Taking words slowly, Jonathan wore a simple smile on his face first.
"Um, I'm happy you're back on your feet, strong and sound."
Without blinking, Kevin frowned at Jonathan to show him that the idea of him sitting infront of him comfortably was unfair. Intentionally, he had blocked the direction of his view. And now, for that, him to see Pinky clearly, he had to change the angle.
In a few metres on a dining table Pinky was, sitting face to face right opposite grandaunt. Quietly, Kevin bent his head a little bit and continued to have a beautiful view of Pinky's side way. Jonathan had it clearly observed that the young man's attention was all stuffed in his daughter before even he came to down with him and block his sight.
Politely, Jonathan continued to speak, trying to get Kevin's attention.
"Um, just like any man who wakes up from his bed early morning expecting a beautiful day filled with blessings, but then things don't happen to meet his expectations, I'm sorry you had to face a rough day."
As if Jonathan was talking to a deaf and dumb, Kevin wasn't responding. However, his silence never hindered Jonathan from continuing with his intention. So, on a jolly face he went ahead to say:
"You don't need to be afraid. If there is any way you would like me to assist you, I'm all ears. You can privately talk to me!"
Keeping his voice tone at its lowest, making sure that no one else picked the conversation clearly, Jonathan created a room for others to continue enjoying their dinner.
He chuckled and added:
"You know, as men we usually feel some sort of embarrassment especially around strangers when we face challenges. And now that there's a young lady here, asking for help may sound like a sign of weakness to a strong man like you hahaha; I understand I've been there too... Hahaha..."
Only for Kevin to mind his business, eyes on Pinky admiringly. But his conduct didn't hinder Jonathan from fulfilling his objective.
"Was it a tough tide that crush a boat you were sailing on somewhere on the sea? I've been wondering! Was it stubborn pirates who commanded your clothes off and then forced you to jump off the ship into the sea? How did you end up naked on the shores...? See, I know all Fishermen at the foreshore site but your face, for all the twenty years I've been a Fisherman, I've never seen it anywhere before!"
Knowledgeably, Jonathan leaned in closer to his ear, and whispered:
"Um by the way, my name is Jonathan, and Pinky is my daughter. If you're interested in her, you will need to talk to me man to man."
Although his eyes were stuck pierce in Pinky with much affection, his ears were attentive to every word Jonathan was saying. Kevin turned his eyes immediately to Jonathan and asked him in a serious tone:
"What is man to man?"
Several behaviors, words in statements and habits which were in the human world came out complicated, puzzling Kevin's attention.
Jonathan, according to how strange Kevin struggled to save a cooked tilapia in a bowl not to be eaten, now, him asking a question of this kind was yet another strange deed Jonathan had to tolerate, convincing himself that maybe the young man played a lot in a serious kind of way.
But again, it mad him to mentally wonder:
"Could he be retarded?"
Amidst Jonathan's few seconds of silence as he wondered, piercingly looked at Kevin, Kevin's thoughts traveled ahead in a strong imagination too:
"These humans are too greedy to be eating small colleagues of mine. If I trust them now, they may endup preparing themselves my meat for another delicious feast if they get to know how big my size is."
Kevin concluded in his mind:
"I must keep my identity private no matter what."
A trip to Capricon:
On her mother's private plane in the skies, as Babara relaxed next to the airplane window, a male flight attendant poured her a glass from a bottle of Moet. Within the same space, right opposite, secretary Jamila was, eyes behind spectacles, busy pressing laptop buttons.
A brief text popped up on the laptop screen.
"Delivered to Franklin Baron!"
The message she was from sending seemed very important. Exhaling deeply in relief after receiving a delivery note, secretary Jamila sighed:
"Hope he sees and reads it right on time!"
Babara placed her champagne glass down and started conversing:
"I don't understand why my mother still has greater tolerance for Franklin Baron."
Secretary Jamila shrugged:
"Well, that is... maybe because of their long-term relationship which started way back at the university!"
Looking at Franklin Baron's picture displayed on secretary Jamila's laptop screen, Babara Yen said with distaste:
"Well, ask me for a description of illegal then I will definitely point a finger at that aged white beard man on your screen."
Babara Yen added:
"And according to how mother described him to me, besides all the trafficking of young ladies, the selling of cocaine, and his black market weapon deals, when she asked me to be very cautious about him, I knew there was more that she didn't want to disclose to me! Or, maybe to protect his honor? I don't know! However, to be true to you, even though my mother asked me to meet him for business, I have a bad feeling about this. And instincts never lied."
Secretary Jamila grinned:
"Um, anyways, I don't think he is as worse as it is planted on him. From my experience, for all the times I've interacted with him, Franklin Baron has always been that smiling face in good vibes. Not to lie, I like his lifestyle."
Babara shook her head in refusal.
"It being the first time am gonna meet him, I know he will definitely tell that my light switch to him is off."
Off the headrest, secretary Jamila sat upright.
"Come on Babara, you're the CEO of YEN COOPERATIONS! Right now you have the upper hand to decide who to do business with. However, if is your mother wanting you to meet him, inorder to achieve a major goal you will need to overlook personal feelings _ just saying!"
Babara grunted and replied as she took a sip on her glass of champagne:
"Maybe I will have to learn the hard way, but hiding my feelings is the most difficult thing for me to do."
With a defeated gesture, secretary Jamila shrunk in her sit and recalled, giving a flash back story.
"See, during their school times, your mother and father had an unwavering love that even ferri tales couldn't miss to write about. All they wished for was to get married as soon as they were done with school. By then, Franklin Baron use to hustle, chasing money more on streets than he attended classes. Due to a strong crush he had on your mother, he could possibly do anything to get her attention."
Attentively, giving her drink a break, Babara listed to the story. Secretary Jamila added:
"In as much as he missed school more than he attended, Franklin Baron decided to join one of the classes your mother was attending, just to ask out for a date. He never missed a single lesson however much he did not like the subjects. Long story short, your mother never gave him what he wanted since she was in love with someone else. As soon as they graduated, your mother couldn't wait to announce her wedding. But their major challenge was to raise enough money for her wedding gown."
She continued:
"From a poor family to lack of supportive friends, they failed to raise the money yet the awaited day was around the corner. On the last day, with plans to cancel the wedding in pain, Franklin Baron suprised her with one of the most expensive wedding gowns and some good amount of cash just to make your mother's wish come true. Tears of joy began to wet your mother's eyes _ among all people the last person she expected to pull her hand for her wedding to be a success was Franklin Baron."
Babara Yen frowned and asked:
"Though you're in the same age bracket with my mother, at least I know both of you came to meet twenty years ago when I was a few months old. How did you know all this?"
Secretary Jamila relaxed, leaning back on the headrest and answered:
"Twenty years working committedly for your mother as her personal secretary, come on _ me and her have gone to many journeys to earn a little trust. And even though she is stubbornly private, at least she managed to share with me a normal story about her past."
Babara Yen sighed:
"Wow!"
Eagerly she asked:
"That reminds me, you've been to Capricon city for business with my mother so many times. How is life there?"