"Okay, Aunt Cecelia," Blair readily agreed.
The dishes had all turned tasteless to Wesley. The meal was beginning to feel more like a torture to him than sustenance.
As soon as he was done, he went towards the kitchen to do the dishes, while Blair and Cecelia stayed in the living room chatting. After he had dried his hands, he walked out onto the balcony for a cigarette. This whole thing about Niles and Blair was bugging him so much. He leaned against the balcony railing, with the smoke swirling around him. Laughter was coming from the living room. He turned around to look at the two women. Cecelia had Blair's hand between hers. Wesley decided to give his brother a call.
"Brother, did you enjoy the meal?" Niles greeted him as cheerfully as ever.
Wesley frowned and then responded with a question of his own. "Do you know that she is pregnant?"
"Who is pregnant?" Niles was perplexed.
'So he doesn't know, ' Wesley thought. "You are such an idiot!" he reprimanded.
Niles was unable to make head or tail of this insult and anger. 'Where is this coming from? What did I do wrong?'
He wanted to ask more, but Wesley had already hung up by the time he could recollect his wits. He called back; Wesley didn't answer. Neither did he reply to Niles' WeChat messages.
Niles was pissed, but he could only try to comfort himself.
When the cigarette burned out, Wesley returned to the living room. "Mom, I need to get going," he told Cecelia. He didn't feel like staying anyway.
"Okay. Drive safe. Blair and I will sleep late tomorrow morning, so you don't have to come and pick us up too early," Cecelia told him. Wesley got up before 5 a.m. every morning, even on rainy days. Cecelia was afraid that he would come get them at six.
"No problem." Wesley walked towards the door to change into his shoes.
The moment he opened the door and stepped out, Blair said to Cecelia hastily, "Aunt Cecelia, I just remembered that there isn't an extra set of toiletries in here. I'll go out and buy some for you."
"I am coming with you."
"There's no need for that. The supermarket is a bit far. You just stay here and rest." Blair put on her shoes quickly.
"Then let Wesley take you there. Wesley, wait for Blair."
Wesley stopped in his tracks and turned towards the woman, deciding that he could use this opportunity to ask her a few things that had been nagging him for so long.
They walked into the elevator together. Blair was thinking about how to break the news to him that she was moving out. But Wesley spoke first. "Does Niles know that you are pregnant?"
Blair was burning up. She blinked while clenching her fists. "No, he doesn't." 'Even I myself don't know that I'm pregnant. And I know I am not!'
Wesley stared at her glumly. "Why didn't you tell him?"
"Wesley, how did you find out?" Blair was fighting the urge to punch him hard.
"Someone told me."
'Someone told him? That is just ridiculous. When even I don't know that, who does?' "Who told you? Megan? That so-called niece or sister of yours? Whatever it is." 'It must be Megan!' Blair thought angrily.
'Sister?' Wesley was surprised to hear that. But in any case, he sometimes did see Megan as his little sister, so he didn't bother to explain. "It doesn't matter who told me."
Leaning on the wall of the elevator, Blair watched the floor indicator change. When the elevator had finally descended to the first floor, she said in a weird tone, "First pal then sister; a lover sooner or later. It seems Megan is about to become your lover."
With that, she was getting out of the elevator. Wesley suddenly grabbed her hand and pushed her into a corner. "Lover? Megan has always called me 'Uncle.' You, on the other hand, were sort of my friend at first. Then you called me 'Brother' at the dining table just now. Going by your own logic, does that mean you are about to become my lover? Is that what you are trying to tell me?"
Blair blushed at his words.
Cecelia had told her that he was wooden-headed when it came to relationships. But this "wood" was now hitting on her. She pushed him away from her. "Don't talk nonsense," she mumbled as she walked out with her back towards him to cover her nervousness.
It was drizzling outside. Blair looked up at the sky and was a little annoyed. "Wait here. I'll go bring the car around," Wesley told her.
"Sure."
Blair was glad to hear that. She didn't want to get wet.
Assuming that he wasn't going to stay long in Niles' apartment, Wesley had parked his car in front of the apartment building instead of the parking lot. He brought the car around, and within a minute, it rolled into a halt in front of Blair. Blair happened to be standing by the passenger door, so she opened the door and was about to get in.
"Wait!" Wesley called out.
Blair was confused. Why would she wait and get wet? Wesley walked around the car, scooped her up and placed her in the passenger seat. He still remembered that she had once said that his car was too high. "Buckle up!" he reminded her.
Since she was with Niles now, it would be inappropriate for him to buckle the seat belt for her.
He settled in the driver's seat and locked the car doors. Blair fastened the seat belt on her own.
"I came out here on purpose. I haven't been able to get a hold of you in the past few days. I wanted to tell you that I was moving out. My company provides accommodations."
Wesley frowned. "Don't you like living here?"
"Yes, I do, but—" She wasn't Niles' girlfriend, but she was now living in his place rent free. And Niles had to live somewhere else because of her. She felt bad about it.
"Since you like it here, then stay. Moving is exhausting. You're pregnant now. You need to be more careful," he announced firmly.
Clenching her teeth, she demanded, "Pull over!"
Wesley gave her a puzzled look. They hadn't even left the apartment complex yet. But Blair sounded insistent. So he turned the wheel and parked the car at the roadside.
Once the car had stopped, Blair rained down pinches on his arm. Wesley wanted to say something, but she spat, "Shut up and listen!"
Wesley shut up. Knowing that he could endure pain, she pinched as hard as she could. So, tough as he was, it still hurt.
Wesley nodded to her. "In case you don't hear me clearly, I am going to repeat this thrice for you: I'm not pregnant! I'm not pregnant! I'm not pregnant!" she bellowed. She almost blurted out that she was still a virgin.
Wesley nodded as he said calmly, "Hmm."
Seeing how calm he was, Blair suddenly wasn't angry anymore. She let go of his arm and said, "That's all I wanted you to know. Drive."
Before Wesley could step on the gas, she added, "No! Wait a minute."
Wesley turned towards her. Blair tried her best to speak in a calm tone. "There's nothing going on between your brother and me. Explain this to your mom tomorrow."
'Nothing going on?' Wesley smiled. "Why don't you explain it to her?"
"I did, but she didn't believe me. She barely even listened to me." Blair felt frustrated on thinking about it.
After a moment of silence, Wesley agreed, "Okay."
Blair was relieved. "One more thing, now that you know I'm not pregnant, can I move out now?"
Wesley grabbed her phone in her hand and typed something on the screen. "I've just saved my number on your phone. Call me if you need anything," he told her when he handed back her phone.