"He was just a little annoying."
Serena spat out her coke.
"Serena! What happened? Did you choke on yourself?" She got worried and started patting her back.
"What? What did you just say? Annoying? You found him ANNOYING??? My best friend, who is the reincarnation of Mother Teresa, actually found someone annoying???" She covered her mouth in a dramatic way.
"Huh? Yeah..?" Nana didn't understand.
"First, sit down. I'm fine. Its because you shocked me."
"Why are you so shocked?"
"Well, duh! Of course, it's shocking. You never get angry. No matter if anyone speaks behind your back or talk rudely to you, you never even knit your single brow in annoyance, forget about getting into an argument."
"Just like now. I spat a little coke on you. But you didn't frown or got pissed off. Instead, you asked if I was okay. Like seriously? So I wanted to ask you what changed today? All these things never affected you."
Now that Serena said it, she did realize it was all true. But she didn't have an answer to that. As far as she can remember, she was always like that. She didn't want troubles for her twins and herself by getting into any unnecessary altercations. So she always let them be.
Still, somehow, that man managed to irk her. She didn't know why.
"I don't know. It's fine, really. It's not a big deal. Anyways let's forget about it. I just hope we never cross paths again."
"Fine, Fine, I won't pester you anymore. But you got to admit he was one sexy man." She got dreamy again.
Nana sighed. This girl was still at it.
---
On the other side, the tall man stepped out.
His assistant asked, "Boss, what happened? Your shirt is drenched..in coke."
The man stopped. He furrowed his brows. "Nothing. It was a stupid dog."
A dog? In the mall? A stupid one at that? How?
The assistant had too many questions.
Over at the other end, Nana suddenly sneezed. Is somebody talking about me?
"Oh..okay." The assistant thought it was quite odd. It was the first time a dog, or any dog for that matter, has troubled his boss. Obviously, stray dogs cannot enter the mall. He must belong to someone. Should he go and take a look at the security footage? He can find out the dog's owner and 'discuss' the compensation with him.
He was indeed a capable assistant through and through.
"Boss, I will -"
"Unnecessary." The man cut him off. He already knew what was in his assistant's mind.
"..As you say, Boss." The owner should feel fortunate that he was let off. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to compensate even if he had sold himself.
Nana sneezed again. Yes, somebody is definitely talking about me. But who?
"Did you catch a cold, Nana?" Serena asked.
"Ah..? No no. I'm fine. Let's go."
Outside the mall.
The assistant said, "Boss, I will get you a new shirt. And also, Madam was trying to reach you, but there was no answer. She asked me to give you a message to call her back."
The man gave a gentle smile. "En."
---
Nana and Serena reached home tired and exhausted. Serena had practically shopped the whole mall. Don't even ask the number of bags they held!
The twins dashed over to them.
"Nee-chan Nee-chan, quickly tell us what you brought for us." The twins got excited.
"Your bags are with Serena."
They turned towards her. "Hey, ugly aunty, quickly hand over our bags."
Serena had a wronged expression on her face. Why was there such a 180-degree difference in their attitudes when it came to her?
"You! you better talk nicely to me or else..I may not be in the mood to share some juicy gossip with you... regarding your potential future brother-in-law." She gave a meaningful glance to Nana.
The twins were stunned. Brother-in-law? When did this happen? Did they miss something? Didn't they just go to the mall for shopping? How come suddenly, Nee-chan's love story started?
But they got serious. They will have to meet this potential brother-in-law and make sure that he is suitable for their Nee-chan. They had already started their planning.
Nana was aghast. "Serena! Stop talking nonsense. And you both, stop believing her already! I can already see the gears turning in those heads of yours."
The twins scratched their head in embarrassment "Hehe.."
"It's not any nonsense." Serena said, "My sixth sense tells me that it's not over."
"Yes, yes, whatever you say." Nana gave up. There is really no stopping Serena when she vehemently wants to prove a point.
"Now come on, you three. There is so much work to do. Help me out."
"Yes, Nee-chan."
"Yes, Nana." All three of them spoke together like some soldiers obeying their Captain's order.
They quickly got everything in order and opened Natsukashi for business.