William woke up the next morning to Tina's phone call, which he immediately picked up, wondering why she was calling so early.
"Good morning, Sir," she greeted.
"Good morning, Tina. How are you doing? How can I help you?" he asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.
"Oh, sorry, was I disturbing your sleep?" she asked, sounding a bit guilty.
"Yes, you did, but it's fine. I slept late last night. Go ahead, I'm listening." 'Why is he so straight forward?'😣 she wondered to herself
"I'm so sorry, Sir. I didn't realize you were still in bed. I just wanted to find out when you're free. My mum was asking when you could come over for dinner. See it as her way of thanking you." There was silence from the other side of the phone as William altered no word
"Sir, are you still there?"
"Yes I'm still here. please, tell your mum she doesn't have to. It's fine. She shouldn't bother at all."
Tina felt her body shiver with unease. "No, William, you can't say that. My mum won't like this. She'll think I've offended you." Her voice was filled with desperation, and she didn't even realize she had just called him by his first name.
"I thought you wouldn't want to see me at your place. I don't like being somewhere I'm not welcome. If you don't want me at your place, you don't have to force it, Just tell your mum I'm busy. You could pass the phone to her, but I also have other things to do. Let's not waste each other's time."
"No, not at all! You can come. I have no issues with it," she said quickly, not wanting him to think she was against her mother inviting him over. But deep down her heart, she felt he was trying to distance himself from her.
"Hmm, I'm free today, Sunday," he said, his tone calm but with a hint of seriousness.
"Oh, today is quite busy. My mum went to visit her sister, so she won't be able to make dinner. And me, I... I can't..."
William smiled excitedly; he couldn't wait to taste her meal. But then, he knew her cooking for him might be a bit of a nut to crack. "You know, my cooking is quite... hm, I don't know.
But I think you should eat what my mother prepares. Besides, she's the one inviting you over, so it's only right she does the cooking, right?" she asked, almost hoping for a positive answer from him. But his response completely shocked her.
"You can't cook?"
"Not at all! I can cook—yes, I can cook!" she quickly explained, her voice trembling a little at the thought of cooking for him. The CEO of Williams Group, eating her food? She already imagined the disaster. Was he going to say, "You have a blockhead, and now you can't cook?"
No, he wasn't going to say that. He'd already apologized for all those things.
"Then you can as well cook. You can't expect your mom to leave where she is for that. If we're going to do the cooking tomorrow or sometime this week, you'll have to bring the food to me."
"Huh? Me? No way I'm coming to your company for something as simple as a dinner!" she protested, imagining all his employees looking at her like she was crazy.
"I don't live in my company," he teased.
"I don't understand."
"I have a house. You can bring the dinner to my place. But that wouldn't be fair. I want to have dinner with your mom at your place. That would be respectful," he added, with a little smile in his voice.
Tina nodded, relieved he thought that way. It was much better for him to come over, but the whole "coming now" part...
"Send me the address and time, and I'll be there when it's time. Have a nice day."
"But, sir..." Before she could finish, he'd already dropped the call, giving her no room for excuses. He knew exactly what she was about to ask—"Can we reschedule?" He wasn't about to let that happen. He was going to taste her meal, no matter what.😂
Even if she didn't know how to cook, he was already feeling excited and happy about it.
The entire afternoon was spent in his study, buried in paperwork that his assistant, James, had prepared for him. When he finally finished, he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket.
"Hello, Mum," he answered, hoping this time there would be something new in the phone call. His mum had been relentlessly persecuting him to get a wife. She complained about feeling bored in the UK, alone. Although William had told her the kids were going to live with him and not keep her company, Mrs. Smith wasn't ready to give up.
"Hello, Mum." He repeated
"Guess you got a call from the devil, right?" she teased.
"Mum, stop. Why would you even think that? You're my mum. If I thought that way, I wouldn't have picked up the call," he replied, trying to hide his amusement.
"From the time I started pleading with you to get married, I realized I was a devil to you. You no longer call your mother or check up on me. Your brother is not like you. He used to be calm and listen, but you? William, why don't you listen to your mum and get a wife? Hard work without..."
"Family is a waste of time. You need a family to call your own in your old age," he interrupted, quoting her familiar line.
"Mum, you've been saying that for so long now it's practically music to my ears. So, to tell you the truth, I've got it memorized. Take a chill pill and calm down. I'm working on it. Don't you trust me?"
"No, I don't," his mother responded firmly, her tone challenging.
"You know what, Mum? I'll call you later. I have somewhere to be in 30 minutes," William said, hoping to escape the conversation.
"Wait, I'm still talking! Don't hang up on me!" she protested. "Gosh, he hung up again." She looked at her phone in frustration, fighting the urge to call him back.
Meanwhile, Tina had already returned from the supermarket and was almost done cooking. She informed her mum about William's visit, which Mrs. Martins was very happy about. She was grateful her stubborn daughter was finally cooking.
Nancy, Tina's sister, had said they hated each other, but Mrs. Martins couldn't see that. "Tina is cooking for William, hahaha. She even invited him over," she thought, feeling so excited at her sister's place that she couldn't wait to get home to be with her daughter.
"Silly girl, you act stubborn, but you're the best," she praised in her heart.
Tina set the table, contemplating what she had just cooked. "This is lunch, not dinner. Oh no, Tina, you've done it again." She cursed under her breath, staring at the pot of stew and rice.
"Indeed, I'm a blockhead. Who cooks rice and stew for dinner? Oh, William, you're really trying to frustrate me," she muttered, clenching her fists in frustration. But she immediately stopped when she heard a knock on the door.