Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

Tina nodded in agreement. Rachael was right, since they had already decided not to take things further, there was no point talking about it.

"You wanna help me in the kitchen? There is a lot of work in there."

"Sure, I'll be there soon. Let me quickly freshen up first."

...

[Kitchen]

While Rachael was going through the refrigerator, George approached her. "You are cooking?"

"Hmm, are you hungry?" She asked as she took out a few ingredients.

"Not really, I ate the snacks that mom packed for us."

"Really? Mom packed snacks?"

He nodded. "Yes, she packed extra and told me to give it to you too but I was so hungry, I ate them all before picking Emma."

He grinned and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket lying on the counter. "Sorry."

"You are pathetic," Rachael scoffed at him.

"Hey, don't judge me. I was hungry," he defended himself. "And besides, that sandwich wasn't that tasty. You wouldn't have liked it anyway."

"Stop talking George before I start throwing kicks at you."

"Woah ho ho, what is going on here?" Justin inquired. "Sibling war?"

"He started it."

"She started it."

Rachael and George exclaimed unanimously.

Justin sighed and helplessly shook his head. "You both are no better than Owen and Elsa. They also fight like this all the time without any reason."

George stuck his tongue out at Rachael while she rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway, I just came here to ask if you know where the grill is. I was thinking of starting to set everything up for tonight's barbeque."

"Andrew must be knowing, he will be down soon," Rachael answered.

"Oh okay, I'll wait for him," Justin remarked.

"Let me help you too." George left the kitchen with him.

After some time, Juliana entered the kitchen.

"Hey, sorry to disturb you but I wanted some water." She waved her empty bottle in the air.

"Sure—" Rachael took the bottle from her hand and walked towards the refrigerator. "Cold?"

When Juliana nodded, she filled the empty bottle before giving it to her.

"Thanks." she smiled at her. "Do you need any help?"

"Yeah, I could use some help."

Without saying anything, Juliana clutched her hair up into a bun before walking towards her.

…..

[30 minutes later]

"There you are," Justin sighed. "What the fuck were you doing?"

"Shower." Andrew approached the group.

"Since thirty minutes?" Owen raised his brows. "Were you taking a bubble bath or something?"

Ignoring his question, he inquired, "Where is Rachael?"

"Your wife is making pancakes," George answered as he took a bite of the food he had just stolen from the kitchen. "Damn, why is it always so good?"

"Let me take a bite—" Owen shoved a piece inside his mouth and moaned. "Whenever I eat something that Rachael has prepared, I envy Andrew so much."

"I don't think you have to envy Andrew anymore," George remarked. "Juliana cooks well too. I just saw her flip the pancake like a professional."

"While we are at this Juliana subject—" Justin looked at Owen. "What is exactly going on?"

"Nothing is going on," Owen shrugged his shoulders. "She is just working for me now as a housekeeper and that's it."

"I don't believe you."

"Neither do I," George added.

"Why is it so hard? Am I not being clear enough?" Owen helplessly shook his head and sighed.

"So you kept looking for her for two whole weeks just to hire her as your housekeeper with no other intentions?" Andrew raised his brows in suspicion. "That doesn't make sense at all."

"If you think I hired her because I want to sleep with her then you are absolutely wrong," he stated. "Owen Volkov doesn't sleep with someone more than once."

"That is not true, you slept with Stacy Clair twice or twice," Justin remarked.

"Well, she is an exception. I mean, Stacy is hot," Owen sighed.

"I know right?" Justin chuckled. "God really took all his time to make that woman."

"I still wonder if her boobs are real though—" Andrew looked at Owen. "They are too perfect to be natural."

"Nah, she got a boob job twice," Owen answered. "But she had sent me nudes from the time she was still natural and let me tell you, they were fine at that time too."

He then took out his phone. "I think I still have it somewhere, hold on."

"Why do you still have it?" Andrew frowned.

"Maybe he still peeks at it when he wants to jerk it off," Justin chuckled.

Just then Juliana arrived to call everyone for the late snack brunch.

"Where is Ben?" Andrew inquired as he got up.

"He is outside setting the grill I guess," Justin answered.

"All by himself?" he frowned.

"Yeah, he shooed me away when I tried to help," George shrugged his shoulders. "He said he will finish it by himself in no time."

"Ben doesn't like it when someone else interferes with something he is doing," Owen remarked. "He got this weird attitude from his boss."

"You guys should go, I'll call him," Juliana said.

…..

[Outside]

When Juliana stepped outside in the yard, she saw Ben holding a beer in his hand, staring at someone who was standing in the distance.

She looked around only to realize that the grill was already set. The table and chairs were in the right place too.

When she followed his intense gaze again, she saw Tina talking to a shirtless man not too far away from them. It seemed like they were having a pleasant conversation.

She then cleared her throat to make him aware of her presence.

When he looked at her, she said, "Hey, food is ready. They are calling you inside."

Ben took a sip of his beer and nodded. But he showed no signs of moving as he resumed staring at Tina and the man.

"I was supposed to call Tina too but she seems busy."

He briefly nodded before placing the beer bottle on the table and walking inside.

…..