The family reunion -2

His Aunt continued stirring at her coffee while observing his movements, from the sweat rolling down his cheek to his twitching fingers, 'somethings never change', she thought as she recalled a memory of a 7-year-old Jeremy who looked just as anxious about meeting his idol. 

She finally stopped stirring then tapped the teaspoon twice on her coffee cup, "I have been well, despite a lot of things. You are so grown. Even getting married now. I hope I am invited seeing that I wasn't told about the engagement", she teased trying to break the ice, however, Jeremy missed the joke because he was too nervous to even think of anything else. 

He sighed heavily burdened by what his aunt said, how could he not invite her? Although he is now unclear about his feelings for Linda, initially it was meant to be a loveless marriage, a business transaction, and he had no intention of wasting her time on a fake wedding. But still, he felt regret for not telling her, although they didn't speak, he should have, "I wanted to, I tried calling a couple of times but-.  Ma do you hate me?", he suddenly asked with a stern voice,

Without hesitating, she replied, "Hate you? Never. But your father, I resent him. I guess you are collateral for our quarrel. You just got caught up in the feud between your father and me. What makes you think I hate you?" 

Hearing his aunt's casual tone, his nerves began subsiding. He came prepared for the worst, but for some reason, he found her demeanor different from the phone calls, she was never in a good mood over the phone. So since things were going exceptionally well, he finally relaxed and paid attention to the glass of coffee in front of him, thankfully he ordered an iced coffee, because either way, he would be drinking a cold one at that point. He took a sip, and smiled awkwardly, "Just that every time I spoke to you, you always seemed too eager to hang up... ". 

Jin Ae chuckled, "No wonder I have been seeing your mother a lot lately, is because of such stupid thoughts. I don't hate you nephew, but honestly, I was angry at you for not picking your mom's side, a small part of me still is. But that doesn't mean I hate you, I raised you for 10 years, how could I hate you? I must say, I was very surprised when you called me, I thought you'd stop after some time of not getting any response. So, I was surprised, happy, but surprised. I didn't think I would ever hear from you ever again. I-"

She was disturbed by Kimberly who was holding two plates, with a lower voice, she gently placed them at the center of the table," Here is your food, please let me kn-"

"It's okay Kimberly, we will call you if we need anything", Jeremy said dismissing her and she nodded politely. But she looked around for the beautiful woman from earlier who seemed to have vanished, 'Well, I guess I was wrong, Maggie has nothing to worry about', she thought after confirming her disappearance.

After she left, Jeremy turned to his Aunt, and calmly explained the dishes at the table, "So, I took the liberty of asking them to prepare this. I remember you used to order this every time we went to a Western restaurant. I hope-" 

He stopped upon seeing his aunt indulging in the first bite, she closed her eyes to fully succumb to the deliciousness of the bite in her mouth, and a soft moan escaped her mouth, "Oh my word, I haven't had one of these in a long time... ", it was true, the last time she had eggs Benedict was with Jeremy, in fact, the only reason she loved it, was because he kept begging her to take him to a western restaurant, therefore she could only enjoy western food when she was eating with him. A smile crept on her face as she reminisced on how she actually got to try a lot of things because of young Jeremy. "I have been very busy to even enjoy such simplicities", she explained. She didn't want him to know that she stopped enjoying the fun life had to offer after he was taken away. 

He blushed seeing his aunt enjoying his food, he had imagined this moment over and over, but it was finally happening, he smiled to himself again, "I am glad you love it. Thank you for raising me aunt, those 10 years, were the best I ever had". Although he was surrounded by people he called family, it never felt like a loving home, let alone, just home, but thanks to her, he atleast knew what a happy home felt like.

Hearing him speak like that, made her heart sink, although she was not in contact with him, she knew the situation between him and his current family, but what could she do? It's the family he chose, but still, she can't help but feel sad for him. However, her sadness is always accompanied by anger towards him for choosing to remain in that house when he had people who loved him and were willing to accept him anytime he wanted to go back. 

 She sighed heavily at her heart's turmoil, there was nothing she wanted more than to shake him and make him see that he still had a family that loved him. He was too precious for those vultures, much like his mother, he had a heart of gold and believed in family. So she knew that convincing him to go back with her was not going to work, all she could do was smile awkwardly, "Now you are just being overly sensitive. You are just like her, it's nice to see you still possess such a part of her. Anyway, What have you been up to lately, I see you have developed a peculiar friendship with John. Mind telling me what that is about??" 

Jeremy's eyes widened in disbelief, 'how did she find out?!', that aside, he wondered if it was safe to tell her about his plans, after all, she was basically in business with the people he was trying to take down. He played with the spoon for a good minute trying to figure out the best way to handle it. He didn't want to keep anything from her but at the same time, he couldn't trust her, after all, how could he trust a person he's hardly spoken to? 

Seeing the distraught in his eyes, she instantly understood Jeremy's internal conflict. She smiled softly, "Don't feel any pressure to tell me, just be careful and let me know when you need help, Johnny is- how do I say this respectfully seeing that he will be my in-law soon- huh! yes, he is a coward bully, but if not careful, his strike can be deadly, literally."

'Why does it feel like she knows something?', he thought, but he soon realized that  was it, the opening he needed to ask about her relationship with the Kings, his eyes lit up in excitement, but he masked it with a chuckle, "Ma, so what we spoke about on the phone, the painting... the Kings-" 

"Oh, I run the Paris Art Gallery. Ms. Josie King bought one of my paintings at a gallery back when she visited Itaewon, she must have loved it so much because she then asked to meet up and discuss working together. At first, I had no interest in owning a gallery, let alone one in Europe, but since you were already overseas, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have something this side...and also, for you, as my sole heir, as you know, I can't have children and I never got married. I know you have an interest in Art, so the gallery would be in good hands. Which brings me to why I am here... 

I know you will be taking part in the auction, which is good, and seeing how successful your restaurant is, means you are a good businessman. Anyway, I was wondering if you could take over the Paris's gallery operations?"

"Wait ma, did you just say Josie not Rose??"