Chapter Thirty-Four

Everyone was amazed.

Helena's lips formed a straight line as she slowly recovered from the shock.

Clarice could not help from grinning from ear to ear. Ignoring AJ's nudging, she praised and congratulated her sister in her mind. On the other hand, Rita made a mental note to ask Sharlene more about the subject.

Watching him like a hawk when he had opened the backseat door to retrieve a teddy bear, Helena's frown broadened. He soon passed it to Sharlene, who cradled it in her arms and buried her chin into his soft artificial fur.

Helena folded her arms on top of her chest. Marrying her daughter off to a stranger, though that stranger was, in fact, her best friend's son, still did not sit well with her.

Clarice shared a fleeting 'what' look with AJ, who eagerly whispered his curiosity, but she dismissed his questioning. 

Rita was bursting with joy. Nothing in the world could stop this moment, not even the heat.

Even after Sharlene and Nick came to stand near, no one spoke.

AJ scrutinized Nick from head to toe with a frown on his face while Rita sent unspoken messages to Sharlene with her eyes. It was an awkward moment for everyone, not with the many eyes watching in the background.

"Hello again, Mrs. Cunningham."

Nick's polite words disrupted the lengthy staring contest and silence.

Helena loudly cleared her throat before answering.

"Hello, Mr. Ross."

She looked in Sharlene's direction with raised eyebrows. Helena studied her with an unreadable expression adorning her face.

"And you too, Sharlene."

"Hi, mom."

Speaking up with a nervous chuckle, Sharlene averted her eyes to watch a beautiful pink rose growing in her neighbor's front yard garden. It was more amusing than the embarrassing conversation soon to commence.

Half-smiling, Nick became a little flustered because of Helena's curt answer. 

AJ quickly saved the embarrassing issue by curiously asking.

"So, who is this, Shar?"

Rubbing behind his head, Nick was at a loss of words to express himself, not that he could not, but because Helena's flat tone of voice made him feel unwelcomed.

He deduced her attitude was the same as in the hospital.

Looking away from the flower when she heard AJ's question, Sharlene consciously came to Nick's rescue as she answered with a vibrant smile.

"AJ, meet my future husband, Nicholas Ross. Nicholas, this is my younger brother, the one I told you about."

A knowing expression adorned Nick's face while he stretched a hand out for a friendly handshake. 

"It's nice to meet you."

AJ returned his handshake with a skeptical frown.

"You too."

Looking above his shoulders to gaze at the Buggati, his lips formed a small smile. 

"Nice ride."

Pulling his hand away after the brief handshake, Nick smiled.

"Thank you."

Passing a hand behind his neck, AJ cleared his throat before speaking with a straight face, but his comment was nothing near serious.

"So, you are the father of the insemination baby?"

"AJ!"

Exclaiming, Sharlene became flustered. 

Shrugging his shoulders, AJ was unbothered by her embarrassment.

"What? Is that not true?"

"Yes, it is. Surprising, but the truth."

Rita peeped in, her insides bubbling since Sharlene and Nick looked charming and cute together. Her hands were itching to pull her away from his side and fire question after question towards her.

"And here I was all worried, asking your mom where you have been since you did not return to the company. I wanted to hitch a ride with you, but you were with Mr. Ross. I will let it slide since this looks beautiful."

Rita inputted with wiggling eyebrows, but reflecting in her eyes was the look 'we have so much to discuss'.

Smiling in her direction with a brief nod of confirmation, Sharlene turned towards Nick. 

Squeezing the teddy bear closer to her chest, she gently expressed.

"Thank you for bringing me home, Mr. Ross."

Returning her smile, he assertively responded, though a slight crease in his forehead indicated that he was not pleased with her calling him by his surname.

"It's always a pleasure."

Hiding her blush behind the teddy bear's head, she swiftly turned around and skipped towards her mother's side. Her shyness was cute and lovely.

"It's nice to meet you once again, Clarice."

Acknowledging the smiling Clarice, Nick stalled time, for he did not want to leave without a lasting impression on the Cunning-ham family. Also, he found it exceptionally hard to part with Sharlene.

"It nice to see as well, Mr. Ross. I hope Sharlene was in good hands."

Clarice politely responded, her eyes averting toward blushing Sharlene, who wanted to fuse with the teddy bear.

Opening his mouth, he was about to speak, but his ringing phone drew his attention. 

"Please excuse me."

Nodding, Clarice moved towards her sister.

Rita did the same thing with a pipe in her step, her mouth near Sharlene's ears faster than a mosquito seeking attention. 

AJ was too preoccupied with studying the vehicle as he fearlessly poked and touched the surface. His eyes sparkled like a child who had found the cookie jar.

Turning his back against the lowly murmuring family, he retrieved the phone from his pocket. Curtly, he responded.

"Nicholas Ross."

"Sir, where are you? The ceremony is ready to begin."

Sucking in air through his teeth, when he heard Mr. Thomas's slightly surprised and frustrated voice through the phone speaker, Nick passed a hand through his hair in frustration. 

"I thought I informed you, Mr. Thomas, to cancel all my appointments for the afternoon."

"I did, sir, but Ashanti forgot to include the ceremony on your schedule, so it was left out."

As someone who had never, in his twenty-nine years, been late to any function, Nick begrudgingly sighed.

"I understand. Have Ashanti bring my suit from my home." 

"Where should she bring it, sir?"

Thomas's tone sounded skeptical, but he did not voice his thoughts, for his boss' business was not his concern.

"Have her bring it to our jewelry store since it is the closest place to where I currently am."

"Right away, sir."

Satisfied with that response, Nick further added about a matter of importance. 

"The meeting this morning went successful. The ideas were incredible and original, but there were two exceptionally wonderful ideas that I could not let up."

He had forgotten to mention it, which was surprising since he was always on top of things. Spending half the day with Sharlene had left a lasting impression on him.

"I will send more information about it to you. And because the ideas came from two separate departments, I would like you to oversee the second one."

The line went dead for a few seconds, most likely Thomas taking a moment to digest the information his boss had given him.

"Are you promoting me, sir?"

He finally spoke, his voice sounding doubtful once more.

Lightly chuckling, Nick was not offended by his question, for he understood from his point of view. 

"Of course I am. You are a diligent worker. In the meantime, please set up a week of interviews to select my new PA from amongst the secretaries. I hope you will not disappoint me, team manager/leader."

Thomas deserved the raise. 

Not only was he hard-working, but Thomas was also trustworthy.

"Thank you, sir."

Smiling, Nick was pleased. 

"You will be assigned to work with Madam Sinclair, my COO, and the Finance Manager, Mrs. Copel. Though I will not always be present at future meetings, I can count on both of you."

"I will not let you down."

"Thank you, Mr. Thomas."

Glancing down at the watch on his wrist, he spoke with conviction since being on time was never a problem for him.

"I will be at the store in thirty minutes or so."

"Until then, sir."

Hearing the tutting sound that indicated the call cut off, he glanced in Rita, Helena, and Clarice's direction. 

"It was nice to see you all once again."

Averting his eyes to look in Sharlene's direction, he smiled.

"I promise to keep in touch."

Rita gasped while she gently nudged flustered Sharlene's shoulder.

"Okay."

The only word she could think of and which earned her a glare from her best friend, Sharlene squeezed the teddy bear tighter to her bosom. 

Satisfied with her response, Nick moved towards his vehicle and quickly entered the driver's seat. 

Watching the Cunning-ham family beyond the windshield, he drove out of the neighborhood with a contented heart.

***

The neighbors watched the interaction between the newly moved-in family and the rich young man with raised eyebrows. It had appeared he was dating the youngest daughter. Their gossip was unfiltered, and their curiosity grew bigger.

"Aren't our neighbors a little too nosy around here?"

AJ muttered while walking back towards the recently cut front yard with his phone in hand. He had taken many pictures of the vehicle and heard quite a handful of words. No doubt, he was going to boast about it to his new friends about his future brother-in-law's wealth. 

"They are humans, AJ. Humans are always curious about other people's business."

Clarice spoke in a matter-of-fact tone while rolling her eyes.

"But that's the least of the matter. Sharlene, care to tell us where you have been?"

Rita inputted with a smile in Sharlene's direction.

"Yeah. Where have you been? Were you on a date with your future husband?"

With a teasing smile, AJ shielded the sunlight with one hand over the phone screen to see the pictures better. Holding the teddy bear underneath her arm, Sharlene hurriedly denied his claim, yet the blush on her face gave her away.

"It was not a date."

AJ hummed.

"Why did he bring you home if it was not a date? Where is your precious car, then?"

Pursing her lips, Sharlene repeated with conviction.

"My car is still at the company building, which someone will deliver to me later. And as I said before, it was not a date. We coincidentally met at the company. He invited me out to chat after the meeting." 

"It still sounds like a date to me because you are blushing and wearing something new."

Muttering, AJ furiously began to type on his phone, most likely adding the pictures to his Instagram. 

Gasping as she placed her hand on her cheeks, Sharlene desperately tried to deny the fact. 

"I am not blushing. This redness is from the sunlight. It is too hot." 

Quickly, she added with a nervous laugh. 

"Maybe we should go inside?"

Not waiting for anyone's reply, she sped-walked towards the door. As if sensing her escape, Rita quickly latched to her side like an octopus. 

Helena, Clarice, and chuckling AJ soon followed.

"Whether it was a date or not, how did it go, Shar? Is he like the rumors say he is? Is he gentle? No. Please do not answer that third question because we could see he was very gentle with you. What about his likes and dislikes? Oh my. Is he as handsome as they said he is up close?"

Rita's endless interrogation had only just begun.