Reason

Pete bellowed out in laughter as he steered his car toward the direction of his company.

"Coffee, really?" He chuckled amusedly, still in disbelief at his actions. Where the hell had that idea come from?

There he was in his shower stall, ruminating on how deftly she had been trying to evade him and pondering on ways he could turn their perfunctory conversation into more engaging ones, and suddenly he had thought about coffee.

He had not been certain about it, but walking into the cafeteria after picking up Maddy and Max, he found himself ordering two cups of his favorite coffee.

He had thought there was no way he'd let her evade him this morning, and there it was, their first real conversation and the first real smile she had tossed his way.

Her countenance was almost always impassive except when talking to her daughter, who she has ensured doesn't stand in the same space with him. She was always quick to send the girl off whenever she saw him coming, and the girl's name, he had learned from Max, who happened to be in the same class with her.

Pete snapped out of his thoughts when his phone suddenly began to ring.

"Alice," He said the moment he answered the call, and her voice came floating through the speakers and filling the car.

"Have you dropped them off?" She inquired.

"Yes, I have. Heading to the office now."

"Oh, thanks."

"You're welcome." Pete replied. Listening to her voice he could tell she was busy, probably getting ready to head out.

"I didn't get to ask, but how's your new project going? The one you mentioned about a restaurant?"

"It's a bakeshop." Alice corrected. "It's going great. So far nothing much has really started. It's not as small as I thought it would be. They want to expand to the next shop, so there'd be alot of pulling down and heavy lifting. And for us to get that done, the shop has to move to a temporary place since the owner isn't keen on shutting down business till the renovation is completed."

"So they want to move?"

"Yes."

"They should have thought about that before starting anything." Pete said. He wondered why people always failed to think things through before making decisions. He could imagine the pressure whoever was in charge must have been subjected to. Finding a space at this time and on short notice and also for a temp time was going to be difficulty.

It would take some special favours to get it, and until then renovation was well, going to go slowly or better still placed on hiatus.

"If they can afford it, you can recommend your father's company." Pete told her.

"Already did, and I placed a call, but there seems to be no place on lease that's within the shop environment. Do you think you can—"

"Nope." Pete cut her off before she could complete that request she was about to make, because he knew it was definitely a request.

"Pete, come on. You know people, and one call from you Hudson will give us a place." Alice pleaded.

"Last time I checked, you're a Hudson too. Talk to your father, I'm sure he'd help."

"He won't especially if he knows he'll be helping me."

"Charles Hudson is a business man. If you don't know that about your father, I wonder what you know. Call him and he'll help you. Or better still call Kim. Your little sister rolls with a lot of socialite and many of them have places in their name. You might just be in luck."

"But you can also help—"

"I've helped you already by picking up Max and Madeline." He interjected.

"Help me?" Alice scoffed. "If I heard my children correctly, beloved uncle Pete has been waving and smiling to a nice lady with brown hair at their school gate. You know Max is my best boy on planet earth, right?"

Of course, he was. He was just a sweet little boy, who tells no lies and hold no secret.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but anyway I'd be stopping by for Madeline's birthday. What do you need?" He asked, wanting to change the topic.

His lips curved with a smile when Alice knowingly hissed at him. "Just come with her gift. Nothing else." She told him and Pete nodded.

"Then I'll see you next week Saturday."

"Next week Saturday?" Alice asked with surprise. Tomorrow was a school day?

"What about tomorrow? Aren't you picking them up?"

"Nope. I have a out of town trip, and I'm sure your driver can take them like he use to do." Pete told her.

"Just say you're done using my kids for whatever purpose you've been using them for. And don't you forget you have a girlfriend."

"I still don't know what you're talking about, so I won't respond to that."

"Liar." Alice snickered.

"Whatever. I'll see you next week." Pete said and disconnected the call before she could say something else, because he knew she would.

When she caught her unto something, she wouldn't let it go until she knew what it was.

His mind reeled back to Alice mentioning his girlfriend, and he wondered if he really had one. If he ever had one. He scrolled through his contact and dialled her number, and just like every time in the past two weeks, it went straight to voicemail.

That's it he was done. Completely done with her and her attitude towards him.

He called Becca, his secretary. "Good morning, Mr. Hudson."

"Good morning, Becca." He greeted back. "I want you to find out where Gina Wilmort is, and book me a flight for this weeke—" He paused when he realized he might had something scheduled for this weekend, and it was golf with his dad and family dinner.

"How's my schedule next week?" He inquired.

"Full sir, except for Saturday which is your niece's birthday."

"And Sunday?"

"A prerecord interview with SBN." Becca replied.

"Book a flight after that." He instructed.

"Okay sir."

"And my sister, find out the location of her current project and an available shop on lease in the area. I want this done by none." He instructed and disconnected the call.

For some reason the thought of being in a relationship with Gina was suddenly irking him and he couldn't wait to put an end to it. He could do it over a call or with a text, but that would be rude. And even though Gina has hurting him with her disregard for their relationship, he'd never disrespect her like that.

Suddenly feeling glum, Pete needed something to distract his thought, and all he could think about was Lina honouring the invitation he had handed to her.

He wanted her to come and he hoped she would. Maybe meeting her there would give them so privacy and he'd be able to determine what exactly about her really had him intrigued, because he wanted to know.

Was it the way the unusual way she looked at him, or the ways she kept erecting those walls with her eyes like she was protecting herself from something.

Lina was the first person who was looking at him differently, like he was some ordinary man who didn't have a name that everyone wanted to be associated with, or wealth they desperately wanted to leash off on.

As a matter of fact, she was the only one who had ever told him like she did at the wedding party when she had every opportunity to lay hold on him like every other girl in the country was dying to do.

Lina was treating him differently and maybe that's the reason for his interest her. Maybe.