“The fact that the doctor said that there was no cause for alarm does not mean that she was pregnant. She has been with me for three weeks now. I have not seen her show sign of pregnancy.”
“You may be right, Mom. I have observed her myself and had been wondering.”
“If Denise had slept with her, why would he allow her to be here?”
“It is all right, Mom. Whether she is pregnant or not, she will be married to Denise the coming week.”
“Nothing changes that. Let us go and see Julie.”
Nichole said. They got off the bedroom, got Olivia, and they set out for Arthur's Apartment. Olivia, who was putting on tight jeggings and a turtleneck top which complimented her figure eight shapes, was walking leisurely and happily teasing Daniel.
“Daniel, you will try the clothes that you will put on the day you will write on my wedding page.”
Freya and Nichole laughed at the joke. They exchanged glances and Freya nodded her head in rejection.
'She is not pregnant.'
Nichole concurred. Soon, they got to Arthur's Apartment and an epiphany took place.
At Cairo, Egypt.
He had been combining the exhibition and the search for the parents of Olivia. It had not been easy. The identities of the Missionaries were safe guided because they were prone to attack. Now, he had visited one missionary camp or the other, but he kept getting the same result. On one occasion, he was almost detained by the security personnel.
“Why do you wish to see the McGregor?”
At this point, he was dumbstruck. He could not think of any good reason, and that made him to appear suspicious. When he was unable to provide a reason, one of the security guards who saw him as a responsible man warned.
“Young man, please leave and don't come back. I may not be kind to you next time.”
“Thank you, officer.”
He said as he walked away dejectedly. He fought back the tears that were about to drop from his eyes when a thought got to his head.
“What a life? Olivia, who could not allow a day to pass by without seeing me or hearing from me; here I am, going through hell just to know where to get her.”
Later, he boarded a cab to his hotel room after informing his team members that they should not expect him. When the team members got to know that he was not returning, they became distressed.
“The boss seemed troubled. He does not work like this.”
“I noticed it back at Sevenoaks. He seemed to have lost his joy.”
“And he had not been himself. I wonder what could be bothering him.”
“Do you think we should find out from him?”
They looked at each other before one of them asked.
“Do you think he would confide in us?”
“Let us make an attempt. We would not know unless we try.”
The team of five members consisting of his female secretary, three males and one other female staff reached a consensus to approach him for a dialogue. The next barrier was how to approach him. One of the males humorously asked.
“Who will bell the cat?”
They laughed out loudly. One of the females suggested.
“Cassandra, you are the secretary, you can approach him. Tell him we would like to have a word with him.”
The males in the team agreed, but Cassandra tactically wriggled herself out by her wise counsel.
“If you think so, I would not mind, but the essence of the meeting will be defeated. He would think it was an official arrangement. I suggest that Eric, the eldest of the team, should initiate a meeting, probably a dinner.”
Her suggestion came like the counsel of the gods, and they accepted it.
“You are right, Cassandra. I will do just as you advised.”
At Dover. Arthur Bailey's Apartment.
The four got to Arthur's house happily. Daniel hugged him and greeted.
“Hello grandfather. Good to see you.”
He released him from the hug and made him to sit on his thigh before he responded.
“Good to see you too, Daniel. How was your school today?”
“My school was fine, grandfather. Thank you?”
“Good day father.”
“Good day, Mr. Bailey.”
The others greeted.
“You are welcome. Please take your seat.”
“Thank you father. What about Julie?”
Freya inquired.
“She will join us soon. Meanwhile, you can look through the Wedding Accessories Catalog before she joins us.”
He handed over the catalog that was beside him to Freya, who collected it and handed it over to Olivia.
“Thank you father.”
“Never mind, Freya.”
Olivia looked at the cover page and beheld an exquisite wedding gown and screamed.
“Wow! This is exquisite.”
Freya and Nichole joined her on her couch to have a look at the exquisite wedding gown.
“Yeah. It is beautiful. Let's look at what we have inside.”
Nichole said. Arthur and Daniel began to play a game with his tablet. When Olivia turned to the next, they screamed.
“Wow!”
Olivia called out.
“Daniel, come and see. Oh my God. These are lovely.”
Daniel excused himself from his grandfather and joined the team. He saw beautiful pictures of Page Boys in the catalog. He was excited.
“I love this.”
He said, pointing at the picture of a boy of his age.
“Yes. It is beautiful.”
Olivia pointed out.
At this point, the janitor had served the visitors with tea.
“Thank you, father, for the tea.”
“You are welcome.”
Meanwhile, they continued to go through the catalog while sipping their tea. Then, Julie Bailey Winston walked in and Freya walked up to her for a hug while the rest of them looked on.
“Wow! Good to see you, Julie. Welcome back.”
“Freya, thank you. Good to see you, too.”
She walked up to Nichole and gave her a hug.
“Good to see you, Mom.”
“Good to see you, Julie. I hope your trip was smooth?”
“Yes mom. My trip was smooth.”
Then, Freya announced.
“Julie, meet Angel, Denise's wife.”
Julie walked up to her and exclaimed.
“Wow! She is prettier than what I saw on the pictures. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
Olivia responded while she looked at her searchingly. Julie, who was busy admiring her beautiful face and shape, did not observe the look. She continued.
“Denise must have a good eye.”
They all laughed and Arthur teased.
“Just like me, when I met your mother.”
They laughed softly at his joke. Nichole gave him a spiteful look. The kind of look she always gave to him whenever he mentioned his late wife. All the same, she laughed like others, too.
“Welcome to our Family, Angel.”
“Thank you.”
When Julie took a step to walk to a seat, she heard a familiar name from a voice she was able to recollect at once.
“School Mother.”
Julie froze while others looked at Olivia in astonishment. Julie Bailey Winston turned and looked attentively at Olivia, who was still standing. She furrowed her brow attempting to remember where they had met before, and then she called out.
“Olivia?”
“Yes, school mother. Olivia McGregor. At the Sevenoaks High School.”
Could this meeting put the marriage between Denise and Olivia in a precarious situation? Mrs. Julie Bailey Winston had wished that Olivia would some day be Louis, her kid brother's wife. And now, she was about to be married to their cousin.
At Egypt, Cairo – The Hotel.
At the close of the exhibition for that day by 4 o'clock, the team returned to the hotel and as discussed Eric walked to Mr. Louis's room with the pretext of giving him the report of the day. He tapped on the door and waited, but no response came.