Nathan went to the private room where he was going to meet his long-time friend, Maverick. As soon as he reached the location, he was overwhelmed by a crowd of prostitutes settling in the room. He cut into the mob and was greeted by lascivious and thirsty comments from the women who were surrounding Maverick.

“Hey, handsome!” A slut in a skimpy body-con suit squeaked wantonly.

“Oh, who do we have here? Another daddy!” Another woman came forward, circling her arm to his.

Immediately, he gave her an alarming gaze. “Get off me.”

The woman obediently untangled her arms to him, stepping away from Nathan as he approached Maverick. By the time Maverick had noticed his friend coming forward, he stood from his seat and welcomed him with a partial bear hug. Nathan accepted his gesture and patted his back.

“Good to see you, bro!” Maverick said when he parted. “It’s been a long time! What’s up?!” He asked, giving him a bottle of beer.

Nathan sat across from Maverick. He took a swig of the beer and replied, “I’m good! Been better—” Then he paused for a while as he peered around the room. He felt unsettled with a horde of girls watching them like they were feasts to be gobbled in. With his cold mercurial gaze, his lips clenched into a straight line. “Can all of you get out of the room? You circling around us feels so unsettling.”

Maverick laughed at his comment. “Chill up, Nathan. These ladies just want to have some fun with us.” He then grabbed a piece of food from the table and ate it. While chewing, he smacked one of the woman’s asses lewdly. “Sweet pea, get out with your friends for a minute outside. I’ll be back with you later.”

The red-haired woman gave her a saccharine smile. “Okay, sure, babe.” She pecked Maverick’s lips first before heading out of the room with his ladies.

Maverick and Nathan were left inside the area as soon as all of Maverick’s sluts went out to get the two boys some privacy. Chugging his beer, Nathan was the first one to crack the silence between them.

“So, how have you been doing? The last time I heard from you was that you were getting married. Finally decided to settle down?”

Maverick leaned his arms on the back of the seat and gave him a wolfish smirk. “You know I don’t do that shit, bro.” He lifted his feet up on the ground and propped them onto his other legs. “Didn’t happen. I bailed out on the ceremony.”

Nathan wasn’t that shocked to know about it. Since their university days, Maverick had been the asshole in their group. He had been in and out of the jail for petty violations and was in numerous fights because he had hurt some brother’s or friend’s girl. His friend hadn’t changed a bit even after six years of being away here and going to the States to take over his brother’s failing business.

It was Nathan’s idea to take hold of the management of their offshore businesses since their global sales and accounts had been drastically down after that shocking incident. The stock market plummeted significantly and Nathan’s only choice was to manage their international accounts after what happened.

“You’re still a pussy, Maverick.” Nathan chuckled and swashed the cold beer in his hand. “Goddamn dude, you’ve broken again another poor girl’s heart,” he stated lightly, but with a slight intention of shoving the truth down on him.

Maverick raised his arms in the mid-air. “You know me, Nathan. I’m a fucking too exceptional for that shit.” He deeply laughed as he dropped his arms back to the armchair and continued, “Anyway, enough about me. I haven't heard anything about you since you left, man. How’s it going?”

“It’s alright. After our accounts internationally became stable, I decided to return here and focus on expanding a new product line to a new market,” Nathan replied with his usual business and acumen tone.

Maverick rolled his eyes as he grumbled. “Ugh, that’s boring, dude. Haven’t you had any fun for the last six years you're away?”

“You know I can’t afford to have that Maverick after what happened…” Maverick placed his empty beer bottle on the glass table and reclined his arms on the elbow chair. Crumpling his fingers into a clench, he added. “I have to fix my own shit.”

“Nah, bro, it isn’t. It was an accident, alright?” He threw him another beer bottle and lightly cheered him up. “Don’t beat yourself innit, wimp.”

Nathan just gave him a smirk as he opened the beer with his teeth, throwing the cap to the side. As the alcohol seeped down into his system, he couldn’t shrug out what happened six years ago when his life turned considerably at three-sixty degrees. It was in his last days in college when he heard the devastating news about his brother and his wife from an employee in their offshore division. His brother, along with his wife, was involved in a drunk-driving accident that took their lives instantly. With Nathan being their only relative, he was informed by the hospital regarding this appalling, unfortunate event.

Having no choice and extremely worried about his brother, Nathan hastily drove to the airport when suddenly an accident clashed with him. He ran over to a woman crossing the bridge and was gotten injured by the impact that she had passed out on the road. However, since he didn’t have enough time to heed her, he kept driving along with the conscience he bore until he reached the airport. Because of this, Nathan called Maverick to ask for his help and told his friend that he would give the woman a part of his shares in the corporation for the awful thing he did.

In response, Maverick agreed to him and took care of everything else as Nathan boarded the plane. To his dismay, the moment he reached the hospital, his brother and his wife succumbed to the blow of the incident and were declared dead on arrival. Since that day, everything that he had ignored in life came down to him, whacking him with an enormous responsibility to his brother’s son, the company, and the debt that he inherited from his brother.

“So, how’s your nephew? He’s what? Already six or seven?” Maverick abruptly asked.

Nathan’s perusing was interrupted when he heard Maverick’s question. He chugged his beer first before reverting to him. “He’s going seven. The boy’s a damn clone of my brother.”

After her brother died, Chuck, his brother’s son, was left in his care. He didn't know how to approach or get along with Chuck at first. The boy had had enough trauma at an early age that it was too hard for Nathan to form a bond with him.

“Is he with you when you came back?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I just actually got him a tutor a while ago. I don’t want him to end up like you, dickhead.” He chuckled, throwing him jokingly into a piece of nuts.

Maverick just shrugged his friendly chides like good-old times. Nathan had been his long-time friend, and they had been through the worst of times. He knew that Nathan blamed himself for his brother's accident, that he had been too distant from the grandeur and beauty of life and had been buried with his responsibilities and work.

“Your nephew must have been spoiled then,” Maverick commented, deviating him from his insults.

Nathan sighed heavily. “I guess so? Shit, I don’t know. I hadn’t babysat a child in my life, lest to take care of one.”

In fact, Chuck Kelly, his nephew, had been spoiled so much that he didn’t know how to tell it to the kid or scold him for his appalling behavior. Nathan had stayed with Chuck for six years and managed the entire business by himself with no help from others. It was then when he became so invested with their off-shore accounts and transactions that he discovered the cause of his brother’s accident.

Nathan had learned that it was not really an accident, but an intended murder by their closest competitor. Hence, when Chuck turned four years old, he sent him to an elite school two years ago for safety, while Nathan stayed abroad to fix the business affairs and find out who was the perpetrator of the crash.

“Can’t disagree with you on that, bro.” He chortled and added, “You can't even handle a woman!”

Nathan just shook his head casually. He then shifted the topic to the woman Nathan had run over six years ago. “Speaking of the devil, do you have any news about the woman I’ve run into six years ago?”

Maverick’s face relaxed expression changed immediately to a galling sneer. “Don’t worry about it, bro. She’s doing fine.”

However, Maverick didn’t tell him it was his ex-fiancée, Daphne, who would be the tutor to Nathan’s nephew, Chuck Kelly.

The cordial greeting of the sunrise approached the translucent window by the room when he and Maverick had already caught up on each other’s lives for the past six years that Nathan had been away. With empty bottles and plates that were scattered around the glass table, Nathan, who was almost but not quite drunk, stood from his seat and tapped Maverick beside him. His friend was already snoozing with his neck craned to the headboard of the chair.

Cracking his neck, Nathan kicked his shins, startling him with a shout, “Dude, get up. It’s already morning.”

Maverick, who just dozed out from his seat, reclined his back away. “Shit, fuck . . .” He fumbled on the couch, searching for his phone. “What time is it?”

Nathan lifted his forearms and replied, “It’s six in the morning.” He slapped his knees and added, “Come on, let’s go. I need a lift.”

The man grumbled in protest. “Fuck, dude, don’t you have a car for that?” He staggered as he stood on the ground, to which Nathan had noticed quickly that he helped Maverick by supporting his unsteady walk.

“Yeah, I do have. But I can’t call Isaac. It’s too early,” Nathan explained to him as they both walked out of the room, trotting toward the parking lot.

By the time they got to the parking area, Maverick unhinged his arms on Nathan’s shoulder and fished out his keys inside his pockets. “You owe me a lot, Nathan.”

Nathan shook his head as he lightheartedly disagreed with it. “Not as much as you do.”

Maverick didn’t respond and just chuckled it off as they got inside the car and drove to Maverick’s place.

***

As the night greeted Clara’s apartment, Daphne was shocked to see her mother in the lounge with an unkempt and distraught face. Linda’s eyes were red as scarlet when she stood from the upholstered chair and stepped forward toward her daughter.

Combing her curly hair, she batted her messy eyelashes at her daughter. “Hey sweetheart, how are you?”

Awkwardly, Linda reluctantly hugged her, which Daphne found a little strange and sketchy. Usually, her mom only did it if she needed money from her.

“What are you doing here, mom?” Daphne tried not to grunt as she dropped the bag on the couch.

Meanwhile, Clara came to the picture with a ladle in her hand as she went toward them. “Finally, you’re here, Daphne! I kept calling you a while ago to tell you your mom is here.”

Daphne turned her gaze to Clara, smiling at her softly. “Sorry. I didn’t notice. Thanks, Clara.”

“Sure, and no worries about it,” Clara answered as she looked at Daphne and Linda back and forth. She then recognized the tension between the two of them that made her move backward. “Okay, I’ll just be in the kitchen, if you need something, Daphne…”

Daphne nodded at her friend and then, in a couple of seconds, grabbed her bag from the couch, neglecting her mom to go into her room. Linda, however, followed her behind, looking quite jittery and nervous.

When Daphne got inside, she placed her back on the table and removed her shoes to change into her slippers. Without looking at Linda, Daphne finally resigned to the thought of ignoring her by asking her mother straight away.

“Do you need the money right now?” She then walked to her closet and yanked on some shirt and pajamas.

Linda bit her lips for a moment and then plummeted her arms to the side. “Yeah. The guys needed the money, Daphne. I have to pay them immediately, baby.”

“Can’t it wait?” Daphne threw her clothes onto the bed and then raised her arms to prop them on her waist. “I don’t have any cash with me now, mom.”

Her mother’s face instantly became more anxious. Linda’s finger fidgeted relentlessly as she walked toward Daphne’s bed, sitting uncomfortably on it. Rubbing her palms onto her knees, she muttered, “I have to give them the money right away, Daphne.”

Linda tilted her chin and with trepidation in her expression, she added, “They’re going to kill me, if I don’t pay them back.” She buried her face into her palms and wailed.

Daphne couldn’t help but be worried about her mom. The shield she was fortifying against Linda soon crumbled down as soon as she heard her mother’s cry. She wasn’t merciless and certainly, she wasn’t a monster to not feel any empathy and compassion for Linda.

Linda was and is still her mom, and that would never change despite her flaws of being a wonderful mother like other moms.

She walked forward to her bed, brushed her mom's arms, and sat on her feet to tell her, “Didn’t I say I’ll help you with it, mom?” Daphne then pulled her forearms out of her eyes and looked directly at Linda’s face. “I just got a part-time today and I will start tomorrow. Also, I already applied to be a full-time teacher at a private school.”

Her mom’s eye blinked. Then she wiped her tears off as though her distressed expression a while ago diminished in an instant. “You did, baby?” Linda smiled sweetly at her daughter, hugging her tightly. “I’m so proud of you! Mommy is so proud of you, sweetheart.” Kissing her temples, she added, “I love you so much, and thank you!”

“Just—I just need time, mom to pay for it. That’s the last thing I could ask you.” Daphne sighed, parting away from their hug.

Sniffing her nose, Linda coaxed her daughter by tucking the falling strands of her hair into her ear. “Of course, I understand, Daphne…”

Daphne couldn’t find the exact words to say to her, which became the reason for her giving Linda a robotic smile. After that exchange of reassuring words, her mother left Daphne in a devastating state. As she went back to the kitchen where the food was already ready at the table, she slumped her back on the chair, exhaling massive frustration.

At that moment, Clara noticed that after she placed a glass of wine by her side, she asked her, “Did she ask you again for another money?”

Daphne didn’t speak and just nodded to her with dejection.

“You can borrow from me for a while, if she badly needs it right now, Daphne.” Clara sat beside her, holding her hand.

“No, Clara. It’s fine. Besides, you’ve already done a great deal for me.” She forced her lips to curve upward. “I can handle it, don’t worry,” Daphne reassured her friend.

Clara pursed her lips. “Alright, but please do tell me quickly if you find yourself in a tight spot, Daphne. You know I always got your back.”

Daphne gave her a nod. “Yes, I will.” She then lifted her hand away beneath hers and then patted Clara’s hand with hers. Clearing her throat, she changed their subject as she grabbed the spoon by her side and scooped the risotto from the plate. “Great, I’m starving! Let’s eat!”

Clara didn’t push the topic through as she also picked up her spoon from the table and took a portion of the rice.

***

The next morning came by so rapidly that Daphne felt the strain of pressure on her nerves. She woke up so early to prepare all the things she would need for the first day of work. Wearing the most formal and professional clothes she had, she went to Nathan’s place even before the start of her work.

By the time she reached the place, Daphne was not surprised to be accosted by a thirty-foot tall mansion in front of her. The house, or so she said, the manor was so commodious that it would fit more than a thousand people. It looked more like a commercial area with an aristocratic and expensive design, rather than a warm and comfy residential space.

She then fixed the creases on the hem of her blazer and pushed the bell button on the ten-foot tall column that was barricading the entire mansion. After a minute, an old lady came to open the gate in a formal black-and-white uniform. The lady must be one of Nathan’s maids and caretakers of this house, along with other employees who live with Nathan and Chuck Kelly.

“Good morning. Um, I’m Daphne Collins, the new tutor,” Daphne greeted the lady.

“Ah yes, Mr. Kelly had already informed us. I’ll take you to Chuck’s room, Miss Collins,” the white-haired woman replied to her while she pushed the front door open.

They walked to the massive space of the room and, as Daphne followed her to the stairs, her eyes couldn’t stop roaming around as though she struggled with the thought of comparing Nathan’s over-the-top home to Maverick’s trifling mansion.

And by the time they got to the second floor, the old woman added a reminder, “You can tell me if you need anything, Miss Collins.”

“Sure. Will do,” Daphne politely replied. “Also, may I know if I need to know anything about Chuck, in case…” She paused for a while and then jerked up her shoulders briefly. “In case just something happens?”

She turned around to take a glimpse of her. “Not so much, Miss Collins. The kid will have to take his vitamins in the afternoon and need to eat lunch at the exact time. Also, we’ll directly bring the meals here so you two won’t get disturbed.”

“Ah, got it. Thank you so much, miss—?”

“You can just call me Mrs. Willis, Miss Collins,” the old woman casually answered.

“Just Daphne, by the way. I’m not comfortable with people calling me by my surname,” Daphne explained to Mrs. Willis.

The woman didn’t bother asking her about it and just shrugged it off. After a couple of minutes of walking down the hallway, they finally stopped at a white door. Mrs. Willis opened the door and upon entering the room, Daphne met a freckled young man on his bed.

“Chuck, your tutor is already here, buddy,” Mrs. Willis informed the kid.

Daphne stepped forward to the kindness and introduced herself to him with joy. “Hi, Chuck! Good morning! I’m Miss Collins, your new tutor.”

However, instead of being greeted pleasantly, Chuck jumped out of his blue rocket ship bed and threw his stuff at her. “I don’t like you.” Before Daphne could even reply, she was already strewn with water from the kid’s cup.

“And I don’t want you here!” Chuck stomped his feet so loud that made Mrs. Willis scolded him.

“Oh, come on now, young man, that is not how you treat your teacher, buddy. “

The boy snouted and shouted, “I don’t care! Leave my room! I hate you and I don’t like you in my room!”

“I’m sorry about this, Miss Collins. I’ll talk it out with him,” Mrs. Willis said to her as she approached the young man.

Daphne nodded at her, watching her appeasing the grumpy boy. The white-haired woman sat beside Chuck and brushed the boy’s dark-brown wavy hair. “How about this, buddy? I’ll cook your favorite mac and cheese later, while you wait here with Miss Collins. Does that sound alright with you?”

The boy pressed his lips into a thin line. “But uncle doesn’t want me to eat that! He says it’s not healthy, Mrs. Willis!”

She raised her index fingers and then pressed them to her mouth, winking mischievously at the boy. “It’ll be just between us.”

Chuck thought it over for a moment. He lifted her head in Daphne’s direction and asked, “What about her? She’ll tell him about it…”

Daphne quickly answered Chuck, “I won’t tell your uncle. I promise!” She put her hand on her chest and added, “Scout's honor, Chuck.”

Chuck just grimaced at her as he rubbed his eyes. “Whatever.”

Mrs. Willis then stood from her seat. “Good boy, bud.” She approached Daphne and told her, “I’ll get back to the kitchen, Miss Collins. Do inform me if you need something.”

She bowed her head to the old woman and watched her leave the room to single-handedly handle Nathan’s pompous and spoiled nephew.

Clasping her fingers, she pivoted her gaze back to Chuck, who looked completely uninterested. “So how about we do something fun and interesting while we wait for Mrs. Willis? Is that okay with you, Chuck?”

“You’re stupid. Studying is not fun.” He gritted his teeth, clenching his fist tightly.

She sat on her heel and responded enthusiastically, “We’ll make it fun, then.”

Chuck ignored her, crossing his arms to his chest as Daphne started to bring out her teaching materials.

Hours had passed, and the teaching session was a disaster. Chuck didn’t listen to her and kept on complaining. More so, Daphne endured the long-hour session of patiently comprehending the problematic attitude of the child that when it ended, she never felt so damn tired in her life as now.

After they were finished, Daphne was about to go home when suddenly the spoiled brat’s uncle just arrived.

As soon as Daphne went downstairs, she came across Nathan in the hallway. Smiling at the man, she greeted him politely while he just returned her an impassive glower. Daphne didn’t make that man’s elusive gesture to her an issue as she decided to pass by him, walking toward the entrance door of the manor.

When she was about to open the door, Daphne suddenly paused by the time she heard Nathan’s voice stammering.

“You can have dinner here,” Nathan said in an uncertain and hesitant voice.

Daphne burrowed her eyebrows. She then pointed her thumb in the door's direction. “No, it’s okay. Anyway, I should be heading out since it’s already late.”

Then Nathan’s secretary interrupted. He was a man in his twenties whose extravaganza personality exudes in his colorful clothing. “Darling, you’re such a sweetheart! No need to be shy, darling.” He circled his arms around her shoulders and uttered to her ears, “Mr. Kelly never invites anyone to dinner in his house, so if I were you, I'll accept it because it is damn rare!”

Nathan seemed to have heard Elliot’s comment. His eyes glared at his secretary, clearing his throat. “Stop corroding her mind with your nonsense, Barker.”

“Boss, I’m just sayin’ the truth,” Elliot Barker retorted in a sassy tone.

Meanwhile, Daphne found their interaction appealing. It was her first time to see Nathan with his secretary have that dynamic, yet respectful, professional relationship between them.

“I really can’t. I have to go…” Daphne adamantly rejected his offer.

He lifted his left hand to loosen the tie on his collar. “I will have Isaac drive you back to your apartment. If that’s what you’re worried about.” Shrugging to himself as he tried to explain, he muttered, “Besides, I don’t want to be rude to my nephew’s teacher.”

“I haven’t been invited by him to dinner, mind you, Miss Collins. If I were, I would take that chance.” Elliot winked at her before looking back at Nathan. “Anyway, boss, I gotta go. All the documents for tomorrow are done and your meeting with the Saundra Land Corp. has been all set.”

Nathan nodded at his secretary. Elliot then waved his hands to Daphne and said, “Night, darling! It’s nice meeting you!”

“Same, here.” Daphne smiled at Elliot while waving her hand also as she watched him leave.

When the door in front of Daphne and Nathan shut closed, he gazed back at her and asked again, “So, would you want to stay for the dinner?”

“I really shouldn’t—" She chewed the bottom of her lips as she contemplated whether to accept his invitation. Her pre-thoughts wanted to refuse the offer, as she didn’t want to add her debts to this man. However, a part of her also knew that it would also be obnoxious of her if she rejected his offer. Furthermore, it was just a casual dinner among the Annistons’ and she surmised that not could go wrong with it.

“Are you sure?” Nathan asked her again as he waited for her with his other hand clutching a suitcase while the other was shoved inside the pockets of his trousers.

She shook her head with a bit of reluctance and answered, “Oh-kay. Yeah, sure.” Daphne stepped forward, gripping her back onto her shoulders. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Uh, great.” He sounded odd, airy, and breathy. Nathan then turned to his left and pointed his index finger to the narrow passage. “Just walked straight here, turn right, and there’s the dining hall.”

“Er, sure. Thanks…” She roamed her eyes to the bright halls of the way on the right wing of the mansion. Then, as she was about to go, she noticed Nathan going upstairs. Stopping behind his back, she asked him, “Are you not, um, coming to eat… for dinner?”

Nathan looked back at her and pursed his lips. “I’ll head there late. Don’t wait for me.” He then continued walking upstairs when suddenly he collided with his nephew going down.

“Hey, kid. How’s your day?” Nathan greeted his nephew like he was just some child he casually knew.

Daphne found it odd, as she had thought that the two were close. Backing up her expectations, the man went to lengths just to get Chuck Kelly a credible tutor. If he didn’t care about the kid, he wouldn’t go through the painstaking process of giving the best of everything to his nephew.

Chuck, however, didn’t respond to him and just ignored his uncle. Nathan didn’t force the kid to answer him, even if Daphne felt Chuck was a tad disrespectful. Just like him, Daphne tried to ignore it as though it didn’t happen.

When the kid finally came down, Daphne approached him. “Want to go with me to the dining room?”

The kid, again, neglected her for the nth time and just spout a snide remark. “Stupid!”

Daphne just sighed in dejection while she followed the young man to the dining hall. On the other side, Nathan trotted up the stairs, going to his room.

***

Thirty minutes had passed when Nathan came to the dining table. He was wearing a light-brown sweatshirt and loose pants. Daphne was sitting on the left side of the long mahogany table, while Chuck was on the right side, near the head seat.

“Why is your plate still empty, bud?” Nathan quickly noticed that Chuck wasn’t even lifting his arms to grab some food. “Are you not hungry?”

The kid gave him a grumpy look. “I’m not hungry.”

Nathan reached the bowl of beans in the center and took a portion of it to give it to Chuck. “And why not?”

Chuck harrumphed. “I don’t like the food and…” He shifted his gaze to Daphne, who was sitting two seats apart from Nathan and was a noticeable distance away from Chuck. “And I don’t like her.”

His uncle looked up at Daphne as he folded the knitted sweater on his right arm. “You don’t like Miss Collins?”

The brat nodded. “Yes. She makes me study so much!”

“But it’s for your own good, Chuck. I told you to have to study hard—" Nathan tried to explain to the child when Chuck intervened with him immediately with his tantrums.

“I don’t like to study, uncle, and I don’t like her! And I don’t like the food! I hate her and I hate this!” He shouted as he banged the utensils on the table.

Daphne jumped in her seat, surprised at the kid’s reaction. She knew that Chuck had a problematic attitude, but she didn’t know that it was deeper and more extensive than this.

Nathan didn’t scold his nephew. He raised his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose as he called out Mrs. Willis. “Mrs. Willis!”

The old woman came quickly while wiping her dark brown hands on her apron. “Yes, sir. Is there anything you want?”

“Chuck doesn't like the food.” Waving his hands to the maid, he added, “Bring him whatever he likes.”

Mrs. Willis nodded. “Right away, sir.”

However, Daphne felt this was too much. The kid was being spoiled rotten by everyone in this house, which intensified his insufferable behavior more. Gripping the spoon and forked, she meddled, “Hang on…”

Both Mrs. Willis and Nathan stared at her in bewilderment.

“Don’t you think you’re coaxing him too much?” She dropped the utensils to the surface of the mantle and then placed her hands under the table. “He needs to know that his behavior is disrespectful and appalling. Moreover, if you give him everything he wants, he’ll think that it’s alright to be rude and impolite.”

Nathan’s jaw tightened. He propped his elbows on the table and cracked his knuckles with his fingers. Ignoring Daphne’s comment, he signaled Mrs. Willis to take Chuck with her to the kitchen.

Mrs. Willis just obliged him as she approached Chuck, who was so cantankerous. “Come with me to the kitchen, dear. We'll make your favorite grilled-cheese sandwich.”

The kid followed the old woman to the kitchen while Daphne and Nathan were left alone in the dining area. When Chuck and Mrs. Willis’ shadows disappeared in the room, Nathan grabbed his utensils again and forked some French beans.

“Don’t tell me what and what not to do with my nephew, Miss Collins. I’ll discipline him whenever and whatever I want,” he rebutted her suggestion a while ago.

Daphne wiped her lips with the cloth. “Please, just call me Daphne, Sir Kelly. As a teacher, I’m just giving you a bit of advice to help you with Chuck, and not, in any way, doubt your ability as his guardian.”

“Then just Nathan, Daphne. Besides, I don’t need your advice regarding him and, more importantly, I don’t like you intervening in our affairs,” he said softly, but with warning and indignation.

With this, Daphne didn’t try to defend herself back to her employer and just ate in silence with him. The past thirty minutes of them sneaking out stares at each other while eating was the most awkward and unsettling feeling Daphne had experienced in her life.

***

By the time their dinner finished, Daphne was about to go home. It was already eight o’clock in the evening and she had to still travel back to the apartment for at least forty-five minutes. Nathan’s nephew, Chuck Kelly, was already in his room sleeping, while Nathan was in the living room with documents and papers scattered on the coffee table and on the sofa.

Daphne greeted him in the evening as she fished her bag on the couch. “I’ll be going, si-Nathan.” She bowed her head partially and added, “Thanks for the dinner. I sincerely appreciate it.”

In his spectacle glasses, his eyes titled up to meet hers. “Wait a minute. I’ll just call Isaac to drop you in your place.”

She hastily shook her head at him. “No, it’s alright. The ride on the bus would take me twenty minutes only, and the fare is not that really expensive, so it’s fine.”

“No, it’s already late. The walk here to the subdivision is too long—“Nathan explained as he got his phone and opened it.

“It is really okay, Nathan. Besides, Isaac must be already sleeping…I don’t want to bother him just to take me home,” Daphne insisted.

Nathan couldn’t respond to her and because of this, Daphne decided to head towards the front door, when all of a sudden, she heard him at her back.

“I’ll drive you home then.” He stood from his seat as he looked at Daphne. She was, on the other hand, surprised by his prompt gesture that made her eyes gape wide.

Waving her head in persistence, she rejected his offer. “No. No, no, it’s really fine. You don’t have to do that, Nathan.”

Nathan didn’t listen to her. He moved out from the table and said, “Wait for me here. I’ll just grab my keys.”

Daphne was about to stop him when she didn’t catch him up as he hastily walked upstairs to his room. Sighing in resignation, she hunched her shoulders down while she waited for him to come down.

After a few minutes, Nathan, with his long black coat, stepped down the stairs and walked toward the front door. Daphne, who couldn’t do anything about it, just let the man insist on his offer as she also didn’t want to make the atmosphere between them become more obdurate.

As they both stormed to the garage, Daphne went inside the car, and sat at the back, while Nathan sat in the driver’s seat. Nathan recognized it and was dismayed by her intended avoidance of him.

“Sit by my side,” He ordered her as he took a glance at her in the rear-view mirror.

“No. I’m fine here.” Daphne wetted her lips, turning away from him to the window of the car.

Nathan raised his eyebrow. “I don’t want to look like I’m your driver, Daphne.”

“You’re not.” She shrugged obstinately.

“And yet, sitting there on the back, make me look like one,” Nathan stated to her as he shifted to his back and to give her an ultimatum. “Now, are you going to sit beside me so we can go, or will you keep on insisting on your point throughout the entire course, wasting our goddamn time?”

Sighing in defeat, Daphne didn’t have a choice but to change seats and sat on the passenger seat beside the driver. After getting situated inside the car, Nathan turned on the engine, revving and driving the vehicle on the road, together with a lady, who looked a bit conscious of the situation between them.