This time, a small smile appeared on Kyle"s face."Grumpy-pants?" Kyle drawled, "You"d call your mother that?"
"If the shoe fits …"
"Getting cheeky now, aren"t you?" Kyle teased.
"I"ve always been cheeky, you know that," Lianne answered nonchalantly, scooping up another mouthful of deliciousness.
"Fine, you win," Kyle said, leaning back on the chair, putting an arm around the back of the chair beside him, "So who was it that called you over to appease me?"
"Doesn"t matter," Lianne replied, protecting Beatrice, "The point is, you"re grumpy."
"I"m human," Kyle replied, looking at the distance, "Sometimes I"m happy, sometimes I"m grumpy."
"Since you"ve been back? It"s been several months now, you know," Lianne pointed out, "If you go on like this, the Cold CEO t.i.tle will be replaced with the Grumpy CEO instead."
"How"s your brother?" Kyle asked suddenly, changing the subject.
Lianne shrugged, "Being as annoying as usual."
"Meaning?"
"It"s only our first year at the new school, and he"s already having this harem around him. Then girls try to get to know me to get to him. It"s annoying," complained Lianne.
"Oh?" Kyle said, "That"s surprising."
"Why?"
"He doesn"t seem the type to be playing around with girls," Kyle said, his face frowning.
"He isn"t," Lianne replied, "They just keep coming and he doesn"t push them away. He has this gaggle of girls around him."
"Gaggle? That"s for geese," Kyle replied.
"Yes, they"re like geese. Noisy and long necks, always peering up and over as if marking their territory," Lianne replied, non-plussed, "LIke I said, annoying."
"Well, as long as he doesn"t go overboard, I guess," Kyle mused.
"Seems to me like he"s trying to get over someone," Lianne mumbled.
"What was that?" Kyle asked, though he did hear what she said. He was just surprised at what had been said.
"Nothing," Lianne said, "Just some stupid crush he has over someone."
"Oh? Who?" Kyle asked, curious and interested.
"Not important," Lianne said, "What"s more important is why are you grumpy?"
"You"re not dropping this, are you?" Kyle asked with a sigh, running his hand through his hair.
"No-pe," Lianne said, finis.h.i.+ng her ice-cream, "This bribery doesn"t count."
"I"ll have Zero accompany you everyday for two months," Kyle said, putting up two fingers.
"Doesn"t count," Lianne said, "You already said I could have him."
Kyle tsked, then leaned forward, "I still need him, you know. He"ll be there to protect you so you can call him anytime, but he won"t be by your side 24/7. For two months, he will be your chauffeur, to bring you and Joey to school and home."
"Go and meet Sayuri, and you have a deal," Lianne said, putting up her pinky finger.
"Huh? Sayuri? What has she got to do with all of this?" Kyle asked, flabbergasted,
Lianne rolled her eyes, "Mama, seriously? You"ve been going around with this dark cloud over your head since you came back. I don"t have to be a genius to know that you"re missing her."
"Oh come on, it"s not that bad," Kyle said, "I mean, I"m just overworked and all. I did get back from such a nice holiday after all …"
"Getting revenge is a holiday?" Lianne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Stress relief," Kyle replied.
"Look, if you"re that scared, you can use me as an excuse. Say that I"m missing her and want to see her," Lianne offered.
Kyle gave his daughter "the look" and said, "Really. Me? Kyle Smith, needs an excuse to call up an old friend to come over? Heck, I can just go over to her any time."
"So why aren"t you?"
"Like I said, I"ve been busy," Kyle replied.
"Yeah, riiiiiiggghhhht," Lianne said, dragging the word and giving her mother "the look".
It ended up with the mother and daughter pair, giving each other that identical "look". Kyle may be in a different body, but some of his mannerisms are still the same from his past life - and his daughter took after him in a lot of things.
"Seriously, Mama," Lianne said, "It"s okay to move on, you know. You should carry on with your life here. It"s not like you can get together with Papa anymore."
"I know," Kyle replied, looking away.
How could he tell her that he had a s.e.xual relations.h.i.+p with Sayuri? The last thing he wanted was to advocate this sort of lifestyle with his own daughter, who was much more conservative.
Call it double-standards, but knowing his daughter"s temperament - and condition - having a relations.h.i.+p based purely on s.e.xual gratification wouldn"t make her happy.
"It"s complicated," Kyle said, referring to his relations.h.i.+p with Sayuri.
"If you like her, you like her," Lianne said, "And you"re Kyle Smith. What can"t you do once you put your mind to it?"
"Sometimes, it isn"t that straightforward," Kyle said in a whisper, thinking about Sari.
It wasn"t that he was still having feelings for her, but rather, he knew very well that there were things that can"t be even though you wanted it badly, or worked hard for it.
Lianne was having none of it, though, as she scooped up the last melted ice-cream mixed with the honey, "You like her, she likes you. That"s all that is needed."
"Yes, we like each other," Kyle said, "But as friends. Nothing more."
Lianne looked at her mother and then, shook her head.
"What?" he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing," Lianne replied, pus.h.i.+ng her empty dish aside. If her mother is really that dense, nothing she said would convince her.
After that, they just talked about other things and the topic of Sayuri went out his head at that moment. Little did he know, he wouldn"t need to think of an excuse to go over to see her.
She would be coming to see him.
In another city, in a bathroom, Sayuri looked in shock at the two red lines that appeared.
She gulped.
Blinked.
It was still there.
Oh, dear.
How did this happen?