[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 10

Gloria O'Good and Nora kept eye contact for one more whole second before the elder woman looked away. She continued to speak to the group around her in a comfortable manner, as if she hadn't seen Nora. But she definitely had. Maybe she didn't want to say hello since the two of them didn't know each other well—to which the reason was understandable.

In the end, Nora also pretended to not have seen Gloria and continued her conversation with Ella and Declan. After a few more minutes, the host of the charity dinner finally entered through the doors and Nora couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips at the sight of the elder man.

Kevin Silverz wore a black suit and walked as if time moved to his pace instead of the other way around. The bald spot atop his head reflected the light of the chandeliers hanging above while his shoulder-length white hair was tied back into a ponytail. Dr. Silverz was seventy-eight years old if Nora remembered correctly, but he still had plenty of life left in him.

Beside Dr. Silverz stood Logan Bishop, Declan's father. He also stood tall in a crisp dark blue suit and his good looks ran well through the family. After all, Declan was practically the spitting image of his father. Heath also took after Logan, but his features were softer—more like Ava, his mother.

Though Logan and Dr. Silverz were nearly two decades apart, with Logan being the younger of the two, they had a close friendship. So it wasn't a surprise to see Declan's father here at the charity dinner.

"What are you all waiting for?" Dr. Silverz spoke in a deep, gravel voice. "Eat, eat! Have your fill of clean food before I bring the animals in and then you'll start complaining about food that has fur and feathers and scales in it! Enjoy your meal for the night!"

Then he waved both hands in the air, as if he was shooing children. Considering his age, it was only a reasonable action to Nora's eyes. She was glad to see that Dr. Silverz hadn't changed a bit.

At first, a few guests—those who didn't know him well, Nora assumed—were taken aback by Dr. Silverz's rough and sudden demands, but when they saw others listening to him and making their way to the serving tables, they followed suit. Nora waited until the path that led to the doctor was clearer before she decided to make her way to him.

She looked to the side at Ella and said, "Will you be getting something to eat?"

Ella glanced at the serving tables. "Too crowded. I guess I'll accompany you to see Grandfather. That's what you're going to do, right?"

Nora nodded before she turned to Declan. He smiled down at her and she knew she didn't even have to ask before she finally made her way to Dr. Silverz. He spotted her a few paces away before his face brightened.

"Would you look at that? You actually listened to me."

She laughed before she wrapped her arms around the elder man in an embrace.

"You know I always listen to you even if I put up a fuss. And I'm happy to see you as well, Doctor." She pulled back. "I'm also curious as to which animals you brought with you."

"So that was your motive." Dr. Silverz sneered, but Nora knew he was simply teasing her. "Your sweet words were rather pointless then."

The doctor turned his attention to Declan and a flash of recognition sparked in his eyes. He stared into Declan's eyes before he slowly looked to his side at Logan. Then he looked back to Declan.

"Your son, I'm presuming?"

Logan nodded. "Correct."

"Hmph." Whenever Dr. Silverz huffed, it meant he found the situation interesting. Nora didn't see what was so interesting about Declan, but she remained silent. "The similarities are almost frightening."