Epilogue

Epilogue
DALIA
Being a CEO sucked… well co-CEO to be exact, but Noah had been the only one handling company matters ever since his father stepped down.
Apparently, Allison didn’t want anything to do with the child ever since Noah’s family didn’t help hers when Travis was arrested and charged, so she signed over her rights and left the child with them after the delivery. Since then, Shane had been busy with his kid and Noah had to do his share of work.
That meant he sometimes worked late and forgot or arrived late to events.
I let out an exasperated breath and clicked my tongue while watching the restaurant’s parking lot, waiting to see his car to pull in. “Is he still at work?”
My friends and I were having a dinner party today to celebrate our graduation and Noah had been thinking about it all week, mostly because mum had invited him. He really wanted to make a good impression on her and dad, so he definitely hadn’t forgotten the event.
Did something happen?
“The boyfriend’s late,” Huxley suddenly whispered in my ear and I rolled my eyes before turning around to smack his arm. He had been sneaking up on me to say that ever since Noah didn’t show up when he was supposed to, and it was starting to annoy me because I was nervous. The fact that he hadn’t replied my messages or called me back didn’t help things either. “Ow!”
“Stop bothering me.”
“Ah, but what would I do for fun then?” he replied, earning a glare from me while he rubbed the spot I had hit. “...Don’t tell me the boyfriend stood us up.”
“He didn’t.”
Wait, is that what mum and dad think? This was my parents and Noah’s first official meeting, so it won’t be good if that was the impression they had of him.
He had already met my parents once, but the meeting hadn’t been planned. I also hadn’t been there, and it sounded like the air had been kind of frosty between them when Noah told me he met them. Tonight was a do over and though mum and dad had told me all that mattered was me being happy, I really wanted them to like him.
“He’s just running late,” I added as I glanced at the restaurant’s dining area and saw mum and dad talking to Harvey.
“Either way, this doesn’t look good,” he replied and folded his arms across his chest as he gave me a stern look. “I’m going to have a couple of words with him if he arrives-”
“When he arrives. And don’t say anything stupid then. In fact, don’t say anything at all.”
“Oh, come on. When have I ever said anything stupid?”
“When have you not?”
His mouth fell open and I tsked before returning my attention to the parking lot to see a car pull into the parking lot. My lips instantly curved into a smile when I realized that it was Noah’s and I turned to face Harvey again. “Don’t say anything stupid,” I repeated and quickly headed out of the restaurant without waiting for a reply.
I got to Noah’s car just as he stepped out of it with three bouquets- two in a bag in one hand and the third in his other hand- and his face instantly lit up when he saw me.
“Dalia-”
“You’re late.”
His smile slipped off and he shifted from one foot to the other as he held one of the bouquets in front of his face. “I’m sorry,” he muttered before I grabbed his arm, pulling the bouquet away from his face.
“What happened?”
“The car broke down on the highway and I lost my phone, so I couldn’t call you or call for help.”
I remembered that he told me he was having issues with his car, but he forgot to take it to the repairman and planned to do so on his way to work yesterday. “Didn’t you get the car fixed? You said you were going to yesterday.”
“I forgot,” he muttered, casting his gaze to the side, and the corner of my mouth twitched before I shook my head sideways.
“Where did you lose your phone? …Are you sure you didn’t just forget it at home or at the office?” I asked because he had done that a couple of times in the past weeks, and he leaned closer.
“It would be better if you lived with me. I won't forget anything then.”
“Give me a couple of months to think about it,” I stated and he deflated like a puppy.
“Boooo.”
I lightly bit the inside of my cheeks to keep myself from smiling, and raised a brow at him.
“I’m sorry,” he added and I clicked my tongue before he flashed me a charming smile as he held a bouquet out to me. “For you.”
It was a bouquet of Dahlias and I could no longer stop myself from smiling as I collected it. “Thank you… I love them.”
“And I love you,” he replied, pulling me closer while staring down at me. “More and more each day.”
I reached up to push his hair out of his eyes. “You’re such a sweet talker… And I love you too.”
His smile grew wider and he pressed his lips to mine for several moments before he trailed kisses over to my ear, his breath warm against my skin.
“Let’s go in now. Everyone’s expecting you.”
Noah paused and I held his hand, squeezing it gently, when I saw that he looked a bit nervous after he moved back. “Do- Do I look okay? I can go change if this is-”
“You look wonderful. You always do.”
The corner of his mouth twitched at that and he adjusted the lapels of his jacket while staring at the restaurant. “Can I get a good luck kiss?” he asked and I reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“...You ready?”
He drew in a deep breath before nodding and we then headed towards the restaurant.
Huxley was still where I’d left him when we walked in, but Julie was with him now and they stopped talking after noticing us. “Hello, Noah,” Julie said with a sweet smile while her hand was on Huxley’s shoulder, and when he started to talk, she squeezed his shoulder to shut him up.
“Good evening, Miss Vance,” Noah muttered and added a ‘Hello’ for Huxley who narrowed his eyes at him before greeting him back. Noah then removed a bouquet from the bag and stretched it out to Julie while I frowned at Huxley, mouthing ‘knock it off’ at him. “This is for you.”
“Oh! Thank you.” She collected it and handed it to a disgruntled Huxley who shot me a glare when I also gave him my flowers to hold.
“The flowers are-”
“Simply lovely,” Julie cut in, shoving Huxley in the direction of her office. “Thank you again, Noah,” she added before sending me a wink and walking away, pulling Huxley along with her.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” I heard him say as they kept moving away from us before turning to see that Noah’s face was flushed and my lips twitched into a small smile.
“Are you shy?”
“... No.”
“It’s cute.”
“I am,” he replied, the corner of his mouth turning up, and I let out a small laugh before we spotted mum and dad watching us. “…Is it too late to leave?” Noah asked and I jerked my head to face him while my mouth fell open. He snorted at my expression as he began to head towards my parents, pulling me along with him. “I’m just joking.”
“Is that so?”
He hmmed.
As we got closer to my parents, mum whispered something to dad and I raised a brow when he also replied in a whisper. What are they talking about?
“Noah, we’ve been waiting,” mum said to Noah with a small smile and he quickly returned it while greeting them before he and dad shook hands. Dad’s mouth was set in a hard line though and after he let go of Noah’s hand, I noticed Noah wiggle his fingers.
Oh…
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I had car trouble and uh… This is for you.”
Mum’s eyes darted to the outstretched flowers and her smile grew wider as she said, “I’m allergic.”
Noah’s face became pale and he immediately withdrew the flowers, stuttering, while I gritted my teeth.
“Mum.”
“What?” she asked innocently, raising her hands like she was harmless, and she snorted when I didn’t stop glaring at her. “I was just joking,” she added, laughing as she collected the bouquet, and Noah also laughed but there was a nervous trill to it.
Oh God.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for these,” mum replied.
“Dahlia told me you've been quite busy lately. I hope you being here isn't keeping you away from anything important,” Dad cut in and my eyes widened slightly because his tone was a bit unfriendly. I thought mum was the one I had to worry about.
“No. Not at all,” Noah said in a rush. “Also, meeting the both of you is really important…” he added before glancing at me and it seemed like he was asking me ‘Did that sound cheesy?’ with his eyes.
“Hmm.” Dad’s gaze flickered to mine for a moment and when they returned to Noah’s, he let out a harsh breath. “Ah, I need to go grab wine from the cellar. Can you help me?”
What?
“I-”
“We should go check on Norma and Hayley,” mum said, cutting me off, as she held my hand. “They haven’t come out of the kitchen in a while. I’m starting to get worried.”
It was quite obvious that they wanted to separate us so Dad could interrogate him, and I didn’t want to let them do that because I sort of felt the conversation wouldn’t go well if I wasn’t there. Mum tried to pull me forward, but I didn’t move, and as I was about to tell her to go by herself, Noah replied Dad.
“Uh, sure…”
“Dad,” I started when he gestured for Noah to follow him and he raised his brows, waiting for me to go on.
“It’s fine,” Noah muttered as his fingers brushed mine. “We’re just going to get wine. We’ll be right back.”
“Yes, Dalia. They’ll be right back,” mum added. She had invited him because she and dad wanted to meet him again and talk to him, and since I wanted them to like him, I had to let them talk to him.
“...Okay.” I then shot dad a look which he responded to with a wink before I let mum pull me towards the kitchen while Noah followed him to the cellar.

Fifteen minutes had passed, but dad and Noah were still in the cellar and I was bubbling with anxiety because it felt like they had been gone for hours.
Mum wouldn’t go check on them and she had also convinced me not to before going to meet Harvey and Julie in the office, so I could only wait and hope that Dad and Noah were still in the cellar because the conversation had gone really well and they were getting to know each other now.
I heaved a sigh and reached for the cup of wine that Tamika had placed on the table, but before I could touch it, Huxley grabbed it. “I’ll take that. You’re not twenty one yet,” he stated, earning a sneer from me before Tamika cut in while he drank from the cup.
“That’s mine.”
“Oh, it’s a merlot,” he stated, scrunching up his face after pulling the cup away from his mouth and Tamika tipped her head to the side.
“What’s wrong with merlot?”
“What’s right with merlot?”
“If you want something else, I can go get it from the cellar.”
“No,” he replied and my shoulders sagged while he raised a brow at me. “Why are you so worried?”
“Your dad’s not going to kill him down there,” Tamika added when I began to drum my fingers on the table.
“You never know,” Huxley said with a shrug, earning a glare from me while Tamika shook her head at him. “...What?” he asked and I let out a harsh breath as I got to my feet. “Where are you going?”
“To see if Norma and Hayley are done setting the table.”
I made my way out of the kitchen and after getting to the dining area, I stopped when I saw that the table had already been set. Norma was sitting at it, but Hayley wasn’t there so I assumed she went to get our mums and Harvey before glancing at the hallway that led to the cellar dad and Noah were in.
Should I just go check on them? I mean-
The sound of a door being shut in that hallway broke the silence and I immediately moved closer to it, peeking around the corner to see Noah walking down the hallway. “Noah!” I called out, drawing his attention, and his eyes widened a bit while I quickly closed the distance between us.
“Dahlia. How long have you been waiting here?”
“Not long,” I replied while studying his expression. He didn’t look dispirited, but I still couldn’t tell if their conversation had gone well. “By any chance, if he was rude to you-”
“Not at all. On the contrary, he had a lot of good things to say,” he said, a small smile on his face, and that made me feel a bit relieved. “He’s just worried about you.”
“Oh.”
“He said, he’d like to meet me again,” he added and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at that as I glanced at the door of the cellar, feeling glad that their conversation hadn’t gone terribly. I hadn’t spoken to dad, so I didn’t know if he liked Noah, but since he was willing to meet Noah again, he didn’t dislike him. If dad didn’t dislike him, mum would definitely not dislike him too. “You have a great dad, Dalia.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, my smile growing wider, before he took my hand in his and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
Voices began to filter into the hallway from the dining area and I clicked my tongue when I heard Huxley and Hayley bickering while Julie tried to get them to stop.
“It’s time for dinner. Now I can’t promise that it won’t get crazy,” I said and he let out a small laugh.
“That’s alright.”
“And Huxley might get annoying… Really annoying.”
“That’s alright too.”
I really couldn’t describe how happy I was to be with him and though I didn’t know what the future held for us, I wasn’t scared. Because right now, I was content.
“Okay then. Let’s introduce you to the rest of my family.”