CHAPTER 22: M...MOM.

"Here we go."

Chris and Grace held the unconscious Robert by his shoulder while Faith held the heavy Rolls Royce back door for them, the snow was, as usual, merciless.

The red nose of Faith felt stuffy, and a head without a scarf or hat in this terrible weather was a torture in itself. Chris took over the whole of Robert’s body from Grace’s hand and laid him flat in the back seat.

"Grace, you have to drive."

"Alright."

Faith showed her red, almost frozen hand with a smile. Grace, seeing it, nodded her head and took a step, but before she could take another, Chris held her hand. Faith saw it with her side vision, with a smirk, she just walked fast and entered the front passenger seat.

"Sorry about today."

"We can’t control what others do to us, but we can control how we react, and I like the way you dealt with the situation."

Chris first apologized, but Grace just shook her head in response with a smile on her face. Chris was very attractive, and people would look at him no matter what, she had to get over it.

"Oh! I almost forgot, Dad bought you this for your birthday. Faith & I chose it, so you better take care of it."

Opening the door, she went for the glove box. Faith frowned a little when the door opened and the cold wind entered the car. Grace even heard his dad mumbling something in his sleep while grabbing the small black box.

"It’s a ceramic dial, so you better like it."

Grace handed the box to Chris, and then before he could open it, she kissed him on his cheek and entered the car. Chris’s excitement faded when he realized she was leaving, so instead of focusing on the "Rolex" box, he looked at the side mirror, where he saw Grace’s blushed face.

Accelerating the car, she moved forward, while Chris just stood there with snow falling on his head. When she was turning her car out of the alleyway, she glanced at Chris for the last time, seeing his brown hair with lots of snow, and she smiled without even realizing it.

Shaking his head frantically, he brushed his hair before stepping inside the warm diner. Everyone had a plate in their hand with a large slice of the cake, Jim’s plastic plate almost tilted with two huge pieces seated on it.

"You won’t get any girl with this diet, Jim."

Tapping on twinkling-eyed Jim’s shoulder, Chris walked forward, it was time to end this abrupt middle-of-the-night party with small talk and happy smiles.

Stuffing the Black Box inside the cash register, Chris locked it first, then looked at Melissa, who was standing the furthest from him, she was talking with some very old timers who were regulars back when this diner was started.

Both siblings nodded their heads at the same time, as if they had an understanding of the whole situation. Slowly they walked towards each other, but not by ignoring anyone, but by talking with everyone, gently nudging them.

When both of them met in the middle, guests were grabbing their coats naturally without even realizing that they had been manipulated into leaving.

They walked out with smiles on their faces while talking with each other, slowly the car in the parking lot disappeared in the white snow and dark night.

The whole alley looked lonely with only Chris’s Mazda standing there alone, Melissa’s car and Dan’s truck were parked outside the alley to give space to arriving guests.

"Sigh! That was exhausting."

Melissa rubbed her neck as she went back inside the diner. Although she was a manager-level employee in a big hotel chain, she still felt exhausted after manipulating so many people together.

Huh? Now that she mentions it.

Chris tilted his head in realization, his mind was not that exhausted at all. Manipulating people might look easy, but it does create a lot of strain on the brain. He used to get tired even while dealing with people when he did work part-time in the diner.

He learned this craft from his sister, who managed this diner for a long time, she taught him how to handle people with a smile and how to say "You’re fucking awful" without even saying it.

Is the system doing this to me? It really is a mysterious thing, isn’t it?

Smilingly Chris entered the diner too, helped out Mel with the sleeping Dan, and both of them carried him upstairs, and he had to tuck him in with his boots, that boot won’t budge no matter what both siblings try.

"Go back to sleep. Here, take this—this is from Dad, and this is from me."

Walking outside their dad’s room, Melissa handed Chris a small box from their dad and a small bracelet from her, the bracelet was surely handmade.

"It’s not much, I hope it will make you happy though."

Chris’s eyes welled up with what he calls salty water, although he has a ton of money now, but these gifts are priceless. He instantly wore the bracelet and opened the box.

A small pendant with a picture was there, the pendant looked old, and there was a woman with brown hair and mint-colored eyes in it smiling as if at him.

"M...Mom."

He stammered a little, but instead of shying away, he called his mother out in front of his sister. Melissa smiled, not with happiness, but she felt full emotionally, seeing the baby she raised turning out to be such a fine man almost made her choke.

Wearing the pendant proudly on his neck, he couldn’t help but embrace his elder sister in a warm hug, Melissa also couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.

Both of them missed their mother very much. Melissa tried to cover the gaping hole in her heart with Chris, while Chris did so with Melissa. All they can do is try, but both of them failed to see the sleeping Dan, whose eyes were flowing with tears even now in his drunken state.