Shattered Love

Chapter 24: The Dinner

The doorbell rang twice by the time struck six in the evening. Through the peephole, Grant could see his parents standing just outside on their doorstep, impatiently tapping their feet onto the wooden floor.

He swung the door open and soon, the 'hello's' and 'hi's' filled the house when Patricia and Jerry trudged in with a bottle of wine and a plate of apple pie in their hands respectively. They both took turns, hugging their son before making their way to the dining room.

"Hey, sweetie. Need any hands?" Patricia questioned as she stopped beside Alexandra who was busy searing the steaks.

"Hi!" She greeted back. "Yes, actually. That salad over there needs some salt and pepper."

A few minutes later, Brent showed up at the door bringing his famous homemade tiramisu along with him. They greeted and embraced each other. Everything was ready and served on the table. Alexandra was pouring wine into each of the guests' glass when Brent spoke up.

"What are we waiting for? Let's dig in! My stomach literally growls at me." He said.

Grant stood up from his seat and grinned, "Not just yet. We have one more guest that has yet to arrive."

Just as his sentence ended, the doorbell rang and Grant rushed to the door immediately. When he opened it to reveal the person on the other side, Brent's eyes widened slightly as Nikolei walked in a few steps just to stop right in front of the living room with everyone's eyes on him.

"I'm sorry I am late. The traffic is brutal at this hour of the day. I brought some Merlot with me." He said, bowing his head slightly to everyone in the room.

Grant clapped his hand once and grinned, "Now that everyone is here, let's dig in!"

Nikolei's eyes wandered around after he had handed the bottle to Grant. At first, he was planning on bailing this dinner with some lame excuses he had come up with his son that afternoon, but to some unknown reasons, his heart was telling him to go and here he was standing in the middle of Grant's and Alexandra's living room.

Everyone approached the dining table and took a seat. Nikolei followed from behind and just as he took a seat right beside Grant, his eyes met Brent's scrutinizing ones. Cheerful laughter filled the room as everyone conversed with each other, but not Brent and him. He couldn't hear anything as everything was blocked out by his ears with his focus was solely on the man sitting opposite of him at the table.

Meeting Rosie's lawyer at Alexandra's house never crossed his mind, and yet, here he was sitting in front of him staring each other's faces off during a dinner party hosted by the woman he used to called wife back then. One question lingered in his mind during this time that had him became the curious cat he used to avoid becoming of.

What exactly is Brent Thompson's relationship with the Carson's and Alexandra?

"Could you pass me the olive oil, please?" Alexandra asked.

Nikolei broke the stare when he turned his head towards Alexandra, still oblivious to the current situation. He blinked repeatedly, looking at Alexandra's smiling face when she burst into fit of chuckles.

"What?" He asked, still clueless to the current situation.

Alexandra stop chuckling and repeated her question, "Could you pass me the olive oil, please?"

Nikolei's mouth turned into an 'O' and he quickly took the small bottle of olive oil before handing it to Grant. Patricia chuckled and put a forkful of salad into her mouth and chewed. His husband, Jerry, turned towards him and asked, "How's your father been doing lately? I really hope he cuts down on that drinking habit of his."