Lie To Me

21. First Game

THIRD PERSON

"Welcome, dear," Janelle smiled sweetly at her young guest and ushered her inside, leading her towards the living room where she signaled for her to take a seat on the couch. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

The girl briefly smiled. "I've been fine, Mrs White, thank you. What about you?"

Janelle couldn't help but smile as she sat herself in an armchair in front of the girl. She had always been fascinated about the way the teenager was so polite and well-spoken. She felt proud of the way her beloved friend had raised her daughter and up till the day that opinion hasn't changed. It was safe to say she was surely fond of that girl.

"I'm doing good as well," she replied as a maid walked inside the room, holding a tray with two cups of steaming hot coffee which she handed each of the women. "Tell me, dear, I apologize beforehand if I'm overstepping, but how is everything going with my son? I've heard you two have been undergoing some issues lately."

"It's fine, you are free to ask," she smiled in reassurance before continuing. "And well, you could say our relationship isn't as close as before. But I'm sure we'll be able to solve it soon."

"Is that new student the reason?" the older woman couldn't help but ask.

"Kind of," came her bitter reply. "You could say she was the reason why we first started arguing."

"Well, Sophie, dear, please do not misunderstand my intentions of inviting you here. I've known you since before you were even born and I wouldn't be lying if I admitted I consider you as my very own daughter, thus you're always free to visit me and accompany me in some coffee and talk. But I believe you should know, especially now that you're starting to introduce yourself in the business world and mingle with this kind of people, that being a business woman requires a busy schedule, and a busy schedule implies that occasionally you'll need to leave the small talk aside and go straight to the point."

"No worries, Mrs White, I completely understand."

"Good," she nodded and took a sip of her coffee before placing it down. "I'm aware that my son has been hanging out with that girl, a maid even confessed after some pressure that he brought her here. I have addressed this issue with Hudson and, after a long discussion, we have decided that we do not believe that girl is good for our Noah."

"I agree," Sophie nodded, a small frown taking over her features, "but may I ask why you're telling me this?"

Janelle smiled and lightly leaned forward, placing her folded hands over her lap. "I can tell just by looking into your eyes that you don't like that... Ava is her name?" She hadn't even bothered to learn that girl's name, she saw no necessity on doing so since, according to her, she would soon be a forgotten problem. "Anyway, I think we can both benefit from this deal."

Sophie's frown slightly eased, starting to understand where this conversation was heading to. Unconsciously, the right corner of her lips threatened to lift upwards.

"That girl needs to stay away from Noah," the woman sentenced. "And you can help us with that."

Sophie finally smirked and placed the cup down on the coffee table. "Don't worry, Janelle, I'm already on it."

"I wasn't expecting any less coming from you," she chuckled, delighted that she was so willing to help.

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