Friendship or courtship?

Rose finally let go of her boys' ears and released them. Steven and Jackson put a little distance between their mother and themselves. They did not want her to come back for a second time. Their ears were in too much pain to handle another turn.

Jennie saw how red their ears were and the anguish in their eyes. She could not control herself from going in for another round of laughter.

Rose watched Jennie giggle until her heart was content. "Are you done? If you are, then let's go!" She ordered.

Jennie's smile fades away. She knew what her mother-in-law meant, and it was not to her taste.

"UH?" Steven asked his mom, wishing that Rose was not talking about what he knew she intended them to do.

"What?" Jackson questioned his mother, hoping that she was speaking about something different from what he had in mind.

"To where?" Jennie said, believing her feeble-minded act would change the subject Rose was on.

All three of them had an understanding of what Rose was talking about, but they thought it wise to play dumb.

"To the Harper' home. We have to apologize to that girl and her parents for the rubbish that happened yesterday because of you two. Also, for you both trying to damage their daughter's reputation because of marital problems that you guys should have sat down like grown-ups and fix it maturely." Rose replied.

The three of them looked at each other and knew that the other person did not want to go. Jackson did not know how to face Mr. Harper because of how Jennie made him lose face in front of a man with such great respect for him. Second, Jennie did not know how to confront the Harper family after the character she displayed in their home. Lastly, Steven did not want to meet Julie's parents on the same day he messes with her feelings.

"I think it's a little too soon to go there. I mean the situation happened yesterday, don't you think we should give the family some space and allow their anger to cool off first?" Jennie replied.

Jackson nodded his head in agreement with his wife. "Plus, Mr. Harper said he doesn't want Jennie or me in his shop for the time being." He said.

Rose rolled her eyes at them and shook her finger aggressively. "No excuses, you both are coming with me now. You too, Steven." She responded.

Steven did not desire to leave with them. He had planned to give Julie some time to sort out her emotions before asking for her forgiveness. "Mom, do I have to? These guys are the ones who wronged the Harper family, not me." Steven replied pitifully.

"Thanks, bro! You just threw us under the bus!" Jackson told his friend.

Steven kept his pitiable gaze on Rose. 'I am sorry, buddy. I can't bear to see her sad expression. I am at my limit of seeing her uncomfortable because of me. It's going to break my heart again.' He thought to himself.

"Honey, we are a family. If one of us does something offensive to someone else, we have to apologize as a family to sure our sincerity." Rose replied.

Steven sighs and gives her a soft smile. He knew Rose had always been good at guilting him into doing the right thing. "Okay, mom. Let's go say sorry to the Harper's." Steven replied.

Jackson and Jennie are now on the losing end. Since Steven had agreed, they could not object because that would make them look like the bad guys.

"Sure, let's do it!" Jackson said.

Jennie had nothing to do except for her to stand with her husband. "Yes, let's go ahead with your mother's idea." She responded halfheartedly.

Rose smiled and replied. "Since we have all agreed, we can leave now."

Julie rushed into the kitchen and hugged her father. Her parents had the bakery closed for that day because they did not want her to come home and get reminded about yesterday's event when she sees the bakery crowded with customers.

"What upset my baby girl?" Louis asked, feeling happy that his arms were the first place she ran into and not her bedroom. He also felt worried that his daughter had been crying a lot these past few days.

"I missed my best friend in the whole wide world." Julie mumbles.

Mr. Harper gently squeezed his daughter tightly. "Your best friend is here now. Do you want to tell me what happen today?" He uttered.

Louis could not recall had longed it been since Julie had called him that name. However, he remembered that anytime his daughter did was because she felt upset about something.

"I have fallen in love, dad. I did not know how deep I had fallen for him until today." She replied, sniffing her nose hard.

"Oh, Julie. That is a beautiful thing. My baby is in love." Harriett said from behind the counter.

"But mom, why does it hurt so bad to be in love? My heart feels like something is suffocating it. It is hard to breathe just thinking about it. I know what it means to be in love. But this time it hurts more than Alvin breaking my trust and heart." Julie replied, and more sobbing followed her remark.

Louis led his daughter to a chair and helped her to sit down. Then he took the seat next to her. "Breathe Julie and slowly tell me what made you feel this way?" He urged her.

"I am in love with my boss, but today I caught him making out with another woman in his office. I wouldn't feel this miserable if it was under different circumstances. However, he had me believe that we had this chemistry going on between us. One minute he is taking me to an amusement park and sending me a gift basket. Next, he is getting phone calls from this lady and having his lips pressed against hers." Julie cried.

"Baby, don't you think you are confusing his friendship for a courtship?" Harriett asked.

She did not want to say these words to her daughter. For as much as it would hurt Julie further, it was also hurting her. However, Harriett knew that her daughter had been out of love for years, so she could have easily mixed up these two feelings without realizing it.

"Mom!" Julie cried. She could not believe her mother would think she was stupid enough not to tell the difference between the two emotions.

"Harriett! Not now, please. You can see she feels upset already. Don't add gas to the fire." Louis replied, and Mrs. Harper kept quiet. She knew her husband only called her by her name when he was angry. She hoped that the man that hurt her daughter would never show his face in front of her husband for a long time because he wouldn't go soft on him.