" Joshua too greeted him and smiled warmly at him. But Theo did not miss the anger in his eyes and he gulped softly. Even though he was their mentor, he still behaved obediently before them. It was his fault in the first place and he did not mind anything they said or did.     

"Welcome back, Grandpa Carlos." Ian was the last one to greet him and from his expression, Theo could not make out if the young man he had taken as his son was angry with him. He was too calm for his liking.      

"How have you been, Ian? I hope everything is fine with you."      

The three young men did not miss how his voice cracked at the end. Theo was trying hard to suppress his tears, making them miserable. They had never seen their mentor this vulnerable and could not help but feel a pain they had never felt before.     

"I have been fine, Grandpa," Ian answered and Theo looked at him for quite some time before he nodded lightly.     

"How is Jonathan?" Even though his heart screamed at him for calling his master by his name, Theo had no choice. He had to keep up the act of being an old friend of Jonathan's, not to alert the enemy who had his eyes on them.     

"I will tell you everything once we reach home, Grandpa. Let us leave from here." Noah handed Theo's luggage to Ronnie and the other men and led the old man towards their car.     

"Yes, yes. Let's go home first. I have had a long flight. I need to freshen up first." Theo too put up an act and smiled warmly at the three men as he followed him.     

Noah sent a discrete signal to Ronnie, who understood him immediately. While Joshua sat behind the wheels, Noah sat beside him and Ian was forced to sit at the back with Theo.     

It was only when Joshua started driving that Theo let out a sigh. "It's so damn difficult to put up an act in front of a large crowd." He mumbled and removed his wig and mustache. He even removed his fake goatee and ruffled his hair lightly.     

Nobody spoke a word for a long time as the three men watched Theo return to his original appearance, their eyes not concealing their shock.     

Sensing their gazes on him, Theo stopped what he doing and looked at the three slowly before his eyes settled on Ian, who was examining him curiously.     

"Long time no see, guys. How have you all been?"