“C’mon! Don’t get smart with me. I thought we were getting along as friends already,” Aaron said, and Celsie grinned.
“I’m friends with Jade and Harry too,” Celsie pointed out.
“Yeah, Harry mentioned that hence I’m asking. Since you are friends with them, why not help them get things moving already?” Aaron asked, and Celsie shrugged.
“Maybe some of us enjoy watching the process more than interfering. If you are certain they like each other, why not relax and enjoy how they navigate towards each other eventually?” Celsie asked, and Aaron scowled.
“They’re being too slow. Besides, I won’t be here to see it. You will be the only one getting all the fun.”
“I could fill you in on it if you want,” Celsie offered with a grin, and Aaron chuckled.
“I knew Benne made the right choice when I set my eyes on you,” Aaron said, making Celsie giggle.
“But what if they mess it up?” Aaron asked, slightly concerned.
“I don’t see either of them messing anything up. They are both straightforward people. But if they do, I can assure you that Sonia and I will step in,” Celsie said, knowing that Sonia wouldn’t let them ruin her perfectly planned love story. She would also have to step in since she was interested in Sonia’s story as well as Harry’s and Jade’s happiness.
“Sonia? Your best friend? Bryan’s fiancee?”
“You are so up to date,” Celsie observed with a grin, and Aaron chuckled.
“I have to be. Is she close to Harry too?”
“She is closer to Jade, and Jade confides in her about stuff,” Celsie said, and Aaron grinned.
“Should I just move down to Serenopolis? I think all the fun is here,” he said and cleared his throat when he sighted Harry and Benne returning to the table.
“You boys returned too soon. I was enjoying my date alone with the beautiful lady, right darling?” Aaron asked, and Celsie batted her lashes at him, making them laugh as they sat down.
“I was just asking if I should relocate to Serenopolis so I can be closer to her,” Aaron said, and Harry shook his head.
“Please don’t. I can’t stand having you pester me every day,” Harry said just as the waiters arrived with their special order.
“Ungrateful brat. I never complained when you pestered me every day while growing up,” Aaron hissed, and at the same time, his eyes fell on his phone which was on the table when it started vibrating. His brows pulled together when he saw the caller’s identity, and he glanced at Harry before picking up the phone and rejecting the call.
“Whose phone calls do you keep rejecting? Is it the same person that kept calling last night? Don’t tell me you have a woman in your life now, and you are hiding her from me,” Harry teased his father, and Aaron chuckled as he dipped the phone into his pocket.
“Yes, I am. I don’t want her to see you and decide she prefers the younger Mr. Jonas,” Aaron joked, and Harry laughed while Benne reached under the table and took Celsie’s hand, making her look at him with questioning eyes.
“I’m missing you,” Benne mouthed, and she smiled at him.
Aaron’s phone started to vibrate again, but he ignored the call. Once the waiters left, they began to eat and continued with minor discussions about different subjects until Aaron got tired of the phone, which kept vibrating in his pocket, and he set down his cutlery.
“Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom,” Aaron said, and Harry gave him directions to the restroom closest to them before he walked away.
“Why do you keep calling?” He asked impatiently once he walked into one of the restroom stalls and received the call.
“Because you keep ignoring my call.”
“I have nothing to say to you, so there is no reason to receive your calls, Sara.”
“I went to your apartment, and I was told you traveled. I suppose you went to see him. Have you told him yet?” The lady on the other end of the line asked.
“Told who what?” Aaron asked, pretending not to understand her question.
“Aaron, have you told Harry about me?” She asked, unaffected by his coldness.
“No,” Aaron said, annoyed that his dinner was being interrupted.
“Why not? Why are you delaying?”
“Because there is nothing to tell him. And if you don’t mind…”
“Aaron. He is my son too,” the lady cut in, her voice annoyingly calm in a way that made Aaron’s blood boil.
She was always so calm. She had been that calm too twenty-seven years ago when she decided to abandon her newly born child in her quest to pursue stardom.
“Your son? A child you abandoned barely a week after his birth? You have no right to call him your son. He doesn’t know about your existence, and I prefer it remains that way.” Aaron hissed in annoyance, angry with himself for still letting her words annoy him so much.
“He is an adult, Aaron. Why not let him know I want to see him, and allow him to decide if he wants to see me or not?” The lady asked reasonably.
“As always, you are still very selfish. You do not care about him or how this revelation is going to make him feel. You just want to have your way as always, don’t you? I’m not going to let you do that. I won’t let you hurt him!” Aaron said, trying hard to keep his calm.
“I didn’t call to fight with you, Aaron. I told you. I’m dying, and I…”
“And you think I’m going to feel sorry because you say you are dying? Would you have wanted to be associated with him were he not successful? Would you have remembered him or given him a second thought were you not dying? You died to us over twenty-seven years ago, and I hope it remains that way.”
“Aaron, please. I need to meet him at least once before…”
“You wanted fame. You chose wealth and fame over us. Those should be your companions on your deathbed. And please stop trying to contact me,” Aaron warned, angry that not once in a couple of weeks since she first contacted him had she apologized for walking out of their lives the way she did. He couldn’t let someone like her near Harry.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.