Chapter 306 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Sometimes I can’t believe you,” he said as he glared at her, “You are beautiful, you are sexy, you are cute, and all of that. What else do you want him to tell you that you haven’t heard from me?” Bryan asked, and Candace giggled as she also stood up.

“I should go find Jamal,” she said as she walked away from there, leaving the lovers alone.

“Say you love me,” Sonia said with a grin.

“What? You want him to tell you that he loves you?” Bryan asked with wide eyes, and she giggled.

“I’m asking you to say you love me,” she repeated.

“I love you,” Bryan said as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“Although it’s cute, you should stop being jealous of him. He’s just like a father to me,” Sonia assured him.

“I don’t want him to be like a father to you. I will be a father to you, a lover and a friend, and everything else you need. Just keep your eyes on me, and stop blushing when he teases you,” Bryan said, making Sonia laugh.

“You are so jealous and possessive.”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Bryan asked with a small frown.

“An actor like you who kisses and smooches different ladies on the screen, you shouldn’t be this possessive,” Sonia pointed out.

“Why? Does it bother you? I could take you with me to every set, and you can pull out the hair of any actress that kisses me too much,” Bryan offered.

“Yeah, I’m sure most of your fans will appreciate me doing that.” Sonia laughed as she kissed him.

“How long do you plan to be here?” Sonia asked curiously as they both headed inside the house to their bedroom.

“Just until I figure out what I want to do next. Since I don’t have anything to do at the moment, thanks to the companies that canceled the endorsement deals, I will be here for a couple of days. Maybe a week. Why do you ask? You want to leave soon?” Bryan asked curiously.

“Nope. Just wanted to know,” Sonia said, thinking of a way to bring up his dad’s birthday without sounding like she had been asked to do so.

“You said your birthday was April first, right?” Sonia asked thoughtfully as Bryan opened the bedroom door.

“You remember,” Bryan said with a grin as he remembered answering her questions the first night they met.

“Of course. Did you expect me to forget that? Are there any other April born in your family?” She asked as they both sat on the bed, and Bryan shook his head as he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

“No. That reminds me, this month is my dad’s birthday,” Bryan said, as Sonia had expected he would.

“Really? What date?” She asked curiously.

“Eleventh…”

“Today is tenth! That means his birthday is tomorrow, right?” Sonia asked with false surprise.

“Shit! I can’t believe that I almost missed it again. I should talk to Benne about it and see if he remembers,” Bryan said as he quickly stood up, and they both walked out of the bedroom to search for Benne.

Benne held Celsie’s hand in his as he strolled out of the house with her, wanting to show her the side of the building which housed a garden and a pool, “So what did your dad talk to you about? He wasn’t trying to cheat, was he?”

Celsie laughed, “Of course not.”

“Good. Cause I don’t intend to lose to him.”

Seeing that as the opening she needed, Celsie looked into his face, “I’m still surprised that your dad chose my dad over you,” Celsie said with a giggle.

“You are nowhere half as surprised as I am. That old man is a traitor,” Benne hissed, making her laugh even more.

“Do you believe in zodiac signs?” Celsie asked, and Benne shrugged.

“I don’t really care about such things, but if our signs say we are destined to be together forever, then I will become a believer,” Benne said, and Celsie’s lips curved in a wide smile as she looked into his face.

“You can be so sweet sometimes,” Celsie said, and Benne chuckled as he stopped walking and turned to look at her.

“Some times? You mean just some times? Here I thought that I am always sweet. I guess I have to work on that,” Benne said with a wide smile, and she laughed as she held his right hand with both her hands.

“Why did you ask, though?” Benne asked as he reached out with his left hand to touch her hair.

“Oh! I was just thinking; maybe their zodiac signs are a good match. That is why they have taken such a liking to each other. What is your dad’s zodiac sign?” Celsie asked, wanting to stylishly lead up to the subject of his father’s birthday.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, I don’t even know mine,” Benne said, and Celsie was almost tempted to tell him that she wasn’t disappointed since she didn’t know hers either. Not everyone concerned themselves with such things, and she was only bringing it up now to remind him of his father’s birthday.

“Well, maybe if you tell me his birthday, we can find out,” Celsie suggested.

“Hmm. His birthday is on the eleventh of… Hold on, what is today’s date?” Benne suddenly asked, and Celsie raised a brow.

“Tenth. Why?” She asked with an innocent expression.

“My dad’s birthday is tomorrow. I almost forgot about it,” he said with a slight frown. This just showed how much he had come to rely on Harry. If Harry were here, he would have reminded him.

“Oh, really? That is nice! I guess it’s a good thing your parents are here. You have to make it special for him,” Celsie suggested, glad that her plan had worked.

Before Benne could say anything, his phone started ringing, and he took it out to see that it was a call from Bryan, “Where are you?”

“I’m showing Celsie around the compound. We are currently heading towards the poolside,” Benne said, and Bryan hung up as he hurried out of the house with Sonia.

Meanwhile, inside Harry’s car, as they approached Benne’s house, his phone’s reminder set off, breaking the silence between them, and he quickly picked up his phone to see what it was, “Oh, it’s your dad’s birthday tomorrow,” he informed Jade as he dropped the phone, and she raised a brow.

“Why do you have a reminder for my dad’s birthday?” She asked curiously.

“I’m your brother’s assistant, remember? He doesn’t always remember dates because of how busy he is most times, so I have to set reminders to help him remember and then assign someone to get the gifts delivered. That reminds me, now that he has a girlfriend, I should probably check Celsie’s file for her birthday and set a reminder too,” Harry said, and Jade rolled her eyes.

“He won’t need a reminder to remember his girlfriend’s birthday. All he needs to do is forget it once, and that will be the last time he ever forgets it,” Jade said with a small laugh at her own joke as she glanced outside the window.

She had also almost forgotten her dad’s birthday, but thankfully she also had a reminder set on her phone for midnight, which would have helped her remember.

She sighed. It had been a while since she last visited her parents. She hoped that she would wrap up the case really quickly and go see them. She missed her parents, but most especially her father.

She turned to look at Harry when something suddenly clicked in her brain, “Did you just say you set the reminders and assign someone to pick out the gifts?” She asked, and Harry sighed, knowing that he had just slipped.

“Wow! This scenery is beautiful. No matter how much I…”

“If you have to set up a reminder for my dad’s birthday, that means you have one for me too. Don’t tell me you have been the one sending the birthday card and gifts every year, and not Benne?” She asked, not bothering to fall for the distraction.

Harry sighed, “All I do is remind him a day to your birthday, and he chooses the gifts himself and tells me what he wants to be written on the birthday card, and then I get someone to purchase and send them. It’s not a big deal,” Harry assured her.

“So you know everything written on the cards?” She asked, and he tried not to grin as he shrugged. Benne had a habit of writing an embarrassing memory of his siblings on their birthday cards every year.

This whole thing was both annoying and embarrassing. It seemed like he knew so much about her, yet she knew next to nothing about him. Ugh!

Harry, on the other hand, silently commended himself on the wisdom he had applied in answering her questions. In the future, he was going to have to be more careful when talking to her since she was so smart and easily connected dots.

Harry quickly reminded himself that there would be no need for that as he might not be talking to her much anymore since his job was over, and now she had all she needed to close her case without his help. Unless, of course, she decided to accept his offer and join the OmniGlobal legal team. Even then, their communication would be purely formal.

He made a mental note to inform Benne of the offer he had made to Jade. Although he knew that Benne wouldn’t object to it, not just because Jade was his younger sister, but also because Benne trusted his judgment as much as he trusted his.

“Can you not tell Benne that I told you about the birthday reminders?” Harry asked hopefully when they got to the gate, and it opened automatically.

“You said you don’t keep secrets from your bestie, remember?” Jade asked with a smirk.

By the poolside, Benne’s phone beeped when the gates opened, and he took it out to see who was entering the premises since he had upgraded his security setting after his phone call with Jade the previous evening. His lips curved in a grin when he saw that it was Harry and Jade.

At that same moment, Bryan and Sonia joined him and Celsie, who were already seated by the poolside, “Benne, are you aware that tomorrow…”

“Jade is here,” Benne cut Bryan off as he stood up, ready to go welcome his best friend and his sister.

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