Why did Sierra stress?

For Sierra, Jonas's invitation felt like an exam.

Jacob arrived on time to babysit, and Sierra managed to reel him into her bedroom while Jonas was distracted with Leone.

"Sierra, what's wrong?"

"Jacob, I don't get it. Why do you think he invited me out?"

Her brother posed his hands on her shoulders, "relax, Jonas only wants to get to know you. He's been here a month, and from what I heard, you spend your time avoiding him. Put yourself in his shoes. He's in a foreign country and living with a woman who is and isn't his baby mother, friend, or spouse. It's unusual, and you're turning his stay into a disturbing experience. You're making yourself look like all the many aunties of Dijon."

"Come on, Jacob, Jonas isn't a child. We're talking about a grown man here. What's traumatic is me having to put up with him day in and day out."

"What has he done?"

Sierra looked at a spot on her brother's head before replying, "he filled my house with all this hi-tech stuff. The whole apartment seems booby-trapped for Leone. He does all of that waste sorting and recycling stuff. I mean, he's capable of opening the bin to search for that one orange peel to put it in another bag. He even made compost on my balcony. He washes, irons, cleans."

"Sierra, you're telling me the man is literally working for you for free, but he's a nuisance."

"Yes, his presence is annoying. The man is everywhere in my house. I can't look around without seeing something that belongs to him. And he's always playing with Leone. Do you know what I caught him going?"

Jacob crossed his arms, "no, tell me."

"He showed Leone photos. Photos of his grandparents and uncles in Sweden. He told Leone how the country was. As if the eight-month-old baby cares."

"Sierra, you should be ashamed of yourself. This isn't how dad raised you. Where's your tolerance and compassion? You know what you sound like?"

Sierra frowned.

"Like the Gauthiers," Jacob hit where it hurt.

Sierra's lips drooped, "Jacob, no. Why are you insulting me?"

"I'm not insulting you, but what you're saying is you don't like the man because he's different, and he does not merit to be or share moments with Leone. That's the Gauthier's judgmental trademark."

"Jacob."

"Listen, if I see you that way, imagine how Jonas is portraying you right now. I spoke with him; he's cool. He's not racist or xenophobic. Jonas has zero biased thoughts; he's neutral."

Sierra let her gaze slide to the side, "he's Swedish; being neutral is heritage."

Jacob cocked a brow and knocked a knuckle on Sierra's head as their father used to do. The impact sent a shock wave of nostalgic memories through the woman's body.

"Jacob, that hurt."

"I hope so; that's how love is. I hope it knocked some sense in there. Dad wouldn't want to see you acting this way Sierra."

"That's petty of you, Jacob. You're supposed to be ㅡ."

"I'm human, Sierra and your brother. I don't want to hear another word of your nonsense. Put your shoes on and try to be the nice open-minded person you usually are."

"Jacob."

The scene reminded both, their childhood. Sierra always tried to protest while Jacob ushered her in the right direction.

"No, but Jacob sing-along. Go, Jonas is waiting for you."

Sierra sighed, and they both made their way back to the living room.

Jonas got up from the couch as soon as they entered the room. He wore a sky blue shirt and dark rinsed jeans. As usual, it was effortless, but the man didn't need to overdo anything as his height and other facial features worked for him.

Sierra knew what Cecile saw at first glance. The man had that knight in shining armor stance.

"Shall we?"

"Eh, I'll justㅡ," Jacob blocked Sierra's path, knowing his sister wanted to check on the little boy who chewed merrily on his teddy's ear.

"Don't worry about Leone. Go, you haven't been out since Jonas had arrived, have fun."

Sierra rolled eyes, turned, and gave Jonas her Peugeot sales smile, which had customers buy the cars with full options.

Jonas eyed Sierra up and down. Everything about the woman was measured. She, too, wore jeans; hers was a boot cut to which she married and a baby pink turtle neck. No jewelry; the only accessory was her Furla shoulder bag in a darker shade of pink.

The words to qualify Sierra's style were neat and sober. In some ways, they resembled each other.

Sierra grabbed her navy Burberry trench, and they left.

"Thank you, Sierra," were the first words Jonas said when they stepped into the lift.

"For what?"

Jonas laughed.

"What?" the woman repeated.

"Do you know you always answer me with a question?"

Sierra gave him a side glance, "I don't."

"You do. Every time I say something, you ask me a question."

"Can you give me an example?"

"See."

"That does not count."

The lift doors opened.

Jonas stepped forward and turned to face her, "where do you want to eat?"

Sierra's opened her mouth and closed. The temptation to say Taj Mahal was strong, she craved to eat her favorite Indian food, but the thought of having Vincent see her eating with another man was off-putting.

"I don't want to go too far," Sierra replied. Jonas guessed it was because of Leone.

"But there aren't many options in the area."

It was true, Saint-Denis was not known for having Michelin guide restaurants. Only Paris central had that.

"What would you like to eat?" Sierra returned as they made their way to her car.

Jonas was taken aback by the question.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sierra asked as she opened her car door.

"It's justㅡ."

"You're the one who doesn't know Paris well. You should be the one to choose."

Jonas smiled, "I'd like to eat traditional food."

"Traditional from where? Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania?"

"I'd like authentic french cuisine."

"Okay, I know some nice places."

They got in the car; it was the first time the man sat in Sierra's electric blue Peugeot 3008 GT car within a month. The woman ordered most groceries that Jonas found on their doorstep every Monday.

Sierra was also an Amazon fiend besides being a serial shopper. She did all these things without using her car.

Here she switched on the music. Finneas' voice came on as he sang the first verse of Let's fall in love for the night.

Sierra turned the volume up.

"You like this song?" Jonas asked.

"Yeah, it's Finneas, Billie Ellish's older brother. He's behind the success of many of her songs."

"I know, not many people acknowledge that or listen to him."

"Well, I do," Sierra replied as she backed off her parking spot.

It was the first piece of non-Leone-related information the man got. Jonas hoped the night would reveal more about the woman.