17 Is it a Guy?

When Ben got home, he was surprised to see his mom and dad still at his apartment. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad! you're still here!" greeted Ben with a big smile plastered on his face. "Welcome home Ben, so who is it?" asked his mom. "Who is what?" Ben answered with another question, confused with his mom's inquiry.

"I mean, who is the girl, who's making you smile like that?" his mom elaborated. "Gasp! Or is it a guy?" his mom said jokingly. "Mom! I don't swing that way! Anyway, why are you both still here? It's almost dinner. And I didn't see the car parked outside your car parked outside." Ben inquired hoping to change the topic.

"Oh, so it IS a girl!" said his mom happily and feeling excited at the prospect that his son is now interested in a girl. "I asked Anton to bring the package back to the company as soon as possible for them to start researching about the product. We need to be able to reproduce the phone within a month. We haven't left yet because your Mom is very fond of Cheska and she's very curious about her, Anton will just go back to fetch us after dinner." His father answered his question seeing his mom is ignoring him and only focusing on the girl matter. Anton is his father's trusted secretary ever since the company started.

"Okay, Cheska, make sure to include Mom and Dad for our dinner, oh and make a dessert for them to take home to my little brother and little sister." Ben reminded Cheska. "Alright Ben! One sumptuous dinner coming right up!" Cheska replied.

After Cheska left, his mom said, "Ben, I want her! Pretty please, gift me Cheska or maybe ask your friend to make another one for me? She's so cute and also knows a lot of skills in cooking and even gardening, she's gonna be a big help to me!"

"But Mom, I'm gonna have a hard time without her, she was a heaven sent to me when I have a hard time living here alone, if I gave her to you, I will have to find another helper. She's only with me for a more than a week and now you're taking her away, so unfair…" Ben complained.

"Don't you have a girl now? You can ask her to help you at home." His mom replied to Ben. Hearing what his Mom said, Ben heard a light bulb going on his head. 'If I give Cheska to my Mom, I will have an excuse to meet Karin or I can just buy another AI on the [Shop], there might be better skills available that I haven't seen before.' Thought Ben.

Seeing her son thinking deeply, his Mom made another attempt at getting Cheska, she really likes the robot, it can converse and also cook, clean and take care of the plants and also very cute. "Come on Son, I'm sure your friend will help you with another one. You've helped him with business and asking for another robot may not be that burdensome for him, it will also make your mother happy!"

"Since you're very persistent Mom, just this once, okay?" Ben agreed to his mom's request. "But, you can only get her next week after the first batch of phones father ordered arrives." Ben said, he plans to add two more skills to Cheska so that she will be more help to his mom.

"Yay! Then Mom will not pester you to tell me about the girl and go to the kitchen to see Cheska!" his mom said while skipping happily to the kitchen. "Mom! How can you say I have a girl?" Ben asked, to which his mom ignored and just continue skipping to the kitchen.

"Dad, who's the kid here? I haven't seen Mom like that, are you sure she was not exchanged with an impostor on your way here?" he asked.

His Dad laughed at him and said, "Nah, just ignore your mom, she's just over the moon that you have a lovelife now, add to that you've given her your AI so she's filled with happiness."

"Even you thought I have a girl?" he asked his dad, 'Am I that obviouse?' Ben thought.

"Hmm, how do I explain this… Oh since you read manga's online, it's like those guys or girls that have pink auras around them with flowers blooming and hearts floating? Yeah, you're like that at the moment you entered the door and saw us." His dad explained, "So Dad, that means you read manga's too?" asked Ben. His father coughed at having been exposed and excused "I just saw it one time when your little sister was also reading one."

'Like father like son' Ben thought. "Anyway Dad, did you also receive the phones my friend sent?" he asked.

"Yeah, I got 180 sets of the phones, it will help us a lot with the promotional campaign that we're doing this week. Thank your friend for me, I will also transfer the amount for those phones later." His dad replied.

"Dad, my friend said it's free, as thanks for the help you've given him. So you don't have to bother paying that small amount. Also, it's actually 200 sets, but I put away 20 to give to my friends and teachers, I told them it's a promotional campaign and that they needed to give me a feedback. I will also get one from those 20 sets so that I can change my phone. It also helped me talk to our College Dean earlier about the advance classes that I want to take." Ben explained to his father.

"Sigh, alright son, although I don't want to have a lot to owe your friend, I will accept his goodwill. I'm just hoping that this partnership and your friendship will continue to grow and not the other way around." His dad said. "So, since it's just the two of us here, why don't you tell me about this girl?"

Ben smiled wryly at his Dad's question and after thinking for a while, he answered, "It's not like she's my girlfriend already, we just met yesterday and we got to talk a little bit today before going home. Well, she's kinda funny and cute, I kind of like her a little bit but nothing's final yet. I just want to get to know her more before pursuing her."

"You're still young son, it's good that you're not in a hurry but make sure that you will not get friend-zoned, that's gonna be tough." His dad advised.

"Don't jinx it Dad! Thanks for the advice though, I'm going to pay attention." Ben said.

After the delicious dinner, his parents went home when Anton came back to pick them up. He went to freshen himself and got ready for bed. He fell asleep thinking about the future with his farm and Karin.