CHAPTER 397: UNEXPECTED GUEST

Everyone around the table paused, exchanging glances.

It was late in the evening, Damien’s private apartment. Not many people even knew this address. In fact, it was only Lane and Damien’s family who knew, no one else. It was in his files in the Association... But unlike his number, it wasn’t accessible to anyone besides the higher-ups.

But Lane and Damien’s sisters were already at the table. His mother and his other siblings weren’t, but they weren’t even in the Capital, and they wouldn’t have come without notice. There was only his father left in the Capital... But he and Damien were not keeping in touch, not even at the most basic level. Not to mention, with how interested he was in his family, it was rather unlikely that he even remembered that it was Damien’s birthday yesterday.

"...I’ll get it," Damien put the knife he used to slide the cake aside, and walked over to the entrance.

Lane and the sisters couldn’t see the entryway from where they were, so they didn’t know what was happening there. They could only hear Damien’s footsteps. Then there was a moment of silence. Perhaps Damien might have checked the doorbell camera, but it was hard to tell for sure. In the end though, he opened the door, greeting the person outside...

CLANG!

In a moment of carelessness or surprise, Clara knocked her spoon off the table, causing it to fall to the floor. She didn’t even attempt to catch it, despite her A-rank Esper’s reflexes. It was... an odd reaction. And a clumsiness that Lane would normally mock her for.

But this time he didn’t. He barely even noticed that something had been knocked off. Because at the sound of the voice of the person at the door, he shot up from his seat abruptly.

And a moment later, he was already at the door, joining Damien.

"Hi... Is it a bad time?" Nyla gave him a small smile, glancing at Damien with a bit of unease.

"Well..." Lane hesitated. Nyla was probably asking because of Damien, but that was alright. Although Lane was still keeping secrets from Damien, Nyla wasn’t one of them. Damien’s sisters, especially Clara, could be a bit of a problem... But then again, it probably wasn’t easy for Nyla to drop by, since she had to be careful of their parents’ surveillance, so it would be a waste to send her away just because Lane was having his future sisters-in-law over. After all, they would keep their mouth shut if Damien asked them to, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

"It’s fine, come in, we’re having some cake now," he eventually said, waving his hand dismissively. Then, seeing that Damien was still a bit confused, he explained to him, "I gave Nyla my address... I mean, your address, a while ago, so that she can stop by when she has something to talk about."

Damien just nodded his head in response. It was news to him, since Lane forgot to fill him in beforehand... But he didn’t mind either way. Nyla was Lane’s sister, after all, and this apartment was kind of Lane’s anyway, at least as far as he was concerned.

Nyla, on the other hand, was taken aback. "Ah... It’s Team Leader Lennox’s place?"

"...We mostly live together," Damien explained. "And please, you can just call me by my name."

There was no need for formalities, when he was dating Nyla’s twin brother.

"Yeah, my place is actually upstairs, but I’m here most of the time, so..." Lane shrugged his shoulders with a light chuckle. That was all that there was to it, really - he had given Nyla this address instead of his apartment upstairs simply because he was hardly ever there, so if she came, she would likely end up bouncing off the door, while Lane would be lounging on the couch just one floor below. What a waste of time that would have been.

"Ah... Alright." Nyla blinked a few times, still a bit perplexed, but soon enough, she adjusted to the situation, more or less. It was still quite awkward - because of course it was. Her relationship with Lane was still awkward, as they hadn’t had many chances to interact with each other since making up, and now she was visiting him and his boyfriend at home for the first time - but it wasn’t necessarily unpleasant or anything. Just... something that none of them was used to, that’s all.

"Are you in a hurry?" Lane asked, as Nyla took off her jacket and shoes. "Do you want to join us for cake first?"

"Ah, I wouldn’t want to disturb you..." Nyla started. But then she paused, because Lane had led her out of the entryway and into the dining room, and she suddenly realized that Lane and Damien weren’t alone after all. Which, of course, didn’t necessarily mean that she wasn’t disturbing them... But at least that meant that she didn’t stumble into the couple’s alone time.

She glanced around, quickly analyzing the situation. First, the three women. She recognized them instantly as Damien’s sisters, who also worked for the Association. Although she didn’t know any of them personally, at least not well, the Allens had some intel on Damien’s family, and back when her potential arranged marriage with Damien had still been on the table, they had made her familiarize herself with it. Not to mention, Samantha resembled Damien so much that it would have been difficult not to make a connection... (Unless you were Lane and paid no attention, of course.)

Then, there was the cake. And the candles lying on the small plate, put aside, most likely to reuse them again on another occasion. And, considering that it was the 19th of September...

"Ah." Nyla gasped softly, getting a bit embarrassed. She had almost committed a blunder! If she had come a day earlier, she would have disturbed Damien on his birthday!

Next to her, Lane also observed the scene, although with a vastly different expression. He was, naturally, not surprised by the women’s presence - he had already known they were there, and he hadn’t expected them to suddenly disappear, even though he not so secretly wished for it - but in the short moment that he had been gone, the atmosphere in the room had changed. Eloise and Samantha, not so much - they were still glancing at each other just like before - but Clara...

Clara, the ever-so-loud and argumentative Clara, who never missed a chance to make a dig at Lane... was now fidgeting in her seat, looking down and chewing on her lip, oddly quiet.