In Cairo, Egypt.
He had been combining the exhibition and the search for Olivia’s parents. It had not been easy for him because the identities of the Missionaries were safe-guided because they were prone to attack. Now, he had visited one missionary camp or the other, but he kept getting the same result. On one occasion, he was almost detained by the security personnel.
“Why do you wish to see the McGregor?” an officer asked him.
At that point, he was dumbstruck. He could not think of any good reason, and that made him appear suspicious.
When he was unable to provide a reason, one of the security guards who saw him as a responsible man advised him, “Young man, kindly leave and don’t come back. I may not be kind to you next time.”
“Thank you, Officer,” he said and walked away dejectedly.
He fought back the tears that were about to drop from his eyes when a thought got to his head.
‘What a life? Olivia could not allow a day to pass by without seeing or hearing from me. Here I am, going through hell just to know her whereabouts.’
Later, he boarded a cab back to his hotel room. Afterward, he informed his team members that they should not expect him. When the team members got to know that he was not returning, they became distressed.
“The boss seemed troubled. He does not work like this,” Erick pointed out.
“I noticed it back at Seven Oaks. He seemed to have lost his joy.”
“And he had not been himself. I wonder what could be bothering him.”
“Do you think we should find out from him?” one of them asked.
They looked at each other before one of them asked, “Do you think he would confide in us?”
“Let us make an attempt. We would not know unless we try.”
The team of five members consisting of his secretary, Cassandra, three males, and one other female staff reached a consensus to approach him for a dialogue. The next barrier was how to approach him.
Then, one of the males humorously asked, “Who will bell the cat?”
They laughed out loudly and one of the females suggested, “Cassandra, you are his secretary. You can approach him. Tell him we would like to have a word with him.”
The males in the team agreed, but Cassandra tactically wriggled herself out with her wise counsel, “If you think so, I would not mind, but the essence of the meeting will be defeated. He would think it is an official arrangement. I suggest that Eric, the eldest of the team, should initiate a meeting, probably a dinner.”
Her suggestion came like the counsel of the gods and they accepted it, “You are right, Cassandra. I will do just as you advised.”
At Dover. Arthur’s Apartment.
The four got to Arthur’s house happily. Daniel hugged him and greeted, “Hello, Grandfather. It is good to see you.”
He released him from the hug and made him sit on his thigh before he responded, “Good to see you too, Daniel. How was your school today?”
“My school was fine, Grandfather. Thank you?”
“Good day, Father.”
“Good day, Arthur.”
The others greeted him one after the other.
“You are welcome. Please take your seat,” he offered them.
“Thank you, Father. What about Julie?” Freya inquired.
“She will join us soon. Meanwhile, you can look through the Wedding Accessories Catalog before she joins us.”
He handed over the catalog that was beside him to Freya.
“Thank you, Father,” she said, collected it happily from him, and handed it over to Olivia.
“Never mind, Freya,” he responded.
Olivia looked at the cover page, beheld an exquisite wedding gown,, and screamed, “Wow! This is exquisite.”
Freya and Nichole joined her on her couch to have a look at the exquisite wedding gown.”
“Yeah. It is beautiful. Let’s look at what we have inside.” Nichole said.
At that point, Arthur and Daniel began to play a game with his tablet. When Olivia turned to the next, they screamed, “Wow!”
Then, Olivia called out, “Daniel, come and see. Oh, my God! These are lovely.”
Daniel excused himself from his grandfather and joined the team. He saw beautiful pictures of Page Boys in the catalog and was excited.
“I love this,” he said, pointing at the picture of a boy of his age.
“Yes. It is beautiful,” Olivia pointed out.
At that point, the janitor had served them with tea.
“Thank you, Father, for the tea,” they appreciated him simultaneously.
“You are welcome.”
Meanwhile, they continued to go through the catalog while sipping their tea. Then, Julie walked in and Freya walked up to her for a hug while the rest of them looked on.
“Wow! Good to see you, Julie. Welcome back.”
“Wow! Freya, thank you. Good to see you, too.”
She walked up to Nichole and gave her a hug “Good to see you, Mom.”
“Good to see you, Julie. I hope your trip was smooth?”
“Yes, Mom. My trip was smooth.”
“That is good to hear. Then, Freya faced Olivia and announced, Julie, meet Angel, Denise’s wife.”
Julie walked up to her and exclaimed, “Wow! She is prettier than what I saw in the pictures. Nice to meet you, Angel.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Olivia responded while she looked intently at her.
Julie, who was busy admiring her beautiful face and shape, did not observe the look. Then, she continued, “Denise must have a good eye.”
They all laughed and Arthur teased, “Just like me, when I met your mother.”
They laughed softly at his joke and Nichole gave him a spiteful look. The kind of look she always gave to him whenever he mentioned his late wife. All the same, she laughed like others.
“Welcome to our Family, Angel,” Julie said.
“Thank you, Auntie Julie,” she appreciated her.
When Julie took a step to walk to a seat, she heard a familiar name from a voice she was able to recollect at once.
“School Mother,” Olivia called out.
Julie froze while others looked at Olivia in astonishment. Julie turned and looked intently at her, who was still standing. She furrowed her brow and attempted to remember where they had met before.
Then she called out, “Olivia?”
“Yes, School mother. Olivia McGregor. At the Seven Oaks High School,” she introduced herself.
Could this meeting put the marriage between Denise and Olivia in a precarious situation? Julie had wished that Olivia would someday be Louis’s wife. And now, she was about to be married to their cousin.
At Egypt, Cairo The Hotel.
At the close of the exhibition for that day, by 4 O’Clock, the team returned to their rooms, and as discussed, d, Eric walked to Louis’s room with the pretext of giving him the report of the day. He tapped on the door and waited, but no response came.