Chapter 7 #2
Rohan was very enamoured with Sorinah. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her once she was in the room. The looks were long and filled with adoration. No one else took notice of the man’s obvious pining. Or maybe they were accustomed to it.
Aldrich felt bad for the guy. It was clear Sorinah didn’t share Rohan’s affection. Despite his being successful and, traditionally good-looking, she was avoiding him. Poor guy didn’t realise his open admiration was likely the nail in his coffin.
Should Aldrich have found it so amusing that, Sorinah was trying to avoid Rohan? Probably not. But he did.
Sorinah had been busy helping her niece make her plate, and when she finally went to be seated, there were only two seats left, one beside Aldrich and the other beside Rohan.
She looked between the two seats and made a beeline for the seat beside Aldrich.
It was barely audible, but he heard her small sigh of relief as she sat.
He enjoyed riling her up, keeping her guessing and on her toes.
“Do you want to switch seats with me?” Aldrich offered Rohan.
Her eyebrows shot up before her features turned neutral. The other man’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, that would be great. It will give Sorinah and me a chance to catch up.”
Beneath the table, she kicked him in the ankle. She was seething, and Aldrich was certain she would let him have it later. He looked forward to it. Maybe he could delay his flight. It would certainly be worth it.
During the rest of dinner, Aldrich caught glimpses of their conversation, his attention drifting between the clink of cutlery and the low hum of voices.
Sorinah was polite, her smile warm yet guarded, but he noticed how she subtly changed the topic whenever Rohan steered the conversation down memory lane, her posture stiffening ever so slightly as if bracing against unwanted emotions.
There was a tension in the way she picked at her food, her fork tracing small circles on her plate, and a hint of forced lightness in her laughter, as though she was determined to keep the atmosphere from sinking into something too sentimental.
“Remember when Dinah, Vick, you, and I got trapped at the cabin in the snowstorm?”
“It was a lifetime ago.” Her smile was tight as she tactlessly changed the subject. “Isn’t the butternut squash amazing? Dinah added nutmeg this year.”
The table was lively, and there was cross-conversation, eventually freeing Sorinah from one-on-one conversation with her seatmate.
After dinner, Aldrich headed to the washroom. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he received a text from Sorinah.
Feral Kitten
I’m going to take an inch of your dick for this, DH!
Jesus, she was batshit crazy. He shook his head, laughing. Okay, maybe he was partially responsible for her reaction. Her dinner wasn’t as comfortable as it could have been, and he had a hand in it.
You mean a pound of flesh.
Feral Kitten
I said what I said! You’re so childish.
It wasn’t so bad.
Feral Kitten
Payback will be a bitch!!
On his way back from the washroom, he detoured when he saw Nakinah in the kitchen.
“Ah, shit! I can’t believe I forgot it,” she grumbled to Mars.
“What did you forget?” Aldrich asked.
“I thought I had vanilla bean ice cream. The pie will not be the same without it.”
Her eyes watered. This was probably because of hormones. He liked his sister-in-law and didn’t want to see her unhappy.
“You know what? I can run out and get the ice cream,” Aldrich offered.
“Oh, you are a lifesaver.”
“If you want Uncle Aldrich, I can come with you.”
Mars referred to Aldrich as Uncle as a sign of respect, the same way he did with Rohan.
He sounded so hopeful; Aldrich didn’t want to turn him down. The kid was enamoured with his car. “Sure, if it’s okay with your mom. You can be the GPS.”
“I’ll ask, but she will be cool with it,” Mars called, running out of the room.
“You made his day, and mine too. The apple pie is much better with ice cream. Mars knows the right brand.”
They spoke for a bit, but it wasn’t long before Mars came bounding back into the room.
“My mom said I can come with you, but I need to get her favourite ice cream too.”
Nakinah urged them to leave right away; she wanted the ice cream so badly.
“I love this car,” Mars complimented as he buckled up. “No one in our family has a sports car. Everyone is team SUV.”
They chatted about cars, and what the young man would like to drive one day. Eventually the conversation moved to Mars’ driving lessons.
“My instructor is all right. My Mom is the best driver I know.” Pride beamed in his voice. “I’m still bummed my mom won’t teach me.”
“You should thank her. My Dad taught me, and it was a nightmare. We fell out for months over the lessons. I should have learned from what happened with Ambrose. It was worse with him. I think your Mom is trying to keep your relationship from going down the dark road of driving lessons.”
“That’s basically what she said, but I don’t get it. My Mom is always super patient with me.”
“My Dad was too until I got behind the wheel. I still refuse to drive with him.” Aldrich laughed.
Mars’ eyes widened. “Okay, I guess it’s for the best.”
Aldrich and Sorinah didn’t get to connect until later that night. She called just as he got into bed.
She lit into him about his stunt with the seating.
“It was really mean what you did. Rohan had a crush on me forever. We are friends, and I try to keep the line as clear as I can, so he doesn’t get the wrong idea, get any hope that after all these years, I’ve changed my mind.
Rohan is the nicest man and deserves a woman who wants the white picket fence, the 2.
5 kids and a dog. I don’t want those things, not with him, or anyone, ever. ”
He knew most of that; what he had missed was that Sorinah really seemed to care about Rohan. He might have misread the situation a bit.
“If I wanted those things, he’d be at the top of my list.”
What the hell? The thought flashed through his mind, unexpected and disorienting.
“Anyway…” she continued, “I don’t know what you said to Mars, but thank you. He stopped being sulky about the driving lesson thing.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, distracted, his mind still processing her earlier words.
They spoke for a while longer, the tension from earlier easing into something more relaxed as they planned to meet up in a week.
They left with a sense of closure, though he couldn’t shake the lingering curiosity about her unexpected comment.
He wondered if there was more beneath the surface, something unspoken that might change their dynamic.
For now, he decided to let it rest and focus on the plans ahead.