John stared at the rude waitress in disbelief, not because she didn't know her place, but because she just claimed that Jeremy was the owner of the restaurant. He then turned his attention to Jeremy expecting some form of denial, but Jeremy instead sighed heavily, the cat was out of the bag and he was honestly not planning on putting it back, "You can leave Suzy-"
"But... What about the order?", she pouted,
"It's okay, I will handle it. Go.", he said more sternly making her flinch, she began to wonder if she said anything wrong, all she did was defend someone she cared about from a very disrespectful person.
John was glued on Jeremy, "Is-is it true? You are the owner?", he couldn't mask the shock in his voice even if he wanted to. He recalled all the times he mocked him for being a foolish waiter, but it turns out he was the foolish one.
Jeremy boldly stared into his eyes, then confidently replied, "Yes, I am. Have been for a while now.", he said as he leaned back trying very hard not to be boastful. He found the dumbfounded look on John's face very amusing, his lips slightly curled up to depict his satisfaction.
John went silent upon realizing that there was so much he didn't know about this boy, so much he never disclosed, but he also realized that it was him who never bothered to check. How can he? The first time he saw him, he was dressed as a waiter hiding behind his uncle's tail, afraid to even look him in the eye like he was doing right now, with that smug on his face. And speaking of his uncle, John wondered why he left out such an important detail.
He cleared his throat in embarrassment, feeling flustered, he began to loosen up his tie, "Ahem! I am happy to hear you own the place, if I had known, I would've let you pay for your own suit for the interviews. Anyway, all I'm saying is that is wise for a man to have a business of his own, which brought me to why I am here today, my business, Global Tech.".
'He's unredeemable...', Jeremy thought. There he was, expecting an apology but all he got was another insult, John's pride couldn't let him apologize, how sad. Jeremy adjusted himself ready to talk business, although inside he was rolling his eyes, outside he was wearing the best smile he could pull out of respect for his uncle, "Thank you, Mr. King. What is it that you want to talk about?"
"Can you tell me how things are between you and my niece?", he suddenly asked hoping Jeremy wouldn't lie because he was slowly losing his trust in him.
"You are not going to eat first?", Jeremy asked,
"No, I don't think I will be staying any longer, don't bother.", John was too embarrassed to even think of eating. If anything, he was wondering what else he got wrong, did Jeremy perhaps have a hidden mansion as well, because he also belittled him for staying at the box apartment above the restaurant? Although it was a fairly well-off neighborhood which he used to tease him, he recalled telling him that he was lucky his boss was paying for the bill, and just then, another wave of shame hit him and he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt.
The uncomfortable look he wore prompted Jeremy to also cut down to the chase, he thought about lying but he knew that his uncle wouldn't like that. What John didn't know was that his uncle informed him that he was asking questions and, in fact, warned him not to mess up the plan by raising John's suspicions. 'This has to end soon', he let out a heavy sigh alarming John which he took the wrong way, "That bad huh?", John commented but Jeremy couldn't let him conclude that, so he quickly corrected it, "Linda and I have made tremendous progress, we have gotten closer, for sure that I can tell you but I can't confirm if it's love". John smiled instantly and Jeremy silently released a breath of relief, he was nervous he wouldn't believe him, and he was more scared of his uncle's wrath than John's.
While they were discussing Linda, Linda was at the hotel where the gala would be taking place putting in the final touches with the event organizer, after all, the event was soon approaching. She was looking forward to finally announcing her fiancé, she already fantasized about this a lot, the people's reaction, and Jeremy's handsome face as he marched up to the stage with her, but her fantasies were always ruined by his ex's face. She can't help but think of her and Jeremy's feelings for her. If it weren't for her PI giving her a heads-up about the strange woman who suddenly showed up at Jeremy's, she would have been shocked to find her there, even thinking about that possibility was enough to get her blood boiling. Kim found out that John hired someone to tail Jeremy, and after much deliberation, they decided to have someone tail his tailer,' So many tails', she recalled saying, which made her PI chuckle.
As she was going through the list of things that needed to be done, the artwork that needed to be displayed, Linda came across a painting of her mother and she couldn't help but gaze in wonder at the woman whom God decided to take before she even turned 5, 'would she be happy about my engagement?', Linda wondered.
"You love it that much huh?", A familiar voice echoed from behind and she jumped for joy,
"Aunty Sello!".