9 Chapter 9

The service bus took Harper and Aria going to school while Brett took the cab going to his cousin's house.

"Morning, Cuz." Brett greeted Ella.

"Morning, come in." Ella said.

"So, how was your drunkenness yesterday? Ella said smiling widely.

"What about it?" Brett said with a puzzled face.

"Oh, come on, Cuz." Ella said faking her disappointment.

"Aly drove me home." Brett said.

"And?" Ella asked. Brett raised his brow. "That's it?" Ella asked.

"Yeah." Brett replied. Ella rolled her eyes.

Brett doesn't have any plan to tell his cousin what really had happened last night. He's sure that when he tell her the real story, she will pester Aly and him the whole day.

"Do you like Aly?" Ella asked. Brett choked on the coffee his drinking. Ella laughed. "You like her." Ella smiled.

"After the death of her husband, she never had any relationship until now. Just like you, women were swarming around you like bees but none of them have tasted your honey." Ella winked at Brett.

"Grace and I were introducing her to our guy friends but no one have succeeded in winning her heart. I'm sure, when you pursue her, you will have no rivalry but you will deal with a more serious one, her fear." Ella continuously said. Brett furrowed his brow. "Fear of loving and losing again." Ella said then sighed.

"What's the cause of her husband's death?" Brett asked.

"Same with your wife, a car accident." Ella answered. Brett nodded.

Brett bid his goodbye to Ella and drove straight to his office at Mister Cleaner.

.......

Aly was inside her office when Amelia came in.

"Here's your coffee, Ma'am." Amelia said.

"Thanks." Aly answered and then yawned.

"Didn't have enough sleep last night?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah." Aly said.

"Thinking?" Amelia said and Aly smiled. Amelia sat on the chair in front of Aly's table. "Care to tell me?" Amelia asked then Aly sighed.

Amelia is one of Aly's friends. If Ella or Grace are not available, Amelia is there, lending her listening ears to her worries about her work, about her sons and about her life. But, it will be the first time that she will tell Amelia her dilemma about her love life.

"I'm confused." Aly said.

"About what?" Amelia asked.

"You knew that I have guarded my heart from guys that were trying to capture it and I've succeeded. But last night, my guard betrayed me." Aly said. Amelia smiled.

"What happened?" Amelia asked but she already have an idea what had happened. She only want to know if Aly will tell it to her.

"We kissed." Aly said blushing.

"And who's the lucky guy?" Amelia teasing Aly. Aly rolled her eyes and Amelia giggled.

"I hardly knew him." Aly said. "He's the father of Harper and Aria, Brett." Aly said.

"I see." Amelia said. Their chitchat was paused due to Aly's ringing phone. Her forehead creased because her phone's monitor displayed an unknown number.

"Hello, who's this?" Aly said.

"Hi, Brett here. I got your number from Harper." Brett said on the other line. Aly blushed that made Amelia smiled.

"Oh, hi, Brett." Aly said.

"Are you busy?" Brett asked.

"Oh, not at all. Why?" Aly asked.

"I wanted to make it up to you. I'm a pain in the neck last night so if you're free, let's have lunch later then fetch the kids after." Brett said.

Aly's face became tomato red in color. Seeing her friend's reaction, Amelia couldn't stop from laughing. Aly made a quiet sign.

"Who's with you?" Brett asked hearing Amelia's laughter.

"That was Amelia, my staff." Aly answered.

"So, are you free later?" Brett asked.

"Ahm, okay." Aly said.

"Okay, I'll fetch you at eleven thirty." Brett said.

"Okay." Aly said and the call was ended.

"You're so loud." Aly said pouting her lips.

"If only you could see yourself in the mirror, you will also laugh. You look like a virgin teenager." Amelia said still giggling.

"What will I do?" Aly asked.

"Maybe, going out with him, knowing him, your confusions will become clear." Amelia said. Aly sighed.

"What if it doesn't?" Aly asked.

"Just try, don't think too much. Just go will the flow. Amelia said.

Brett was smiling widely when he ended the call. At first, he was muddled if he will make the call or not but later decided to do it with his fingers crossed. And now, he was happy on the decision he made.

"You looked like a man who did won the lottery and the only thing that is not included is the jump." Dave said smiling. "What was the reason behind that smile of yours? I bet, a girl?" Dave continued with a teasing tone.

"I'll be out for lunch and maybe till evening. I'll see you tomorrow." Brett said.

"Woah, that fast? A date already?" Dave said faking his surprise look.

"It's a thank you lunch, not a date." Brett said.

"A lunch or whatever you call it, just the two of you, it's still a date." Dave said still teasing his friend.

"I troubled her last night." Brett said. Dave raised his brow.

"Troubled?" Dave said with a meaningful look.

"Stop your wild imaginations." Brett said. Dave laughed.

"Enlighten me." Dave said smiling.

"I was drunk last night and she drove me home with her kids." Brett said emphasizing the "kids" word. Dave chuckled.

"So, we're talking about the goddess?" Dave asked.

"Yeah." Brett answered.

"Why are you drunk last night and why are you with Aly?" Dave asked curiously.

"It was our nephew's baptism." Brett said. Dave raised his brows.

"Her brother and my cousin's son. Remember Ella?" Brett said.

"Yeah, what a small world, huh?" Dave said. "Yeah, anyway, I'll be going." Brett said.

"Enjoy your date." Dave said smiling. Brett rolled his eyes before going out of his office.

Brett reached Aly's Heaven Scent Laundry. He parked his car and went inside. The female staffs were open-mouthed seeing Brett entering the place.

"G...o...od mor..ning, Sir." Lily said stammering. Brett smiled.

"Omg!" Emily whispered.

"I'm looking for Aly." Brett said.

"Oh, she's in the office, Sir." Ava said with tantalizing eyes.

Ava guided Brett towards Aly's office on the second floor. Ava knocked.

"Come in." Aly said.

"Ma'am, someone's looking for you." Ava said. Aly blushed seeing Brett. Amelia smiled.

"Thank you, Ava." Amelia said. "Please sit down, Sir. Amelia continued. Amelia gave a meaningful look to Aly.

"Brett, meet Amelia. She's one of my staff and a friend of mine." Aly said.

"Hello." Brett said.

"Nice to meet you, Sir." Amelia said.

"Ready?" Brett asked Aly.

"Ah, yes." Aly said.

"Let's go." Brett said. Aly nodded.

Aly looked at Amelia. The latter gave her a wink and smiled.

"Enjoy!" Amelia said. "I hope he's the one." Amelia whispered.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Lessons from quotes (source unknown)

There's always a reason why we have to move on... when we wanted to say goodbye to the feeling we wanted to stay forever. For love will have to set its wings free and find the place where it belongs.

There's no such thing as ideal person, or such thing as ideal love. You just fall in love and nothing matters anymore and everything just turns out perfectly.

Time doesn't really heal the wounds in our hearts. It only makes your heart numb so that the next time it gets wounded it wouldn't hurt as much as the first time.

To have someone to love is not a gift but a constant choice. To have someone to love you back... I think is a gift you should take care of and be grateful for.

To love someone is knowing that you're going to get hurt but still doing your best for your love to be noticed even if you know that you don't stand a chance in owning his heart.