Chapter 59— I Like You!

Two days had passed since Matteo was last seen at Zel's empire after he heard the conversation between Henderson and Cleo. Henderson called him but Matteo didn't take any of his calls. "I have to go out, I'll be back before evening," Cleo spoke when she walked into the living room. "Where are going?" Henderson asked as he set his laptop aside meeting her gaze. "I'm going to meet with Matteo, " Cleo muttered lowly her voice was void of warmth as she replied Henderson. "Do you have any idea as to why he hasn't been to the office in two days?" Cleo stared at Henderson with raised brows. "You know the answer to that, don't you?" Cleo grumbled, her teeth audibly grinding with resentment when she peered at Henderson. After Cleo said those words, a dark expression engulfed Henderson's visage. From his countenance, Cleo could tell that he had reached the threshold of his tolerance. "Now, you are going to act all innocent. Aren't you?" Cleo sneered. Henderson maintained an imperturbable countenance. "I've told you, I can't remember what happened that night. I tried to recall but...." Cleo raised her hand in the air, a gesture which meant she didn't want to listen to the rest of his words. "Save it, Henderson. I'm not the one who deserves an explanation from you." Cleo spat. Agitated, she walked away after saying those words to Henderson. Once Cleo was gone, Henderson buried his face in his palms. Excruciating pang of pain surged through his heart akin to the sting of a needle. It hurt so much that Lena was away from him, he had no idea where she and Trent were and now Matteo and Cleo who were helping out in finding her were very upset with him for keeping things away from them. If he was hurting this much he wondered how Lena was coping, what caused him even more pain was the fact that he was clueless of the truth of the matter. "Itzel, I got you ice cream, " Henderson beamed as he walked back into the living room after getting the door. He had placed an order earlier for Ice Cream and it just got delivered. Itzel who was seated on the couch just cast a quick glance at Henderson before returning her gaze to the TV. Her favourite cartoon was showing but she just stared at the TV uninterestedly Henderson sighed plopping on the empty space beside her. He didn't need to ask her what was wrong because he was well aware of the problem at hand. Henderson took Itzel's hand in his, this made her turn to him. Sadness etched her countenance, there was no trace of a smile as she peered at him. "When will Aunt Lena and Trent come back?" Henderson's lips pressed against each other, he didn't have any words to say. Lying to Itzel or faking promises wasn't going to bring Lena back. "Daddy, you haven't found them, right?" Henderson nodded, "We'll find them soon, Sunshine." Henderson tried to sound as reassuring as possible but his words were hard for him to believe. He wanted to find Lena at all costs but right now, he had no idea what to do or how to find her. "Just take the ice creams you can have them whenever you feel like." Henderson smiled. He kissed Itzel's cheeks and then stretched the package containing the ice creams to her. "Thank you, Daddy." She muttered after taking it from him. Shortly after that, the door to the living room screeched open and Cleo stepped in making Henderson and Itzel turn in the direction of the door, but Cleo wasn't the only one there Matteo and Brian were also with her. OXWEY CITY..... Lena gave Greg cold shoulders ever since she asked him and Ria to stay away from her. Greg tried to talk to her about it but she told him she wasn't interested in having a discussion with him. He had no idea why Lena was asking him to stay away from her all of a sudden but he had a feeling that it had to do with the bad blood between her and Ria. Even though Ria was hell-bent on causing trouble for Lena at the restaurant, Lena made sure she avoided Ria as a plague and ignored all her tantrums whose sole purpose was to cause chaos. When Lena and Trent returned home after closing from the restaurant, she decided to take a stroll with him so they could go get some snacks. After getting what they wanted they headed home, as they walked Lena made sure she held Trent's hand. "Mommy, that's Uncle Henderson's car!" Trent raved and before Lena knew it Trent had pulled his hand out of her grip and ran into the road. Lena's heartbeat accelerated the moment she saw a car coming with speed in Trent's direction just as he was about to cross to the other side. "Trent!" She yelled but he couldn't hear her as he ran happily to the other side of the road. Lena began to sweat profusely and everything around her seemed to have taken a pause. Perplexed, she stood rooted to her spot unable to move her limbs. She drew a relieved breath when she saw Greg pull Trent out of the road just when the car was so close to hitting him. After making sure the road was clear, she rushed to the other side. Trent was panting. "Honey, are you ok?" Lena crouched in front of Trent embracing him. Her hand cupped his cheeks after she pulled away the hug. "Did you get hurt?" She rushed her words as she checked his body for any sign of injury. "No, " Trent shook his head. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he peered at Lena whose face worry had taken over. "I thought I was going to lose you, " a tear slid down from Lena's cheek and she pulled him into a warm embrace once again. "I'm sorry Mommy, " Trent apologised. Remorse etched his features as he spoke. Lena just stared at him she was grateful that Greg had saved Trent. "Mommy, I'm sorry. I just thought it was Uncle Henderson's car, " Trent mouthed. Lena took a breath and exhaled. "It's fine but next time don't just run into the road the way you did. And a lot of people have that kind of car, do next time you have to be careful," Lena smiled kissing Trent's cheek before she straightened herself. "Thank you so much, Greg." Lena beamed hugging him. Greg was taken aback by the unexpected hug but he smiled hugging her back. Lena pulled away, a nervous laugh left her lips. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the hug." Greg shook his head and smiled warmly. "It wasn't uncomfortable. It's fine and I'm glad Trent is okay." "I am too, I'm glad you showed up right on time. I don't know what I would have done if.." "He is fine now and that is all that matters, " Greg chipped in smiling offering Lena a comforting smile. "We went to go get some cupcakes and cookies. Do you mind coming home with us so we can have them together before I fix dinner?" Lena offered. Greg just did her a favour she could never repay by saving Trent and she felt inviting Greg to the house since it was just a little walk away was the little she could do to show her appreciation. "Of course, I would love that, " Greg beamed warmly. "And I'm sorry for the words I said to you the other day. Ria's behaviour was not your fault, I shouldn't have blamed it on you." "It's fine, I'm glad we are on talking terms now. It was hard staying away from you and being ignored by you. Actually, I was on my way to your house when I saw Trent." Lowering his head Greg gazed at Lena with a pained expression. "Thank you and I'm sorry, " she muttered remorsefully. Greg chuckled, "So long we are cool. It's all good. I hope it never happens again." Next Day... Savouryum restaurant Things went back to normal between Lena and Greg much to the dismay of Ria who had stopped talking to Greg even though he tried to have a conversation with her about her recent behaviour. So Greg just let her be. "Lena, are you ok?" Greg inquired after he walked into the kitchen. Lena's face was pallid and her eyes were red. It seemed as though she hadn't gotten enough sleep the last night. And now her head was aching badly, it started when she woke up this morning but she didn't want to miss work because of that so she decided to go to work regardless. She made sure to act like she was perfectly fine in front of Trent so he would not get worried about her. Lena mustered a smile as she veered to face Greg. "I'm fine." Greg's brows knitted in a frown, his eyes crinkled in disbelief, he raised his hand to Lena's forehead he placed the back of his palm on it. "Looks like you have a fever." Lena chortled shaking her head, " I'm doing ok. It's just the heat, once I get some fresh air I'll be ok." "That's a lie, you like like someone who hasn't slept in days." Greg sighed taking his palm off her forehead. Well, Greg wasn't totally wrong, Lena could barely sleep last night all she did was cry about Henderson, she missed him a lot and was hurting from his betrayal. She sulked until it was just a few hours to daybreak and she had to wake up to get herself and Trent ready for work. "You know what, since today is my day off. You can go home and rest while I cover for you." Greg smiled. Lena stared blankly at Greg before wriggling her head in dissuasion. "That won't be fair to you, you equally need rest. I told you I'm fine so you don't have to worry about me." Lena said these words doing her best to sound as convincing as she could. When she was done talking, she made to walk past Greg but before she could say jack, she slipped due to the spill of oil she hadn't noticed earlier, she was about to fall to the ground as she lost stamina but Greg came to the rescue wrapping his arms around her which stopped her from reaching the ground. He moved her swiftly away from the oily ground. "Thank you, You saved Trent yesterday and now you saved me. Thank you so much," Lena appreciated. "Are you okay?" Concern laced Greg's voice as he spoke. Lena nodded, "I'm fine." Her eyes darted to Greg's hands which were still firmly wrapped around her waist, Greg seeing where her eyes were stepped back after taking his hands off. "I should get something to clean the oil, so someone else doesn't fall," Lena said breaking the awkward silence that had started to lurk around. Just as Lena was about to walk away she heard Ria's voice which made her halt. "I wish you had fallen, broken a leg or even had a concussion." An angry Ria growled when she came to stand in front of Lena and Greg. "How can you say a thing like that? Don't be cruel!" Greg spat his face contorted in anger. Ria let out a laugh," You expect me to lie? I don't tell lies, and that's just how I feel. Why did you have to save her?" "Ria!" Greg warned his eyes flaring with annoyance as they roamed Ria. "Leave it be, " Lena mumbled but Greg shook his head. Ria cackled, "There she goes again acting as Miss Goody Two Shoes." A frustrated sigh escaped Greg's lips. "What has come over you, Ria? You are not the same person I used to know." "What has come over me? You are asking me that simply because you like Lena. You like her but I don't and I never will. Since you've chosen her over me, I wish you both die together, " Ria seethed. A sardonic smile played on Ria's lips as she peered at Greg. "I've loved you since I met you but I've been invisible, Lena has been here for less than two weeks and you are all over her. I fucking hate you Greg, I should never have been friends with you!" "Fucking die and go to hell!" She yelled bitterly before storming off. "I'm sorry about that, Lena," Greg mumbled as he turned to Lena. "What are you saying sorry for? We both got a fair share of the hate speeches, " Lena joked making Greg laugh. "That was intense, she hates me so much." Lena puffed a breath. "And I don't even know why. You are the sweetest person I know, " Greg's lips curved in a smile. Lena stared at him with arched brows," Really? You don't know why? She just said why. She has feelings for you." Lena shrugged, "It's weird that she thinks you have feelings for me because I don't think you do. She's just mistaken, right?" A laugh resonated from Lena's chest. "No, she's not Lena. I like you, you might think it's too soon but I'm sure of how I feel. I like you, Lena. A lot." 'What in the world? Say what now?'