Chapter - 21
When Alex joined Martha and George outside, they were already being accompanied by Margaret. 'Yet another coincidence?' Both Martha and Alex are beginning to doubt that. They have come across each other three times in the last three days, which, if they were to take into account their past interactions, was very unlikely to happen.
'Was it a coincidence?' Certainly not. Margaret has been waiting for Alex to leave his house on her lawn. Margaret, who had a habit of generally lay back and rest through the day after spending most of her night out, for the last few days, has been cutting back on her sleep just to have a chance of conversation with Alex.
"Good morning, Alex," Margaret greeted him when Alex approached the three of them.
"Good morning, Miss Cole," Alex greeted back.
"So? Excited for the big day?" Margaret asked.
"A bit, more nervous, I guess," Alex said.
"You will do just great," Margaret said, "We all know how competent you are," She cheered him.
"Thank you," Alex said, averting his eyes and looking everywhere but at Margaret.
Seeing his son shy away, George sighed in disappointment. But this time, he did not feel that Alex was at fault. Margaret had this charm on everyone in the neighbourhood, no matter the age. If he was like a decade younger, he might have been one of them.
"What are you doing out here? I haven't seen you out at this time of the day," George decided to take over the conversation with Margaret. George didn't mind if Alex ended up with Margaret. He didn't care about the rumours about her that much. Most of these are usually false, created by losers about those they can't afford to compete with.
"Well, I was heading out to meet someone," Margaret lied through her teeth like a professional.
"But you look so unwell. Look at that pale face... Can you manage on your own?" George asked as he secretly winked at her.
Taken back by George's weird behaviour, Margaret nodded, hesitating. "I am alright," she said.
"Are you sure?" This time George winked hard a couple of times.
But this time, Martha saw it. Pinching him on his belly, she said, "I guess she is doing alright, but maybe you need a prescription."
"Aaa... Aaa... Ouch... I was just suggesting that maybe Alex could drop her wherever she was going. But if she is doing alright, there is no need to," Even though he was in pain, he didn't forget to look at Margaret in frustration. He tried so hard for her to understand, but this beauty without a brain didn't understand.
'Do I really need to care about them anymore? One is shy, and the other is dumb. If it were our time, the boy would have grabbed her by now and putting her on the bike like a sack, and fooshhh... Long gone are those days," George couldn't help but compare.
Alex was looking at his father in amazement while Margaret regretted not taking Mr Rutherford on his offer. She had already lied once, so there was no harm in doing that twice.
"Well, I should be leaving now. Don't want to be late on my first day," Alex bid farewell to them and drove away on his bike.
Martha and George also said their bye to Margaret. As they walked towards their car, George turned around and sneakily gave Margaret a thumbs up, letting her know that he was going to cheer up for him. Margret was left standing in embarrassment.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After half an hour, Alex was in the parking lot of 'Theation'. Parking his bike, he adjusted his hair and suit, looking in the car next to him, and made his way to the elevator. There was no one along with him in the elevator, and he found it odd. He pushed the button for the fourth floor, but then he remembered about Susan, the receptionist and his promise to her. Since he had time to spare, Alex got off on the ground floor and made his way towards the reception.
As soon as he stepped into the building, the silent and serene entrance buzzed with whispers. The scene unfolded the same way as it did the day he came here for the interview. The ladies stopped what they were doing and were lost admiring him. As he walked, every head in his direction. The ladies admired while the guys cursed at him.
"Hey," Alex said as he walked up to Susan who was busy dealing with someone.
Susan, when looked away from the person she was talking to, she was pleasantly surprised to see Alex, "Hi, What are you doing here?" She asked.
"What do you think?" Alex said with a smile, pointing to his attire.
"I see you got the job, congratulations," Susan was all smiles as chatted with him.
"Yup. And that brings me to why I am here," Alex said.
"Why?" Susan asked, "Do you need some help with the formalities?"
"Nope, I am here to fulfil the promise I made with a beautiful lady," Alex said. Following the teaching of his eminent guru, his father, Alex tried to be as cheesy as possible as he flattered Susan.
"What promise? And with who?" Susan was a bit confused, or maybe she was acting ignorantly.
"I promised to take you out on dinner if I got the job, don't you remember?" Alex said, reminding her of the deal they made the other day.
"Are you sure? You don't have to take that seriously". Susan said. She didn't feel like going through the promise he made just to get her out of that situation.
"Why not? Since we already talked about it, let's just move on with the plan? Well, only if you want to dine with a man like me," Alex said. He played the victim card and made her feel guilty. There was no way he will let himself get dumped, even before his first date. If his father and brother get wind of this, they won't let him live in peace.
"I definitely want to," Susan said hurriedly. The eagerness was evident in her voice.
"Perfect. Then how does dinner on Sunday sound?" Alex asked.
"It's okay with me," Susan agreed instantly.
"Well then, it's decided. I should get going now. I don't want to be late on the very first day. Bye," Alex bid her farewell and walked towards the elevator.
"Bye". Susan just waved her hand, weakly behind him.
After Alex left, all the other ladies gathered around Susan to find out what they talked about, but Susan was tight-lipped. She did not get into the details and only gave vague replies to them.
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