Chapter 376 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Don’t force a smile. Please don’t pretend to be happy around me when you are not. You can do so with others if you want, but never do that around me,” Benne said as he stopped in front of her.

Celsie sighed. How did she always forget that even though they had only known each other for such a short time, he knew her so well? “How can you tell the smile is forced?” She asked as he lifted her chin so she would look into his eyes.

“When it comes to you, I can tell every nuance of expression and subtle tone of voice,” Benne said, and Celsie felt her heart flutter.

Her mood slowly lifted, and she smiled genuinely. This was her own person. With him, she wouldn’t have to ever worry about keeping things to herself because whether or not she opened her mouth, he could just tell when she wasn’t okay.

“I’m lucky to have you, am I not?” She asked, and Benne shook his head.

“I’m the one who is lucky to have a gem like you,” He said as he took the towel from her and dried her face.

“I thought you said you’d be outside with the others?” She asked when he finished, and she turned away from him to check her reflection in the mirror.

“I was going to do that, but then I ran into your mom once again. Seeing that you were done talking with her, I decided to bring your phone to you,” Benne said as he went to stand beside her and left her phone on the dressing table.

“How are you feeling now?” He asked as he met her gaze in the mirror.

“Much better.”

“Good. They will be leaving soon, so don’t keep them waiting,” Benne said as he turned to leave.

“You are not going to ask why I was upset with her?” Celsie asked, and Benne paused by the doorway.

“I will prefer you tell me about it yourself, but if you want me to ask, then it will be after we have seen them off. So hurry,” Benne said and walked away without waiting to get a response.

Although he was curious to know exactly what her mother had said to upset her, he didn’t want her to talk about it and get even more upset than she already was with her mother before seeing them off. He already figured that whatever her mother had said must have hurt her feelings profoundly, and it wouldn’t be resolved so easily.

As he walked down the hallway, his phone beeped with a notification to let him know that someone was at the gate. He paused and pulled it out to see who it was that was visiting his house so late in the evening and needed a pass to get in.

A puzzled frown creased his brow when he saw that Harry’s car was parked in front of the gate, and Harry was just seated there.

Like his cars, all of Harry’s cars were authorized to pass through the gate without hindrance via the automatic number plate recognition installed on the gate. So why was Harry just seated there? He relaxed a bit when he looked closely at Harry and noticed that his lips were moving like he was talking to someone. It seemed like he was on a call.

Meanwhile, inside the car, Harry had a slight frown on his face as he pressed a finger to his temple, “Dad, are you really at my apartment?” He asked, not sure whether to believe his father or not since it wouldn’t be the first time his father would be pranking him.

“Weren’t you the one who suggested that I pay you a visit? I told you I was going to take you up on your offer, didn’t I?” Aaron asked his son dryly as he looked at the table which he had set for dinner. It had been a while since he last ate with his boy, and he couldn’t wait to see him.

“So you are really at my apartment?” Harry asked, torn between joy at seeing his father after such a long time and frustration that he had to turn back now that he was finally at the gate after spending most of the evening contemplating making this drive.

It had taken him quite some time to make up his mind to honor Jade’s invitation and drop by Benne’s place for their father’s party. Not that she was the reason he had decided to stop by after all since the last thing he wanted was to put himself through the torture of seeing Jade again. He didn’t like the idea of saying farewell for the third time in one day.

Maybe this was a sign that seeing her again before she left was a bad idea. He could save himself the torture now and just turn back whether or not his father was telling the truth.

“Do I need to take a photograph beside your refrigerator to convince you that I’m here? By the way, one of your bedrooms smells flowery like a female was here. Are you seeing someone?” Aaron asked, and that was all it took to convince him to make a U-turn.

“You are really here?” Harry asked excitedly, “When did you get here? I’m on my way home now. What do you want me to get you for dinner?” Harry asked, and his father chuckled happily when he heard the excitement in Harry’s voice.

“I already fixed dinner. Just get yourself here in one piece before the meal gets cold,” he said before hanging up.

Immediately after the call ended, Harry dialed Benne’s line since he knew that Benne would have been notified of his presence at the gate.

“Why did you leave without coming in? Don’t tell me someone is holding a gun to your head in that car?” Benne asked when he received Harry’s call.

Harry grinned, “Yeah. And he let me have my phone for a minute just to let you know that you are a dumb ass.”

“What a waste of your final words. You will be greatly missed, my dear friend,” Benne said, and Harry chuckled.

“You don’t have to worry about missing me. I will be taking you with me. I love you too much to let you live without me,” Harry assured Benne who turned when he heard Celsie’s footsteps.

“Keep your love to yourself. Why did you leave? Did something come up?” Benne asked seriously now.

“My dad just called to let me know he’s around. So I had to make a U-turn…”

“Oh, that’s great! Let him know I will drop by to see him tomorrow after work,” Benne cut it.

“I’m sorry I have to miss the party. How is it going over there?” Harry asked curiously.

“Don’t worry about not being here. You are not missing anything. There is no party.”

“No party? Why?”

Benne quickly explained the situation to Harry, and he let out a sigh when Benne finished, “Maybe I should have come in to say hello since your folks will be leaving tomorrow,” Harry said, contemplating if he should just turn back.

“They’re not dying, just traveling. You can see them some other time. Go home to your dad,” Benne urged him.

“Alright then. See you tomorrow,” Harry said before hanging up. He briefly contemplated calling to let Jade know that he wouldn’t be coming because something came up, but he decided against it.

It was possible that she had invited him without really expecting him to show up, and he was the one reading too much meaning to her request. She would probably not even notice his absence. Why would she? He was just the boring uncle Harry to her, after all.

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