Chapter 6 His worry

Anthony stared back at Lerisa's face and said to her, "I have to go home now, Lerisa. I hope you're truly feeling fine."

He drank from the bottled water in his hands again, looking directly at Lerisa's face. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine. See you later in the evening."

Lerisa's pretty, fair-complexioned face turned sad again as she remembered that Anthony would definitely propose to Clara in the evening. After all, Anthony and Clara had been dating for three years or more.

Anthony noticed the change in Lerisa's mood as her face automatically turned red. He immediately asked her, "What's wrong with you again?"

Lerisa snapped out of her trance and replied, "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Hmm, you keep saying you're fine when you're clearly not... Tell me the truth, Lerisa. What's bothering you? You can share whatever the problem is with me. You know that I care about you, and I know you don't have any other friends aside from me."

"You don't have a boyfriend, or maybe you do, but I don't know him yet, and I haven't met him. However, that's not why you should be looking sad," Anthony advised.

"I don't have any boyfriends, Anthony," Lerisa admitted. Anthony looked at her again and asked, "Why? Why don't you have one? You're very beautiful, and I want the best man for you. How about my friend Ben? He has been bothering me about you. Why not consider dating him?"

"No. I'm not interested in Ben," Lerisa replied, quickly rejecting the idea.

Anthony's eyes squinted in suspicion as he smiled and asked her, "Then who are you interested in? I don't know anyone who could have made you look sad."

Lerisa gazed up at Anthony's face. She met his blue eyes, and her lips parted to speak, but no words came out, as she couldn't tell him the truth: that she was in love with him. She gulped and stared downward.

Anthony sighed and told her, "It's okay, Lerisa. If you don't want to tell me about the guy you like... But you should know that I care about you very much and see you as more than a friend."

"I have to be on my way home now, as I promised my mother that I would be home early for breakfast after completing my exercise. If not, I would have joined you and your mom for breakfast here. How about your dad?" Anthony inquired.

"He has gone out for a weekend meeting," Lerisa said. Anthony sighed and advised her, "Be good, okay? Take care of yourself."

"Alright." Lerisa escorted Anthony to the exit gate. She pulled the gate open for him and then locked it from within after he left their compound. Unbeknownst to her, her mother was standing by the kitchen window and eavesdropping on their conversation as she watched them.

Lerisa wiped her teardrops away and turned to walk back into the house, not realizing that her mother was secretly rooting for her and Anthony to marry.

As she stepped into the living room, her mother immediately left the kitchen and asked her, "What's going on between you and Anthony, Lerisa?"

Mrs. Antonia was carrying a tray of fried eggs in her hands as she walked up to the dining table and placed the tray down.

Lerisa walked toward the dining room to join her mother and replied, "Nothing, Mom."

Lerisa sat on a chair, her face still red, and she continued to remember the diamond engagement ring she had seen with Anthony the previous day.

"You keep saying 'nothing, Mom' when you look as red as a tomato. Didn't you stare at your reflection in the mirror, Lerisa?" her mother asked.

Lerisa sighed and replied, "I'm fine, Mom."

"Okay, if you say so. But I hope you know that I like Anthony too, and I don't want you to chase him away with your reddened face," Mrs. Antonia teased.

Lerisa only shook her head as she picked up a piece of fried egg from her plate and ate it.

"Stop that! Go wash your hands first, and let us have breakfast together since your dad isn't home yet. Have you selected the clothes you will wear to Anthony's birthday party this evening? Your father and I will also be attending, as you know that I like Anthony very much, and I want him to marry you when he's ready to settle down. At least this way, we can solidify our family bond with his family."

"Mom, Anthony has a girlfriend, and you and Dad should stop thinking about me becoming Anthony's wife. Anthony will only remain my boss and family friend," Lerisa said, her face sad. She stood up from the chair and walked over to the kitchen door to wash her hands in the sink.

"Hmm..." Mrs. Antonia frowned and went into the kitchen to meet her first daughter.

"Why would you say that, Lerisa? Anthony can't marry whichever girl he's dating. His parents won't support him marrying anyone else but you. His dad and your father are best friends, as are his mother and me," Mrs. Antonia insisted.

"Hmm." Lerisa shook her head and finished washing her hands under the running tap water. She grabbed her teacup and said, "Mom, I'm hungry first, and I still need to go out shopping for a new gown to wear to Anthony's birthday party tonight."

"Okay," Mrs. Antonia sighed, finally allowing Lerisa to pass. Lerisa walked out of the kitchen with her teacup and went to the dining table to have her breakfast.

Mrs. Antonia stepped out of the kitchen and joined her first daughter in the dining room, and they had breakfast together.

Lerisa didn't want to tell her mother the truth-that she had seen Anthony with an engagement ring and that he might propose to Clara Harry in the event hall, as he was preparing to settle down with another woman.

Lerisa knew her parents would be heartbroken when they witnessed Anthony going down on one knee to propose to Clara in front of them.

Lerisa sighed again and resumed eating her bread with fried eggs while her mother stared at her in silence, also continuing to eat her breakfast. They sipped from their teacups.

****

After breakfast with her mother ended, Lerisa cleared their used cups in the kitchen. She washed it out, and went to her bedroom to freshen up. She wanted to go out of the house to shop for a new gown to wear to Anthony's 30th birthday party.

Suddenly, her mobile phone rang, startling her. She wondered who the caller might be, as she didn't have many friends' numbers stored in her phone.

Lerisa walked over to her phone in the drawer, picked it up, and saw that it was an unknown caller.

She answered the call, sitting on her bed. "Hello, who is this?"

"Hi Lerisa. How are you doing this morning?" a deep, masculine voice asked.

"I'm fine; who is this?" Lerisa questioned, only to immediately recognize the voice as Ben's.

She frowned, wondering how he got her phone number.

"How did you get my mobile number?" She asked him.