Chapter 5

"Tomorrow night, I want you to meet Frank, one of your brother's friends."

"Mother," Natalie raised her voice, which was a lot harsher than she would normally speak to her mother, but she needs to get her attention before she started praising this 'Frank' person to her for the next hour.

Her mother always did that, but it worked well in wearing Natalie down to get her to agree with the date just to stop her mother from talking.

"I need to tell you something first."

Natalie could hear her mother sighed over the phone. "What is it, dear?"

"There's someone that I'm interested in."

Natalie fully expected her mom would cry in happiness, but what she heard was a scream of horror. She could hear her mom mumbled 'no' between her scream.

Despite not knowing why her mother reacted differently from what she imagined, she finished what she wants to say. "That's why I'm not going to accept any more dates."

Mrs. Kilper did not reply, and continues mumbling 'no'.

"Mom?" She called out in alarm but her mom was still in hysteria and not in the right state to pay any attention to her.

Natalie ended the call and dialed her father's mobile phone. "Hey dad, would you stop mom from screaming? My eardrum hurts." Natalie immediately said when the call connected. She could hear her mom was still screaming in the background.

"Of course, dear," her dad replied cheerfully.

A normal daughter would sound more concern while a normal husband would immediately go and calm down his wife but this family. Sad to say, her mother's screaming was a normal occurrence.

No, her mother was not crazy.

The doctor once said that screaming was good for her so that it would release her stress. Natalie had just stared at the doctor as if he belonged in the mental hospital, as a patient, but her father was very happy to know there was a way for his wife to release her pent up stress.

"But what did you say that set her off?" Her father asked curiously.

"I told her I'm interested in someone. Then she just started to scream. I thought she would be happy for me."

Natalie frowned when there was no reply from her father for quite a while. She could still hear her mother screaming and her father's breathing, so the line was not cut off. "Dad?"

"Sweetie."

Said 'sweetie' was getting confused. The only time her father would call her sweetie was when her father tried to explain to her that, no, babies will not be born from just kissing, and no, daddy was not trying to kill mommy every night in their bedroom just because she keeps screaming.

"What?" Natalie said warily.

"I know you have suffered for many years because of them, but you can't just give up."

"Give up?" She echoed in confusion.

"I know you are strong like your mom. Give them another chance before you give up on them."

"Who are these...'them'?"

"Men."

"Men? What are you talking about dad?"

"Sweetie, your brother and I aren't a bad person. That should have told you something."

"What something?" Natalie grew frustrated.

Her father sighed as if she was being slow. "Not all men are cruel beings that treat women badly."

Natalie's mouth hung open in shock as she suddenly understood why the heck her mother was screaming and why her father suddenly tried to let her know that not all men were jerks.

Unfortunately, her father could not see her expression and continued his lecture with a patient tone. "There are plenty of men that treat their wife like a queen. All you have to do is to find the right one. You do not have to fear, for your mom is going to help you find him."

"No, dad-"

"In fact, I will help too!"

"What? No dad, stop! You misunderstand me!"

"You need to realize that there is a man out there that's fated to be with you. There is no need for you to find a woman."

"Dad, no! The person I'm interested in is a man!" Natalie sighed in relief when her father finally stopped his lecture.

"Are you sure, sweetie?"

Natalie growled at the word 'sweetie' which showed that her father does not believe her words. "I'm sure, dad! This person I'm interested in has no boobs!"

She could hear her father cleared his throat from the other line. "Ah...sweetie. There are, you know, women that have... err, smaller chest."

Natalie groaned and smacked her forehead with her palm. "Dad, this person is a hundred percent male. I'm not trying to trick you or let myself to be tricked! I have eyes, dad!"

"I don't mean to say you are easily cheated, but people nowadays are rather cunning."

"Dad, you have a daughter that had planned the downfall of your neighbor's son when he was caught with his pants down with your daughter's half-naked 'good' friend. Do you not remember how pitiful he looked when he begged your daughter for forgiveness so that he won't get crossed off from his papa's inheritance?"

Her father went silent for a few seconds. "Ah, I seem to forget about that. Did you forgive him?"

"No, dad. I decided that he could live without the inheritance anyway. And if his father still refuses to add his name in his will, that's no longer my business. It was years ago and no longer related to me."

"Ah...that's true."

"Convinced that I'm interested in a man now, dad?"

"Hmm, well, I will be convinced when your mom is. In fact, your mom is planning to visit you soon."

"What did you do, dad?" Natalie asked slowly, as she could feel danger incoming.

"You are on the loudspeaker, Natalie. You did your mom a favor by helping her telling Frank that you would not be able to go on a date with him."

"How did I help mom?" Natalie's voice was deadly soft.

"He's sitting right in front of me."

Natalie slowly pulled her phone away from her ear and covered the speaker with a hand before letting out a frustrated sound. After that, she pressed the phone back on her ear as if nothing happened.

"Let me guess, Nathan is there too."

"I am!" Nathan, Natalie's older brother, answered with laughter and it seems that there were few more people that had joined in to laugh.

"Where are you, dad?" Natalie asked dreadfully.

"Why, it's the company's annual party."

Natalie realized in dismay that she had totally forgotten that today was her father's company annual party, and Nathan also worked under the same company. This Frank person must also be one of the workers or partners.

"Then why the heck did you put me on the loudspeaker, father!" Natalie snapped in embarrassment.

"The party is getting dull and your mom is providing everyone as entertainment with her screaming. Everyone wondered why your mom gets stressed so I put you on the loudspeaker to let everyone know. And of course, everyone is wondering where you are."

The main reason why she did not attend the party was merely to avoid her mother's matchmaking attempts. It seemed that Natalie had forgotten that the party was today and digs her own grave by answering her mother's call.

Well, she just did not expect her mother to call her during the party! It was unheard of, as her mother was the perfect hostess that would never let anything disturb her concentration on satisfying her guests' comfort. Almost everyone knew her mother's habit to scream but it did not deter people from wanting to be her friend.

Natalie bit back a curse as she pulled her phone far away from her as she took in a few calming breaths. Not that it was working well.

"Oh, your mom says not to run away. She will make sure you will introduce your 'interest' to her."

"Tell her she's welcome to try," Natalie said before ending the call, but not fast enough to miss the loud laughter from the other end of the line. Shit, now she was going to be the latest gossip in the company!

Her anger and embarrassment were quick to be forgotten when she heard the apartment door opened and closed gently. She leaped out of her bed happily and walked out of her room.

She sighed dreamily when the sight of Cole walking towards the kitchen with their groceries greeted her eyes, refreshing her mood. It had been almost two weeks since Cole moved into the apartment, but instead of getting used to his adorableness, it seemed that she had gotten more attracted to him.

He was good at cleaning and much to her surprise, able to lift heavy objects for her when she could not. Her heart fluttered in happiness when she recalled those moments of him praising her cooking with a soft blush on his face, or when his dimples appeared whenever he smiled at his favorite dishes that she made for him.

This was why she always made sure she got the time to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for him despite she has a twelve-hour café to run.

"Natalie?"

"Yes, Cole?" Natalie answered quickly.

"I-I'm just wondering what you are t-thinking... you look d-distracted."

"You want to know what I'm thinking?" Natalie asked happily, which seems to make Cole uncomfortable.

"N-Not really."

Natalie had the strong urge to shock him with her thoughts about imagining herself showering him with kisses but she just smiled and kept silent. She wanted to make him interested in her, not scaring him away.

"I-I'm planning to invite few friends over for a g-group study. D-Do you mind if I do?"

"No, I don't. Feel free to invite them over."

Natalie hoped that he does not mind when her mother came over one day and started to interrogate him.