The next day, when Sidney arrived at the studio, he noticed a gift box sitting on his desk.
Puzzled, he asked, "Where did this cfrom?" Alex appeared again, grinning. "Ms. Maria brought us all gifts. She's back." ""Maria's back?" Sidney was a bit surprised-she'd returned quietly, without any fanfare.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe opened the box to find slocal specialties from South City, the sweet scent of floral pastries filling the air. His expression softened slightly.
Alex, ever the gossip, sidled up next to him. "So, Mr. Troy, how's it going with that girl? Are you two together yet?" Sidney frowned. "What girl?" "Don't play dumb. We've all seen her-the pretty one who loves wearing floral dresses. Even Ms. Maria knows about her," Alex said, eyes twinkling with amusement. Sidney's brows furrowed further. "She only got back yesterday, how could she know?" Alex chuckled. "I told her! She seemed a bit surprised, to be honest." Sidney paused, then asked, "Did she say anything?" Alex thought for a moment. "She mentioned it's about tyou started dating." Sidney's face suddenly darkened.
Oblivious to the shift in mood, Alex continued, "So, are you guys together? When you are, don't forget to senda wedding invitation!" Sidney cut him off, his voice cold. "Did you finish your work yet?" "Huh?" Alex froze, finally noticing the storm brewing on Sidney's face.
"I'll get on it right away!" Alex stammered, hurrying back to his desk, wondering "What just happened?" He was in a good mood a second ago, so why did things turn so sour? Sidney's gaze drifted back to the gift box. The interest in looking through it had completely vanished. Setting it aside, he focused on his work, pushing everything else out of his mind.
Maria had planned a casual day out with a few close friends for sshopping.
One of them, Tiana Evans, suddenly said, "My brother's flying back to the country today. How about you all cwithto the airport to pick him up?" Maria raised a brow. "That doesn't sound necessary. You should just go by yourself." But Tiana pouted. "No, no! You all have to cwith me. We'll just pick him up real quick, and maybe we can even make him buy us dinner." Another friend chimed in, "We've got nothing better to do. Let's go. By the way, Tiana, is your brother cute?" Tiana paused, thinking for a moment. "He's alright, I guess." "Alright? What does that mean? Got a picture?" one of the girls asked eagerly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmTiana pulled out her phone and swiped through until she found a photo. "Here, see for yourselves." Curious, Maria leaned over for a look.
The moment she saw the picture, her mouth twitched slightly, and she glanced at Tiana. "Have you becimmune to how good-looking your brother is?" Tiana blinked in confusion. "Wait, what? You actually think he's good-looking?" "He's incredibly handsome!" one of the girls exclaimed. "Better looking than any of those male celebrities these days." "Exactly! If he looks this good in a photo, imagine what he's like in person I'm definitely going to airport-I need to see this in real life!" swney Tiana rolled her eyes, exasperated. "You both have boyfriends. Can you not drool over my brother?"
One of the girls laughed. "But Maria doesn't have a boyfriend! Perfect timing she should cwith us. A good-looking guy and a beautiful girl, they'd be perfect together!
Tiana's eye's suddenly lit up as she turned to Maria. "That's right! Youn don't have a boyfriend yet. How about considering my brother? You could be my sister-in-law!"