"Hey!, follow me" He said and Ethel tried moving but Waylon grabbed her hand and pulled her back to his side.
Nathan frowned and looked at him, Waylon glared at him in return.
Ethel swallowed hard in total confusion.
'What the héll is going on?' She thought.
Nathan scoffed seeing how tight Waylon was holding Ethel, he rolled his eyes and turned away, he opened his car door and entered, Ethel stared at the car as he drove off.
"Let's go" Waylon smiled at Ethel and she nodded.
He opened the car for her.
"Thank you" Ethel uttered before she entered, Waylon closed the door and he also entered.
Vivian came out after Waylon's car left, she was actually watching the whole drama secretly.
"Seriously" She scoffed.
After some seconds, she also drove out of her car.
****
ETHEL'S PLACE
"Thank you Waylon" Ethel smiled at him when he finally stopped in front of her house.
"Wait" Waylon called her back as she made to open the door.
"Huh?" Ethel faced him again.
"Are you close with him?" Waylon asked.
"Nathan?" Ethel asked and Waylon nodded.
"Or, have I asked this before? I'm just curious" Waylon said and Ethel giggled cutely.
"We are not that close" She muttered and paused for a second.
"But he's....nice?" She said and Waylon chuckled.
"That sounds like a question" He muttered and Ethel bit her lips.
"That means he's not nice" Waylon added.
"No, he is. But not every time" Ethel said and Waylon nodded.
"Be careful, you can call me whenever you need anything okay?"
Ethel smiled and nodded.
"Thank you" She said and opened the door.
"I hope to see you tomorrow" Waylon said and Ethel waved at him.
"Goodnight" She said and went in.
Olivia was in the living room waiting for her return, her face brightened up immediately she saw Ethel.
"How are you doing grandma?" Ethel smiled as she hugged her.
"I'm fine child, you should go wash up, I prepared dinner already" Olivia said.
"I will eat later granny, I'm not that hungry for now" Ethel said and Olivia nodded.
"Suit yourself, but don't sleep without eating" She said.
"You know I won't ever sleep hungry" Ethel said and Olivia smiled.
Ethel went inside her room and her mind went to Hailey. After Saturday's conversation in her room, she hasn't set her eyes on Hailey, more like she's still not ready to talk to her.
"Is she mad at me?" Ethel sighed and started undressing, she finished and entered the bathroom. After taking a warm bath, she put on her pajamas and left her room.
Olivia was still in the living room watching the news.
"I will be back granny, I'm going to meet Hailey" Birdie announced.
"Alright"
Ethel left their apartment and went straight to Hailey's, getting there she met Hailey in her bedroom, she was getting ready for bed already, she met her drying her hair.
Hailey said nothing when Ethel entered.
"I'm here" Ethel said,sitting on the bed.
"I can see you" Hailey muttered, touching to see if there were any other wet places left in her hair.
"Are you.....mad at me?" Ethel asked in a soft voice.
"Why would I be mad at you?" Hailey asked and Ethel sighed.
"You haven't seen me, and you didn't call me either, I missed you" Ethel mumbled.
"That's new" Hailey said.
"C'mon Hailey, I'm sorry if I made you mad,you can't keep ignoring me this way, hmm?" Ethel pouted.
"Not when you're this cute,stop bribing me with that face" Hailey smiled and Ethel rushed to hug her.
"I'm sorry, okay? I promise I won't sneak out to meet Nathan again....."
"Any guy, not just him" Hailey cut in and Ethel nodded.
"Have you eaten? I was planning on cooking some chicken noodle soup" Hailey said.
"Yeah!!!! I'm eating that" Ethel said excitedly.
"Great, let's go" Hailey winked and they both walked out of her room.
****
NATHAN'S ISLAND
Nathan left his suite, he actually heard the sound of the entrance door opened, he wasn't expecting anyone anyway. He was shirtless, he was only wearing joggers and a pair of flip flops, his hair was messy but he was looking hot as always.
He was still climbing down the staircase when Vivian appeared, he stopped on the stair, Vivian swallowed, staring at him.
"What are you doing here Vivian?" Nathan asked.
"Oh...sorry I didn't tell you. I brought dinner, come down" Vivian said.
"I can't remember asking you to do that" Nathan said bluntly.
"You don't really have to tell me before I know what time to do" Vivian said.
Nathan scoffed and went downstairs, he followed her into the kitchen.
"You're not really thinking of buying foodstuffs and getting a maid are you?"
"I don't need a maid" Nathan muttered, opening the fridge, he suddenly stopped when he saw numbers of strawberry milk inside, he turned back and faced Vivian.
"What..."
"Why, you might crave for it at home also" Vivian said and Nathan sighed, he took a bottle of water and closed the fridge again.
"What did you get?" He asked her as she began dishing the food out.
"Just a light food you love, beef pasta and some drumsticks" She said and Nathan nodded.
"I will do that" He said when Vivian was ready to carry the tray of food.
"Thanks" She smiled and followed him,they got to the dining room and sat down together.
Vivian stared at him as he had his first.
"What do you think?" She asked.
"Good" Nathan muttered and continued eating, Vivian smiled and also started eating.
**
They finished eating and Vivian cleared the table, she returned to the dining room and met Nathan standing up.
"I will send some money to your....."
"No, it's on me, don't bother" Vivian cut in immediately and Nathan looked at her.
"Please let me do this for once, I really wanted to cook for you at least but you refused so let me just do this" Vivian said in a pleading voice.
"You should go home before it gets too late, goodnight" Nathan muttered and sent upstairs.
Vivian bit her lips,she was hoping he would allow her to stay for the night at least.
"Gosh" Vivian ruffled her hair and carried her bag before walking out.
****
NEXT DAY ★ KAYS GROUP OF COMPANY
Riiinnnggg📞📞📞…
Waylon sighed out loudly, staring at his phone screen. He's been ignoring his father's call because he knows exactly what the call is about.
The phone rang again and he gently answered the call.
"How dare you ignore my calls!!" Kay yelled over the phone and Waylon sighed.
"I was busy dad, I was in an important meeting" He replied.
"Have you called Mateo?" Kay asked.
"I was just about to" Waylon replied.
"I don't understand why you're so slow about it, you think you can ever beat Nathan if you don't follow my lead?! Call him right away!!" Kay yelled and hung up.
Waylon dropped his phone and ran his hand through his soft hair.
FLASHBACK
Waylon starred as Kay slurped down his wine.
"Why am I here dad?" He asked.
"The award night is coming soon" Kay replied.
"That's right" Waylon muttered.
"Here" Kay shifted a written down number on a paper to him.
"What...number is this?" Waylon asked.
"Mateo" Kay replied and Waylon raised his brows.
"Who's that?"
"He's the CEO and the one in charge of choosing who to give the awards to, he decides that every year" Kay replied.
"Then, why am I getting his number?"
"Send him some money of course, don't act dumb. You have to get that award this year If you don't want to lose your position in my company" Kay threatened.
END OF FLASHBACK
Waylon sighed out loudly and finally dialed Mateo's number.
"Hello?"
"Oh...this is Waylon"
"Mr Kay's son? I just spoke to your dad" Mateo replied and Waylon gulped.
****
NX ELITE ★ BOARDROOM
"That will be all for today,or is there anything else?" Nathan asked after the meeting.
The staffs all glanced at each other to see if anyone would speak up.
"CEO award night is coming soon Sir, but I'm confident anyway" A lady smiled.
"Don't be so confident about things like that" Nathan stood up.
They all bowed as he went out, Vivian followed him instantly.
"Are you okay? You look tired, you should take a rest" Vivian said beside him.
"I always look this way, I'm not tired" Nathan muttered and Vivian smiled.
Nathan suddenly saw Ethel on the other side of the hallway, she must have come over to deliver to other staff, their eyes met and Nathan looked away, turning toward the route to his office, Vivian also followed beside him with her heels making sounds.
They entered Nathan's office and immediately he tried taking off his tie....
"I will help with that" Vivian immediately rushed to him, Nathan dropped his hand and allowed her, she gently untied it and then raised her head to stare at him closely. Her eyes fell straight on his lips.
"Move" Nathan said, bringing her back to reality
"Oh, I'm sorry" She immediately moved back.
"You can go, I will call you when I need you again" Nathan said,sitting down.
Vivian bowed and left the office.
**
Ethel couldn't help but think about Nathan as she walked out of the company looking sad, how he had ignored her earlier worries her alot. Is he angry that she followed Waylon last night?
"But he left by himself right? I never wanted to follow Waylon" Ethel sighed.
She suddenly caught a glimpse of a teenage girl who was looking at the company building, but before she could get closer,the girl walked away.
"She looked sad, who's she?" Ethel wondered and also went her way.
****
NIGHT ★ NATHAN'S ISLAND
Ethel pressed the doorbell again with an impatient silent groan, and finally opened revealing Nathan.
"Sorry I'm a little bit late, I just..."
Nathan took the packages from her and closed the door before she could finish.
Ethel bit her bottom lip but she didn't move away from the door.
"You can just tell me if you're mad at me! It's annoying if you keep ignoring me!" She said loudly and the door opened again, she immediately looked up.
"Who said I'm mad at you?" Nathan asked.
"Your attitude shows that" Ethel replied.
"What else was supposed to happen?" Nathan asked and Ethel pouted.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
Nathan opened the door widely and she immediately smiled and entered, he closed the door and turned to Ethel who was already busy admiring the house.
"I didn't get to check it out the last time" Ethel said and faced him. She immediately collected the packages from him.
"I will help with that, where's your kitchen?" She asked and Nathan led the way.
"I'm not really hungry, why did I order the food?" Nathan asked himself and touched his hair.
"Whoa!" Ethel exclaimed when they entered the kitchen.
"It's so big and beautiful" she muttered and Nathan scoffed.
She placed the meals on the table.
"It's like you don't cook at all" Ethel muttered, still looking around.
"Someone was here last night?" She asked, seeing a customized nylon in the wastebin.
"Vivian" Nathan muttered.
"Huh. She slept over?" She immediately asked without thinking and Nathan looked at her.
"I just....want to know" She muttered.
"No one has ever slept over in my house" Nathan said and Ethel's eyes widened.
"Does that mean....I'm the first?" She asked.
"You should finish up and leave before it gets too late" Nathan said and Ethel smiled.
"Can't you take me home?....."
"You can call Waylon" Nathan cut in and Ethel took her lips in.
She looked around and found where the plates are.
Nathan lean on the pillar watching her trying to jump to pick up the plates.
"Ah!" Ethel groaned as she was unable to even touch any of the plates.
"Who told you ponytails look good on you?" Nathan asked.
"Huh?" Ethel faced him.
"You heard me" Nathan said.
"Oh...someone said it looks pretty on me...."
"It's ugly" Nathan snapped and Ethel said nothing.
She turned back to continue getting the plate, but she was hurt that he said her hair looks ugly.
She suddenly felt someone behind her, before she could turn,her hair tie was removed and her long hair fell freely down making her gasp,she turned immediately and her head hit Nathan's chest.
"Ouch!" She quickly moved back and looked up, their eyes met.
Nathan placed his hands on the wall, caging her.
"Your hair looks pretty when down" he said.
Ethel swallowed when her eyes fell on his lips, she took her lips in and looked down, avoiding staring at him.
"Hey spy kid" Nathan called and she looked up again.
"Have you had your first kiss yet?" He asked and Ethel's eyes widened.