Meeting Mr. Stanley

          Mrs. Stanley started with a knock before pushing the double leaf doors and exposing Maria's vision to another regal part of the extraordinary home.

Delia had made mentioned that her patient never left his room most of the time, to avoid people. However, upon their arrival, Maria discovered it wasn't a typical bedroom. The place looked like another home dwelling in the mansion. It basically had all the necessities of life, and there was no wonder her son was locking himself comfortably in the place. However, It bothered her to see what the Stanleys referred to as rooms. Her room back at home was not even as large as half of the place.

"Follow me, doctor," Delia stated, walking past her, and leading the way into the massive space.

Maria's eyes searched the room, and that was the action she had been doing most ever since she encountered the estate. It was large as already mentioned with tall ceilings and there was another high-arched door leading to a balcony that overlooked the entire mansion. There were also two smaller doors leading out into a walk-in closet and a bathroom. The floor had been tiled in red marble and the huge bed covered in red sheets made her assume the color red was the owner's favorite.

Her eyes shone when she sighted an aquarium at the far end of the room, full of exotic fish swimming around. There was another thing to take note of, her patient must be an aqua lover to own such a huge tank or it was just probably the excessive money speaking. Maria found herself spending longer seconds eyeing the transparent glass, staring into its depths. The water sparkled with little bubbles in time to the movements of the fish within. It looked so peaceful, the view creating an ambiance to her sight.

The unique action figures on a shelf stole her focus the moment her gaze shifted right. Some she recognized from movies or video games; others looked like they might have come straight out of science fiction novels. Her mind instantly drove to Ted at the sight of them and she could imagine how excited he would have been if he was present to see them.

A secret smile turned her lips, amused by her thoughts before finding the mini living room on another side. Beside it was a desk made from dark wood and had a massive monitor sitting on top. A thick sofa stood in front of it as well, with a large coffee table, which she quickly discovered held books.

The walls were covered with artistic wallpapers, giving the space a classy atmosphere, but what awed her the most was the massive television hanging against one wall. An incredibly massive television hung on the walls covered with artistic wallpapers that looked like paintings themselves.

The room was truly impressive, and she was not a bit surprised at its exoticness considering the kind of things she had been seeing ever since her arrival.

Despite her thorough searching of the room, she failed to find the reason that had brought her to such a place. Regaining her focus that had been lost in the charm of the room, Maria swayed a look towards the standing woman beside her and decided to seek her patient.

"Your doctor has arrived, son," Delia called right before the request and Maria could only wonder if her wealth had bought her telepathy.

At first, for the next thirty or more seconds, the doctor felt the madame had spoken to the air and not an actual person. The silence forced Maria to guess if her visit was simply being ignored or if the patient was absent from his room.

However, her unvoiced suggestions were proved wrong when a cologne that scented like a woodsy mixture of cedar and citrus flooded the atmosphere. Both mother and doctor instantly spun their head toward the direction the perfume sprung from to find the anticipated source of the stench.

The figure entering the room jolted Maria's eyebrows up at the sight of him. She immediately grew mad at Wikipedia for the cheeky portrait of him published on the internet. Because his appearance in the reality was more than what her mind had prepared for.

The man prowled through the space from the balcony with confidence, and his presence effortlessly commanded attention. His hands were in his pockets, his head held high, while he moved with purpose. His lips firmly held in a line made her guess his face was not made for smiles.

The scent of his cologne was the only thing that made her realize he was a real person rather than some sort of hallucination. Blonde strands framed his head and his eyes were like melting chocolate. He possessed a tall height that was worth admiring and was equipped with broad shoulders that tapered to a slim waist.

His face was handsome without a doubt, but it was the stare he gave off that made her feel like she was staring down the muzzle of a gun.

Aware of her son's presence, Delia quickly stepped toward him. "Jayden, this is Dr. Patterson, the one I told you about." The woman informed the man that was still under Maria's scowl.

He did not spare a single glance at the doctor when he began to walk away wordlessly and impassively took a seat on the sofa.

Maria's eyes followed him, watching how he settled himself comfortably with his legs crossed and arms folded. She was left behind in a daze, trying to get her mind back on track after witnessing such a rude display.

Delia cleared her throat to gain her attention, and the doctor finally returned to earth to meet her patient's mom. "This is exactly what I mean by his condition," she hushed, motioning to her son with a hand gesture. "Anyway, I will handle matters for the professional. I shall take my leave now, doctor." She added cheerfully, as though she could already envisage her son getting better in the nearest future.

"Yes, please do." Maria agreed without further comments, nodding her head to acknowledge her dismissal.

The older woman smiled back at her before turning around to exit the room. The door closed behind her, leaving the pair in utter silence.

***