Chapter 422 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“She asked me to give this to you,” Samantha said as she joined them, holding the envelope in one hand.

Benne’s face was carefully blank as he took it from her and opened it to see the contents. There were three white papers inside. One was a list of the dos and don’ts for Jamal, which he had asked that she write out before leaving.

The other was… He frowned slightly as his gaze swept through the details of the letter, and then he glanced at the kid before reading the letter again. It was a temporary caregiver affidavit stating that she wanted him and Celsie to be Jamal’s guardian in her absence no matter the duration of time she was away.

Of course, he had agreed to have the kid live with him. But this was different. This made it feel sort of official, and it filled him with a sense of dread. He suspected that the only reason she would have thought about drafting such a letter was that she thought her life might be in danger, and she wasn’t so sure of returning. What was Celsie going to think of it?

Why hadn’t Candace discussed it with him? And why did she choose him and Celsie? He wondered as he took out the third paper.

“What is wrong?” Celsie asked when she noticed the different expressions that crossed his face.

“Let’s talk about it upstairs,” Benne said, and she could tell he didn’t want to talk about it in front of the kid.

“Why don’t you keep Samantha company while we go upstairs to freshen up?” Celsie suggested to Jamal, who was still holding on to her hand, and he reluctantly let go of her hand.

“No more tears, alright? We will get you a gift if you don’t cry,” Celsie said, and Jamal gave her a nod as he used the back of his hand to wipe his face.

“Good boy,” Celsie said with a smile of approval as she ruffled his hair, and then she dug into her handbag when she remembered she had a wrap of chocolate which she was yet to eat, and she handed it to him before turning to Benne who was still staring at the kid, “Let’s go upstairs,” she said as she took his hand, and led him away from there, curious to know why he looked so worried.

“Did something happen?” Celsie asked in a low voice.

“His mother named us as his temporary guardians,” Benne said, and Celsie looked at him, wondering what the problem was.

“You already agreed that he could stay under your roof. That makes you his temporary guardian already,” she pointed out as she paused to take off her heels. She picked them up before following him barefooted.

Benne didn’t say a word until they got into the bedroom, and then he handed the letter to her, knowing that she would get a better understanding of his reaction when she read through it and saw her name on the letter.

Celsie sat on the edge of the bed as she skimmed through the letter, and her heart skipped a beat when she came across the line bearing both hers and Benne’s names, “In the event that something happens to her, she wants us both to be his guardians? Why would anything happen to her?” She asked, glancing at Benne, who simply shrugged as he lowered himself on the couch and looked down at the short note which he was yet to read but addressed to them.

“Nothing is going to happen to her, right? Why would she leave such an affidavit? Is Jade aware of this?” Celsie asked in concern. It was one thing to console a weeping child or play with the kid, but it was utterly different from being entirely responsible for the kid. That was like having an adopted kid. Being responsible for another life when she didn’t even completely understand herself yet.

“I will have to give Jade a call after reading the letter,” Benne said, and Celsie stood up from where she was and went to sit beside him to join him as they both read the letter.

“To Benne and Celsie,

I understand that you are both probably shocked that I named you both to be Jamal’s guardians, but trust me, I only did so after giving it a lot of consideration over the past two sleepless nights.

There is no better couple I would comfortably entrust Jamal’s wellbeing to than the both of you, especially after seeing your families together in the last couple of days. I’m very sorry that I’m springing this on you both out of the blue, but it’s the best I can do for my son, so please help me look after him.”

They both sighed once they finished reading and looked at each other, “What should we do?” Benne asked Celsie, leaving the decision up to her since they had both been listed as the kid’s guardians, and she was the one who had a problem with having kids.

“What can we do? She is not here, so it’s not like we can reject her request. Let’s just take care of the kid the best way we can until she gets back, or we can do so until her sister shows up,” Celsie suggested, and Benne raised a brow.

Jade had said she was an orphan and didn’t have any family; hence she wanted the kid to remain in his house, so what sister was Celsie talking about? “She has a sister?”

“Yes. I remember Sonia talking about her sister…”

“Sonia knows her too? If she has a sister, why not ask her sister to be her son’s guardian?” Benne asked, making a mental note to confront Jade for lying to him later.

“Yes, Sonia and Bryan know both her and her sister. I don’t know why she didn’t ask her sister. Maybe it has something to do with her sister being a stripper… I’m not sure,” Celsie said, and Benne looked at her.

“Her sister is a stripper? You seem to know a lot about her,” Benne observed, and she shrugged.

“She taught Sonia and me a few things about stripteasing and lap-dancing,” Celsie said with a playful wink, and Benne chuckled.

“When are you going to put the lessons into practice then?”

“I’m going to surprise you one day,” Celsie said, and Benne smiled.

“Are you sure you’re okay with the kid? You said…”

“I understand your concern. Don’t worry about me. Let’s focus on Jamal. You promised you would care for him until her return. Let’s stick to the plan. That’s just a piece of document,” Celsie said as she stood up to pick up the shoes which she had dropped beside the bed while Benne folded the letters and replaced them in the envelope.

“Okay, let’s do that,” Benne said with a nod as he stood up to freshen up so that they could get ready to leave for dinner with Harry and his father.

A part of him hoped that by the end of their stay with the kid, she would change her mind about having a family of her own.

The moment Jade and Candace got to the suite, Jade led Candace to the bedroom she had stayed in during her stay with Harry before going to Harry’s bedroom. The moment she entered the room and shut the door behind her, she closed her eyes for only a second as she inhaled the residual of Harry’s scent, which still hung in the air.

She knew that the bedsheets had been changed, but knowing that Harry had laid on that bed was enough to make her heart flutter. And so, even though she knew she was behaving like a lovesick teenager, she couldn’t help herself as she ran to the bed and jumped on it face down.

She giggled as she tried to imagine the shocked expression that would be on Harry’s face if he happened to see her acting in this manner right now.

When did she start feeling this way about him? When did she start being this lighthearted and lightheaded at the thought of him? She wasn’t sure it was merely because of how he had talked to that Tanya something girl that night.

Or was it possibly the moment he talked about not getting sexually involved with just anyone? She wasn’t sure that was it either. As thrilling as that knowledge had been, that hadn’t been it either.

Perhaps she started feeling that way about him because of the way he always reacted whenever she complimented him or teased him about being boring? Or was it because of the way he kept feeling uncomfortable whenever she was too close to him?

Or maybe, as Sonia had implied, the feelings had always been there, buried just beneath the surface from the moment she first gazed into his eyes but had been ignored because of her relationship, and she had needed to meet him again and spend some time with him to resurrect them.

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