Chapter 13.2

Giselle strider. 31 years old. Jeff's older cousin from his first uncle, his dad's immediate elder brother. Granny Sia had 3 sons and 2 daughters. Mr. Strider was child #3 with Jeff's aunts being the oldest and youngest in the family.

Jeff was scared of Giselle. Growing up, she was a tyrannical figure. Even older cousins feared her. It was hard for anyone to believe that such beautiful woman was scary, but that was the truth. She played the meanest tricks on them as children, hence leaving a sliver of fear in them even as adults.

When Giselle left, he was so relieved.

"In the future, stay far away from her. So evil," Jeff spoke up immediately in entered the car.

"What's wrong? She seemed very easy going and friendly." Tina could not understand the source of Jeff's worry.

"Just know that she's evil," he said as he removed a strand of her hair from her face. Seeing as her lips broke into a smile, he didn't hold back and leaned in for a quick moment. It was a short kiss, but it satisfied him greatly.

Tina scrunched her nose at him and helped him with his seatbelt before driving the car away. Under the lights, one could see too figures walking gently as their laughers resounded. The girl was holding a twisted donut in one hand, and the other hand was clasped with the hand of the man standing next to her. In that man's other hand was a cup of milk tea which he fed to the girl every now and then, and also took a sip out of.

They had a really big dinner, so like always they decided to stroll the streets for a while before getting with the next activity.

"The movie doesn't start playing until 9:30pm. That gives us 50 minutes. What do you want to do?' he asked as he fed her another sip of the tea.

"Tell me about the marital home," Tina said as she smiled at him.

He smiled back before saying, "there isn't much of a story there. Mom was pushing for me to get married, so I thought about moving out. I wanted to get an apartment, but I knew my mom would be against it. So, I got a house instead."

"With a house, it would be so much easier to convince mom that I was preparing for a family. By chance, if I did meet someone I wanted to settle down with, we'd already have a home. Killing 2 birds with one stone."

Tina nodded, "that's really smart. Very cunning." She pinched his arm.

"The house is really a lucky place. It brought me peace and love. Peace from my mom's nagging and love from you."

He paused in his steps and turned towards Tina. He could hear her heart racing. Or maybe that was his heart racing. He was glad that when he found love, he found it with someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. His family loved and approved of her too. She was his lucky charm.

They gazed at each other affectionately before their shadows on the floor merged into one. The night passed slowly as the pair of lovers shared an intimate kiss together. As their tongues caressed together, their heartbeat raced together and that night, they took one step more towards each other, building trust and faith in their relationship.

At 9:30, the movie started. It was a drive-in theater, so the couple cuddled up in the car. It was their second time watching a movie together. Unfortunately, the first time, they never watched it until the end because they both fell asleep.

This night wasn't any different either. As her head rest on his shoulder, she drifted off into dreamland. Not long afterwards, he joined her. When the end credits rolled, Jeff woke up. He looked around to see that cars were already making their way out.

"Babe," he stroked her face gently to wake her up.

She rubbed her face against his palm like a little kitten which made Jeff's face light up more.

"Babe wake up. Movie's over."

Tina's eyelashes fluttered open, revealing her drowsy eyes.

"We missed it again," she said sadly.

Admiring her pouty face, he smiled.

"Let's catch a movie when we are both well rested, hmmn?"

She nodded in reply. At this time, Jeff had already taken over the driving duty. He really couldn't bear to stress his lady.

Jeff wanted to drive Tina home first, then take a cab home himself, but his girlfriend refused, insisting that she'd drive him home before heading home alone.

Although he allowed her to drive him home, he had no intention of letting her return alone, but he agreed anyway, so they could set off immediately.

Upon arriving at Jeff's house, she stepped out with him to use the bathroom. While she was in there, Jeff changed into a comfortable outfit and returned to the sitting area to wait for Tina. Who would have known that the old people in his house never sleep?

Mrs. Strider and Sia sat next to him to question him about his date.

"You brought her home? Is she staying overnight?" Mrs. Strider asked noisily.

"No, she brought me home. Now, I'll take her back home and grab a cab to return."

"What do you mean grab a cab? Look at the time. It's almost midnight. Let her just stay here," Sia replied hurriedly.

Of course, Jeff didn't mind this solution, but the next day was a weekday and Tina had to go to work. She didn't have change of clothes. Most especially, Tina would not agree, so he never brought it up. If his elders could convince her, that'd be lovely.

"She has work tomorrow," Jeff replied disapprovingly.

"She'd still have work if you guys were living together. Let her stay for the night. That way, you guys can rest longer and be refreshed for tomorrow's work," Mrs. Strider chipped in.

Sia approved of her daughter-in-law's statement, so she nodded in agreement.

"If you guys can get her to agree, there'd be no problem."

The elders shared a smile and waited for Tina to return.

Seeing the smile on his mother and granny's faces, he knew they had a trump card.