My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Family Dining
“Have you arrived?” an eager voice sounded from the phone, to which Elara replied with a low hum.

“Almost. It’s a bit far, and I had to get them some things, but I’ll be there soon.”

She swiped through the songs while listening to the caller’s rambling.

“…And don’t tell them anything about Terrence and John. You understand about John’s issue, you need to get your memories first for a better explanation, and for Terrence, Terra said they’ve been really worried you ran out with him, which they wouldn’t want you to do as a teen.”

Elara frowned. “They don’t trust him?”

Star laughed. “How could they? When they’ve never met him?”

“Fair enough,” Elara replied with a nervous chuckle. “Anyways, try to consider Terra. She’s already apologized… a lot, even.”

“Hmph!” Star exclaimed stubbornly. “That’ll be for me to figure out on my own, and don’t you dare think you’re off the hook! I’m coming for your a** as soon as you regain your memories!”

Elara gulped. Suddenly, she didn’t want her memories back…

“Fine. Fine.”

***

Their house was in a relatively lonely area. Elara had thought when she visited her adult self’s house that the same aloneness it had was probably influenced by her parents. It was a three-story building with a pool and sports facilities, surrounded by a forest, except for its front area, which led to the outside world.

Despite its relative isolation, neighbors weren’t that far, but one would have to drive out of the compound, which was a five-minute drive, to find them.

Elara arrived, and the first sight that met her was her entire family waiting for her outside, including her grandparents! Her beaming mother, who had recently gone bald for reasons beyond her, was right beside her equally smiling father, whose reddish curls had been destroyed by age, with sparkling blue eyes.

Her little sister eagerly hung up a stupid sign that read, “Welcome, wey bread?”—a rather popular saying in Nigeria—and her twin brother’s sign was even more atrocious: “So you’re the youngest now, yes? Get ready to wash the dishes!”

She smiled angrily. That little brat!

While her grandparents sat down, unlike the others, her grandma waved at her while her granddad simply smiled—he had always been very reserved, and it seemed like even age couldn’t rid him of it.

At first, she was stopped in her tracks by the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and joy that came crashing onto her like an avalanche. But then she couldn’t hold her excitement and ran madly toward them, only to trip and fall face down, heavily embarrassing herself.

Her brother, Jeremy, ran up to her worriedly. “Sis, you ‘kay?”

She groaned a “yes,” but refused to look up. The shame was too damn much!! How she wished her amnesia would magically wipe off this memory. What horrendous luck was this?!

“Must have been all that weight…”

“…Huh?”

Elara snapped upwards in anger, springing toward Jeremy, who dodged agilely like a cat before running off.

“Say that again, you little nincompoop!!”

Watching the enraged female run after her mischievous brother into the house, the whole family laughed.

“It seems sis really did lose her memory,” Jeremy’s twin, Jane, stated. “If not, she wouldn’t do something as futile as chasing. Her vengeance would be more subtle but deadly.”

The thought sent shivers down Jane’s back. Her sister had suddenly become so good at subtler means of wickedness after being dismissed from college. It made her wonder if all that rage and stress had caused this.

“I’m just glad she’s okay,” Mrs. Sinclair sighed with a smile of relief.

Mr. Sinclair nodded. “That brat, going full monster mode without even bothering to greet her elders!”

He said so, but from the happiness in his eyes, it was clear he didn’t mind.

“But mumsi, you’re supposed to say something, you know, or even you, Dad,” Mrs. Sinclair protested while leading her mother inside slowly. Even Jane had already run in, probably curious about who had won in the rabid chase.

“Oh, leave the child to have fun! It’s no problem!”

“Except that the same gragra is what had her on the floor. Hastily apply some medicine as soon as we enter, Juliet nwam!” said Grandpa, who was led by Mr. Sinclair. He was having none of that!

“Oh, I most definitely will!”

***

When Jane came in, Elara had Jeremy easily suppressed and begging for dear life. They were negotiating on who would wash the dishes. Jeremy was later let off after he swore with his life (and his phone) to take care of the dishes.

Jane merely laughed at it all, making sure to capture it with her phone. Despite her curiosity, she already knew the winner. Her sister had always had a monstrous physique despite her relatively dainty look and excelled when it came to athleticism. Her silly brother, who spent most of his time studying or playing video games with little to no exercise, would, of course, fail woefully.

Though, even if he did exercise, Elara would still best him—she was that good!

“Jane~!” She was smothered in her sister’s tight embrace, which had her sighing with nostalgia.

She hadn’t been home for so long, and the first thing they heard was that she’d been in an accident! Gosh, the mood in the house had been so low back then… She wrapped her arms around her sister’s waist.

She was a bit shorter but estimated she’d soon surpass her sister if things went on as they were—her growth, that is.

“I missed you to death! Why so careless? Do you know how worried sick we were? And now you threw yourself to the floor… How clumsy are you?”

“Hey!” Elara pinched the cheeks of the giggling girl, leaving her olive skin a bit red. “It was a mistake!”

“Then be less clumsy!” her mother, who had walked in with her grandma, father, and grandpa, cautioned fiercely.

“Sorry, Mum~. I was just so excited! Mama!”

She rushed toward the kind-looking old woman, engulfing her in a warm embrace. “I missed you to death, ke ka imere?”

Grandma laughed happily. “So imatcha asu Igbo eh nwam? You even retained the accent, unlike a certain two…”

Jeremy and Jane averted their eyes, guilty. Did they have to be involved in this? But then, when even an amnesiac Elara could retain her accent, maybe they were the problem.

Grandpa was hugged next and was left laughing loudly with joy. Only his grandkids could make such a man of elegance throw all reservations into the air. In the end, the two main parents didn’t get their child’s greeting due to being stolen away by her grandparents. Damn it!

Elara, who was laughing heartily while discussing with her grandparents in their local language, glanced at her parents with pleading eyes.

The two sighed. No problem! There was more than enough Elara to go around.

***

And indeed, there was. Because Elara made sure there was.

She sat at the dining table with her parents on her left and right and her grandparents before her, making sure to engage everyone in the conversation—something she was very good at. When it came to socializing, she was even better at it than athleticism.

“So, you mean she bought an entire house just for your recuperation? Where do you even get friends like that, sis? Mine wouldn’t even lend me her lipstick without singing about it all year!” Jane bemoaned.

Jeremy nodded after her seriously. Even he wanted to learn. Who wouldn’t want a rich friend who not only liked you but also wanted to spend on you? Though their family was well off, they still wanted such friends!

“Thinking of it, sis, how come everyone surrounding you is rich? Even your boyfriend is the world’s richest. You told us not to tell anyone, but it’s not like anyone would believe it anyway,” Jeremy scooped a spoonful of rice and salad into his mouth.

They were having local delicacies for breakfast—from Nigeria’s most popular jollof rice to fried rice, and even ukwa, which Jane hated with passion, along with egusi soup and pounded yam because their soup-addicted grandma wouldn’t have anything else but that.

“Don’t tell me you used Juju?” Jeremy squinted his eyes suspiciously, while Jane nearly spurted her juice at the audacity of the question.

Before a chuckling Elara could respond, her grandma cut in. “Jui-jui? You can’t even pronounce it well, and you have the guts to accuse your sister of witchcraft!”

‘Granny, it’s not that deep…’ Jeremy wanted to retort, but the side-eye from his dad and mum simultaneously sealed his mouth shut.

Why was everyone ganging up on him? He was just playing around T~T.

“Well,” Elara reached out to the fried rice, dishing out a light quantity and adding a lap of chicken, “It kinda just happened, I swear.”

“I don’t exactly remember, but Terra told me we met after the trial against John’s father and kind of clicked. So, she introduced me to her other friends, and we also clicked. As for the generosity, Terra has always been like that. You can say she likes flexing her wealth, and hey, you know I also spend on my people too, right?! Terra and Star said sometimes I did too much.”

“Oh,” Jane rolled her head. “I forgot you’re even a millionaire…”

“Multimillionaire,” Elara corrected.

“Yes,” Mr. Sinclair nodded with pride. “When I told my friends about it, they didn’t believe me. Sadly, you haven’t revealed your pen name yet… but when you do, they’ll be so shocked!”

“I hope you have better friends now, Dad…” Jeremy muttered but was shut down with a glare.

Jane’s mind was on something else. She whispered with a pout, “Then why don’t you give us more money… oops!”

She glanced at her mom, and sure enough, she was giving her a death glare. “I was just kidding!”

That matter was swiftly buried after Jeremy brought up Terrence to shift Mrs. Sinclair’s attention from Jane’s slip-up. One thing about their sis was that she was very generous. And, if permitted, she could put them on an allowance of up to $10,000, that is, after adding the $5,000 given to them by their parents.

And even still, buy them things if they wish for them… the best, big sister! So, of course, their mum would become a wall to stop such nonsense, in her words. It did make sense. $5,000 a month to play around with, especially since their parents took care of everything else, even their snacks, was already very good.

Anymore, and even they weren’t sure they could resist the temptation of money to do stupid things… but, of course, they still wanted more!

“Mama eh,” Elara switched to her local accent while licking her fingers soundlessly after a morsel of pounded yam. “Nri gi atoka! Okwa enjoyment ka Papa na eme!”

“Okwya nwam. But it’s your mum who cooked that, not me.”

Jane stifled a laugh but was glared down by Elara, who she willfully stuck her tongue out at.

Elara pleaded with her mum, “I didn’t mean yours isn’t better, Mum. It’s just that Mama is the one that mostly cooks soup…”

“But did you thank me for the other food?” her mother huffed.

She was stumped and looked toward her grandma, grandpa, dad, and siblings but was ignored by all of them.

She wept inside. Could someone please save her? QAQ.

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A/N:

gragra— acting rough/carelessly.

nwam Juliet— my child Juliet.

ke ka imere? — how do you do?

So imatcha asu igbo eh nwam?— so you know how to speak igbo huh my child?

Juju— A type of Nigerian voodoo (browse if curious).

Nri gi Atoka Mama, Okwa enjoyment ka Papa na eme— Your food is delicious, Mama, Papa is really enjoying.

Okwya nwam — So it is, my child.