Fireworks (Player's Chronicles) Volume II {Complete}

Chapter 9

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Chapter Nin9

*Natalie*

The shrill ringing of my mobile jolted me to wake up at an ungodly hour. Or so I thought anyway. Turns out my brother had sneakily shut off my alarm clock making me sleep in the morning. I chastised Nate for doing so because when I got the wake-up call from him, I blamed him to no end.

“You can’t say anything if I’m late for lunch or if I look harried when I get there” I told him as I ran around the room to gather my clothes for the day and jumped in the shower.

“No worries, it’s my house so, my rules. You’re protected from the devil” Nate said before we disconnected the call.

Protected my ass, I had the right mind to reason with my brain that I will be in the presence of my mother for this luncheon and knowing that I will be tardy, I have dressed appropriately - at least for her standards anyway. Since I got the green light from Nate about coming in late, I took my time – with enough awareness of it – getting ready.

My showers for going out tend to take about twenty to twenty-five minutes. I went with the former as I still don’t wanna see the horrid look on my mother when something doesn’t go her way. I’m not scared of her per se but I would hate to be the receiving end of one of her famous eye-gauging stares.

Leaving my hair to dry on its own, I swiftly applied light makeup and put on some accessories along with my yellow and brown summer dress. After gathering my essentials and crammed them in my matching purse, I hurried out the door to the elevators and down to my car.

It took me forty minutes to get to Nate’s Estate and about five minutes to get to where everyone was situated. I breathed out a sigh of relief upon realizing that lunch hasn’t started yet. Nate was the first one to approach me. He placed an arm around my shoulders as he ushered me to the bar section of his grand ballroom.

“I see that you made it before everybody got here. I also noticed that you’re appropriately dressed for the occasion. You want your usual?” Nate whispered low enough for just us to hear.

“Yes please. Make it a double shot” the first I addressed Nate and the latter to the barkeep.

“So, I’m not the latecomer then? I mean, I was expecting to get harassed by now. But I’m not complaining because I don’t want to be hassled at the moment” I said to Nate before taking a sip of my vodka on the rocks. Nate shook his head in response.

“No, we’re still expecting a few more guests” Nate said.

Just then, Liz showed up by his side and I greeted her with an embrace making Nate move his arm from my shoulders to transfer it around his wife’s torso where a protruding baby bump is visible. She looks glowing from within. I guess pregnancy really suits her.

“So, Natalie, I see you’ve already hit the alcohol. Did you have anything to eat yet?” Liz asked as she eyed my small glass with a teasing look. I sheepishly looked at my almost empty glass as I remembered that I haven’t had anything to eat at all yet.

“Yeah, I did” I lied.

Both Nate and Liz made a chastising click of their tongue as an indication that they knew I was lying. Crap, I am a pretty good liar but when it came to these two, I got no success. Before either of them could say anything about my drinking with an empty stomach, an arm snaked itself around my waist. I looked on left to find the idiot looking down at me with an unreadable face.