Chapter 394: Strange banter

'If you will not speak even now, am I going to complain to Aria and she will take care of you.' Jonathan smiled cheekily at seeing his grandson's irked expressions. 'Now, what will you do?'

'Don't you dare complain to her.' Noah wanted him, shaking his head slightly and thought to himself, 'I don't know how Aria will react to getting a call from grandpa. And, I don't know what she will do to me once this old man complains to her. I need to be careful.' Noah's eyes lingered on his grandpa's smug face and he gritted his teeth.

'What if she falls for his tricks and she actually... No.' Noah screamed in his mind on imagining the scenario in his mind. 'I cannot allow it and I will not allow it.'

'See, I got you where I wanted.' Jonathan stuck out his tongue and Noah rolled his eyes at his grandpa's childishness. 

'My sweetheart will not listen to your nonsense.' He counterattacked.

'What if she did? Shall we test it out?' Jonathan held his phone and was just a step ahead of dialing her number when Noah stopped him.

"No, don't." Noah stopped him at once. 'I cannot allow this old man to call her. I need to be careful. He is full of tricks. What if my darling falls for it?'

"What is wrong with you two?" Martin intervened when things were going out of hand between the duo. He was oblivious to everything that was happening between the two, although he had not missed their strange banter. "Why are you behaving weird and abnormal?"

"Nothing, Martin. I was just reminding someone of someone's presence." Jonathan uttered, breaking his gaze away from Noah.

"Who? What are you talking about? I don't understand." Martin looked back and forth between Noah and Jonathan. "Leave it for now. Noah," He leaned forward and tried to pull the two back to the issue at hand. "What do you have in mind? How can I deal with my stubborn son?"

His hopeful gaze made Noah soften up. "I'll tell you about it and I am sure that the matter is going to make you happy and excited." His words only added more to Martin's eagerness and he urged Noah to hurry up.

"Now I can't wait to hear what it is. Noah, stop keeping me in the dark and speak up." 

"Uncle, you could use the pretext that you found out about his girlfriend for you to return home," Noah suggested with a small shrug and leaned back, waiting for the bomb he had thrown at the two men to explode and for the dust to settle.

Martin sat frozen in his seat while Jonathan looked as though he had been struck by a thunderbolt. Silence engulfed the garden and neither of them spoke for a long time. Seeing them speechless and stupefied, Noah pulled out his phone and checked the message Aria had sent him.

'I am working overtime today. Will be late.'

Noah smiled seeing her text and he replied at once. 'Sure, I will wait for you. Did you have your lunch?'

Surprisingly, he got his reply immediately. 'Yes, I did.'

'Good girl.'

'Canteen food sucks. After eating your delicious food all this while, I am finding all other food horrible.'

'I will cook for you tonight. Don't worry, love.' Noah replied and took a glance at the two frozen men before he went back to messaging.

'That would be great. Love you. Kisses and hugs.'

'I want those kisses and hugs in person.' 

'You bully.'

'This is not bullying.'

'Then, what is this?' Noah's smile widened and ran his hand through his hair, reminiscing the peck Aria had given him before they had left home.

'This is just me asking for your love. Nothing much. And, wait for actual bullying to start.

'Should I be scared? Do I sense a threat here?'

'What do you think?'

'I am not sure.'

'Do you want a trailer? I show you what actual bullying is tonight.'

'Don't you dare. I don't know what this bullying you are talking about but I don't want to be bullied by you.'

'Why shouldn't I bully you? If I don't bully you, who else will I bully?' Noah questioned back innocently, although there was nothing innocent in his reply.

'I know what this bullying you are talking about.'

'What am I talking about? Please elaborate. I am completely clueless here.' Noah teased and this time, he did not get Aria's reply for a long time.

As he waited for her message, he took another glance at the two men and sighed lightly. "Grandpa, Uncle, this is not such a huge matter for you two to show such extreme reactions. Calm down." Noah tried to pull them out of their reverie and it worked, thankfully.

"Noah, are you saying the truth?" Martin was the first one to speak after Noah, his face brightening up with a smile. "Did Jo really find himself a girl?"

"Yes, Uncle. He has found someone and you can be rest assured that she is perfect for him." Noah assured with a smile, putting all his faith in Ivy.

"Are you sure about this? What if she is just like Amber? What if she leaves Joshua and breaks him just like how it happened in the past? My son will not be able to come out of it if that happens again." Martin voiced out his concerns and Jonathan nodded, agreeing with his claims.

"No, Uncle. I assure you nothing like this will ever happen. The girl he had found himself is brilliant and she will not leave him ever. You can trust me on this."

"How can you be so sure?" Martin was not convinced and he could not help but worry for his son. Although he was happy that his son had moved on, he did not want a repeat of the history. Because he knew it if that happened again, he might never get his son back.

"I know the girl personally and she is amazing. You don't have to worry about her being a trouble to Jo in the future."

At that moment, Noah's phone dinged and he knew who had sent the message. Yet, he focused his attention on the man who was concerned for his son. "She is my girlfriend's sister and you can trust her with Jo's life. She will keep him happy and you can trust me on this."