Chapter 286 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“What’s the worse that can happen? Celebratory sex with Benne while your parents are sleeping in the room down the hall,” Sonia said with a giggle and Celsie shook her head in amusement.

“I see you’re back to being you. Let’s leave then,” Celsie said as she picked her purse and walked out of the room leaving Sonia.

“Are you sure Lucas got all my stuff?” Sonia called to Celsie since she had been in the bathroom when Lucas came to get their bags.

“I think so. You can confirm,” Celsie called back as she stopped in the living room for her mother to inspect her outfit.

“Sonia is a good influence,” her mother said with a wide approving smile as she looked Celsie over, and Celsie shook her head.

“Other parents would disagree with you. This is too indecent,” Celsie complained as she adjusted the bust part of her dress.

“I’m sure your sense of decency makes up for the indecency of your outfit. You’ll be fine,” she said with a proud smile.

“Sonia should be your biological daughter,” Celsie said, and her mother giggled.

“Maybe if she was, she would be walking around without clothes on,” her mother joked and Sonia giggled as she joined them.

“I heard you, Mrs. Miller.”

“It wasn’t said in secret. You were meant to hear it, my darling. Wow, you look… Indecent! I didn’t think it was possible to look more indecent than Celsie was,” Celsie’s mother exclaimed in amusement when she saw Sonia’s even more revealing clothes.

“Yeah. I was going for that look,” Sonia said with a satisfied smile as she hooked her arm with Celsie’s, “We are ready to leave.”

On getting outside they joined Alicia and Jasmine who were dressed in decent evening dresses as they waited to get into the car.

“Wow! You both look really sexy,” Alicia said looking at them with admiration.

“Thanks,” Sonia said with a wide smile, while Celsie tried to adjust the dress making the others laugh.

“You look pretty, princess. But I can tell that Sonia put you up to this. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to,” Celsie’s father said when he saw her.

“It’s fine,” Celsie assured him with a smile as they all got into the car, while Adolf reasoned whether or not he should tell the ladies that Evelyn was around. He decided that it wasn’t his business.

Inside the car Lucas kept to himself while the others went from discussing how lovely the car was, to how wealthy Benne was, and then Alicia started reading through the positive comments on her YouTube channel, feeling excited about how many followers she had made in just one day.

Celsie’s parents exchanged a look when they noticed how silent and withdrawn Lucas was, but Celsie’s dad shook his head, subtly asking his wife to let Lucas be when she looked like she wanted to say something to him.

Immediately they arrived at Benne’s house forty minutes later, Jasmine, Alicia, and Celsie’s parents got out of the car and headed for the door, curious to see the interior of Benne’s mansion, while Lucas and Adolf stayed back to carry the bags as Celsie fussed over her dress one final time, and Sonia rolled her eyes as she kept assuring Celsie that Benne would love it.

“I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this,” Celsie said with a small frown.

“You’re too much of a good girl, Celsie. You need to loosen up,” Sonia said as she dragged Celsie along with her.

Once they got to the open door, they stopped when they saw a middle-aged lady standing there. Seeing the welcoming smile on her face transform to surprise, the best friends didn’t need to be told who she was. They could see the resemblance. Celsie was more taken aback than Sonia, so she went to stand behind Sonia.

“Mrs. Delgado?” Sonia asked with a wide smile as she quickly embraced the woman who was looking at her in surprise, “I had no idea you were here! What a delightful surprise,” Sonia said as she pulled away to admire the woman while giving Celsie enough time to regain her composure.

“I see where the guys got their good looks from.”

“Sonia…” Evelyn said after she recovered from her initial shock as she glanced at Celsie who was hiding behind Sonia, “…and Celsie,” she added, and Celsie stepped to the side as she tried to adjust her dress.

She bowed her head guiltily, “Hello, Mrs. Delgado. I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

Sonia placed her hand on Celsie’s shoulder and pulled her closer, “Celsie here is very shy and decent to a fault. She is only dressed this way because I blackmailed her into wearing it. So don’t judge her by her outfit, please. I’m the indecent one,” Sonia said with a wide smile, and Evelyn nodded her head as her eyes remained on Celsie who looked completely uncomfortable.

“Please come in. I’m happy to finally meet you two,” Evelyn said with a small smile directed at them both.

“Thank you. Why don’t I see Bryan around?” Sonia asked as she looked behind Evelyn.

“He is in the den playing games with his father. Follow the game sounds,” Evelyn said as her gaze returned to Sonia.

“I will let him know that we are here,” Sonia said as she hurried away, ignoring Celsie who was trying to hold on to her.

Now that she was standing alone with Evelyn, Celsie looked into the woman’s face and was surprised to see a smile on her face, “I like you,” Evelyn said, surprising Celsie.

“Why?” Celsie asked before she could stop herself.

“I don’t think I need to have a reason. I just do. If you’d like to change from that dress before dinner I can show you to a room,” Evelyn offered, and Celsie smiled shyly as she shook her head.

“I feel a little self-conscious, but I’ll just wear it as long as it doesn’t make you very uncomfortable,” Celsie said, and Evelyn smiled again.

“I really like you,” Evelyn said as she reached out and patted Celsie’s arm. She glanced at the door when it opened and Lucas walked in with Adolf, “We meet again, Dr. Lucas,” Evelyn greeted with an even wider smile, and Lucas smiled in surprise as he bowed to her.

“I didn’t know that I would be meeting you again this way. How is Mr. Delgado feeling now?”

“Neither did I. My husband is fine, he is in the den playing games. Adolf will show you to the rooms where the bags should be kept while I catch up with your sister before dinner,” Evelyn said as she placed an arm over Celsie’s shoulder and led her away.

“My parents…”

“They are busy looking around the house,” Evelyn assured her.

Celsie’s only prayer at the moment was for Benne to come to her aid since Sonia had obviously deserted her, “Benne…”

“Benne is busy showing your parents around. I told him that I wanted to speak with you before dinner,” Evelyn said, feeling slightly amused and concerned by Celsie’s discomfort.

“Are you generally this nervous around strangers or are you this way because I’m Benne’s mother?” Evelyn asked curiously.

“I think it’s because you’re Benne’s mother,” Celsie answered honestly, and Evelyn laughed softly.

“You don’t need to be nervous. I watched the interview, and I wanted to talk to you in private before we join the others. I didn’t want to keep it until tomorrow. I owe you an apology,” Evelyn said, looking at Celsie who returned her gaze with a confused frown.

“An apology?”

“Yes. When the rumors started yesterday, I wanted Benne to end the relationship and fire you,” Evelyn confessed, surprising Celsie.

Although Celsie had suspected it the moment Benne started whispering around her while talking to his mother over the phone, she hadn’t expected the woman to admit it to her.

“Don’t look so surprised. I’m quite a simple and very old-fashioned soul. Although I hate to admit it, I can be very narrow-minded unless it has to do with my kids. I judged you wrongly. You’ve slept here twice, right?” Evelyn asked, and Celsie’s cheeks flushed a deep red at the seemingly harmless yet embarrassing question.

She cleared her throat, “Yes, ma’am,” Celsie responded before realizing why she asked the question.

Because Evelyn knew that Celsie had been here twice, and she had probably heard of Celsie’s behavior on both occasions she had assumed that Celsie was indecent and so it became easier for her to believe what was said about Celsie.

“I’m really sorry for being so quick to judge you. I think I really learnt my lesson this time,” Evelyn said, and Celsie smiled.

“Thank you,” Celsie said feeling genuinely grateful, and Evelyn held out her arms for Celsie to embrace her.

“I think we are both going to get along really well,” Evelyn said with a happy smile as she pulled away from the hug to look into Celsie’s face.

“Sonia isn’t bad either. She might look and sound…”

“You don’t have to defend her. I like Sonia too however she is,” Evelyn assured Celsie, “Now let’s go join the others.”

As Celsie turned to return in the direction they had come from, Evelyn stopped her, “You’re sharing a room with him, right?” Evelyn asked, and color rose in Celsie’s cheeks.

“It’s not a problem. My room isn’t very far from his. I was only going to ask you to keep things down tonight.. Pass the message to Sonia too,” Evelyn said with a small smile before walking away, leaving an embarassed Celsie to follow her.

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