Unfortunate Agreement [Nortnaib]

Chapter 4

After half an hour's drive, the two men arrived at a huge white gate behind which was a villa worthy of having such an entrance. Norton parked the car and they headed for the door, which opened upon their arrival. They were greeted by maids who took their belongings to lighten them.

Norton knew that Naib came from a wealthy family but he had no idea that he even had staff to take care of everything, it was quite impressive. The younger man went ahead of him to lead him through the hallways and finally into the dining room. There was a long black table with several chairs of the same color around it. Everything was already prepared and some candles were there to decorate.

"Nobody's here ?" asked Norton.

"My father is away on business and my mother should be coming soon. Don't think about it too much and just make yourself comfortable."

Naib sat down in one of the chairs and Norton did the same, sitting across from him. A heavy silence reigned in the room until the sound of a door drew the attention of the two young men. A young woman who looked to be in her thirties made her appearance. She was wearing a long black dress that reached her ankles and her brown hair was tied up in a bun. She had an indecipherable expression and sat down at the end of the table next to the two men.

"Forgive me for being late, I still had some business to attend to."

"Oh, it's nothing, we arrived a little earlier than expected as well." replied Norton.

She glanced at Norton, but it was only for a second before she signaled to the staff to begin serving dinner. The meal proceeded in complete silence with Norton trying to lighten the mood from time to time, but to no avail. When dessert was served, Naib's mother addressed her son.

"When are you finally going to get married instead of fooling around ?"

"I already told you I was dating him !" exclaimed Naib, pounding the table with his fist.

"I'm not even sure if your relationship is real and you haven't known each other for long either have you ? You'll forget about him in no time." she said coldly.

Norton watched the mother and son sparring, wondering what to do. This all seemed to be taking an unexpected turn and he wasn't sure what to do to make things right. He had stopped listening for a moment but the fact that Naib had just stood up abruptly caught his attention.

"You're acting this way simply because of what happened with him !"

"One day you will understand that I am doing this for your own good."

 Mrs. Subedar got up from her seat and apologized to the two men before leaving. Naib fell back in his chair, grumbling, while Norton stood there wondering what had happened. It seemed to him that the conversation had drifted into something he didn't understand. Who were they talking about ?

That day, they returned home in awkward silence. Norton could see that Naib seemed on edge, so he preferred not to ask him any questions. Aesop was already in bed, as the time they had returned was well past the time the boy would sleep. The other male still said nothing and went straight up to his room. Norton was understanding and decided to leave him alone.

The next day, Naib was not at home because he had work to finish. Norton had only recently found out about it, but apparently he had started his own company, leaving the privileges of the prestige of his name aside, so he was actually quite busy despite the time he spent with the father and his child.

It was just the usual pair for once. The two boys were lazily watching the television on the couch when a ringing bell interrupted their viewing session. Norton patted Aesop on the head before getting up to open the door. Naib had the keys so it couldn't be him.

What a surprise it was when he saw Naib's mother standing at his doorstep. He invited her to come in but she refused abruptly, saying that she didn't have much time to spare.

"I know what my son offered you and I am willing to pay double if you break up with him and encourage him to get involved with a girl with a good standard."

"W-what ?"

"I don't want to hear your answer, the money will be sent by tomorrow morning so I am counting on your cooperation. By the way, I think it's needless to say that this conversation should remain a guarded secret from Naib."

She left as quickly as she had arrived after spouting her spiel. It wasn't even noon yet and here he was with another problem on his hands. Breaking up with Naib...? It's not like they were really dating all along. Still, the man could feel a strange twinge in his chest as he tried to figure out what to do next...