Beneath The Surface

Chapter 10: Sincerity

Downstairs waiting <3

Be down soon!

Nat was waiting in the carpark for Aika. Ever since that night, Nat had been picking Aika up from work. If Nat could have it his way, he'd send Aika to work too but having Jamie wake up an hour early everyday wasn't an answer. To make things easier on Nat, Aika had insisted that Nat focus on spending the mornings with Jamie instead of running back and forth.

"Tita Aika!" Jamie called out to the familiar figure when she saw her approach.

"Sorry I'm late...had a last minute meeting." Aika apologised as she opened the back door to greet Jamie with a hug and put her bags on the back seat.

"This girl here was asking me why you weren't there to pick her up...I thought she was the donkey from Shrek." Nat teased his daughter.

"Sorry Jamie, I'll be sure to pick you up tomorrow..." Aika's focus was on Jamie even though she was seated next to Nat in front.

"My turn..." Nat whispered just as Aika turned her head back. Her lips met Nat's perfectly.

"Jamie's watching..." Aika chided Nat.

"I wasn't..." Jamie's reply made Nat and Aika burst out laughing. If anything, Jamie was their biggest supporter.

"Mama and Patty are waiting, let's go." Now that the heightened security measures had been loosened, VP Leni invited Nat and Jamie for dinner.

"You do realise that my hand isn't the gear right?" Aika looked down, Nat was holding her hand tightly while driving.

"I'm a skilled driver." Nat refused to let go. Holding hands was something that they couldn't really do in public so Nat wanted to take the chance whenever he had it.

~

"Telling you not to bring presents isn't going to work at all right?" Aika starred at the bag that Nat held in his hand.

"The last time I went as a guest. This time, I'm going as your partner, I can't go empty-handed?" Nat felt even more nervous than the previous time he'd visited.

"Quick, let's go...I miss lola and tita!" Jamie grabbed Aika's hand and pulled her towards the lift.

"Mama...we're..." Aika opened the door to the condo.

"Hello, sweetheart!" VP Leni didn't even acknowledge her daughter and went straight to Jamie, who ran into the VP's arms.

"Wow, have we all been replaced?" Tricia stood behind her mama and joked.

"I missed you so much, lola Leni!" Jamie said in the most adorable and endearing voice ever.

"Me too. Sorry for making you wait..." VP Leni stood up and greeted Nat, who was waiting anxiously behind Aika.

"Nice to see you again, Ma'am." Nat handed the present to VP Leni.

"No need for presents everytime, Nat. We're family now..." Nat and Aika blushed when VP implicitly acknowledged their relationship.

"It's nothing big, ma'am. One of my colleagues happen to be in Singapore for a trip so I got him to bring back a few things." In the bag were an assortment of sauces, snacks and spreads from Singapore.

"Thank you kuya Nat! I love kaya with bread!" Tricia's eyes widened at the bottles of sweet spread.

"Dinner is ready already. Let's eat." Everyone took their seats at the table and dug in.