Inola

In Business Part 22

"Hey, make yourself at home, I just want to hear if Theo is going to have tea with us," Lyla said as I entered their house.

"Thanks, I hope you are all good."

"Yes, we are, Mom and Dad went to Bunnings, I'll be back in a few minutes," she said as she headed for the garage where I heard Theo working.

A few minutes later Theo entered the dining room.  "Hey Inola, it's nice to see you," he said and kiss me on my cheek.  I could feel my cheeks warming up and to hide my embarrassment I fumbled for the envelope on my lap.

"Here, I've got a surprise for you,"  I said handing him the envelope.  He opened it and stared for a moment, then he quickly paged through all of them.

"They all replied positively?"

"Yes, though there are three of them that said it depends on the price."

"Thank you!  He cried and kissed me on my cheek, I looked up and met his eyes.  There was something in them that kept my eyes locked with his, I just couldn't break eye contact until Kim's voice broke the silence.

"What's happening here?"  she asked in a cold voice.

"He just landed sixteen potential clients, I'm so excited for him."

"That's awesome!"  Lyla yelled as she put the tray with tea down.  She hugged her brother and kissed him on the cheek.  "Congrats Brother."

The next moment Kim was next to him, putting her arms around him and kissing him on his lips.  "Congrats Theo, I'm so glad for you," she said and smiled as she looked in my direction.  I felt a weird nauseous feeling invading my tummy, what is the matter with me?  Am I jealous?

"I'm so glad he can help those kids,"  I said and smiled at Theo and Kim, I can't show them how I felt about that kiss, I can't show them that I regret that it was not me kissing him.

"So what's the next step?"  Lyla asked as she is sipping on her tea.

"Beth said she has already arranged that you can either use the last school period on Tuesday or Wednesday to take the measurements. Let me know when it's done, then I can invoice the parents,"  I answered in a business-like tone.

Theo smiled at me and said:  "Thank you, Inola, I better finish my tea, then I'll be off to work, it seems to me that I have no time to waste."

"Thanks,"  Kim said as she left the room with Theo.

"You seem to be good at this kind of thing, I can see that he is appreciating it. Guess what?   My Mom said she will take me to the Marathon, I hope Dave likes  it."

"Of course he will, I think I'm going to text my mom to come and pick me up earlier, to enable you to enjoy your shopping before you go and meet him."

"No, that's not necessary, there's plenty of time."

"Maybe, but I still want to make a list of questions to ask Patsy about the stray, here's your mom and dad now, then you can leave earlier."

She looked at me for a moment and then she decided it would be better not to argue anymore:  "Okay, I'll let you know what happened," she said as I text my mom.

When I looked out of the window I saw Theo and Kim in each other arms as she kissed him, goodbye, and that odd feeling invaded my tummy once again.