“Hold on,” Matilda waved her hand and said.
“Is there someone else?” John frowned in confusion.
Matilda smiled in response and answered, “N-No, it’s just that we should order some drinks first. I’ve been super thirsty since I waited in the lobby back there. Then, she
proceeded to act like she was going through the beverages on the menu, ordering a glass of fruit juice before she continued to skim through the menu. Not long after the
waiter left, the door was opened again in less than a minute.
Nevertheless, it was Isabelle who came in instead of the waiter. While opening the door, she appeared to still be talking. “I was caught in the jam, Mrs. Constance. So, I…”
Soon, she stopped mid-sentence as her expression became awkward.
On the other hand, John’s face darkened the moment he saw Isabelle, but Matilda didn’t seem to notice his son’s sulky look. She then stood up and said, “Hey Belle, you’re
here. Come, please have a seat! We were waiting for you.”
Isabelle slowly walked closer and sat before John while embarrassedly saying, “So, John is here too, huh.”
Matilda answered on her son’s behalf, “Yeah, I passed by his company when I was on my way here, so we decided to come here together. Here is the menu, and let’s place
our order.”
Isabelle appeared a little cautious when she glimpsed at John, whereupon she took the menu that was handed to her. Meanwhile, the man was only seen with a sulky look on
his face. So, this is where my mom wanted to take me. I knew something was wrong with her from the beginning.
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Afraid to place her order, Isabelle only picked two dishes before passing the menu to John, but the man didn’t respond until Matilda took it and began flipping through it. “This
fish looks pretty nice, John. Do you like it? What do you say we try this one?”
Soon, John took a cigarette box out of his pocket and lit up a cigarette without even answering Matilda’s question. While his reaction implied that he was unhappy, Matilda
shifted her eyes to Isabelle, who carefully shook her head.
Then, Matilda sighed and said, “Alright, I think we should try this fish out, as well as some salads. This dessert looks good too, so maybe we should try this one out. Oh yeah,
we must never miss their signature cuisine, and also, I’ve heard about their delicious mushroom soup. So, we should get one of those too.”
In the meantime, John only remained silent all this while until the waiter left, leaning on his chair as he flicked his cigarette into the ashtray. Not long after that, Isabelle
pondered for a while and uttered, “I thought it was just you and me, Mrs. Constance. I didn’t think John would be there too, so that’s why I got scared when I saw someone
else in here.”
Matilda said, “Well, that was the initial plan, but since I happened to pass by John’s office, I realized he hadn’t left work, so I figured we could perhaps grab dinner together.
After all, the more the merrier, right?”
Meanwhile, John only responded with a nonchalant smile, implicitly taunting Matilda. At the sight of her son’s reaction, Matilda decided to keep quiet, knowing that she
shouldn’t push her headstrong son too far, or her plan could backfire. However, she was still rather grateful that John didn’t embarrass her by walking out on her despite his
anger. I guess that still counts as a success.
The next few moments, none of them said a single word until the dishes were served. While there weren’t many customers in the restaurant, the dishes were served pretty
quickly. Upon waiting for all the dishes to arrive, Matilda courteously treated Isabelle by placing some dishes onto her plate. “Come, Belle. You should take more of this. This
one is packed with nutrition!” Then, she picked up a fork and knife before passing them to John. “Let’s dig in.”
After receiving the fork and knife, John glanced through every dish on the table, which he found unappetizing. Therefore, he laid down his fork and knife shortly after that and
said, “You guys can carry on. I’m going to smoke outside.” He then took his cigarette box out, ready to stand up from his seat.
Afraid that John would secretly ditch them, Matilda quickly placed her hand on his phone on the table. “You can go ahead and smoke outside, but leave your phone here.”
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