Chapter 198
A bunch of people swarmed around the entrance, suddenly making the spacious hall feel cramped.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
I thought to myself, if Darren hadn’t shown up just in the nick of time, I bet these folks would start thinking I was up to no good again, right?
And Darren, clueless as ever, didn’t seem to notice the mix of looks being thrown his way. He gave me a gentle glance and then politely said hi to Hogan and Hilary.
Hogan was his usual self, all cool, calm, and collected, without a flicker of emotion on his poker face.
But Hilary couldn’t take her eyes off Darren, with a hint of nosiness in her gaze, and she said, “Professor Yearwood is all dressed up today; I could hardly recognize him without a closer look.”
That’s when I noticed Darren had gone all out, wearing a charcoal grey single–breasted suit and crease–free trousers, which gave him a more businesslike and polished vibe, dialing down his usual casual and laid–back look.
Pretty snazzy.
Darren responded in his even–keeled manner. “You flatter me, ma’am. To have tea with the elders, one should dress the part.”
Right–after he said that, Cecilia, who was standing by, chimed in, “Congrats Xaviera, it looks like you’re about to meet the parents with Professor Yearwood real soon.”
Having no clue where Cecilia got the idea that I was meeting Darren’s parents, I frowned slightly and lost all desire to correct her.
Why waste my breath on someone who doesn’t matter?
Darren, being the straightforward guy he is, sincerely said. “Ms. Irwin, you’ve got it wrong. We’re just having tea with the elders. Besides, you and Hogan… are we going to be hearing wedding bells ringing?”
Cecilia probably didn’t expect that question from Darren. She paused, then turned to Hogan with a helpless look, and said with her sweet, soft voice, “Well, I’ll go with whatever Hogan says.”
Hogan didn’t give a straight answer. He glanced at my face briefly before shifting his gaze to Darren and said, “Since when is Professor Yearwood such a gossip?”
His voice was light, but there was a hint of mockery in his tone.
Kinda uncomfortable to hear.
quickly tried to smooth things over by softly suggesting, “Shouldn’t we go to the elders? They might be waiting.”
Darren looked down at me, and our eyes met, then he quickly got the hint. “Look at me, all caught up in chit–chat.”
“C’mon, Hogan, let’s not keep Xaviera and Professor Yearwood,” Cecilia sald understandingly, with a smile in her eyes, “It’s not polite to make the elders wall.”
Darren and I didn’t linger any further and headed inside.
From behind. I vaguely heard Hogan say, “Now that everyone’s here, let’s go in too.”
We entered the hall one after the other, and just as we were nearing our booth, Darren suddenly stopped and looked at me seriously.
“What’s up?”
“I just realized, according to the script we set up, you might need to give me some special interaction.”
Just as he finished speaking, he took my wrist, and gently hooked it on his arm.
Thinking I might as well go all out with the act. I hesitated for a second before taking his arm. But for some reason, I felt like a pair of eyes were watching me the whole time. I glanced over and saw Hogan and his group already seated in a booth not too far away.
The booths were symmetrically opposite each other.
Figuring it was probably just my imagination, I quickly looked away.
After a momentary distraction, I looked up again, only to find Darren had already ushered me in front of a few elders.
I had seen one middle–aged couple at Darren’s cousin’s baby’s hundred–day celebration. Darren calls them Aaron and Nancy.
