Anna kept on grumbling on their way, she didn’t know how her father managed with a woman like her mother because she was the most stubborn woman she had ever known in her life. Was this how it had always been? She always got her way if she wanted something and even though Anna knew she could be rude to her and tell her that she wasn't going to the invited dinner, but she didn't want to make her feel bad. She wanted her mother to know she had always got her back. If she remembered what she had done for her when she was in the state of distress, Anna felt the urge to do everything for her so long as it wasn’t going to get in way with what she hated.
She felt her mother’s hand in hers and when she turned, she was flashing her one of her sweet smiles, but Anna pouted instead. “Is my baby still angry?” Mom asked, and Anna rolled her eyes exasperatedly.
“Can you please stop referring to me as a baby, Mom? I'm a grown ass woman, I manage an empire like Will Brayden, but you still refer to me as baby? That’s an insult, Mom.” She whined, and all her mother did was smiled. She knew Anna was just looking for a way for them to fight so she can have the chance of not going to this dinner but that will be the last thing she was going to let happen.
She stroked her arm lovingly, “Yes, and that’s why you’re my baby. Don’t you realize that if everyone keeps on treating you as the powerful and strong Miss Brayden, you get cold within? Because you need warmth, my darling. You need to love and be loved, okay? Don’t keep on straining yourself too hard to the point that you’d break entirely. Take things easy on yourself.” She rolled her eyes out of exasperation, she didn’t know why her mother was giving her this lecture this time even though Anna knew her reason. She had been worried since they all realized that she now had her neck buried in work to the point that she barely noticed what was happening around her and for the older version of Anna Brayden, this was more of a threat.
Without another word, they arrived at the house and Anna was reluctant to come out at first until her Mother urged her to. She walked down exuding the majestic aura of Anna Brayden and the maids that were outside kept on greeting them. Was it that everyone expected them? She wondered as they walked into the main entrance of the house and Anna got carried away with a woman of a married lady she had seen with her husband, which was the first thing that caught her eyes. Wasn’t this the pregnant woman she had bumped into in the mall? She looked so beautiful and happy when she got married. Not that she wasn’t when they had that encounter.
Her eyes weren’t fixed on her way as she followed the route she was sure her Mother followed when she bumped into a hard chest that she was certain if her hairstylist weren’t a good one, a few strands would have fallen off already. “I’m sorry, my eyes weren’t on the road...” She let her words trailed off when she saw the face that was staring back at her and even though her heart was thumping like it had never done before, Anna pulled up her most courageous expression and she looked ahead.
“Hello, Miss Brayden, this way, please.” She turned to the maid that had called her name, breaking their sizzling eye contact with Jack as she followed her with a gait as though a gazelle, aware of his heated gaze on her back. When was the last time she had seen him? More than a month ago. She would lie if she said she had totally forgotten about him but then she didn’t remind herself of him most of the time because if she did, she would have to think of Henry and that had always been something she emotionally run away from.
She was welcomed by a warm hug and Anna smiled even though she wasn’t sure who it was. When they broke apart, behold, it was the woman from the mall, and she grinned at her. “We’ve met in a mall before, right?” She asked with a polite smile and she nodded her head at her. She had never seen someone that smiled the way this woman did, it looked so beautiful on her.
“Yes, we did. And it’s such an honor to have you here for a dinner in our house, Anna. My name is Willa Jackson. That’s my Mom.” Anna followed her gaze and she smiled.
“So, she was the Mom you’ve lost track of in the mall? That’s cool.” They all chuckled, knowing that they had the same problem when it came to Moms, and Willa slowly guided her to the dining table happened to be the most beautiful thing Anna had ever seen in her entire life.
She thought this was his home as well, so it happened that it wasn’t, huh? If Willa was Willa Jackson, then Jack wasn't anywhere related to these people. She knew he was Jack Roberts, and she could never forget that about him. She smiled warmly at Katharine and nodded her head as a form of greeting, “Good evening, Katharine, thank you or inviting us here.”
Katharine walked up to where she was seated and gave her a quick hug, Anna realized she was warmer with her today than she was when they had met in their house. “Feel at home, Anna. And thank you for honoring our invitation.”
They were all seated as the maids began to serve them, but Anna’s mind was filled to the brim with the thoughts about Jack. Did he have a butler work in this house or the bodyguard he hated being called so much? She wondered. “Jack!!!” They all heard as Katharine shouted at the pitch of her voice and when they all looked at her, she flashed them an apologetic smile and stood up. “That’s my youngest son.” Then she slowly went back to her seat and turned to Willa, “Can you please call him for us here, he’s the only one we’re waiting for.” She knew it would be easier if Willa went to call him than her. Because the sister always had a way with her brother.
Willa stood up and nodded her head before she walked off, she knew just where to find him and there he was, playing a game as though he had nothing more important to do with his life than the game. She smacked his nape and he growled before he turned to look at her, “What do you think you’ve just done, Willa?” She answered with a pained expression and Willa grinned mischievously, that was the only way to have his attention on her.
“We’re all waiting for you on the dining table and you're here playing your game as if you have nothing to worry about, right?” She said with her hands placed on akimbo and when Jack looked at the way she looked like that, he wanted to burst out laughing but he knew better than to laugh at Willa.
“I'm not hungry, you all can eat without me.” He turned back to his game, but he knew Willa will never hear a word of it.
“You know that since Mom sent me to get you we can't get a No for an answer, right? It’s either you get up yourself or I'll drag you there myself, Jack. They’re the Brayden’s, for goodness sake, we can’t keep them waiting for long.” He placed down the pad he was playing with and stood up, Willa didn’t know what was going on between him and that Anna they took as a goddess, right? He shouldn’t burst her bubbles just like he didn’t with Clara. “Who knows whether you can be employed in their company. Her Mom is a very good friend of Mom, you know?”
That stung, he realized. And if Anna was hear this, then she will certainly feel even more proud than she was feeling now. “Don’t even think of mentioning about my unemployment there and you should do as much as you can to make sure Mom didn’t as well, because if it gets out, Willa Roberts—oh sorry, Willa Jackson, I'll make sure I do something bad as well.” He walked off and as much as she wanted to catch up with him, she had to slow down because of the bump that was weighing her down.
“You’re an idiot, this a very great opportunity that comes to you at home. Who can lose a chance of working at Will Brayden?”
He turned back from where he stood, “Except Jack Roberts, I won’t work under that girl.”
“Yen yen yen, Jack Roberts this and that, but you’ve never had a peaceful conversation with the Roberts himself for more than five minutes. I think his condition for getting you a job under him is the best, that's the reset you need in your life.” She walked past him and when she rolled her eyes and hissed, all in the name of wanting to enrage him, Jack practically ran after her.
“If I lay even if it’s a finger on you, Willa, you’re dead!” She broke into a sprint and he just followed her while walking and wanting to laugh at how she was running.
“Mom! He’s following me!” She had totally forgotten that they weren't the only ones and when three pairs of eyes turned to look at her, she blushed shyly but moved closer to Mom’s chair in defense. “Mom, speak to him.”
And then he appeared, as though a king that had to be waited for this long. He had a pleased smile on his lips and when their eyes met with Willa, he chuckled. “You look like a drenched cat, Willie. Come here, let’s eat and feed your baby, it must’ve been scared to death as well.”
She rolled her eyes at him and realized he was just putting up that show on the corridor to scare her into leaving him alone, “This should be the last time you’re going to scare me this much, Jacky. What if I tripped and fell?”
“I would’ve caught you in time, wouldn’t I?” They both found space on the dining table and sat, and Jack stared directly into his Mother’s eyes and he so well knew the look she was flashing. It said, ‘Can’t you see that we have a guest? Greet them properly.’
He sighed as though to calm himself down and to make himself forget what had happened for a while and when he turned to smile at Daphne. “Good evening, Mrs. Brayden. Thank you for honoring our invitation, my name is Jack Roberts, my mother’s son, and Willa’s one and only brother.”
He could see that she was pleased and when he briskly stared at him mother, she was relieved as though she had been expecting him to be rude toward them. “Thank you, Jack. And one thing, I love the way you interact with your sister, is she the younger one?”
As if Willa was waiting for this question from any of their visitors, she chirped in almost as immediately as the question fell off from her lips, “I’m the older one, we have a year gap between us. Isn’t it palpable?”
Jack chuckled, he didn’t know what was with Willa and wanting to be called the older sibling even though she knew she was. Wouldn’t she let him have that title even if it’s for once? “Oh Willa, I was going to say you’re the one anyways.” He smiled and turned to a grinning Daphne, “Please enjoy your stay, Mrs. Brayden.”
He turned to where Anna sat, as calmly as he had never seen her and the look she was flashing her Mother screamed ‘Mom, I need to leave this place! I'm already tired of this family.’ He knew the look so well because when he was a child, he had given his mother that look over a thousand times. “And this is your daughter, right?” That caught Anna’s attention and when she turned, their eyes met, “What’s your name, Miss?” What the freaking hell was wrong with Jack?!