7 The Dinner
Finally, the dinner slated for 7 pm started a quarter past 8. Donaldson apologized for his son with the excuse of company matters. Although, Ray Tucker, the head of the Tucker family was annoyed. Seeing Joanne his daughter sincerely smile which was rare he decided to overlook it.
The Alexanders and the Tuckers had been business partners as well as rivals for a very long time. The rivalry started when the former suddenly became an ace in the business leading the whole country and helping them from going down into recession.
The dinner today was important to them because not only were they here to discuss business but also put an end to their rivalry through marriage. The marriage had then been proposed by the family's respective grandfathers.
The grandfathers were friends, although, there was a deeply rooted feud between them. The marriage was proposed for their children but when they both gave birth. They could only give birth to sons, this allowed them to pass the proposal to the next generation.
Joanne had always been in love with Lester since she was a kid and she always preferred him to the two brothers who were in the military. When she heard about this marriage proposal from her parents, she readily agreed with a small teeny condition, which she told her parents and that is for her partner to be Lester Stuart.
Her parents Ray and Rachel were surprised, they expected her to pick the second boy in the Alexander family because they knew of his feelings for their daughter. Although he was strict with others, he always pampered her. So imagine their surprise when they found out she was in love with the business prodigy, Lester. A literal block of stone.
Lester continued his dinner elegantly not sparing a look to even Joanne who had almost plastered herself to him.
Lester scrunched up his nose in annoyance as the strong smell of her perfume continued to assault his nose. It took him every ounce of patience to not throw her away and her errant hands. 'Aren't girls supposed to be conservative nowadays' He said to himself. The brightly colored gown she wore was opened at the chest enough to give anyone the views of her cleavage. Her face was heavily made-up to compliment the dress she was wearing.
It is not that he didn't want to look around, he did, because even his neck was getting stiff. He refused to look at Joanne for fear of headache because of the color and at his parents because honestly, he had rather look anywhere else than at them.
The only noise that could be heard was the occasional scraping of plates. Mrs. Tucker could not take it anymore and decided to break the silence "Lester dear, it has been a long time since we last saw you, you were still a little boy then, but now how does it feel to be the youngest CEO of Alexander Corporations" Leonie was scared that Lester might not reply or worst say something horrible and was prepared to give a suitable answer when she heard Lester speak. "Actually, it is quite interesting," he said wiping his mouth with a napkin.
Interesting! interesting!! interesting!!! the words kept echoing in the room. How can leading a whole corporation be interesting? "Bwahahaha" the awkwardness was broken by Ray Tucker's laugh. "It is good to see that being CEO is not stressful but rather interesting. I like you boy, a real man should always be happy with work no matter how big it may be and I am very impressed with your answer"
"Yes, daddy is absolutely right. Brother Lester, I am so happy for you" Joanne chimed in after seeing the situation was better than expected. Leonie was not the only one scared of Lester's answer before even Joanne was scared because Lester was known for his bluntness.
"Son, you still remember little Joanne right, she always followed you around when you two were younger," Donaldson asked his son when he noticed the atmosphere was no longer heavy. "Of course, why wouldn't I remember her" Lester stated calmly. Joanne was over the top with happiness here when she heard Lester. She started to blush.
Lester looked at curiously for a while before shifting his gaze away. What he truly wanted to say was 'Of course I remember the annoying fly that always kept buzzing around me. She was so into her role that she always helped him chase other flies away, he should probably be grateful or annoyed with her' He kept his real thought to himself though. It was not like he was afraid of offending the Tuckers, he just wasn't interested in continuing this conversation anymore.
"Oh my dear sweet son, see Joan dear, I told you, he will remember you" Leonie stated "Auntie, stop you are making me embarrassed," Joanne said acting all coyish. "Well, what do you think of her son? She is almost through with her schooling where she is studying business administration and she can be of great help to you later in the future" Leonie continued
The next statement that was heard from Lester though caused a frown to spread on the faces of all present. "I don't have a need for a secretary or assistant" he stated blankly. "Ah, brother Lester, you are really funny" Joanne tried to smooth things over on seeing that her father was greatly displeased.
"Yes, very funny indeed, for a moment dear boy I thought you were been serious" Ray said on taking his daughter's cue. "Well, since I am done with dinner anyway, it is high time I left. It was a pleasure seeing you all again, if you don't mind please excuse me" Lester stood up after he noticed they were too dumb to not notice in interest level in the conversation.
Leonie gave her husband a side eye on seeing the Tuckers getting increasingly annoyed. Donaldson got his cue and immediately tried to stop his son. "Son, I know you are busy but there is something we need to discuss with you" he then turned to the Tuckers "Why don't we all move to the sitting room and we can then discuss what we came here for"
The Tuckers were appeased with this solution and decided to let Lester off. Leonie ordered some maid to get them fruits while they discuss.
In the sitting room
Lester sat back on a one sweater couch, he had no plans of sitting beside anyone especially not Joanne. When Joanne got into the sitting room, she saw Lester sitting alone and was immediately displeased, her face scrunched up in annoyance but she quickly replaced it with a smile. Lester saw her change in expression and was very happy with himself, he hid his smirk behind the cup of wine in his hands.
After the remaining in the group got into the sitting room, they all sat down and readily looked for a spokesperson which was decided unanimously to be Donaldson. Donaldson cleared his throat before continuing "Son, your grandfather and the Tuckers' came to an agreement some years back, to stop the rivalry between the two families. This agreement was to get their children married but it was rather unfortunate that they both had sons. This made the agreement void and the responsibility was passed on the next generation"
The smirk on Lester's face disappeared slowly leaving a frown on his face. The frown grew deeper and deeper as his father continued his words. Getting more annoyed, he asked "What has that got to do with me" his tone was cold sending shivers down the spine of everyone present.
Leonie couldn't be bothered wasting any more time and decided to speak up, still pretending in her motherly tone. "My dear, it means you and little Joan are getting married, I am so proud of you and you also know I am very fond of Joan. This union is practically ordained in heaven" she said these all smiles.
A fit of mirthless laughter escaped Lester's mouth "I am so sorry, but everything you just said is hilarious, don't you think. One: Why should I marry someone I don't love? Two: I believe the agreement between the two parties mentioned their kids and oh well I have two handsome older brothers so why and how did the responsibility fall on me to marry her?"
Every word he said caused Joanne to grow more and more annoyed. The smile that was on her face as Donaldson spoke earlier had long frozen. Her face contorted in anger and pressed her lips into a thin line. She cleaned her fists tightly and anyone seeing her now would know not to say any word to her for fear of being torn apart.
"What do you mean by you don't love me? I don't even love you and I should be the one complaining not the other way around. You should be happy I am willing to honor our grandfathers' wishes by marrying you" she scoffed as she tried to regain face.
"Well since that is the case, I guess I don't need to keep up with your annoying face and smell" Lester stood up swiftly. The Tuckers were very angry at this and stood up to leave but they were rooted to the ground the next moment.
PAK
The sound of Lester been slapped sounded in the room leaving all of them shocked. Leonie actually slapped her own son. "You are marrying that girl whether you like it or not, so you had better apologize to your future in-laws" Lester sneered and instead of responding walked away, picking up his car keys and coat he left the house without turning back. Everyone in the room was shocked at this scene. Even Rachel felt pity for the boy been slapped by his mother but remembering the insult he gave to her daughter, she stopped feeling sorry for him.
The Alexanders and the Tuckers had been business partners as well as rivals for a very long time. The rivalry started when the former suddenly became an ace in the business leading the whole country and helping them from going down into recession.
The dinner today was important to them because not only were they here to discuss business but also put an end to their rivalry through marriage. The marriage had then been proposed by the family's respective grandfathers.
The grandfathers were friends, although, there was a deeply rooted feud between them. The marriage was proposed for their children but when they both gave birth. They could only give birth to sons, this allowed them to pass the proposal to the next generation.
Joanne had always been in love with Lester since she was a kid and she always preferred him to the two brothers who were in the military. When she heard about this marriage proposal from her parents, she readily agreed with a small teeny condition, which she told her parents and that is for her partner to be Lester Stuart.
Her parents Ray and Rachel were surprised, they expected her to pick the second boy in the Alexander family because they knew of his feelings for their daughter. Although he was strict with others, he always pampered her. So imagine their surprise when they found out she was in love with the business prodigy, Lester. A literal block of stone.
Lester continued his dinner elegantly not sparing a look to even Joanne who had almost plastered herself to him.
Lester scrunched up his nose in annoyance as the strong smell of her perfume continued to assault his nose. It took him every ounce of patience to not throw her away and her errant hands. 'Aren't girls supposed to be conservative nowadays' He said to himself. The brightly colored gown she wore was opened at the chest enough to give anyone the views of her cleavage. Her face was heavily made-up to compliment the dress she was wearing.
It is not that he didn't want to look around, he did, because even his neck was getting stiff. He refused to look at Joanne for fear of headache because of the color and at his parents because honestly, he had rather look anywhere else than at them.
The only noise that could be heard was the occasional scraping of plates. Mrs. Tucker could not take it anymore and decided to break the silence "Lester dear, it has been a long time since we last saw you, you were still a little boy then, but now how does it feel to be the youngest CEO of Alexander Corporations" Leonie was scared that Lester might not reply or worst say something horrible and was prepared to give a suitable answer when she heard Lester speak. "Actually, it is quite interesting," he said wiping his mouth with a napkin.
Interesting! interesting!! interesting!!! the words kept echoing in the room. How can leading a whole corporation be interesting? "Bwahahaha" the awkwardness was broken by Ray Tucker's laugh. "It is good to see that being CEO is not stressful but rather interesting. I like you boy, a real man should always be happy with work no matter how big it may be and I am very impressed with your answer"
"Yes, daddy is absolutely right. Brother Lester, I am so happy for you" Joanne chimed in after seeing the situation was better than expected. Leonie was not the only one scared of Lester's answer before even Joanne was scared because Lester was known for his bluntness.
"Son, you still remember little Joanne right, she always followed you around when you two were younger," Donaldson asked his son when he noticed the atmosphere was no longer heavy. "Of course, why wouldn't I remember her" Lester stated calmly. Joanne was over the top with happiness here when she heard Lester. She started to blush.
Lester looked at curiously for a while before shifting his gaze away. What he truly wanted to say was 'Of course I remember the annoying fly that always kept buzzing around me. She was so into her role that she always helped him chase other flies away, he should probably be grateful or annoyed with her' He kept his real thought to himself though. It was not like he was afraid of offending the Tuckers, he just wasn't interested in continuing this conversation anymore.
"Oh my dear sweet son, see Joan dear, I told you, he will remember you" Leonie stated "Auntie, stop you are making me embarrassed," Joanne said acting all coyish. "Well, what do you think of her son? She is almost through with her schooling where she is studying business administration and she can be of great help to you later in the future" Leonie continued
The next statement that was heard from Lester though caused a frown to spread on the faces of all present. "I don't have a need for a secretary or assistant" he stated blankly. "Ah, brother Lester, you are really funny" Joanne tried to smooth things over on seeing that her father was greatly displeased.
"Yes, very funny indeed, for a moment dear boy I thought you were been serious" Ray said on taking his daughter's cue. "Well, since I am done with dinner anyway, it is high time I left. It was a pleasure seeing you all again, if you don't mind please excuse me" Lester stood up after he noticed they were too dumb to not notice in interest level in the conversation.
Leonie gave her husband a side eye on seeing the Tuckers getting increasingly annoyed. Donaldson got his cue and immediately tried to stop his son. "Son, I know you are busy but there is something we need to discuss with you" he then turned to the Tuckers "Why don't we all move to the sitting room and we can then discuss what we came here for"
The Tuckers were appeased with this solution and decided to let Lester off. Leonie ordered some maid to get them fruits while they discuss.
In the sitting room
Lester sat back on a one sweater couch, he had no plans of sitting beside anyone especially not Joanne. When Joanne got into the sitting room, she saw Lester sitting alone and was immediately displeased, her face scrunched up in annoyance but she quickly replaced it with a smile. Lester saw her change in expression and was very happy with himself, he hid his smirk behind the cup of wine in his hands.
After the remaining in the group got into the sitting room, they all sat down and readily looked for a spokesperson which was decided unanimously to be Donaldson. Donaldson cleared his throat before continuing "Son, your grandfather and the Tuckers' came to an agreement some years back, to stop the rivalry between the two families. This agreement was to get their children married but it was rather unfortunate that they both had sons. This made the agreement void and the responsibility was passed on the next generation"
The smirk on Lester's face disappeared slowly leaving a frown on his face. The frown grew deeper and deeper as his father continued his words. Getting more annoyed, he asked "What has that got to do with me" his tone was cold sending shivers down the spine of everyone present.
Leonie couldn't be bothered wasting any more time and decided to speak up, still pretending in her motherly tone. "My dear, it means you and little Joan are getting married, I am so proud of you and you also know I am very fond of Joan. This union is practically ordained in heaven" she said these all smiles.
A fit of mirthless laughter escaped Lester's mouth "I am so sorry, but everything you just said is hilarious, don't you think. One: Why should I marry someone I don't love? Two: I believe the agreement between the two parties mentioned their kids and oh well I have two handsome older brothers so why and how did the responsibility fall on me to marry her?"
Every word he said caused Joanne to grow more and more annoyed. The smile that was on her face as Donaldson spoke earlier had long frozen. Her face contorted in anger and pressed her lips into a thin line. She cleaned her fists tightly and anyone seeing her now would know not to say any word to her for fear of being torn apart.
"What do you mean by you don't love me? I don't even love you and I should be the one complaining not the other way around. You should be happy I am willing to honor our grandfathers' wishes by marrying you" she scoffed as she tried to regain face.
"Well since that is the case, I guess I don't need to keep up with your annoying face and smell" Lester stood up swiftly. The Tuckers were very angry at this and stood up to leave but they were rooted to the ground the next moment.
PAK
The sound of Lester been slapped sounded in the room leaving all of them shocked. Leonie actually slapped her own son. "You are marrying that girl whether you like it or not, so you had better apologize to your future in-laws" Lester sneered and instead of responding walked away, picking up his car keys and coat he left the house without turning back. Everyone in the room was shocked at this scene. Even Rachel felt pity for the boy been slapped by his mother but remembering the insult he gave to her daughter, she stopped feeling sorry for him.
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