Chapter 181: Another date proposal
“Carina, are you home?” Her father’s voice sounded at the end of the phone.
“I just got home from the office,” Carina replied.
“Have you started work already?”
“Not yet. We are still holding meetings twice a week to discuss our next move,” Carina explained.
“So which department will you be taking over?” Her father asked again.
“The marketing and sales department, you don’t have to worry about me bumping into you at work.”
“That’s not why I called you. Can you come home tomorrow? There’s something I have to discuss with you.”
“Dad, the last time you did this you forced me to get married,” Carina replied.
“This time, it won’t be like that,” he assured her, but she didn’t believe him. If this time was different, why couldn’t he say it over the phone?
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Just come home tomorrow,” he instructed.
“Yes Dad,” she replied
“Good, enjoy your evening.”
“You too,” she responded.
Carina woke up the next day feeling reluctant to see her dad, she felt like he was up to no good but she had agreed to go so she couldn't disappoint him. She put in extra effort to look good though she wasn’t feeling good within her. Her next stop was the supermarket, she stopped to get some fruits for her parents, and to her surprise, she bumped into Nancy and Deon also shopping for fruits like a couple.
She raised her eyebrows as she watched them and they also stared back at her looking incredibly guilty.
“It’s not what it looks like, Deon’s house burned down so he lives at my place till insurance sorts his issue out and I still don’t have a job so I’m facing the issue of losing my house…”
“I don’t care Nancy… I don’t care if you both date or even get married. Even if you died today I swear I wouldn’t even know or give a rat ass about it.” Carina snapped and went back to shopping as if they didn’t exist.
“Are you sure? Because…”
Carina walked away before Nancy could continue
After paying for her fruits she waved at Nancy and Deon who were still in the queue,
“You two deserve each other for the record. If you aren’t dating you should start now.”
When she left the supermarket her next stop was at her parents' house with her basket of fruits and
cheerfully went inside. Beth met her at the entrance and hugged her,
“You look good, I’m so happy to see you again,” she said.
Her father sat on the couch, pretending that he didn’t care that she was back home.
She joined him on the couch and placed her head on his shoulder, “You called so now don’t act like you don’t miss me.”
Alex smiled notoriously and said, “I have a man for you.”
Carina quickly shifted away from him with a frown on her face.
“No! We are not doing this again! And this time you can’t force me because I have my own money.” she yelled.
“I’m not forcing you to marry him, I’m only asking you to go on a date with him, and if you like him you guys can pick it up from there.” Alex tried to convince his daughter who still was reluctant.
“But Dad, I thought we were through with this, I don’t want to date just yet.” Carina rejected the offer.
“But Carina, this gentleman paid a lot of money to have this date with you. Don’t disappoint your dad.” her father insisted.
“But Dad, why didn’t you discuss this with me beforehand?” she complained.
“Carina listen to your father and go just this once, if you don’t like him you can just let go and move on. You don’t have to force yourself to like him.” Beth added her voice to plead with her daughter.
Carina sighed, “I’m not sure of this” she whined.
“Just go if you don’t like him you can forget about this mess and move on,” Beth said again.
Carina exhaled, still reluctant to give in to their demands. Relationships were hard, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to do it again, she knew she was going to reject this guy but to avoid long talk from her parents she only forced a smile.
“Okay, fine.”
Alex gave her a questioning look, “Fine? Where ‘fine’ means?”
“I will meet this guy, not because I want to but because I want you two to get off my back. Promise that after this, no more blind dates!” she replied.
“That works for us,” Beth replied with a smile.
Carina shook her head, “Don’t get hopeful, I’m never falling in love again.”
Beth just smiled, “Sure”
Harry stood in the lobby where every staff member at Hughes Foods listened attentively to whatever he had to say.
“Thank you all for staying and believing that we would bounce back, not that we are angry with those who resigned. I may have done the same in their shoes and to our new staff. Welcome aboard, we hope you buckle up and enjoy this new adventure with us. We have officially reopened for business thank you all once again.”
They all clapped and cheered loudly for him as he walked to the elevator and waved at them as the doors slowly shut.
“Hello, Harry!” Nathan cheerfully welcomed him as soon as Harry stepped out of the elevator.
“Hi, why were you not downstairs?” Harry asked.
“Because I was closing a deal.” He replied and took a few steps closer, “You are free this weekend right?”
“I need to know what you are going to say before I decide,” Harry replied, making Nathan chuckle.
“I have a date for you and before you get angry hear me out, it’s not just any date, it’s a business date, you will like this investment idea.”
“When is this date?”
“Saturday.”
“Saturday, huh?” Harry echoed, he didn’t trust Nathan at all, “The last time I followed you on a Saturday I got married.”
“Come on Harry, if you don’t show up for this date you can forget about me being your MD.” he threatened who looked visibly shaken by that threat.
“Aren’t you going too far?” he asked,
“I need you at this business date, is it a yes or no?”
Harry sighed, “Okay fine. I will do it.”
“That’s more like it,” Nathan exclaimed.