Three months passed and nothing eventful happened. Everyone did their work while Gabriel tried to put as much of his work as he could on Andrew and Aliya.
As for their father, he had suddenly stopped interfering in their lives. Not that he interfered with their lives on a personal level but they all knew that he was familiar with minute detail of their lives.
However, today was a special day for Andrew. Today, he and his fiancée were eting his father, Julie's soon-to-be, possibly, father-in-law.
Andrew's father himself had invited them and they were to et in a luxurious restaurant. No one else was invited and even though Gabriel protested a lot, with a wave of his father's hand, he was stuck on an island with all of his powers blocked.
Andrew and Julie entered the restaurant on the top floor of a building. As they made their way in, all they saw were the staff which wasn't actually the staff but his father's servants and his father himself, sitting on the middle table of the restaurant. Other than them, there was no one else in the restaurant. It was empty. The entire restaurant had been reserved for this eting.
"Dad," Andrew greeted his father with a slight bow in his posture.
"Hello, Chairman Smith," Julie followed but she found it odd to bow so she just greeted him normally.
"Please, call Bruce. Or father-in-law for that matter. And if it's too long, you can settle on father or Dad. I don't mind." Bruce, Andrew's father said with an easygoing attitude.
Julie smiled but suddenly, that smile froze. For so reason, she couldn't move. It was as if fear gripped her heart and her entire being was being struck with an intangible wave of fear.
"Julie," Andrew called her when he saw she hadn't replied to her father. She didn't want her to co off as rude but when he saw her frozen, her eyes fixed on his father, he thought it had sothing to do with his father but his father was sitting with his usual attitude with no apparent fluctuation in his power.
"She's torn. She can't know what to feel." Bruce said, knowing Julie couldn't hear.
"What?" Andrew was confused.
"Nothing. Sit down." Bruce said before he waved his hand.
As soon as he did, Julie's state ca back to normal as it was just a few monts ago and she said with a smile, "It is nice to et you, Bruce."
"The pleasure is all mine." As if the earlier event was nothing but an illusion, Bruce didn't ntion it again throughout the entire lunch.
Bruce wasn't intrusive about their life. He only asked how they t, how they fell for each other, and how they moved in together. He didn't ask what their future plans were nor did he ask anything about Julie's background.
"Julie, since one day you might beco a part of my family, has Andrew told you anything about how special he is?" Bruce asked curiously though he knew what the answer was.
"He… has." Julie replied with a slight pause because she didn't know how to word her answer but she pushed through after a while and said, "Look, Mister Smith, I know that this is all very new to and it took so ti to co to terms with it. What that power holds though, I cannot tell because I'm just a girl."
"Not if you've slept together," Bruce said.
"Pardon?" Julie didn't know what to feel about that statent. It could be considered rude and no father would say that about his son's love life.
Bruce smiled and said, "The power that we hold gets transferred to our wives, or partners over an extended period of ti the more we have… you know… spent ti in bed."
Bruce was considerate with his words before he said, "That is also the reason why we don't have many partners. We have to choose them very carefully and decide after a lot of thought because we might as well be spending the rest of our lives with them."
Bruce said with a smile before he added as if he forgot to add a point, "Or we might have to chop their head off to keep it off the wrong hands."
Andrew coughed while Julie remained stunned in her spot.
"This is not a threat, Julie. I can tell you both love each other which is also why I have held any questions that I had about you. You're both in love haze and anything sensible I say would sound ridiculous to you. So I might as well be happy about it." Bruce said before he stood up and said, "It was nice eting you, Julie. You're just as kind as Andrew."
"Thanks, Bruce," Julie said.
"Which is why I also know that when the ti cos, you will do the right thing," Bruce said before he left without giving either of the youngsters a chance to speak.
Julie and Andrew were left with so many questions that it made it awkward for them to even talk about it. They just looked at each other and shrugged before they got back to their al. The al was, after all, incredibly delicious.
"I'm gonna have to say thanks to the person who cooked this," Julie said as she took a big bite of the chicken.
"That would be Sir himself, madam." The man standing behind them in the staff uniform said.
"Wait, you're telling Dad cooked?" Andrew asked, astonished.
"He said it was a special day." The man replied.
Once again, Julie and Andrew just looked at each other, shrugged, and then got back to their als.
**********************
Aliya ca down from her office once again today, the third ti in a row. For three months, she had been trying to et Julie because of a nagging feeling at the back of her head.
She wanted to et her but every ti she called for her or ca down herself by surprise, Julie would vanish. She would either go to so etings, check so schedules, make routine tours, or go ho.
Today was such a day when she was on the other side of the town making rounds to their warehouses.
However, today, she didn't go. She remained in her spot, at Julie's desk, waiting for her. When Andrew saw her out the glass door, he got curious and made his way to her.
"Anything I can help you with?" Andrew asked.
"I just wanted to et Julie. But it seems every ti I try to, she just happens to be busy. I thought I would wait her out today." Aliya said without any apparent change in his expression.
"You don't have to. I will send her when she cos." Andrew offered but Aliya smiled and said, "That's alright. I would rather wait here."
"Well, as long as you're going to wait, why not wait inside?" Andrew asked.
"I'm fine," Aliya replied.
"What's happening?" Gabriel asked as he found the unusual duo together.
"Nothing. I just wanted to et Julie. But it seems I can't just get a hold of her so I thought I would just wait here." Aliya explained.
"Oh, that would be impossible. She ca to regarding so deal so I sent her to L.A for it." Gabriel replied.
"That's strange. I didn't know about it." Andrew said.
"Really? I thought she cleared it with you." Gabriel said, also confused.
"Well, it seems our eting might have to wait for next ti," Aliya said and left the boys alone as she made her way to the elevator.
"What was that all about?" Gabriel asked.
"She must have just wanted to et her." Andrew didn't pursue the issue.
"Ah, I see," Gabriel said before he was about to leave when Andrew stopped him.
"What?" Gabriel asked.
"You have a lawyer license, right?" Andrew asked.
"Last I rembered," Gabriel replied.
"Great. Can you handle a case for ?" Andrew asked.
"Whose?" Andrew asked.
"A friend of mine has been accused of murder charge. But he didn't do it. I was hoping you could help him." Andrew said.
"Sure. Give the file and I will see what I can do about it." Gabriel said right away and left with the file.
However, little did he know, that was the start of the rift between the brothers.
**************
"Nice work in there." A dark-skinned man said to Gabriel as he gathered his belongings after the hearing.
"Thanks," Gabriel said with a smile.
"But it would have been better to let him fall." The man said.
Usually, Gabriel would have chalked that up to discriminative hate but he couldn't help but question, "Why? He didn't do it."
"Not this one, he didn't. But this…" The man handed Gabriel a file and said, "This he did."
Gabriel took the file with a curious expression and took a look at it. As soon as he read it, he clenched the file in anger and almost ruined it. The dark-skinned man looked at Gabriel's reaction and said, "I see you didn't know about this. But maybe you will next ti around."
"There will be no next ti," Gabriel said before he handed the man file back and bolted out of the courtroom.
His next destination was set. He had a conversation to have with his brother.
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