12 Dinner

She wanted to leave the estate, and he had told her she could not leave unless she told him about it; although she didn't want him seeing her often, she had no choice.

She stood there for about ten minutes before she heard his footsteps on the stairs; her heart beating rapidly as his steps approached, he was someone who couldn't be comprehended, so she wasn't sure what his reply would be;

Nicklaus walked down quietly when suddenly, he saw someone standing at the end of the stairs; her head was bowed low. His brows creased, no-one dared to stay in his path whenever he was home, he wondered what gave that woman such effrontery. Pulling his eyes away from her, he continued down the stairs, but just as he was about to walk past her, she called him;

''Mr. Nicklaus… ''

Her voice was unstable, but she managed to ring it out loud; Nicklaus was stunned, she really got the nerve; was she new here, or was she eager to know what he could do to her?

He turned to her, his brows creased; Tiana knew she shouldn't waste his precious time, so she hurried over to what she had come for;

''I want to leave the estate today, can I go? '' She said lifting her head up to look at him; Nicklaus recognized her. She was the distraction he brought for his grandfather, it was just when he saw her, that he remembered that there was a family dinner at the ancestral home and his grandfather had told him to come with her.

Without replying to her question, he said; ''I'll instruct someone to get you ready for dinner tonight, by six I'll be coming home to pick you up, I want you to look your best. ''

He said and turned around and walked out of the house; Tiana was stunned, didn't she just ask him to allow her to leave the house? How would he issue his own command without even giving her the permission she asked for? Or was that his way of saying that she could leave? And what did he mean by dinner? Was he taking her to meet someone, his grandfather perhaps?

The more Tiana thought about it, the more certain she became that he was gay; there was no way someone like him would lack women, and for him to take a stranger to meet his grandfather under a pretense could only intensify the rumors.

At that thought, she became glad, glad that he would surely let her go when the five months are over; a smile washed her lips; she would take his reply as permission to leave so she walked back to her room, a happy smile on her face; even though she was almost suffocating in that house, she would be happy now as long as he would let her go.

''Tiana? What happened? Why are you here so early?'' Gwen asked, glancing briefly at the guards who had come with her. Tiana walked to her and held her hand;

''Do you have time? Let's go in for a moment. '' Gwen stared at her briefly and she let her take her inside the house; when they were seated, she asked again;

''Did something happen? ''

''Gwen, he's coming back today! '' Tiana exclaimed; her lips pursing into a thin line as her brows arched into a sad frown;

''I don't understand, who is coming back? '' Gwen asked, a bit confused by her question.

''Adrian! Adrian is coming back today! What am I going to tell him?!''

Gwen's lips fell open and her eyes widened in shock;

''What?! I thought… I thought he stopped contacting you, how? Why... When? ''

Gwen asked unanswerable questions; her head in a mess;

''I don't know, I don't know why he came now that everything is in a mess!''

Tiana lamented, falling back on the sofa;

Gwen was confused; a lot of things ran through her mind,

''What are you going to do? ''

''The only way is to tell him what happened, but there is good news; ''

Tiana said; a relieved sigh escaping her lips;

''What, what is it? ''

''I think, that man is gay, he cannot touch me. ''

Gwen was shocked; she could not believe her ears;

''I don't understand you, what did you say? ''

''Yeah, there are rumors that he's gay. ''

''Wait, hold on… '' Gwen blinked severally; trying to comprehend what Tiana just said;

''If he's gay, why does he need a mistress? ''

''Well, people knew about his sexual preferences and rumors started flying around; and his grandfather heard of it and he got him a woman whom, according to the rumors, he did not want; so he is using me for the meantime to curb down the gossips and let his grandfather out of his matters for a while,'' Tiana explained;

Gwen nodded, but then she asked;

''So if he is just using you to curb down the rumors; what did he mean by you shouldn't die before the five months is over? ''

Her question put Tiana off guard; she immediately sat up on the couch;

''That… I don't know, maybe he was referring to the torment I would go through in his house.''

Gwen didn't want her to overthink it, so she immediately changed the topic;

''all right, I'll be going to work now, I'm already running late, you know where to drop the keys? ''

She said, and Tiana nodded.