Chapter 6: Chapter 6
It was safe to say that the day had been a complete success, at least in the eyes of the two companies' presidents. Caroline and Marcus knew when it came to people of importance, their son was far more reserved than in normal circumstances, so it was no strange how he was keeping things extremely formal with the Lore couple, if a little on the quiet side compared to normal. Henry's mother had also noticed, to her delight, the occasional eye contact between her son and Joshua; that could only be a good thing.
John had only noticed this, as well as his own son's awkwardness, especially arising when the topic of their, what could only be described as a date, they had earlier today. But the two seemed very comfortable together. Him and Hanna both could only think that their son had really shown interest in someone finally; Joshua had never been to steal glances, of course he probably never had any interest in it before.
It was true that they only acted awkward when coming to the topic of the two getting together – a thought too horrifying for either to truly confront. It was also undeniable that the two seemed quite comfortable with each other, more comfortable than either of their parents had ever seen with someone they had only recently met.
However, they were by no means the indication of a happy union. In fact, it was the outcome of the shared trauma, the marriage meeting. It was not odd for two people who have gone through such trauma together to get comfortable together after having exchanged pleasantries.
Henry and Joshua were both in exactly the same position.
They both were heterosexual men who had been set up with someone of the same sex, with a marriage expected.
They both had to talk to their parents about the horrible mistake without making things awkward, especially since they had no idea about the thought process behind this decision – nor how truly simplistic it was in reality.
And they had both ultimately decided that while it wasn't their fault that they had ended up in this situation, they would put all their effort into finding an alternative to make the merger a success. There was far too much at stake for this project to flop, for everyone.
The dinner quickly came to dessert, which both young men seemed to be dragging out as long as possible, subconsciously attempting to extend the early dinner long enough to eliminate their chance at talking to their parents about the whole mix up. Of course, their behaviour simply made them think the two didn't want to separate. It was nothing but a good sign to the two couples.
Joshua and Henry were so absorbed in their thoughts by this point of the dinner, neither had realised that the four others present were getting on splendidly well. The Reyes's and Lore's had always been on pleasant terms; whilst in competition with each other, there was never any reason for the one party to resent the other. Even if the two companies were always considered rivalling powerhouses and always put the two in comparison, all that mattered to them was that both companies were successful through fair means and hard work. Caroline and Marcus had never even been the slightest bitter that they were always just a bit behind the Lore's, their daughter-in-law did enough of that to last the family a lifetime.
Now that there was not just the prospect of merging companies but also becoming family, the couples finally made an effort to really connect with the other. In reality, the families were quite similar in a lot of senses.
Both had two sons, all of which worked within their respective companies. They also all gave birth to exceptional children with a wide breadth of talent between them.
Neither family were conventional, all four parents were forward minded people who knew how to change with time. This had allowed both companies to rise from the top 10% to two of the top 3, only behind the treacherous Q Group. The slight quirkiness in their charm along with their groundedness had also been why elites could rarely hold anything against them, they all had an atmosphere that made people like them.
It did not have to be mentioned, but of course they were all beautiful humans, in and out.
The most important similarity in the current situation was obviously the misunderstanding that had led to this dinner, both set of parents believed that their younger sons were gay. And now they also believed that the two had come to like each other.
Unfortunately the good atmosphere did not last, the dinner interrupted by a clatter followed by a smash from the table next to them. That was where the PA's had been sitting with the free meal they had gotten for working on a weekend. Such a loud sound had even dragged over Henry's and Joshua's attention from the maze they had each made of their thoughts. Being a busy restaurant, people who heard glanced over, but only for a moment before they paid attention back to their own food and company. These people had spent a lot of money on the food, they were not letting a small situation to ruin their nights out.
Henry immediately noticed something was wrong faster than everyone else, seeing that Ramy had reached for the Lore PA's dropped phone, the young lady white as a sheet and trembling. She was in shock. Without a second thought, he rushed over and asked if she wanted some water while rubbing small circles on her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"Thank you for informing us. I will pass on the message." Ramy ended the call and bowed slightly at the Lore family, minus Joshua.
Seeing that Henry was trying to calm down Haerin, he realised she was in shock and remembered an incident in the office last year that had left her in the same condition. Haerin had chronic hypoglycaemia and stress made her blood sugar levels drop dangerously quickly. With this in mind, he had gone over as well, digging through her bag for the candies she kept in case of emergencies. He had just found them when Ramy finally spoke.
"There seemed to have been an accidental fire in the music department of your daughter's school."
Immediately, all three present members of the Lore family felt their hearts momentarily stop, all they could think about was Penelope. She would most definitely have been there today to prepare for the piano competition.
"The teacher said while she looked aware and mostly unfazed, she was rushed off to the closest burn unit, Sir Williamson Hospital."
Henry noticed Joshua freezing up and took the sweet from him to feed to the shocked PA. As he did this, he sent the man a concerned look. While he hadn't known about Joshua too much prior to their meeting, he did know about the 13-year-old daughter, not only famously known for her piano skills but also how she was the jewel of the Lore family. Understandably, Penelope's family went to great extents to make sure she was always safe. If someone messed with Penelope, they had the whole Lore family to answer to.
Hanna felt like fainting on spot. Her precious daughter had been taken to a burn unit after an accidental fire. Her baby had been hurt. She almost couldn't handle the thought.
Almost being the keyword.
Hanna Lore did not become the successful woman she was to that day because she succumbed to any form of pressure. As a mother, she was terrified for her daughter. But as a businesswoman and president of Lore Inc., she knew that her falling into inconsolable shock would not help anyone. She understood Haerin's reaction but, being a woman with so many responsibilities, she did not let herself to break apart at the horrible news.
John, while not quite as strong as his wife at heart, also had no intention of expressing a troublesome amount of worry. What he wanted was to drop everything and run the full 10 miles to the hospital within a mere second so he could be at his beloved daughter's side. But he knew that wasn't the best course of action, nor humanely feasible by any standards. Therefore his fatherly instincts would have to standby, as he assesses the situation calmly.
With age, the Lore couple had come accustom to similar situations, especially being elitist parents bold enough to show face to the Q Group. It was not the first time one of their children were in an unknown condition, as parents they had trained themselves well over the past 27 years. Being successful business owners also came with its perils. So, their hearts and minds were sufficiently strengthened to handle situation in the best way possible.
Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about their younger son. Joshua himself had been in dangerous situations a few times but being the younger one meant he was rarely aware of how bad things could get. By the time Penelope was born, his family had near perfected their security and situations like this rarely came about. He had no reason to know how to calm his heart in this situation.
In fact, Joshua had no idea what to do at all. All he knew was that his sister was hurt in some way. The younger sister they had all doted on. She was hurt. And this left him with no idea of what to do with himself, let alone pull himself together.
Seeing the panic in Joshua's eyes, Henry moved his hand from the PA's back to Joshua's shoulder, who was stuck crouching on the other side of Haerin, gripping it firmly. The sudden contact threw Joshua off, confusing and leading him to make eye contact with the young man he had been unfortunately set up with. "She will be fine, the teacher said she didn't seem badly hurt." The words felt almost foreign to Joshua, him barely making them out. Henry could see it was taking him a bit of time and waited for the words to sink in before nodding with a comforting smile he had trained while helping his friend when studying abroad.
And it worked, Joshua felt himself calm down just enough to unfreeze and return to helping Haerin. His parents would know how to handle this, he shouldn't get in the way.
The older of the two men couldn't help but admire the younger man's social abilities. After the mess of today, he was more than aware that Henry was exceptionally good communicating with people, explaining the always friendly atmosphere around him. But he was still amazed at just how much of it came so naturally to him, it was almost as if he didn't even have to look or think, he just knew what to do. A bit of an exaggeration on Joshua's part, but these were some of his weaker points.
Unfortunately for the two men, even in this moment of crisis, all they saw from the interaction was just how close their sons had gotten. No one could now convince them otherwise; Henry and Joshua were perfect for each other.
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