The look was fleeting.
Maxwell immediately looked over and smiled at the sight of the baby in Celia's arms.
"Aww, come on. I did miss the party after all. O impatient one! Couldn't you have waited a little bit for Uncle Maxie?"
So, saying that, he sidestepped Reyona and went towards the couple to deliver the flowers and to coo over the adorable baby.
Reyona quickly took that chance to leave.
She had no idea what she had expected, but it was not that.
She let out the breath she had unconsciously held in and tried to relax.
"Are you okay?" Toria's voice jolted her out of her no-thought state.
"Of course," she answered automatically. "Why?"
"Because I know how tough that must have been on you."
She said as she jerked her thumb towards where they were coming from.
Reyona had no idea if she was talking about the baby or Maxwell, but since she was not interested in exploring the conversation that would ensue from either, she smiled as she looked down at Toria's outfit and expertly changed the conversation.
"You know you look ridiculous in that, don't you?"
Toria smiled as she looked down at her floppy-haired bunny slippers.
"What do you mean? How can anyone look ridiculous in these beauties?"
She wrinkled her nose at Reyona, and the latter smiled.
Then her smile evaporated as they came out of the hospital building, and she realised something.
As if reading her mind, Toria suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, how are we going to get back?"
They had been so anxious about Celia that none of them had thought of that earlier.
Now that everything was over, Reyona wondered why she didn't think of something as basic as that.
She shrugged and said, "Cabs, genius. You do know there is something like that, right? You know, these little metals coupled together that run on wheels? Yeah, they should do the trick."
"Ah, ah. She thinks she is funny." Toria said as she playfully narrowed her gaze at Reyona. Then she sighed dramatically before saying, "Well, we had better get going then. Cab, it is then."
"There won't be a need for that," said a voice behind them.
Reyona stiffened automatically, even before she turned back to look at Maxwell.
He gave her a keen look before saying, "Celia ordered me to take you home... or wherever you might be going."
"Yay," Toria said as she air-pumped her fist.
"No, no. There is really no need for that," Reyona said automatically with a tight smile. "We are fine with taking a cab."
"I had rather not," Toria said immediately.
"Oh, Toria," Reyona thought, wishing she had the power of mindlink to communicate with her sister at that moment.
"It seems settled to me," Maxwell said. "Celia would kill me if I let you ladies go by cab. Your sister would rather not take a cab. It seems like a win-win to me, Mrs. Reyona. Unless you have other reasons?"
Yes, I don't want to enter your car.
I want you as far away from me as possible.
I don't want you to know anything about me.
I don't want you calling me.
I don't want you to infuriate me!
All these thoughts rambled in Reyona's mind in a split second, but then she only said, "It is fine."
Maxwell nodded and inclined his hand to indicate that they should follow him.
Reyona suspected it must have been her imagination, but for a split second, she thought she saw a satisfied smirk on his face, but then, on second glance, all she saw was a gentlemanly look of politeness.
Gentlemanly! Ah, she doubted he would know the next thing to gentlemanliness, even if it bit him in the
Reyona took her mind off the lane it was going in, and she quickly entered the back, ignoring the front door of the silver Rolls-Royce Ghost he held open.
Toria whistled and said, "Don't mind if I do."
Right before she slid onto the comfy front seat beside Maxwell,.
As Maxwell turned around to enter the car, Toria said, "I know you have issues with him; don't hate me for enjoying my best life, okay? I could kill for this car."
Reyona smiled but quickly looked away when Maxwell entered the car and caught her smiling.
He started the car and asked, "So, ladies. Where to?"
**********
As Maxwell parked in front of ReyDexter, Reyona quickly came out of the car and intended to get away as fast as she could.
"Thank you. You just made my day," Toria said enthusiastically before she got out of the car.
"I thought the baby did that," Reyona couldn't stop herself from asking.
"Well, that too, but then this kick-ass car wrapped up the euphoria."
Maxwell smiled and told her she was welcome.
Reyona tossed a thank you in Maxwell's direction and made to follow Toria, but his voice stopped her.
"Mrs. Lanoth, may I have a word, please?"
Toria looked back at Reyona and said, "I will be upstairs. I need to get out of these," she said as she gestured at her pajamas and slippers.
Reyona wished Toria hadn't chosen that moment to be conscious of her look, but before she could protest, her sister was already walking towards the entrance.
She heard him come out of the car.
Reyona admitted that it was better to get it done and over with anyway.
So she faced him "What do you want to say to me?" she asked pleasantly.
"How have you been?"
Is he joking? He wanted her to believe that he cared about how she felt?
"I am fine, thank you," she answered crisply. "If that is all you want to ask, then..."
"No, no, you know that is not all. Can we have a place to sit? We need to talk, and it is not just about business."
Reyona folded her arms across her body as she answered him as frostily as she could manage. "First, you and I have no business to discuss. You took that business away from me, remember? In case you have a short-term memory, let me remind you that my reputation has not been the most stellar recently. As a result, people don't want to work with my company, and I am sure if you hadn't ripped up the contract that was supposed to bind our cooperation, then you would have done so at the earliest opportunity."
"I…"