Katherine smiled demurely, uncertain how to respond to that.
Grandma Grant changed the subject. “Alright then, let’s all get inside. The sun’s getting too bright since
it’s almost noon.”
Katherine helped old Mrs. Walters as they made their way into the living room. Old Mrs. Walters,
unaware of the history between Katherine and Marshall, inquired Katherine about the man she was
currently seeing, and asked her to bring the guy over so that old Mrs. Walters could take a look and
decide whether he would be the right guy for her.
Katherine smiled a little awkwardly. “He’s, um, kinda busy.”
Old Mrs. Walters patted on Katherine’s hand as she said, “You have to watch out when you find
yourself a man, my dear, because a lifetime of happiness can be ruined if you choose the wrong
person.”
That remark made Katherine change a look with Grandma Grant, who looked slightly uncomfortable.
Katherine would count as one of the unfortunate women who found themselves the wrong men,
wouldn’t she? Because otherwise, her marriage wouldn’t end up in flames.
The three of them talked for some more when old Mrs. Walters asked Katherine about her family.
After some hesitation, Katherine answered, “There’s no one left. It’s just me.”
Old Mrs. Walters was surprised. “Both of your parents are…”
“Yes,” Katherine nodded, “they passed because of accidents.”
Grandma Grant stared at Katherine, vaguely remembering old Mr. Grant, the family patriarch, once
telling her that Katherine’s parents ran away. But why they ran, he couldn’t tell, either.
Katherine smiled faintly. “That’s okay. I’m okay on my own. I don’t have the pressure to feed an entire
family, so that really takes the pressure off of me, you see.”
Old Mrs. Walters seemed to feel really bad for Katherine, so she took hold of Katherine’s hand and
wouldn’t let go.
Finding the subject perilous, Grandma Grant pivoted to talk about some other topics that allowed them
to gossip and joke around. The air turned lighter after that.
When the kitchen staff announced that lunch was ready, Grandma Grant stood up with the help of a
maid and said, “Shall we? We can continue our conversation during lunch.”
Katherine helped old Mrs. Walters as the older lady stood up, but before they could move towards the
dining table, Marshall made a sudden appearance.
Striding in, Marshall said with a serious expression on his face, “Hey Granny, do you see a document I
left at…”
When he walked in and spotted Katherine, Marshall stopped dead in his tracks, and his serious
expression turned icy cold.
Katherine looked away from him. It was just like the adage of Murphy’s law that she should run into
Marshall, the last person she wanted to see today. How ironic.
Marshall looked away, too. “We’re entertaining guests today?”
“Yes, my boy,” said Grandma Grant, “Granny Walters is here to have lunch with Kathy.”
Marshall nodded. “Do you see a document I left at home, Granny?”
“I did,” replied the old lady, “and I put it in your study.”
Marshall made an acknowledging sound and headed upstairs. Before long, he came back down with a
document.
“Our lunch is ready,” said Grandma Grant, “so why don’t you join us?”
“No, thanks, Granny. I’ve got stuff to do in the office. Bye now.”
Before he went out the door, Marshall greeted old Mrs. Walters goodbye. But he made no recognition
of Katherine’s presence apart from the one glance he shot her when he first walked in.
Long-faced, Katherine didn’t let out an internal sigh of relief until Marshall was gone. That was for the
best.
Grandma Grant, looking somewhat disappointed, hurried her guests to the dining room.
Katherine had tried her best to avoid the man, but she hadn’t been able to avoid seeing him after all.
But luckily, it had been a brief encounter and nothing more.
Still, Katherine could feel her mood affected by the incident, and she kept being distracted as she
answered old Mrs. Walters’ census-like questions.
The meal didn’t go exactly pleasantly for her, and completely unaware of what she’d eaten, she felt
hungry even after lunch was finished.
Old Mrs. Walters hadn’t completely recovered from her illness, and looked a bit low-spirited. After a big
meal, the old lady began to get drowsy. Hence, Grandma Grant ordered one of the maids to help her
lady friend upstairs so that old Mrs. Walters could take a nap.
Katherine took the opportunity to stand up as well. “I have to bid you farewell, ma’am. I’ve got a lot of
work at the store today.”
Grandma Grant stared at Katherine and sighed. “We are growing apart after all, you and us the
Grants.”
Katherine smiled tightly back. It was not like she had been too close to any of the Grants before
anyway.
After saying her goodbyes with the matriarch, Katherine walked towards the parking lot.
Grandma Grant had arranged for a chauffeur to take her back to her place. But when they drove out of
the front gate of the Grant residence, they didn’t go far before getting stumped by a parked car in their
way.
The chauffeur slowed the car down to a complete stop, and Katherine rolled down the window to
realize that the interrupting vehicle belonged to Marshall, who also had his windows down, and was
holding a cigarette in his hand. Marshall wasn’t looking in Katherine’s direction, but he also didn’t look
like he was driving away any time soon.
“Sir,” greeted the chauffeur.
But Marshall didn’t seem to hear him.
Katherine knew perfectly well that Marshall had been waiting for her, but she didn’t expect Marshall,
who she thought had work to do and wouldn’t stay there too long, to do exactly just that – stay there too
long. In fact, after he had lit a second cigarette, Marshall still remained put, and still refused to make
eye contact with Katherine.
The chauffeur turned around. “Miss Jordan, I think Sir is waiting for you.”
Yeah, didn’t she know it.
Katherine pondered for a while and decided to exit the car. When she approached Marshall’s car, she
found a lot of cigarette butts scattered around the vehicle. Marshall wasn’t exactly smoking; he simply
lit up the cigarette and let it burn.
“Please get out of my way,” demanded Katherine.
Marshall slowly turned around to face her. “What are you doing here?”
Which was an infuriating thing for him to say, because had it not been for Grandma Grant’s forceful
request, she never, ever would have stepped an inch into this place.
Katherine looked grumpy as she replied, “This is the last time that I disgrace your family residence with
my presence. I swear.”
Marshall made a snorting sound and moved his car a couple of yards away from the road. But before
Katherine could walk back and get into her own car, Marshall said, “Get back!”
Katherine paid him no mind as she opened the door to her car. But just as she was getting in, Marshall,
being the childish idiot that he was, reversed the car back into the middle of the road.
Katherine was so furious she could laugh. She closed the car door with a loud bang, and marched over
to Marshall.
“Ride shotgun,” demanded Marshall.
Forcing herself to be patient, Katherine dropped her hand which was about to open the backseat door,
and got into the shotgun seat.
Satisfied, Marshall pumped the accelerator and made an abrupt turn. The car pulled away with
alarming speed.
Katherine, however, wasn’t really scared. She simply remained silently seated.
When they hit the main road with much traffic, Marshall finally had to slow down.
Marshall stopped at a red light and turned to inspect on Katherine, who, after their last encounter, had
dyed her hair and got a perm, which made her look much more mature and alluring.
So, she was still living a fabulous life.
Marshall’s lips curved into a mock smile. “Living in paradise with Hector, eh?”
Katherine, too, turned to look at him. “Still none of your damn business.”
Marshall’s smile deepened. “You know how they say that once you’ve been married, you’ll have leftover
affection for the other party even if you don’t stay together? I care about you because of said affection.
I’m only happy if you’re happy.”
Katherine giggled drily. “Well then, you can be happy now, since Hector and I are happy, too.”
Marshall’s smile slowly faded as he asked, “Is that right? I would guess so.”
As the traffic light turned green, Katherine said, “Go now. The earlier you drive me to my destination,
the earlier we can both be freed from this interaction.”
Marshall pumped the accelerator, but wasn’t about to drop the subject. “Did you start to fancy Hector
from a long time ago? Did you like him all along and I simply failed to notice?”
Katherine reclined into the car seat. “Why are we talking about me when we could talk about you and
Clara? You two must be getting it on these days, since your pictures have been all over gossip
columns.”
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