ICY COLD BROTHER-IN-LAW (THREE)

The strong wind blew the white curtains that were not tightly closed. The cold air that seeped in from the opened balcony door made someone in the room realize the odd thing that was happening in his room. The side to his right was empty. Nickson noticed that Rebecca was no longer lying next to him like an hour ago. Maybe his wife had insomnia again. Things like this happen often. But he just didn't expect his wife to get insomnia when she was happy because she had met her sister again.

"Insomnia?"

"Oh, did I wake you up?"

Nickson walked closer to Rebecca until he was right next to her to take a closer look at her face. The dim light on their balcony made it difficult to see Rebecca's face more clearly. But when he managed to approach the woman he saw that there were tears still wet on his wife's cheeks.

"What's bothering you, Rebecca?"

The woman quickly wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks and turned her back to Nickson.

"It's okay, just remembering the past."

"Are you sure?" asked Nickson while bending his face right in front of Rebecca's, making the woman instantly feel nervous about being stared at by her husband intensely.

"I'm okay. No need to worry." Rebecca answered quickly with a nod. She then turned her face towards the dull sight of her dark courtyard.

When the wind blows, the birch branches rub against each other, creating an eerie atmosphere that feels good to comfort Rebecca's nervousness. Maybe if she wasn't in a bad mood she would have shuddered at the sound of tree branches rubbing against each other like that. Especially if Nickson is not at home because he has to go on a business trip or work late at his office, she often sleeps with the lights on just because she is afraid to see the shadows of the trees that resemble monsters, biased on her balcony. But now she suddenly liked the sound of the rustling of tree branches, which was getting louder and louder with the strong wind blowing tonight.

"You will get sick if you stand here too long," Nickson rebuked after he felt his body shiver from the strong wind that repeatedly blew around them.

"Tonight I wanted to be here."

"What for? You have a problem?"

"Problem? Every day we create a lot of problems, how do you think Nick? No, I'm not standing here because of a problem."

"Then what?"

Once again Nickson tried to approach his wife and this time took the initiative to put his arm around Rebecca's fragile shoulders, which were wrapped in a nightgown. In his arms, Rebecca looked so small and fragile. It was as if she could crumble at any moment if he didn't treat her with care.

"Blakely. I thought about her.”

"What is it? You should be happy after meeting her.”

"I am happy. Really. Tonight is the most beautiful night I've had in years. I feel like my family is whole again. I have considered Blakely as my little sister even though we are not from the same mother and father.”

Nickson remained silent, allowing Rebecca to chatter to her heart's content. She didn't need any comments from him at all. The woman just needs to be heard and hugged to reduce the nervousness she is currently feeling.

“Blakely Stander, she was a little sister who came to me when I was almost desperate because I thought I would never have a sister like my friends have. At that time, she came into our life when she was very young. Eight years. With a pink fur coat and a stuffed bunny in her hand, Blakely looked shy to come into our house and hug my dad who was offering her a hug. But despite being shy Blakely is the bravest girl I've ever known. She is tough, she is independent, and she always tries to make her dreams come true. She is not a woman who is easily swayed.”

"I mean that as a stubborn woman, don't you think?"

"I don't think so. If you want to know the real Blakely, you have to dive deep into her life. Blakely is very mysterious. She's good at hiding her feelings."

Nickson didn't feel that way. To him, Blakely was like an open book that was easy to read. His first impression when he met Blakely had not even changed until that moment. He considered Blakely to be a selfish woman with a bit of luck, because if she wasn't blessed with luck, she wouldn't be a very independent, successful woman. Very few people he knows can achieve success at a young age without the intervention of their family or those closest to them who love them.

"It's late. We'd better go in. Tomorrow morning I have a meeting with an important client.”

“Hmm… you've always been a busy boss. Boss Nickson.”

“Well… you shouldn't be surprised anymore after marrying me.”

Rebecca spoiled pulled the collar of Nickson's pajamas and then placed a soft, deep kiss with a soft touch on the surface of Nickson's lips. If only they didn't have an important agenda tomorrow morning, maybe the kiss could turn into something more intimate than just a kiss.

"Good night, Nick. I love you,” Rebecca whispered cheerfully before she landed her head on the pillow and closed her eyes tightly.

Meanwhile, Nickson did not immediately lie down on the bed as Rebecca did. For a while, he remained on the edge of the bed watching Rebecca start to drift off into dreamland.

I love you

Those words will never be forgotten by Nickson forever and would continue to settle in his brain with all kinds of emotions starting to haunt him.

-00-

"Morning."

“Morning Emma, how are the preparations for the restaurant opening next week?”

"Everything is fine." The young girl smiled cheerfully at Blakely.

"Good. This afternoon I will go to the ceramic shop to buy ceramic tableware that fits our restaurant concept.”

"Well done Miss Stander, I'm so happy to see all the preparations are at 95%, just a few more touches and the restaurant is ready to fully open for customers."

Blakely scanned the rest of the restaurant with endless pride. Sometimes she wished her parents were still alive to witness the early stages of her success, which she managed to achieve through relentless hard work and also many sacrifices. Unfortunately, that will never happen because her father died long before she was a teenager. Meanwhile, her mother died when she had just graduated from high school with her stepfather, who at that time had an accident on the way to their vacation.

The fate of her parents was tragic. They died in a state of joy because they were going on vacation to New Orleans at the same time to celebrate Mardi Grass there. However, before their car entered the Louisiana area, their car had already been hit by another driver's car who was driving sleepy at the time. As a result of his carelessness, five cars were also victims, including her parents' car, because at that time the atmosphere on the interstate-85 road was very busy with people who wanted to take a summer vacation.

Blakely didn't want the bitter memories of her parents to ruin the happiness she was feeling right now. She had been determined to herself ever since she decided to move to New York that she would forget all that sadness and start organizing her life to get the future she wanted. She thought wallowing in grief over the death of her parents poisoned her life. She was forced to oppose many parties, several relatives did not agree with her decision—who immediately decided to leave the funeral home after her parents were buried, and also Rebecca's decision, who at that time chose to mourn her sadness in the house for months without thinking about her own life.

"Oh, Emma!" Blakely called out to Emma as soon as she remembered an appointment with one of her best friends.

“Please prepare a table in the lounge, my friend Antonio Bernandes is coming today with his friend to see my new restaurant as well as taste some of the dishes here. While I'm cooking, please prepare all the necessary things above."

“Okay, you needn't worry Ms. Stander. Everything will be ready when your guests arrive.”

Blakely looked at Emma with satisfaction because she thought she was very passionate and also smart. She had done the right thing by hiring Emma here. She was even grateful that she could find Emma among the dozens of girls who applied as waitresses for her restaurant three weeks ago.

Now that the lounge business was under Emma's control, she only needed to do her part in the kitchen. This morning she would treat her guests to a delicious pecan pie and a cup of roselle tea. She thought the menu would not be too strange if it was served as an informal snack. After all, Antonio told her he wouldn't be visiting her restaurant for more than an hour. So she didn't have to prepare the main dish for Antonio and his partner.

-00-

"So this is the place?"

Nickson observed a two-story building with various kinds of plants growing profusely in every corner of the building. At first, he thought that the building was a house for growing plants, instead of a garden-themed restaurant, as his client and his friend said.

“This restaurant has not officially opened yet. It belonged to one of my acquaintances when she came to France a few years ago.”

"A woman?"

Antonio smiled mischievously in response to Nickson's equally mischievous question. The two men then smiled meaningfully at each other and immediately stepped into the restaurant, which looked very fresh in the morning.

“Since you're a great interior designer and the best graduate in architecture, I wanted to know what you think of this restaurant.”

"Not bad."

"Only that?" Antonio pouted in annoyance. “You worked so hard to study architecture and took a master degree in interior design, and then your response was just like that? Huh, you must be joking dude."

"No, I'm not joking at all. I think this place is okay. Not too bad for a restaurant that is just about to open. After all, why are you asking such unimportant things? Even though this restaurant is finished and is just waiting to open next week.”

Antonio smiled a little. “There's no real reason, it's just that I don't want to sound stupid when I talk to the owner of this restaurant later. You know I'm not very good at design or anything to do with buildings. I'm a business executive."

“Hmm… I think this place is good. Unique but also classy. The combination is perfect. The live plants used in every room make the visitors feel very relaxed here. Especially to unwind after work. I think this place will become an Atlanta resident's favorite in the future. But that's not only in terms of buildings. For a restaurant, the food delicacy aspect will, of course, also be a consideration for visitors to come here.”

"Great! I thought that inviting you here would be the right choice.”

"Good morning, are you Mr Antonio Bernandes?" A cute waitress walked over to them with a friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm Antonio Bernandes."

“Then please follow me to the lounge on the second floor.”

The two of them then followed the cute waitress up the wooden stairs which, on the right and left of the railing, were filled with vines that thrived. At first glance, Nickson was amazed by the concept created by the restaurant owner. According to him, this person had a very good concept until she finally succeeded in particularly executing all her ideas.

"Please, have a seat."

The waitress pulled out a chair for Antonio and then for Nickson before excusing herself to return to her pending work.

Meanwhile, Antonio and Nickson were both amazed by the shape of the building on the second floor, which was made with the concept of a greenhouse. At first glance, they seemed like they were in the greenhouse of the seven dwarfs in the fairy tale Snow White, which was very popular since they were still wearing diapers.

"What do you think now?"

"Good. The owner of this restaurant pays great attention to detail.” Nickson's eyes actively scanned the entire building until his eye movements stopped right at the end of the stairs.

"By the way, you haven't told me the name of the owner of this place," said Nickson, sounding stiff. His throat suddenly felt dry and his voice choked. Something he didn't expect suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"I forgot," Antonio smirked a little. "You can get to know her right away. She's coming! Blakely Stander."

Blakely looked at Nickson in surprise that she couldn't hide at all. On the other hand, Nickson managed to control his shock so well that he could still display a calm demeanor that looked normal in front of Blakely and Antonio.

"Welcome Antonio."

Blakely shook Antonio's hand and gave him a warm hug. Then she hesitantly shook Nickson's stiff hand, then hugged him like she did Antonio. But there was a slight difference when she hugged Nickson because the man suddenly brought his lips to her ear, and then whispered in a very soft but sharp tone, "Don't say anything to Antonio."

After that, Blakely's body seemed to just fall backward because Nickson suddenly let go of her embrace when she was trying to digest the man's meaning of his whisper.

“Blakely, this is Nickson Darragh. Nickson this is Blakely Stander, owner of this amazing restaurant.”

The two just stared at each other for three seconds without saying anything.

Blakely thought she had done the right thing by not speaking too much in front of both Antonio and Nickson because he had warned her to be quiet. After all, she had no intention of bragging in front of Antonio about their family relationship because of Rebecca. She is not a woman who likes to share personal things with others just to look cool. She didn't think having a family relationship with Nickson Darragh was anything to be proud of.

"Please have a seat. I'm so glad you came to visit my restaurant." Blakely then turned around briefly to call out to a young man whose head was starting to show at the top of the stairs, "Tyson, bring the food here."

The young man with short curly hair with pale skin and average height immediately walked over to the table occupied by Brielle's guests and then immediately placed the dishes that Blakely had prepared in the kitchen a moment ago.

“I made pecan pie and roselle tea. I hope you guys don't mind drinking tea in the morning like this."

"I'm fine," said Antonio quickly. “Besides, we have to taste something different in such a beautiful place as this. If it's just a cup of coffee, people, myself included, can brew their own at home.”

Blakely laughed at Antonio's joke. Her melodious laughter instantly made the two men there show different expressions. Antonio was stunned by Blakely's very natural laugh. He saw Blakely as an attractive woman who was very step up among the women he had known so far. As for Nickson, he felt he saw a different Blakely from the one he saw last night at his house. While here, Blakely was more relaxed and less stiff than last night.

“By the way, I took Nickson because he's a great architect and interior designer. He told me that your restaurant was amazing.”

"Is that true?" Blakely looked dubious. Her brother-in-law did not look happy to be in her restaurant. In fact, now her brother-in-law's face looked gloomy like an overcast sky.

“You pay attention to all the details in an amazing way.”

“Mmm… I don't work alone.” Blakely replied nervously.

“How did you two get to know each other?” Nickson took a sip of her tea while glancing at Blakely through the gap created between the rims of his cup. It was the first time Antonio introduced him to a woman since he was heartbroken because his fiancé had an affair with his ex-lover. So far, he had never seen Antonio so happy when he met a woman. He guesses that Blakely and Antonio have a special relationship that he doesn't know about.

“It's a long story,” Antonio replied excitedly, glancing at Blakely, who was smiling at him.

“We met in France. It so happened that Antonio was one of my lecturer's friends who at that time took me to France to attend a culinary festival.”

“Yeah, you know that my business is in the culinary field, but I'm very blind to culinary things. I'm just someone who has money and the ambition to grow a business. Meanwhile, my business can't just be handled carelessly without the touch of an expert. So, ever since I first opened a restaurant in New York, I've been working with Marry Christin to handle the taste department. I bought the copyright of her recipes for my restaurant.”

“Hmm… business brain. I'm not surprised," said Nickson nonchalantly.

“So long story short, at that time Blakely and Marry Christin came to France to attend the opening of a new branch of my restaurant as well as attend a culinary festival held by a culinary arts association there. I bought Blakely's patented recipe for crawfish and pain shrubs. Trust me, you won't find the same taste in Blakely's food as other foods that people usually sell. Blakely created her recipe by experimenting."

“I just want people to eat food that tastes unique. And of course, they also have to enjoy every bite of food that goes into their mouths."

"Sounds very noble."

Blakely snorted in annoyance at Nickson's comment that sounded more like a satire than a compliment. She was even surprised. What kind of grudge does her brother-in-law have against her because his attitude never looks pleasant in the slightest when talking to her?

“Next time I'll invite you to eat some of the great menus Blakely created. Unfortunately, today we can only taste the pecan pie. I have a meeting to attend in half an hour.”

“I also had to go find materials for my client's new office design. We'd better go now. I completely forgot to go see Mr. Conrad and consult about the materials he wants for his new office.”

Nickson, who had just eaten a few mouthfuls of her pecan pie, suddenly stood up with a hasty gesture. While Antonio didn't seem willing to leave any crumbs of his pecan pie, he devoured the cake in a few big mouthfuls. He then rinsed his mouth with the remaining rosella tea in his cup in one gulp, which looked terrible to Blakely's eyes. He could have choked if he hadn't done it carefully.

“Thanks for the great meal, Blake. I congratulate you on your new restaurant. And… I'll be coming to the opening next week.”

"Sure, I'd look forward to your presence, Antonio."

"Come on, I'm already late."

Nickson continued to stare at his watch angrily while glancing impatiently at Antonio, who was busy saying goodbye to Blakely. He felt like he wanted to quickly grab Antonio's hand, which seemed to be taking too long to say goodbye to Blakely. The two of them looked like a couple about to part.

"See you next week.”