The shyness Patrick expressed in Victoria's company bemused her in how identically his mannerisms matched her own; the slight bow of the head, the small spread of a smile to feign comfort. Given that he had been raised by another woman, Victoria had anticipated they would feel like strangers, or pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that simply didn't fit. "You mentioned before you were a freelancer. I would love to see some of your work." Her experience with Dominik allowed Victoria to understand that artists work were more an insight into their soul than their imagination and she prayed Patrick didn't display the kind of volatile heart Dominik had often expressed, though her abandonment of him would certainly permit such a reaction.
He curled his upper lip in a show of lacking confidence as he shook his head in dismissal. "They're really nothing special." His creations were just enough to pay the bills but Patrick hadn't expected her to show much interest in something he considered more a personal hobby than the beginnings of a career. "Certainly nothing compared to the pieces you've collected over the years." He noted, infatuated by one piece which hung perfectly in the foyer as they completed their tour of Grayson Manor and retreated to the living room.
"I'm sure you're being far too modest." She downplayed his response, as she poured two after-dinner drinks from the Brandy decanter. "If there's one thing I've learnt, as simply an admirer of art, it's that the most talented of artists aren't always the most recognised."
Patrick accepted the drink and studied the grace his mother exuded with her every movement. It only caused him to wonder the kind of person Victoria had been before her entrance to the lavish lifestyle that inevitably Mrs Conrad Grayson would lead. So many questions bombarded his mind; "Had she come from money?" and, if she had, "Why did she leave him behind?" Patrick recognised the common reason mothers voluntarily relinquished custody of their children was due to their inability to care for them but, much to Patrick's disappointment, any background information on his mother before she married into high society had been scarce. His polite disposition didn't permit him to engage in such an interrogation, so Patrick decided to let Victoria decide when and where she would finally disclose more of herself to him and Patrick flitted around the topic. "What about your children? I know you mentioned Charlotte's in her final year at school. Is Daniel involved in the family business?"
"Daniel?" Victoria repeated his name with a tinge of sadness; she had raised him but, at this point in their lives, he felt more lost to her than Patrick had ever been. "Daniel's never been interested in his father's kind of work, no matter how much Conrad berated him to be more involved. He finally buckled under the pressure but I think it's safe to assume Daniel won't be returning to Grayson Global." The continual truths that had escaped drove Daniel further and further away from his family as he displayed disgust at their actions of self-preservation and Victoria could only take comfort in the fact that she and Conrad would both have to weather the storm of Daniel's disdain.
"That kind of business isn't always for everyone." Patrick sympathetically noted, "Maybe Daniel needs to become his own man, rather than a successor to his father's work." The kind of understanding Patrick offered Daniel, after Victoria had feared Daniel was someone Patrick would feel resentful of, warmed her heart. "I'm sure your husband will understand that in the long run."
"Ha!" She quietly scoffed in amusement of his statement, "You don't know Conrad."
"Then why don't you tell me about him?" As gently as he possibly could, Patrick prompted her for deeper information. "Don't mistake me for being ungrateful, dinner was lovely and this house is incredible. But I've spent nearly three hours with you and so far all I really know about you is that you can cook and have a love of French cuisine." He shrugged his shoulders, "I accepted your invitation because I would really like an opportunity to get to know my mother and for her to know the kind of man I am and the only way that can happen is if we both put ourselves out there."
Victoria brutally chewed upon her lip and tearfully smiled at Patrick. "Then that's something new you've learnt about me; I'm not someone who can easily trust others, Patrick." Regret filled her eyes and she reached out to feel the smooth skin of his cheek, "I wish I could but I can't, not even the ones I hold dearest to my heart. And there are many reasons for that…" Her mind filtered to the multiple times that people she had whole-heartedly adored had abused her trust in her youth; her mother, even Patrick's father and Conrad. It had been the only justification Victoria utilised for her crime against David Clarke – the rationalisation that if she hadn't struck out first, he would have only betrayed her in the end. "…reasons I'm not ready to discuss just yet but things you will undoubtedly come to discover. And I pray, things you will eventually find it in your heart to understand."
With the pad of his thumb, Patrick wiped away the tears on her cheek, "I do understand." He softly assured, "And I'm willing to wait. I'm willing to hold off on any questions I have – and I do have them – until you're ready to answer them." Grateful, Victoria forced herself to smile and Patrick continued, "And I'm open to any questions you may have but just not tonight." Just as Victoria started to speak, Patrick rose from his seat and swiftly finished off his drink, not one to be purposely wasteful. "Thank you for the dinner but it's pretty late and I should probably head back."
"You're leaving already?" Victoria leapt from her seat, saddened and sensing his disappointment in her reluctance to confide in him. "Well, at least let me have someone drive you to the Southfork." She pleaded with an careless desperation in her words as she followed him. "Like you said, it's late –"
"That really won't be necessary." Patrick shook his head in refusal, "I like to walk. It helps to clear my mind. Thank you, again, for dinner."
"You're welcome." She softly murmured, as she watched Patrick almost trip over himself to leave Grayson Manor and distance himself from the madhouse he had entered.