Chapter 53 #2
Walking through the hotel, she felt slightly dumbstruck by the conversation with Warren’s parents. And surprisingly lighter at the notion that she didn’t have to expand her business if she didn’t want to. Somehow, she’d felt she should do it, but she wasn’t sure where that pressure had come from.
The kitchen was reasonably calm – with just the normal amount of chatter and bustle.
Warren was in the centre of the room, his focus entirely on the two dessert plates in front of him, which he drizzled chocolate sauce onto with artful precision.
He gave the waiter the nod to take them before looking up and spotting Anna.
“Hi!” The way his eyes lit up at the sight of her made her stomach flutter, as did the casual way he greeted her with a kiss. “This is a nice surprise. I know you said you might come in, but I wasn’t really expecting you to.”
“How’s work?” she asked.
“Busy, but good.”
“I’m glad.” She smiled gently. “Your parents are here.”
He cocked his head. “My parents?”
“Yes. Apparently, they checked into the hotel for the night. They ate dinner in the restaurant earlier.”
He propped his hands on his hips as his eyes widened. “They ate my food?”
“Yes.”
“There you are!” Ivy said, interrupting them as she rushed into the kitchen. “Are you okay?” she asked, a hand on Anna’s arm.
“I’m fine. Why?”
“Kate said you were upset.”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
“Really? Because Kate thought you were crying.”
“I kind of was…”
“Oh my god,” Warren grumbled. “What have they done now?”
“Nothing.” She smiled up at him. “They were actually very nice. I got emotional, that’s all, but not because of anything they said. ”
His gaze slid to Ivy. “Have you been dealing with them all evening?”
“Yeah,” she said sheepishly. “They didn’t want me to tell you they were here when you were busy.”
“Well, I apologise for any offence they caused.”
“They were fine,” Ivy told him before turning her attention to Anna. “We need to get a drink soon and have a proper catch up.”
“Definitely,” Anna agreed before Ivy left again.
“I’ll make sure everything is under control here,” Warren said to Anna. “Then I’ll get changed and come and find you. It shouldn’t take long. That’s if you don’t mind entertaining my parents a little longer.”
“I don’t mind. We’re just having a drink in the lounge.” She kissed him again, then headed back to his parents.
It was only five minutes later when Warren joined them, pulling up a chair beside Anna and immediately reaching for her hand.
“This is a surprise,” he said to his parents. “I’m sort of glad you didn’t tell me you were coming.”
“That’s what we thought,” his mum said. “We didn’t want to put you under pressure.”
“How was your dinner?” he asked.
“Excellent,” his mum said proudly. “The salmon was cooked to perfection.”
“It was all very good,” his dad said. “It’s a surprisingly decent wine list, too. Is that down to you?”
Warren nodded.
“It’s not overly extensive, of course, but there are some good vintages.”
“Thanks,” Warren said flatly.
“Anyway,” Dennis said. “I’m sure you don’t need us to sit here and tell you how great you are at your job…”
Anna’s whole body flashed with annoyance, because that’s exactly what they should do and she really thought she’d made that clear earlier.
“Now that you’ve made your final decision not to join the family business,” Dennis continued. “We thought it only fair that we give you a little financial boost, as we did for your sister. We transferred some money into your account.”
Anna’s eyes bulged. Was that their idea of an apology?
She tensed, waiting for Warren to react.
“Thanks,” he said curtly. “I might just grab myself a drink from the bar.”
He hadn’t gone far before his mum called out to him. “Why not get a bottle of champagne and we’ll toast the new year?”
He nodded once and continued through the lounge.
“Maybe I’ll see if he needs any help,” Anna mumbled and rushed after him.
When she caught up with him, he was asking Ivy to get them a bottle of champagne and four glasses, and charge it to his parents’ bill.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked, standing beside him while he scrolled on his phone.
“Yep.”
“Really? You’re not angry?”
“No. Why?”
“Because they’re so dismissive! I don’t know why they won’t say they’re proud of you and tell you that you’ve done well for yourself.
” Her voice increased in volume, and she made a conscious effort to keep her irritation under control while Warren continued to look at his phone.
“They said nice things about you before. Your dad said he thought it was good that you followed your passion and that he admired you for following your own path.”
She shook her head, wishing she’d paid more attention. “It was something like that. I don’t understand why they won’t say nice things to your face. ”
“I suppose the question is whether I’d prefer them to praise me and tell me they’re proud of me…” There was a gleeful glint in his eyes as he angled his phone towards her and lowered his voice. “Or whether I’d prefer a hundred thousand pounds.”
“No,” Anna muttered, before snatching the phone. “They did not! ” Her eyes bounced from his banking app to his face. “A hundred thousand,” she whispered. “ One hundred thousand. ”
“Call me shallow. But I’m okay with that. They’ve never been affectionate or encouraging parents, so it would probably feel weird if they started now.”
“So you’ll keep the money?” she asked, eyes fixed on the phone screen.
“What else would I do? Do you think I should refuse to accept it on principle?”
“Maybe.” She shook her head. “No. Keep it. Do something crazy with it.”
“I’ll save it. Maybe it’ll come in handy one day.” He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Or you can have it for your shop.”
She laughed. “You can’t just casually offer me a hundred grand!”
“I just did.”
Her heart swelled, knowing he genuinely would give it to her. “I’m not going to open a shop.”
“Why not?” His eyebrows twitched together. “Is that what you were upset about before?”
“I wasn’t upset, but I was speaking to your parents about it.
Making my business plan – and then chatting it through with them – made me realise it’s not what I want.
I’m happy as I am.” She reached for his hand.
“You also inspired me to make sure the career path I’m on is the one I really want to be on.
I’m going to stick with what I love for now.
If I ever feel I want to explore other options, I can reassess. ”
He nodded approvingly, then plucked the bottle of champagne from the ice bucket on the bar and popped the cork .
“We’re supposed to drink that with your parents,” Anna said, chuckling as he drizzled the fizzy liquid into two glasses.
“You know I don’t like to be completely sober when hanging out with them.” His eyes sparkled with mirth. “We’ll have one glass here and then join them.”
“Go on then,” she agreed, taking a glass and touching the rim to his. The gentle ting rang in her ears as she took a sip and grinned madly.
“What are you celebrating?” Ivy asked from behind the bar.
“The new year,” Warren replied, his intense gaze fixed on Anna in a way that gave her that wonderfully light feeling in her stomach. “And whatever adventures it may bring.”