The two men gripped each other’s hands firmly, both sizing up their opposite number.
Getting bored with the adults, Abby asked to go back to her bedroom.
“Sorry, Abby.” Brian quickly released his hand and took Abby to her room.
Diana noticed the bright red marks on the guys’ hands from their aggressive handshake. She felt rather tired of these two childish men.
Brian wasted no time in returning; Chaney being alone with Diana was the last thing he wanted.
“Diana, why haven’t you mentioned this, Mr. Fox, before? Is he just some nobody?” Brian said with clearly intended malice.
But now Diana was really tired of his juvenile ways.
“Brian! Can you stop it? Chaney is one of my best friends,” she shouted.
Watching Diana behave like that, Chaney felt sad. Diana was always polite and calm when she spoke with him; he had almost never seen her yell. But she did it with Brian quite easily, was that because there were more feelings there, more emotion?
Brian sensed Chaney’s burning jealousy. He smiled and put his arm around Diana’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Diana frowned at him and pulled his hand down.
“Diana, why are you so shy? We do it all day at home…”
Brian was trying to wind Chaney up. And he succeeded.
“What are you talking about? Who do you think you are? You are nothing but a roommate!” Diana stared at Brian.
“Roommate? Do you two live together?” Chaney gawped at them.
“Yes. Do you want to move in?” Brian laughed.
Chaney knew that Brian was trying to irritate him. He clenched his fists firmly.
Sensing the escalating tension, Diana went and stood between them.
“Can you be quiet?” Diana shouted at Brian.
Brian shrugged his shoulders but ultimately fell silent.
“Chaney, it’s late. You must be tired after the long journey,” Diana said in a gentle voice.
Chaney knew that Diana was asking him to leave because of Brian. And it made him even more frustrated.
In fact, Diana was genuinely worried that Chaney might be tired. That being said, Brian was also a disturbing factor; she didn’t want the two of them to start a fight in her house.
“Good night then, Diana,” Chaney said disappointedly.
“Good night,” Diana replied.
Chaney walked away sadly.
“Hold on, I will see you out.” Saying that, Diana put on some shoes and walked with Chaney out of the house.
Now it was Brian’s turn to be vexed. Diana was always so cold when she spoke with him; she was never caring and warm like she was with Chaney. Thinking of this, Brian walked into Abby’s room.
“Abby?” Brian whispered.
“What?” Abby put down the toy in her hands and looked up at Brian.
Brian sat down by her side.
“Abby, are Uncle Chaney and your Mummy… close?”
“Uncle Chaney?” Abby thought for a second and then nodded her head firmly. She added, “Grandma says that when I was born, Uncle Chaney took care of Mummy. So, I should take care of Uncle Chaney when I grow up.”
Brian was stunned. He didn’t know that Diana had known Chaney for so long! What had happened in those lost two years? What’s more, he had lost his memories of ever being with Diana. Did he really have a chance to start over with her again?
Outside, Diana was walking Chaney to his car.
“Diana, go back inside. It’s freezing out here,” Chaney said gently.
Diana squeezed out a smile. “Chaney, I am sorry I didn’t tell you about the roommate thing. It happened suddenly.”
Whilst Brian moving in had been unexpected, what actually made Diana worried was that Chaney would be so troubled by it that he couldn’t do his work properly.
“It’s okay, Diana. You don’t need to apologize to me. But… do you know what Mr. William is planning?” Diana lived with Abby; none of them could protect themselves against an adult man.
Diana bit her lip. “It is complicated. I will explain it to you another time.”
Chaney nodded. He trusted Diana. If Diana could agree to Brian moving into her house, she must have her reasons.
“Diana, is he Abby’s father?” Abby looked just like Brian. Anyone that saw them both together would assume Brian was her father.
Diana nodded. For her, Chaney was like a brother. She didn’t need to hide that from him.
Chaney smiled bitterly. He didn’t know whether he should be happy or sad about Diana’s frankness.
After Chaney left, Diana walked back to her apartment. She opened the front door and could hear Abby and Brian’s quiet voices coming from her room. She went in to see what was going on.
“What are you two talking about?” Diana looked at them and laughed.
Brian raised his head and hinted at Abby. They answered at the same time, “It’s a secret!”
Diana was speechless. She pretended to be angry. “Well, now you’re keeping secrets from me!”
Diana put Abby to bed. After a few lullabies, she was fast asleep, allowing Diana to tiptoe quietly out of the room.