"Told you will meet again." The woman said as Vince and his mother witnessed a flabbergasted Yve.
"Ma---Maddie?!" Yve finally got her voice and exclaimed.
"Yes! It's me!" Maddie smiled and threw a 'care to introduce her to me?' look.
Vince sighed in defeat and said,
"Mom, this is Yve, my girlfriend."
"Yve, this is my mother. She's also the top designer and owner of Noble, Maddie."
Yve was still in shock and realizing this, Maddie took the initiative and hugged her. She also whispered,
"Don't be nervous."
"Come on, let's eat before it gets cold." Maddie gestured for the couple to take their seats.
Vince helped Yve take her seat before sitting beside her. This caused Maddie to smile. He had never seen his son this sweet to any girl before. She witnessed for herself how deep is her son's love for the lady in front of her.
"Vince already ordered the food, Yve. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. I trust in Vince's choice." Yve casually answered and looked at Vince tenderly.
Then just in time, the waiters brought the food and placed them on the table. Maddie can't help but be amused by the wide variety of dishes in front of them.
"Son, there's just three of us but what's with this bountiful food?!" Maddie exclaimed.
"Mom, Yve will handle everything. Don't worry."
Vince casually answered as he started to put some of the dishes on Yve's plate. Maddie looked at Yve in disbelief but in her sudden range with what Vince said, Yve forgot about Maddie's presence and slapped Vince's shoulder while saying,
"So what do you mean by that?!"
"I didn't mean anything bad. I was just stating the truth."
"Truth or not but you sound unhappy and your tone is mocking me."
"No, I'm not! I like to see you eat to your heart's content."
"So what's with the tone?!"
Vince moved an inch closer to Yve's face and with no time to counter, Yve blushed by Vince's gesture. 'Oh my, is he going to kiss me?' She thought but then she heard Vince whispered,
"My mother is here. Let's bicker later, okay?"
Then Yve's face turned beet red from embarrassment and politely said,
"I'm sorry, Maddie."
"It's fine. I'm not used to seeing my Vince enjoy and tease other girls. I guess only you can bring the youth back to my son. Thank you, Yve."
Yve smiled at the lady's remark still, she said, "But he's done so much for me."
She looked at Vince full of sincerity in her eyes and confessed,
"I don't think this lifetime will ever be enough to repay him."
With her confession, a single tear from Vince's eye fell down. This swift reaction didn't escape his mother's watchful eye. Seeing the sincerity in Yve's gestures and words and how her son is so happy, she knew that they truly love each other. No power, prestige and money ever meant to these two.
'Now, if only I can talk to Yve alone about what happened in the past.' Maddie thought.
Just then, Vince's phone rang and it seemed that the heavens are siding with Maddie. Vince looked at the called ID and thought for awhile whether to answer it. Yve and Maddie knew this and Maddie was about to voice out her opinion but Yve was quicker to do so.
"If it's about the company, answer it. It must be an emergency and they may have tried their best to solve it without your help but failed."
This may be a simple statement but it learned Yve a bunch of points from Maddie.
"Okay. Mom, please don't say any thing to Yve while I'm away."
"What are you thinking about your mother? Do I look and sound that evil?"
Vince didn't dare to answer and continued to walk away with the phone on his ear. But amidst Vince's reminder, both Yve and Maddie knew what will be the topic.
"I know that you have a lot of questions in mind, Maddie. But rest assured that I truly love your son." Yve started.
"I know that." Maddie just simply answered. But her short answered caused Yve to worry too much. All sorts of thoughts are popping on her mind.
'What if she can't accept me as Vince's girlfriend?! I don't want to stay away from Vince. I don't think I can survive without him anymore but I also don't want him to choose between the two us. What should I do?'
Although, Yve didn't voice these words out, Maddie can clearly see that she's really worried. A smile of relief can be seen from her face. Yve's eyes looked wet and tears were about to flow out.
'You truly love my son, don't you?' Maddie thought.
"Yve, you need to calm down."
"But..."
"I'm not saying that I'm against you..." These words made Yve look at Maddie with a questionable look.
"But I'm not also saying that I approve you...." Now, Yve is truly confused. Maddie saw this from her face and continued.
"Now, if you don't mind, Yve, I want to hear your story. Why did you leave my Vince behind when I can see that you truly love him?"
'I knew you would ask this. Guess there's really no way out of this.' Yve thought to herself.