Serenity pushed Zachary’s money away. “I didn’t know that you don’t eat food that's greasy, but I won’t put it on your plate next time. Put away your money. Can you stop flashing your cash? Do you think you’re made of money?” Zachary should dish out several million in cash by the way he was flaunting his money. She could then count the money and admit that he was made of money. “Why didn’t you say anything when I was cooking the pork? What’s the point of having a mouth? Well, that’s a waste of one of your five senses if you don’t know how to speak up…” A wad of notes was placed on her empty plate. Serenity’s rambling came to a screeching halt. Without giving her a chance to return the money, Zachary turned on his heel and left. Serenity took a glance at the money on the plate and moved the gaze to the man on the run. The man already had one foot out the door by then. “Zachary, do I look like a beggar to you?” The door slamming shut was his response. Now that the door
Liberty was downstairs waiting for her sister. She carried her son while a diaper bag and a rucksack hung off each arm. Liberty looked around, failing to notice a new car driving by. More accurately, she was not on the lookout for a four-wheeled vehicle as her sister often rode an e-bike. Serenity pulled up in front of her sister and rolled down the window. “Liberty.” Taken aback at first, Liberty ensued with a smile. “I thought you were riding your bike today.” She knew that her brother-in-law bought her sister a car, but Serenity rarely used it. This was the first time Serenity drove here with the new car. Serenity got out of the car and grabbed the diaper bag from Liberty. She opened the door to the back seat and put the diaper bag in. She asked, “Is everything in there, Liberty? The formula is the most important thing.” “It’s all there.” Liberty handed her son over to her sister. With Serenity carrying Sonny, Liberty drew close to kiss her son on the cheek and urged h
Serenity drove to the shop and saw a familiar car parked out the front. It was Shawn. Shawn came by to deliver food to his cousin again. Instead of breakfast, he brought along some pastries made by his family’s personal chef. His excuse was that the pastries were too much for the family to finish, so he came to share them with his cousin. Jasmine did not read too much into his excuse as she and Serenity would not say no to food. Plus, Jasmine knew that all the pastries at the Lowes were baked fresh every day. Since Shawn brought them over, Jasmine helped herself to quite a bit. Shawn was worried his cousin would finish the pastries before Serenity made it to the shop. Looking out the shop, Shawn asked, “Jas, is Serenity coming today?” “She will but a little later.” Jasmine answered, unconcerned. As Jasmine lived rather close to the shop, she usually set up the shop and took care of business in the morning. Serenity was in charge of watching the shop at night. “There’s a
Carrying her nephew, Serenity walked alongside Shawn into the shop. “Oh, Sonny’s here. Come, Sonny. Give me a hug.” Jasmine got up and took Sonny from Serenity’s arm. She sat down and asked Sonny, “Do you want some pastries?” Sonny looked at his aunt. “Give him a piece. Don’t let him have too much or he won’t eat his lunch.” Serenity took the diaper bag from Shawn and put it under the cash register. “My sister decided to look for a job today. She asked me to look after Sonny. She’ll come here in the afternoon.” Jasmine gave Sonny a piece of pastry. Instead of accepting it, Sonny opened his palms and said, “Deety.” Jasmine put down the food and carried him to the kitchenette to wash his dirty hands. She believed Liberty had raised Sonny well. As for the claim about Sonny being naughty, that was just kids being kids. Parents would be worried that something must be wrong with their kid’s head if the child simply sat in a corner all day like a bump on a log. Kids had it
With Shawn gone, Jasmine expressed her concern. “Seren, did your sister have another argument with your brother-in-law?” While caressing her nephew’s head, Serenity replied, “Hank is still at his parents’ home. He told my sister to return his portion of the living expenses because he wasn’t eating at home. He wants his cut back.” Jasmine responded after a brief pause, “He’s not much of a keeper, isn’t he?” Serenity fell silent for a moment before answering, “My sister needs to find stability before she can think about the future.” Jasmine was without a word. “How was Mrs. Dawson’s party? Did you have chemistry with her son?” “My head is still aching.” Serenity blinked her eyes and burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you faked being drunk at the party?” It was all about poise and grace within the higher society. Jasmine could forget marrying up if she threw a drunken fit at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday party.“Well, I didn’t get drunk or go crazy, but I pretended to be intox
Sonny snacked on the pastry and played in the shop. His favorite toy was in the diaper bag. He could sit there all day and just play with the toy. Jasmine told her best friend, “Sonny has a good focus. Just look at him playing with the toy.” “That’s just because he’s in a new environment. He’ll tear the roof of the shop down when he’s familiar with the place. Serenity often looked after Sonny for Liberty, so she had firsthand experience of Sonny’s mischievousness. Taking out her tools, Serenity began a rush job crafting and said, “I gave the maneki-neko to Ms. Stone since she likes my knick-knacks. So, I was thinking of making another one for Zachary because we’re husband and wife, and we live together. He could’ve waited. “Instead, he got angry at me when he found out. I apologized and admitted my mistake. I even soothed him and offered to make him an extra craft before he was able to let the whole thing go. I’m going to try to get his presents ready today. I don’t want to
Serenity said, “Not at all, Nana. I’ll let him know tonight. Are you getting Callum to drive you over tomorrow, or should we pick you up?” “I’ll get Callum to drop me off, probably in the afternoon. Callum sleeps until noon during the weekends.” Her grandsons would have their much-needed break on the weekends. Not wanting to disrupt their rest early in the morning, Grandma May often let them sleep in. She planned to get to Serenity’s place in the afternoon. “Alright then. What do you fancy eating? I’ll cook dinner.” Since Grandma May was coming in the afternoon, her lunch with Shawn could go on as planned. Still, Serenity would bring Grandma May along to the luncheon if the latter came in the morning. It did not matter as Serenity was buying lunch anyway. “I enjoy your cooking. Your food is the best.” Having tasted Serenity’s cooking, Grandma May mentioned in private that her eldest grandson was lucky to have a terrific cook in the house. The whole family thought Sereni
The hospital bills were covered by Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s savings for now. Old Mr. Hunt said that his children and grandchildren should chip in to pay the bills once Old Mrs. Hunt could be discharged from the hospital. As for the cost that Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had borne, the children and grandchildren were to return the money to them. It did not feel right for old folks like them to carry on living without any money at hand. The old folks might be money-hungry, but they knew their children and grandchildren would not be so nice if they had nothing left to their name. It was better to count on a wad of cash than their birth children. Since the old couple had savings of several hundred thousand dollars, the children would only receive about a hundred thousand bucks per family if split evenly. Still, nobody was going to say no to free cash. With the nurse coming in with yesterday’s charges, Old Mr. Hunt picked it up for a look. Scowling, he said, “It hasn’t been a few days, bu