Page 43 of Surprise! I'm Engaged To My Boss
“I'm going to visit Alice.”
I suddenly found myself speechless when I noticed the sparkle in his eyes as he said that sentence. It was undeniable how important that commitment really was to him.
However, I tried hard to maintain a tough stance.
“And do I really need to go with you?”
“It’d be very important if you could go. I want to introduce you to the Harrises as my fiancée. Our engagement has already been communicated to their lawyers, but Janet thinks it would be very helpful if you came along. It would be very fitting if my future wife would be interested in meeting and spending some time with my daughter.”
This time, I wasn't sure if I could maintain the defensive stance I always had toward him.
I confess that, at first, I had some doubts about whether it would really be the right thing to do to take the child away from the grandparents who had raised her since she was born and hand her over to an irresponsible playboy like Michael Turner. However, now, seeing the sparkle in his eyes as he asked me to go with him to visit his daughter, somehow warmed myheart and made me think that, perhaps, I was really doing the right thing.
“Okay, I'll go with you,” I announced.
And a huge smile spread across his lips. He was about to say something, but was cut off by a sneeze. Then another, and another... it must’ve been five in a row. I was just about to ask if he was okay when Waffle leapt up, landing on the table in front of him. Looking like he'd just come face to face with a demon, he jumped up suddenly, pointing a finger at my furball.
“There's a cat on your table!” he shouted.
Wow, really? I almost thanked him for telling me the obvious.
“Do you have to react like that? It's just a kitten.”
“It turns out I'm allergic to cats—” his sentence was interrupted by another sneeze. “— Listen, do you mind taking this animal out of here?”
I couldn't help but smile. It felt like the tables had turned.
“What a thing... Yesterday you found my fear of your dog funny, didn't you?”
“It's not the same!” Another sneeze.
“Of course it is. Your dog could rip a limb from me if he wanted to. What harm could a little thing like Waffle do to anyone?”
Another sequence of three sneezes was his response.
“So dramatic,” I teased, rolling my eyes, which only made him more indignant.
“It’s not drama, it’s an allergy.”
“Fine, I’ll take him to the bedroom, since the presence of such a tiny creature is apparently too much for you to handle.”
Again, he tried to answer but was prevented by another series of sneezes. I picked up Waffle, taking him off the table and moving away a few steps. I waited for Michael to stop sneezing before communicating, “I'm just going to take a shower and put on something more presentable. Can you wait for me here?”
“Yeah, I can.” He sat back down. Then he pointed to the bowl of pancakes on the table. “Is it okay if I have one more of those?”
“You can have as many as you want. As long as you leave one for me, I haven't had anything yet.”
He smiled, like a child who had just been given candy, and helped himself to another one of the pancakes.
I confess that I was once again overcome by a feeling of enchantment at the scene. From the sample I had at a meal at his house, I imagined that his breakfast always consisted of a huge table full of all kinds of food. Seeing him enjoy something as simple as a pancake so much was something funny.
But it was funny in a good way.
Before he could catch me spying on him, I took Waffle to the bedroom and finally got ready for my Sunday's appointment.
I had to admit that for something that was just part of my obligation under our agreement, I felt strangely nervous about it.
Chapter Nineteen
