It read:
"We're having dinner with The Ginger family. 8pm, don't be late"
It was from his mother.
Zeke's eyes lazily scanned the message and he rolled his eyes.
He knew the Ginger family very well, or rather the Ginger-Ki family.
They said Ginger as a short form mostly, but when written, the hyphen and second part was always added.
Liam Ginger-Ki, a wealthy business tycoon.
His business flourished so fast that people couldn't believe it.
He won numerous awards for breaking records and placing his company on the map singlehandedly.
The company in question? The G-K group.
It was a company that dealt with a little bit of everything.
It was no wonder to some how it flourished quickly.
The man was literally doing everything.
He was a jack of all trades, but shocked the country by becoming the master of all.
Liam Ginger-Ki was married to Hana Myoga, a lady from a middle class japanese immigrant family.
Together, they built their lives up to the point where they could comfortably rub shoulders with people who had generational wealth.
They had four children: Amaya, Hansel, Charlie and Reiko.
Zeke sighed at the thought of how much conversation he would have to go through as there were four other people around his generation.
He groaned at the thought of conversing with Reiko.
Her little crush was very much obvious and annoying.
He had turned her down many times in the past and silently hoped she was over it by now.
He opened a conversation box with Kai and typed: "dinner at my parents' tonight, you're off till tomorrow"
A reply came so quickly that one would think Kai was waiting on the message.
"Okay"
Almost immediately, Kai got up from where he sat and walked to the front desk to pay for his meal.
He dashed out so fast that Zeke didn't even notice someone had left the bakery.
Kai left another bodyguard where he had parked Zeke's car.
His plan for the rest of the day was to sleep off and call Bebe.
She was still not speaking to him.
...
Later that evening....
Zeke stood before his mirror wall and adjusted his shirt.
He wore a casual outfit and ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it.
He slipped in his earrings and wore his watch.
His footwear was comfortable and far from formal.
He spritzed his perfume on the back of his ears, neck, chest and wrists.
After taking a long uninterested look in the mirror, he walked out of the house with one of his car keys.
...
Jane stood on the balcony, feeling the wind brush her skin gently.
She twirled a glass of wine in her hand and sighed.
Larger, stronger arms wrapped around her body in a swift move, but she wasn't frightened.
The familiar scent of sandalwood wafted into her nostrils and her already relaxed muscles relaxed even further.
"Jayjay" a deep voice spoke in a low tone.
"Yes?"
"I love you" the voice said.
Jane smiled brightly and turned around to face the owner of such large arms.
"I love you too...my, You're still so adorable, even after all these years" she said with a giggle.
"Only for you" Seth replied and kissed her passionately.
His life's best decision was marrying the woman before him, Jane.
She was the best wife he could've asked for.
He felt blessed everyday to have her, truly.
"We're having guests over" she said breaking the kiss.
"Who again?" He asked frowning.
She laughed at his expression. She knew undoubtedly that he was the one Zeke inherited his attitude from.
"The Ginger-Ki family" she replied.
"Goodness..... It's going to be one hell of a night" he turned her around and hugged her from behind again.
"It sure will"
Jane knew what her husband was talking about. There was always friction between the children, and it always caused an uncomfortable silence.
She wondered what would happen this time around.
...
It was 8pm and dark as it looked outside, the night was still young.
Zeke arrived before the Ginger-Ki family arrived, just in time.
He greeted his parents who were being so affectionate like newlyweds.
He hugged his sister and kissed her cheek.
He could tell she had no interest in tonight's dinner.
The Truth was that he knew something happened between her and one of the Ginger boys, but he didn't know which one, and he didn't want to know which one.
If he did, he'd probably kill him.
For everyone's peace of mind, he decided to stay ignorant.
"You alright?" He asked her.
"Yeah, I think so..... I will be"
As if on cue, the Ginger-Ki family walked into the house, one after the other.
Jane and Seth were the first to welcome them in.
Zeke gave a formal and general greeting, and so did Paleah.
After a bit of conversation, they moved to the large dining table.
"I hope you're hungry, we have a lot of options" Jane said with a laugh and Seth followed.
Liam Ginger-Ki and Hana Myoga had great personalities and blended perfectly with Jane and Seth.
The Ginger kids stood tall and bold.
The first one, Hansel, was only slightly shorter than Zeke.
The girls were like stallions, beautiful and tall.
Zeke was good at observing, and that's what he did.
He hadn't seen them in years and they had all changed, at least physically.
Amaya had a great personality just like her parents.
She knew how to keep a conversation going while allowing equal input.
Hansel seemed like a good older brother. He had the attitude of a leader as well.
Charlie was a quiet one, but in the few interactions they had, Zeke understood that Charlie was just as competent as Hansel.
He was only more quiet about it.
And Reiko....
She was ambitious and always learning something new.
She was a great person, he admitted.
He stared at her and found that she was already staring at him.
He stared unblinkingly at her and didn't stop.
Her pupils widened slightly when she noticed that he was staring at her for so long.
Her cheeks turned pink and she looked away.
She still had the crush, he observed.
This was going to be a long night.
....
They all sat at the table and the chefs brought in the food and left.
Zeke smirked slightly at the display.
Jane Miller really outside herself this time huh, he thought.
After Jane and Hana finished gushing at how Great the china plates were, they were all ready to eat.