"Why do you seem startled? Of course I know your sons already. They are my acquaintances."
Suddenly, the surprised expressions seemed to fade away from their faces.
" Uh, then that's fine."
Bruin answered as he shook Gideon's hand with vigor after which Natalie followed suit.
"I could have let you in immediately, but I have to confirm with my lady first."
Gideon said in a friendly tone while turning to leave.
"You mean Tasha's mum?"
Natalie asked out of curiosity.
Stopping in his tracks and looking back, Gideon answered.
"No, I mean lady Tasha herself."
For a moment, Natalie was in a daze.
'So, she is an older lady. Unlike how I expected.'
"Okay."
Natalie answered after a few seconds.
Just at that moment, Gideon moved forward and entered the gate.
According to Gideon's statement, Natalie came to a conclusion that Tasha was the one that owned the place. That was the reason she was quick to jump into conclusion that Tasha was older than Axel and Jean.
With that thought in mind, Natalie turned to Bruin and gulped.
"How did you know this place?"
Natalie asked.
"Almost the same way I knew of the other places that we have visited before. But for this one, it is a bit different."
Bruin answered with a raised chin.
"How?"
Natalie inquired.
"It is because I don't know Tasha herself since I have never met her before."
Suddenly, Natalie's expression turned serious.
"You must be joking. How can you waste my precious time just to drag me to a home of a person that you don't even know? That isn't even my concern, as my concern is how you were able to locate the place despite not meeting the person we are here to see. Let it not be a coincidence that your guess had led us to the gate of a person that bears the same name as the boys' friend. But for the fact that the guard has confirmed to is that he knows them, it is a sign that we are at the right place."
Natalie whined.
Faking a cough, Bruin blinked for a couple of times.
"Just as I told you earlier during our visits, my son has always be open to share information about people he spends time with so that I can be assured of his safety. The same way he did about his other friends, he also did with this one. And the only way I was able to locate this place, was because there was a time when I picked the boys at this place when I was from work with my car.
At that time, I received a call from Axel telling me to pass through this route and pick them. When I picked them on the main street, that's when they told me where they were coming from. And since I had parked just at the junction of the main street and this street that leads to this gate, it was easier for me to identify the only blue gate they had told me about."
Bruin explained.
"There is something we forgot to do before the guard left."
Natalie said with a complicated look on her face.
Suddenly, Bruin's eyes shone with a glint of curiosity.
"What is it?"
Bruin asked in a hushed tone as he threw furtive looks at the small gate to his left.
"We could have at least asked him if he had seen the boys in the past two days."
Natalie said in a low voice. It was clear that she was trying to reduce the chances of the guard eavesdropping their conversation.
"What if Tasha and the boys had a deal with him not to reveal their visit to us?"
Bruin asked.
"Then if that might be the case, I must say that you were wise to ask for Tasha herself instead of the boys. If you could have asked about the boys, this could have led to the guard asking us some questions in case the boys are missing. And you know what this means, the disappearance of the boys wouldn't have been a private matter again. At least it is easier to convince their friends and not an expert like the guard."
Natalie explained in a hushed tone.
Just at that moment, the creaking sound of the gate was heard before it flanged open.
In the next second, Gideon stepped out and moved to the side before holding his hands at his back as he stared at the two.
In the next moment, a lean lady stepped out of the gate with an alluring smile on her face.
Her long raven hair loosely rested on her shoulder. She had a height of 5.3 feet, brown eyes and a chubby beautiful face. She was wearing an embroidered pink dress that fitted her lean body with perfection.
At the sight of this, Natalie could admit that the young lady was indeed beautiful.
Just at that moment, a complicated look formed on Natalie's face.
Unlike what she was expecting, the lady was just sixteen years old. A year younger than Jean and two years younger than Axel.
'So, she is not as old as I anticipated?'
Natalie mused as she locked her eyes on the lady.
Just at that moment, Gideon bowed gently before introducing her.
"Mr. Bruin and Mrs. Natalie, meet lady Tasha, my boss's daughter."
Suddenly, Natalie was struck by a wave of realization.
'So, this is her parents' place after all. I already knew that she couldn't be the owner of the place the moment I set my eyes on her. She is just a minor..'
Natalie pondered.
It could have looked like it was long since the lady stepped out of the gate, but it was barely two minutes since her cameo.
"Wow, I don't need a confirmation to realize this."
Tasha resounded as she made a couple of steps forward before stopping.
For a moment, the two were confused. But Tasha's next statement cleared their doubt.
"You must be Axel's dad and you must be Jean's mum since you take after each other. Although not entirely but the resemblance is noticeable."
Tasha said in a calm voice as she gazed at the two with admiration.
The two then nodded in unison before stepping forward to give her a handshake.
After the handshake, Tasha continued.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting outside. It was only because Gideon was abiding by the rules set by my parents."
"It is okay, we understand."
Natalie answered with a grin.
"I would like you to join me in the house so that we can have a better conversation."
Tasha said gently.
With this little conversation they had had with Tasha, Natalie had started seeing the theory behind Tasha's friendship with Jean.
She could tell that the lady was warm and easy going. She also knew how to suave people.
These were some of the attributes that Natalie didn't express fully to Jean. She was warm but not as much as Tasha. She was easy going but not throughout.
So, Jean could have befriended Tasha, to experience this things since Natalie seemed to deprive him of the same. Additionally, Tasha was a master in culinary skills, and since the boy was somewhat gluttonous, it could have been easy for the boy to tag along such a skilful individual.
"No need. As you can see, we were just passing by and we said that it would be better if we have a private discussion with you."
Bruin intervened.
For a moment, Tasha's mind was in a maze.
'Private conversation? We are just meeting for the first time and they are already requesting for a private conversation?'
Tasha lingered as a confused expression formed on her chubby face.
"Oh, you must be worried that you might miss a taxi in case I take you inside and the conversation turns out to be long, isn't it?"
Tasha asked calmly.
In the next moment, the two exchanged curious glances before turning their gazes to Tasha and nodding in unison.
In this estate, the last operating hours of taxis was 7:30PM. It was a rule put in place by the estate management authorities for security purposes.
So, there were some chances that the two could miss a taxi to take them to their homes in case the discussion was lengthened and went beyond that time.
"Well, the discussion could have been long if I was going to introduce you to my parents. But just to clear your doubts, that's not going to happen today, perhaps some other day."
The two were flustered by this statement from Tasha.
But her next statement gave the a light of realization.
"They travelled, so, apart from Gideon, I only have our nanny as an extra person in the house. And I promise she won't bother you."
This statement could have made the moods of the two liven, but instead, it did the opposite and Tasha seemed to have picked this sudden change of their expressions.
"Is there anything wrong?"
Tasha asked after a short moment of hesitation.
"No..."
Bruin answered as he gave Natalie a furtive look.
Suddenly, Tasha grimaced.
"Uh, you are worried how you are going to make it home. Don't worry about that because our driver will be arriving a few moments from now, I will just instruct him to drop you."
Tasha persuaded.
For a moment, the two found her words convincing but still, they didn't seem to be in agreement with her.
The reason the two were unnerved by Tasha's insistence of taking them to the house, was because this was a clear indication that the boys weren't around.
Before the start of their search mission, the had suspected that the boys could have been hiding somewhere for them to conduct Jean's birthday celebration. But since the girl was willing to take them in her house, it was clear that the two weren't in her home. Besides, she had also confirmed to them.that it was only the nanny that was an extra person inside.
Struck by this realization, the two didn't see the need of getting in the house.
They wanted to finish everything outside in a quick and fast manner.
"That's fine, but we are sorry to disappoint you. We can't get in now, maybe next time."
Natalie spoke after a short moment of silence.
At this point, what was running through Natalie's head was turning to their last resort.
"If that is the case, then it's okay. But before you tell me why you are here, I also have a question for you."
Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense.
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