Chapter - 14

'God! Why? Why today of all days?'

"Alex?" Margaret was confused as to where Alex was lost.

"Miss Cole, Why are you here?" Alex asked, averting his eyes from her chest.

"Why do you think?" Margaret asked.

"I don't know, but I got to go," Alex said and tried to run away.

"Where?" Margaret was not going to let him leave so easily.

Alex was regretting coming out. He was better off settling the dispute between his parents than stand here in front of Margaret face to face.

"Father asked me to run some errands for him. I better get going, or I will be late," Alex said and again tried to run away, but this time Margaret was prepared for it. She had her arms interlocked with his, not letting him leave.

"I won't let you run off. Not before you tell me what's wrong with you?" Margaret was not one to budge.

"What's wrong with me?" Alex acted all surprised, "There is nothing wrong with me," Alex was all innocent.

"Alex, don't make me ask again. You have been avoiding me like a plague," Margaret said, "Tell me what's wrong."

Alex knew one thing now. He can't leave from here without being rude or spouting nonsense because there was no way he can be honest with her, "You want to know what's wrong?" Alex asked, raising his voice.

Margaret was surprised by his sudden outburst. Even the onlookers were amazed when they saw a handsome young man yelling at the infamous Margaret.

'Lovers quarrel? Maybe she cheated on him. Poor guy, maybe he didn't know about her,' Everyone had thoughts along these lines.

"Alex, calm down. There is no need to yell. I am right here," Margaret was still calm. She had been accustomed to such rumours, "Now tell me, what's wrong?" Her voice was so soothing that Alex wanted to let it all out.

But Alex steeled his heart, "What's wrong is that you are talking to me when I could be watching Netflix," Alex said, this time a bit softer.

"What?" Margaret was confused as to what he was saying. She didn't notice that because of his nonsense, her grip had loosened, and without wasting this opportunity, Alex made a run for it.

'What in the world was that?' Margaret could only stare in the direction Alex left, thinking about the nonsense he blurted out.

'I guess I need to pay Rutherford's a visit soon.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Huh...huh...huh..." Alex walked inside the house, panting for air. He thought that his parents would be resting by now, but they were waiting for him in the living room. When they saw Alex out of breath, they began bombarding him with questions.

"What happened?"

"Why are you panting?"

George hurriedly opened the door to look outside, but no one was there. Martha made Alex sit and bought water for him.

After Alex had relaxed a bit, Martha asked again, "What happened?"

Shaking his head, Alex said, "Nothing, I was being chased by a dog, and I tried to shake it off."

"Really? A dog?" George raised his brows, not believing Alex.

"Maybe it was a bitch," Alex said, pondering.

"Well, whatever it may be. As long as you are fine, everything is good," Martha said, putting an end to the topic. Then she eyed George, who sneakily left the room and went to their bedroom. But he didn't close his door. He stood by the door to peep through the crack and listen to what they were talking about.

"Alex, want to accompany me for a drink?" Martha asked.

"You want to drink? I have never seen you drink, well not at home," Alex asked, astonished.

"Why? Can't I drink? And moreover, I am just talking about beer," Martha got up and went to the kitchen to get one.

"I will have a coke," Alex said from behind.

"Here," Martha gave him the can and sat beside her.

"Tell me about your interview. About that company," Martha asked, taking a sip from her beer. If she wanted to guess the issue with Alex, she had to know all that happened with him today.

"Mom, There is no way to describe that company in just a few words. Everything there is on a different level, be it the reception, offices, cafeteria, sets or the staff. You name it, and it won't disappoint you." Alex enthusiastically told her about Theation, "As for the interview, I would say I didn't bomb it, but it didn't go as I would have liked it to."

Martha could feel that Alex was not very much concerned about his interview, and nothing must have happened to him in the company as he looked so vibrant talking about it. 'So what could it be? Is it about a girl?' Martha looked at Alex, who was busy telling her about 'Theation', but she was not paying any attention to what he was saying.

Then she remembered George talking about a girl, 'What was her name? Ummm... was it Georgina? No... not that. Aah... Jessica... Jessica."

"Did you get to see Jessica?" Martha asked.

"Jessica? No, mom. How can I meet her? She is the big boss of such a big corporation, and I applied for a measly position in the PR department. There is no way she will get involved with something so trivial," Alex said, shaking his head in denial.

"Is that so? But from what I heard from George, all the applicants are screened by Jessica once before they are appointed." Martha said.

"That may be the reason why her company emerged as one of the best in just a few years, unlike certain someone who just hires his employees based on their appearances". Alex said with a bit of sarcasm towards his father.

"Shsssh... don't say that out loud. Your father might hear us," Martha hushed him.

At the same time, Alex's phone buzzed. When he looked at the screen, there was a message from his father. He secretly opened the message to read it.

"What are you doing, son? I have been doing all that because of you. I am not at all worried about your brother. I am pretty sure that when he is back, he will bring a girl and introduce her to us. All I am doing is making sure that when you join the company, you get to have the time of your life". In the message, George put all the blame on Alex. He was certain that if it was about Alex, Martha won't make a big deal out of it. Otherwise, she won't let him live neither in peace nor piece.

"Ohh... really?" Alex heard Martha's voice in his ear.

Alex was so startled by her breath in his ear that he hurriedly turned around, and he ended up kissing her cheeks, barely touching her lips.

None of them moved. Alex couldn't help but take a deep whiff of how good Martha smelled. On the other hand, Martha's brain also went into a frenzy to even think about what to do next when she can’t even comprehend what was happening.

Alex was the first one to come to his senses after a few seconds. He pulled himself back and flustered, he hurriedly walked upstairs to his room. Only then did Martha moved. She touched her lips and slowly turned around to look the way Alex left. This was not the first instance today. There was an awkward moment between them in the morning too.

After standing there for a while and pondering over only God knows what, Martha picked up Alex's phone, which he left there in a hurry and made her way to her room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the room, George was waiting for Martha. As soon she entered, George asked, "So how was it? Did you find anything?"

"Huh..." Martha was snapped out of her thoughts, "Well, I don't think it has anything to do with the company. It might be something trivial. I guess he will figure whatever is going on with him on his own".

"That's good to hear". George said when he saw Alex's phone in her hand. George was scared shitless when his gaze fell on it. Trying to avoid any confrontation with Martha, without asking any more questions, George made his way to the bed.

"Let's go to sleep". George said, pulling up the blanket over him.

"By the way, I heard something about the requirements to join your company". Martha said, still standing by the door.

George froze when he heard it. Only one thought was going through his head, 'Alex, you really got your father into deep trouble.'

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