Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Hello beautiful." Nathan said, now standing before Michelle and Chloe.

He took Michelle s right hand and placed a kiss on it. Michelle couldn t help but blush at his action.

"Welcome home, Nathan." She finally said.

"Hi, I m Chloe, Michelle s best friend." Chloe introduced herself, not wanting to be left out in the conversation.

"Hi Chloe, I m Nathan. It s nice to meet you." He replied, taking Chloe s hand in a warm handshake.

Michelle suddenly felt someone s hand snake around her waist. She was surprised to see Derek beside her, she thought she had just seen him talking with a friend a while ago. He held her quite close to himself.

Nathan smiled on seeing his brother.

"Hey little bro. Don t you wanna give me a hug?" Nathan asked opening his arms wide for Derek.

They exchanged a bro hug.

"Welcome home, bro." Derek said into the hug.

"It s so good to be home." Nathan said with a long sigh after the hug.

"I kinda wasn t expecting all of this." He continued, gesturing at the party.

"That was the reason I chose to stay here… but, I guess I can t avoid it."

They all laughed at his comment.

"I m sorry, it s all my fault… You ve been away for quite awhile, which was why I decided to organize this in honor of your return." Michelle apologized.

"Oh well… I m really loving the attention, to be honest." He concluded.

"I would ve planned something better, if only you had told me of your return." Rebecca said, joining their little group.

Michelle suddenly became uncomfortable with her presence, as the atmosphere suddenly became tense around them.

"Mom, I prefer it this way." Nathan said, trying to ease the tension amongst them.

"Good day, Mrs. Howard." Michelle greeted Rebecca, but Rebecca ignored her greeting.

"Nathan, Derek. I d like you to come say hello to Christopher, your dad s best friend. It s been quite a long time since you both saw him." She said before walking away from their midst.

"If you ll excuse me." Nathan said and followed after his mom.

Michelle felt bad about Rebecca s reaction towards her, but she managed to shake it off because she didn t want to ruin the party with her mood.

"I ll be right back. Just give me some minutes, okay?" Derek said.

"It s okay. Go ahead."

He then excused himself and followed after his mom and brother.

"She s such a witch!" Chloe remarked.

"Oh Chloe." Michelle said with a sad smile.

"If I were you, I would ve already put her in her place by now."

Michelle let out a heavy sigh.

"Could you excuse me for a minute?" Michelle said to her best friend, Chloe.

Chloe looked at her best friend with sympathy. She knew Michelle was excusing herself because she was hurt and wanted to be alone. She nodded in reply and Michelle left her and went upstairs.

Nathan greeted his guests and chatted with some old friends and colleagues. Dinner was later served and after that the guests gradually started to leave.

Nathan made sure to say goodbye to all of them and so did Derek and Michelle.

Chloe decided that it was also time for her to leave. She asked Michelle to see her off, so they would get away from Rebecca s glare.

"I ll be on my way now. Thanks for inviting me."

"It s nothing really. I needed your company more than you can imagine." Michelle told her.

"I totally understand. We ll have to talk tomorrow, okay?.. I didn t want to say anything here, so that witch doesn t eavesdrop on our conversation." Chloe said.

"Alright then, I ll be expecting you tomorrow."

"That s for sure." Chloe hugged her best friend goodbye.

After seeing Chloe off, Michelle walked back into the mansion. Derek, Nathan and Rebecca were all seated in the living room. She decided to take a seat beside Derek.

"Thanks for the party, love." Derek said, placing a kiss on Michelle s cheek.

Michelle smiled at him, while Rebecca rolled her eyes and said,

"I m quite sure Nathan didn t want any of this… The party was poor and filled with tramps. There were only a few guests from our social class… Don t you ever think of repeating such a thing without my consent"

Michelle's face dropped at that instant. Her eyes were already teary but she managed to reply.

"I m sorry, Mrs. Howard"

"You should be" Rebecca said, her glare still directed at Michelle.

"Mom, I enjoyed the party and I m acquainted to all the guests that attended" Nathan said with a bored expression on his face.

He was already tired of his mom s judgmental attitude towards Michelle.

"If I may ask, why did you choose to live here in the first place?" Rebecca asked, turning her attention to Nathan.

"I m staying here for only a couple of days.. maybe weeks before I get my own place" He calmly replied, not wanting to argue with his mom because if he told her he was trying to get away from her possessive nature, that would cause a lot of trouble.

"You can still do that at our family house"

"Mom, I m a grown man. I need my privacy"

"Is that so?" she questioned.

"Tell me, how much privacy are you going to get here?"

Derek didn t want to say anything. He was gently stroking Michelle s arm to make her feel comfortable. He wanted his mom to leave already because if she didn t, this conversation would aggravate into something else.

As if on cue, Rebecca stood up to leave.

"I ll let you rest now cos I know you must be exhausted from your flight. I ll give you a call tomorrow… And oh, just so you know, we ll be having our family dinner next weekend" She said to Nathan.

"Seriously?!.. Then what was tonight about?" he asked, waiting for his mom to give him obvious reasons why they needed to have another dinner.

"You know your father wasn t present for this.. rubbish you call a party"

"Mom, that s enough!" Nathan angrily yelled.

Rebecca wasn t fazed by Nathan s sudden outburst. Derek, on the other hand was clenching his teeth in anger, it took everything in him to restrain himself from saying disrespectful words to his mom.

"Goodnight boys" Rebecca said before walking out of the mansion.

Derek followed after her to see her off, not because he wanted to, but only to make sure she doesn t accuse him of negligence the next time they meet.

"I m really sorry about my mom s behavior" Nathan apologized.

Michelle just nodded because she knew her voice would betray her if she said anything.

"Ahem" She exclaimed, pretending to clear her throat.

"Would you like me to show you to your room?"

"Most certainly yes, I m jet lagged and I need to rest"

Michelle stood up from the couch and started her way up the stairs. Nathan followed closely behind her. Michelle then showed him his bedroom, it s a simple room with a queen size bed and a fluffy rug underneath. The bed has a black headboard with a nightstand and a night lamp on each side of the bed. The room is predominantly designed with the color grey. It also has a bathroom and closet.

"I hope you like it?" she asked him.

"I love it, thanks… At least mom won t bug me here" Michelle half smiled at his statement.

"Goodnight then" She said

"Goodnight" Nathan replied, giving her a goodnight kiss on her cheek.

She blushed at his action.

"I ll go now" She said, leaving him to rest and get settled in.

Michelle walked into her and Derek s bedroom, Derek wasn t in the room yet. She decided to take off her heels because her feet were already hurting from standing for too long on the heels.

She sat down on the bed and tried to process everything that transpired tonight. She immediately stopped herself from thinking too much about it, she only wanted to go to bed after having a stressful day. She went into the closet to return her heels.

Derek walked into the bedroom the same time as Michelle was walking out of the closet. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I m sorry about mom… I know my apology isn t going to make you feel any better. But, I want you to know that I m always here for you. I love you, always and forever" He assured her

Derek had a tired look on his face. Michelle only nodded in reply. Derek then leaned in and kissed her with so much emotion. He wanted her to know how sorry he was for his mom s behavior. He embraced her after the kiss and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

Michelle helped him take off his jacket and he took off his shoes. They both laid on the bed. Michelle snuggled closer to Derek because she needed his warmth.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked her.

"Uh huh" She exclaimed in reply.