2005

"Don..." Alan said lamly. Why did his eldest have to show up here and now? Damn it! Talk about bad timing!

"Is that for me? Thanks!" Don grabbed the burger and took a bite before Alan could protest. "I mean, you couldn't possibly want this double double given that you just had a heart attack"

"You just want the free food!" Alan scoffed with annoyance. "Looks who's talking to me about eating healthy! Mr. Steaks all day everyday!"

"I didn't have a heart attack!"

"You've got your grandfather's genes, same as me!" Alan pointed out. Come to think of it, Don should eat healthier as well. He started to show a bit of the middle age gut, and had the same risk factors as Alan.

"But they're diluted!" Don smirked as they both sat down. The agent also started to eat the fries after putting lots of salt on them.Alan looked wistfully at the food."Anyway, how is Charlie?" He knew how upset Charlie still was about what Margaret did.

"He's at Cal Sci" Alan sighed.

"But it's Saturday!" Don remembered worridly. The agent had decided to go to In and Out before visiting the junk food free house.

"I know...I tried to talk to him after my session with the personal trainer..." Alan began.

"Wait! You got a personal trainer?" Don gave his father a puzzled look.

The retiree explained"Charlie hired him."

"Oh..."

"The man pushed me too hard!" Alan consoled himself by drinking some of the soda, though, Don grabbed that too.

"What? He made you do more than one situp?" Don teased, knowing his father, and trusting Charlie to hire someone sensitive to the special needs of heart attack victims.

"He wanted me to jog faster than I was comfortable with!" Alan complained, he felt achy just thinking about it. The problem was that the retiree wasn't used to pushing his body like that.

"That's his job; to push you a little beyond you comfort zone" Don reminded him, as he savored the double double.

"Anyway...Charlie's anger at his mother is not doing him any good" Alan continued.

"They were very close, he's bound to forgive her sometime, right?" Don grabbed some more fries, dipped them in ketchup, and stuffed them in his mouth.

"That's the problem! Charlie feels very much betrayed." Alan pointed out.

"Maybe I should talk to him again?" Don suggested.

"Let him be" Alan overuled his eldest "Maybe he needs time alone to think about things"

"I know this place that Megan says makes the best veggie burgers, Why don't I get you one and bring it to the house?" Don offered. That was better than no burger at all right? Maybe eating that would be good consolation for his dad?

Alan remarked impassively and with doubt. "If they are so good,why did you take my burger?"

TBC