Chapter 292 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Halfway through dinner, Bryan and Sonia joined the others, with his hand around her waist as he led her to the table. Although every one of them had been busy talking as they ate, everywhere became silent as they watched the couple take their seat on the table.

“Whatever had kept you two busy until now must have been life-threatening,” Celsie’s father said in a mocking tone, making Sonia blush lightly as she looked down, while the others laughed.

“Drew stop doing that to her!” Celsie’s mother scolded her husband who she knew had said that deliberately to make Sonia blush.

“What did I do? It was just a harmless observation, was it not?” He asked, and Benne’s father roared with laughter. He had thought that Sonia was too wild to feel embarrassed.

“Wow! I can’t believe that it’s true! Sonia, you still have a crush on Celsie’s dad?” Alicia asked in amusement, and Bryan turned to glare at Celsie’s father.

“She doesn’t.”

“But, yes she does, isn’t that right, Sony?” Celsie’s father asked with a grin at Sonia who refused to raise her head, and the others laughed as Bryan placed his hands possessively over her shoulder and mildly glared at Celsie’s father who was grinning like he was enjoying himself.

“Stop that dad. You are embarrassing her,” Celsie chided, while her father just chuckled.

“Tell me something, princess. Who is your one true love?” Celsie’s father asked as he met Benne’s gaze, his eyes gleaming with challenge.

“Huh?” Celsie asked, not knowing where the question was coming from.

“Between Benne and I, who would you say you love the most?” He asked, and Celsie’s brows furrowed as her gaze moved from her father to Benne, and then back to her father.

“Don’t do that to her, dad. You are putting her on the spot,” Lucas said, even though he was curious to hear what she was going to say as was every other person on the table who was staring at Celsie curiously.

Celsie cleared her throat, “I love you dad, and I love Benne too. You both have your place in my hea…”

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Benne’s father cut in, making his wife turn to him with scolding eyes. She could tell that both men were going to get along just fine. They seemed to share a lot of things in common.

“If they were both dying and you could save just one of them who would it be?” Jasmine asked while Alicia busied herself by taking pictures of everyone on the table and filming them.

“You can’t certainly expect her to answer that question. If they’re dying I will save my husband, and then she can save Benne,” Celsie’s mother answered but her husband wasn’t having that.

“What if you are not there, and it’s just me, Celsie, and Benne? Who will it be, Celsie?” He insisted while the others kept watching in amusement.

Seeing how uncomfortable Celsie was beginning to feel because of the questions, Benne reached for her hand, “Don’t worry, babe. I know how you feel about me. You can tell him what he wants to hear. I’m okay with it,” Benne assured her in a low tone, knowing that she wouldn’t want to embarrass her father by saying otherwise.

Celsie remained silent as she thought of a way to answer the question without hurting either her father or Benne. Thankfully she didn’t have to answer when her phone started vibrating with a phone call. She scowled when she saw Rachel’s name displayed on her screen, and although she wanted to ignore the call, she needed it as an excuse to avoid answering her father’s question, “Please excuse me, I need to take this call,” she said as she pushed back her seat and stood up.

“You didn’t have to do that. It was very immature,” Celsie’s mother scolded her husband since they all knew that Celsie had chosen to excuse herself just so that she could avoid his question.

Lucas who had caught a glimpse of her face when she looked at her screen could tell that the call was probably from Rachel so he glanced at Sonia, who seemed to read his mind, and nodded her head. She also thought that the call was from Rachel since Rachel was the only person who Celsie’s dislike for was that obvious. Lucas pushed away from the table and also excused himself to go after Celsie.

“I’m surprised that you are calling me out of the blue. Why? Because Lucas broke up with you?” Celsie asked without beating around the bush once she walked into the Den and closed the door.

“I’m so sorry, Celsie. Please I love Lucas. I love him so much and I can’t live without him,” Rachel pleaded tearfully.

“As you must know, I’ve never interfered in your relationship. Not once in the last ten years have I interfered since you made it clear to me that you wanted him for yourself and you didn’t want to share my twin brother with me. You did everything you could to tear us apart, so why do you suddenly want me to interfere now?” Celsie asked, boiling with anger as she remembered snippets of Lucas’ conversation with Rachel earlier that day.

“Please, I’m sorry…” Rachel cried.

“You are sorry? Unfortunately, I don’t think so. You only claim to be sorry because you didn’t expect that he would choose his family over you. He loved you completely, and you hurt him! And I’m NEVER going to forgive you for that. I could tolerate you trying to tear us apart as long as Lucas was happy, but what I won’t tolerate is you making his life miserable!” Celsie said angrily and turned around when she heard the door open behind her.

“I asked you to ignore her call,” Lucas reminded her with a blank expression as he held out his hand for the phone.

“How could I when she kept calling? You don’t intend to make up with her, do you?” Celsie asked as she reluctantly handed him the phone.

“Rachel, I already told you everything I have to say to you. Don’t make things any more difficult for either of us than it already is. Please stop calling Celsie and my parents. Nothing is going to change my mind,” Lucas said as politely as he could muster and then hung up with a sigh without listening to anything she was saying.

Looking into his eyes she could tell that he was very sad. He might have been the one to end things, but he was heartbroken.

“We don’t have to return to the dining yet if you don’t want to,” Celsie offered with concern in her eyes.

“Why? Because you don’t want to answer dad’s question?” Lucas asked lightly, trying to sound cheerful.

“There is that. But it’s also because I want to stay back and keep you company. I think you might need it,” Celsie said with a sigh as she took his hand and led him to one of the chairs in the Den before sitting down.

With a sigh Lucas sat down beside her and shut his eyes as he leaned back in his seat, resting his head on the headrest. His head was beginning to pound now. Although he enjoyed the company of everyone and how their conversations distracted him from his thoughts, what he really wanted was to be alone.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at Celsie, “You could have easily chosen Benne over dad. You know that dad wouldn’t have really felt hurt he was only testing you and Benne,” Lucas said after they had both been silent for a while.

“It might have been a game to him, but as I said, I love them both and they each have their special places in my heart. I don’t see any reason why I have to choose any of them over the other,” Celsie said with a shrug as she snuggled closer to Lucas and placed her head on his shoulder.

“I see,” Lucas said with a sigh as he adjusted so that Celsie would be comfortable.

“So… did you cry?” Celsie asked, and Lucas snorted.

“I don’t think I’ve found the time to do that yet. I will let you know if I do that tonight,” he said dryly and Celsie smiled sadly.

“I know you’re deeply hurt, Celsiec. I wish there was something I could do,” Celsie murmured.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I’ll get over it eventually. I’m just glad that we have been able to clear this issue and you’re okay now. I was really worried about you when I saw it. It’s good to know that you have such a capable man in your life now,” Lucas said, and then chuckled when something occurred to him, “Just when you finally got a boyfriend, I ended my relationship.”

“You want me to break up with Benne? I could be single until you get someone else,” Celsie suggested making Lucas laugh, and then she laughed too.

“I’m not sure I want to get involved in a relationship anytime soon. Besides, I think I’ll need to quit my job and move out of my apartment when I get back,” Lucas said, making Celsie pull away to look at him.

“Why? What happened to your job and apartment?” Celsie asked curiously.

“Rachel’s family got me the job, and you know that the house came with the position. I’m quitting the job before they get me fired and throw me out,” Lucas said with a shrug not wanting to tell her that Rachel had actually threatened him with that.

“Oh, this is even worse than I thought,” Celsie said with a genuinely concerned frown now as she looked at her brother, “I’m so sorry. This whole thing happened because…”

“No. Don’t bother blaming yourself. It happened because I was blindly in love with someone as selfish as Rachel. Just don’t tell either mom or dad about my job. I’ll tell them after I’ve sorted things out,” Lucas said, making her sigh as she leaned back on her seat.

“You could just move down here and get a new job here,” Celsie suggested.

“I don’t know yet. I will figure out what I want to do later. For now, I just want to quit my job, and probably travel to somewhere far away to clear my head,” Lucas said with a sigh, and this time he rested his head on Celsie’s shoulders, and she adjusted to accommodate him as she patted his hair. It had been such a long time since either of them comforted themselves this way.

“Is everything okay?” Benne asked as he walked into the Den.

“Is dinner over, or you came here because you were missing Celsie?” Lucas asked as he sat up.

“The others are still having dinner, but I’m retiring for the night so I wanted to see if everything was okay before going upstairs,” Benne explained.

“I guess I can retire for the night then, I’ll just say goodnight to the others,” Lucas said as he stood up, “See you both in the morning,” Lucas said before walking away.

“Is he okay?” Benne asked after Lucas had left, and Celsie shook her head sadly.

“He is not fine. He broke off his engagement with his fiancee earlier today who he has dated for over ten years. And now he has to quit his job since he got it through her family’s connection,” Celsie said as she stood up, ready to retire with him for the night.

“You can spend some time with your parents and Sonia before going to bed. I’ll join you in bed later. I need to first do something,” Benne said as he kissed her forehead before walking away to find Lucas.

Once Celsie returned to the table, she turned to her father, “So I’ve decided to watch you and Benne play games tomorrow. Whoever wins will be my one true love,” Celsie said, making everyone on the table cheer her for her smart answer.

Away from there Benne who was looking for Lucas called out to him as he caught up with him on his way to his bedroom, “Lucas!”

Lucas turned to look at him curiously wondering why Benne had followed him.

Benne flashed him a smile, “If you’re not feeling too sleepy yet, would you mind sharing a nightcap with me?” Benne asked hopefully.

“Celsie didn’t put you up to this, did she?” Lucas asked suspiciously.

“She doesn’t know I’m here. We just met today and we haven’t really gotten to know each other. I’d like to get to know Celsie’s twin, and then maybe you can give me the password to your father’s heart,” Benne said lightly.

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