To Give And Take

CHAPTER 8

"Then I'll have to thank Mr Kingston for the ride as well, and as the meal."

Lucy responded cheerfully, with a slight smile on her pink cherry lips. Austin merely cast a glance at her before withdrawing his gaze calmly, his expression was still cold and apathetic.

"Formalities are preferable at the end of the service, Miss Grey."

Austin Grey's enchanting voice reminded with gentle tone, his every step was a suave sophistication, in a noble and orderly manner. He had to be elegant even while walking, Lucy pondered how he was raised, however she didn't linger for long on it before analysing his question.

"That's right, formalities after services.", Lucy approved his words with an understanding expression, yet squinting at him with a suspiciouse expression.

"You're not the type of man who kicks off a people out of their car on the high way, right Mr Kingston."

Austin who had been striding forward suddenly paused, he turned towards Lucy who's head barely reached his chin. Maintaining a considerable distance with her, he said with a very seriouse expression.

"I don't kick people out of my car on the high way, Miss Grey." With an unhurried tone, he declared his stand, while holding her gaze. Lucy wasn't intimidated, but she admitted that facing a person like Austin Kingston was easy to get enchanted or electrified by his electric blue eyes, she declared almost being a victim.

"Not even those who anger you, don't tell me you just bottle up everything and kindly drop them off their destination with a sociable smile?"

She wouldn't be able to do it either, riding in thesame car with someone who angered her, if she didn't walk out of the car or anger them to death, then she'll probably kick that person out of her car.

"Honoring your word is part of basic etiquette Miss Grey, as for bottling up one's anger, that's called not indulging your anger."

Austin spotted Lambert who had drive the car and was already waiting for them. He figured out they would be leaving soon, so he returned Lucy's gaze.

"Miss Grey, do you know about the saying, 'ignoring one's taunts.', right."

One sentence was enough to explain the meaning behind it, Lucy could only admit defeat, even if she wanted to continue, she really didn't dare anymore. Smiling at him, Lucy quietly followed Austin who gestured her towards the car.

Today's agreement could be said to have been reached, considering their visit, she still had to make plans for tomorrow.

The drive back was extremely quiet, neither of them spoke, with everyone getting busy with their activities. Only the sound of typing complimented the low popping sound from Lucy's iPhone.

"You can drop me me at the next intersection, please." Lucy reminded, paying careful attention to the raod despite being busy with her phone, she had always been alert.

"Alright Miss Grey."

Lambert responded politely, but Austin who hadn't stopped typing didn't comment. He had always minded his business which Lucy was aware of. Saying a few words was good enough, it wouldn't be an easy task to force out a few words from his mouth, Lucy could be considered to have beaten the records for today.

"We're here, Miss Grey." Lambert reminded after parking at the intersection as demanded, he waited for Lucy to get off.

"Thanks for the reminder PA(personal assistant) James, see you soon Mr Kingston."

Austin nodded without uttering a word, his expression was still cold and expressionless, but Lucy didn't mind and quickly stood on the side. Only after watching the car drive away did she walk towards the opposite direction towards the mall accross the road.

In the mean time, Austin hadn't stopped typing on his laptop after Lucy walked out of the car, his handsome face was shrudded with a seriouse focus that seemed to detach him from the rest of the world. But Lambert knew that he was still able to describe his sorrounding no matter how concentrated he was, his mind stood on alert.

Just like a soldier, Austin Kingston had always been a smart alert, whether it was in a business world or personal affairs he was prepared with ready made countermeasures.

The outside world believed that Austin Kingston could achieve a lot due to the help and support of his personal assistant, but Lambert thought the contrary, because he wouldn't have achieved much without Austin Kingston's guide, he was still considered an amateur in front of Austin Kingston.

"Have you prepared everything ?" Austin's hoarse voice rang from the back sit, causing Lambert to involuntarily straighten his back. Immediately after, the car was parked in the underground parking lot, they had arrived at the JL coorperation.

"Yes sir, everything has been sent to your office."

"Ok!", Austin replied simply, without any further instructions or comments he walked out of the car and took the elevator exclusive to the president, while Lambert sat absent mindedly in the driver's sit.

He was contemplating with the logo of JL coorperation in his mind, it had been seven years after the creation of JL coorperation, unexpectedly, the infant company had become a big coorperation that could rival the top fifty compagnies in the world, in not morethan a few more years it would probably rival the top ten coorperations.

When Austin Kingston had travelled to Province C eight ago, he had unexpectedly decided to start his company in a foreign province.

Lambert had never understood the reason behind his sudden enthusiasm to build JL coorperation in province C, neither was the initials of the company. Austin Kingston had always been mysteriouse, but he would certainly never venture in a journey without success, it didn't matter if it was unreasonable or not.

As for he, as Austin Kingston's personal assistant, he would always stand by his side to carry out his missions without mistake, following smart people, one needed to cultivate their IQ.

*~*~*~*

"Sandra was here!"

Austin who had just entered his office received a call from Vincent, but the first sentence he heard wasn't a greeting but the message about a woman. He had heard about that name before, he had even been a witness to her constant parade and appearance in front of him when he had married to Anna. He hadn't heard from her for many years, but after staying in province C for two days, that name was suddenly called out.

"Don't you have anything better to say?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Vincent who was on the other line chuckled, as if he had expected Austin's reaction he said playfully.

"She came for you, she's been pestering me for your location, don't you care?"

Austin frowned, picking up a folder that was carefully placed on the desk, he began to study it, while listening to Vincent babble on the other line. To make it more convenient for him, he placed the phone on hand free. Apart from the scribbling of a pen and the smooth sound of pappers being flipped, Austin's quiet office had an additional person to accompany him.

"What does her wanting to meet me have to with me, we're not related." Austin responded with facts, he really wasn't related to the Bens after his late wife's death. Every relationship with them had been cut off, till this date he hadn't even contacted them.

"You know how extreme those people are, probably planning to tie the knot with you, have you forgotten what happened five years after Anna's death."

Austin grunted, implying that he remembered, it was probably something that he wouldn't forget easily. Five years after Anna's death, her family members brought her sister at his door step trying to convince him to take her as a wife.

They had a valid reason to claim that other women couldn't look after Eden, but Sandra was the best candidate. But how could he possibly agree to their request, even if he didn't have any candidate as wife in his mind, he would never take Sandra Ben as a second choice.

"I really don't know what's in that girl's brain, after she realised she couldn't get to you through me, she suddenly switched to Chloé."

There was only one word to describe such a person, which was despicable and shameless, it was really surprising that an outstanding person like Anna came from that family.

"They're not related." One short sentence from Austin had practically cut off the only line of connection, causing Vincent to be startled for a moment. After thinking about it he suddenly hit his head helplessly, if Austin hadn't reminded him, he would probably have forgotten this mattter.

The investigations had obviously been done by him ten years ago, with the results proving that Anna wasn't a member of the Bens, she was just the daughter of Mr Ben's colleague. However, the truth was so well hidden that even Anna had been unware of it, not even Sandra was aware.

"That family is really shameless, they didn't treat Anna well in the past, but they owed her so much, living off her inherritance."

When he had discovered that the Ben family had relied on Anna's inherritance to get to where they were, he was instantly furiouse. He had watched Anna struggle to pays her tuition fee, relying on scholarship to continue studying. He had wanted to get back at them, but he was stopped by Austin.

"Tell me, when are we going to settle scores with them ?"

He had been itching to teach those people a lesson, but Austin hadn't allowed him, he had waited so much that he almost forgot about it.

"It's not time yet."

While Austin had responded he had just signed the last document on the desk. He wasn't against settlting scores with the Ben, after all he had been with Anna for many years so he knew everything she had gone through with the Bens. However, despite knowing that those individuals had been unfair to her, he chose not to do anything. It wasn't because he didn't value his friendship with Anna, but because it wasn't in his place to settle scores.

"Let's wait when Chloé is mature enough."

Thinking about this child, Vincent had a headache coming. This child's mother was obviously very smart, but why was her offspring so troublesome? Vincent didn't want to think about it, so he immediately switched to another topic.

"Have you heard from your family's side recently ? I discovered that your elder brother had joined hands with your eldest cousin, there's even a chance that the old lady has a hand in it."

Austin wasn't surprised when Vincent disclosed the news, he already had a rough idea about it, he just hadn't tried to confirm his hypothesis, perharps due to blood tied.

"How's the investigations on Jane's source of income?"

The sudden change of topic took Vincent off guard, he been expecting a comment from Austin, but he was startled by the question he had asked. Knowing fully well about Austin's temper, he knew that when he didn't want to talk about a certain topic, he would decisively change it.

He didn't want to hear about his family member's betrayal, so Vincent wouldn't force him to linger on the topic. Without further thoughts, he flipped through a file that was kept aside.

"There's not much progress on my side, apart from the real estate company she had created with Miss Lucy Grey, there's no progress on the source of her income."

Vincent flipped through another page with his other empty hand.

"Apart from the real estate company, she also opened an orphanage."

Austin frowned, funding an orphanage wasn't an easy task, the real estate cash flow had been stable over the years, but most of the money was used to invest in projects. Lucy Grey had been a good manager over the years and the profits made by the company had been a positive cash flow.

Each year, the real estate company would donate in a few orphanages and one of these orphanages included 'Hope Orphanage' that had been built by Jane seven years ago.

However, it was unknown if Lucy Grey knew about Jane building this orphanage that was situated in the outskirt of the city. This was exactly what he had sent Lambert to investigate on, but the results didn't show whether Lucy was aware or not, it only showed that she donated in it.

"At first I was just curiouse as to where Jane found so much assets, after all, she didn't receive much from home, neither were her investments enough."

They were talking about a billion dollar, so basically speaking, Jane shouldn't have owned so much.

"I'll be visiting the orphanage in a few days, Jane mentioned that 'Hope Orphanage' in the will she left behind."

Austin added without a change of expression.

"I guess the one billion dollars was even distributed."

Austin grunted in response while perusing through the last statement of investigations left by Lambert, there wasn't much to it, so he finally closed it with a sigh.

"I'll leave the rest to you, continue with the investigations and don't waste your time on those trivial matters."

Before Vincent could react to that comment, Austin had already ended the call, he didn't need to ask to know the people he considered as trivial matters. His family members were fine, after all they still shared thesame blood ties, but Sandra Ben was probably a speck in the air.

*~*~*~*

"I'm home!"

Lucy reminded as soon as she passed through the door, while changing from her shoes to a pair of comfortable home slippers. Her wavy golden locks fell like a wave, from a corner of her eyes she caught sight of a white bunny rushing towards her at a high speed.

Scared that he might fall on his feet, Lucy rushed up and caught him in her arms. The milky fragrance from his soft body calmed her nerves, while his big round eyes instantly melted her heart, the reprimand that had wanted to leave her mouth was soon thrown at the back of her mind.

'How could she bare to scold such a cute little bunny ?'

"Mummy, you're finally back, I missed you so much." The little bunny in her arms gently rubbed his face on her chest, clinging tightly to her with his short legs wrapped on her slender waist, while his short chubby hands were wrapped round her swan like neck.

Today the little bunny was dressed in comfortable blue pants with a white short sleeve rabbit hoodie, he really looked like Bugs Bunny.

Lucy's heart softened when she looked at the aggrieved eyes that stared at her unblinkly. She knew that he was feigning it, but she couldn't help but rub her face on his.

"Did you really miss mummy ?"

"Yes, I missed you so much that I couldn't eat anymore, look at how much flesh baby bunny has lost."

Lucy smiled and looked at the child's tender skin that still had some baby fat on it, his little mouth still had some oil stains on it. He really didn't look like someone who had gone on hunger strike or lost appetite because he missed her.

"Hey, chubby Jesse, you left some of your half eaten chips behind."

Jesse's pitiful expression suddenly changed from pity to guilt when he turned to look at his aunty squinting her eyes mischivousely at him. Then he turned to look at his mother who was still smiling at him with an inquisitive gaze.

He quickly struggled to stand on his own, Lucy didn't force him either, she gently placed the little bunny on the floor while fixing his clothes.

"Look mummy, I was very obedient when you left, I ate my meal and drink my full glass of milk obediently. Aren't I obedient?"

Raising his head, Jesse looked at his mother as if demanding for a praise. It was even difficult to tell apart from the little bunny who was aggrieved a while ago.

Looking at his obedient expression, Lucy chuckled, rubbing his little head affectionately.

"Yeah, my baby bunny is very obedient, what do you want as reward ?"

Upon knowing that he had a reward, the little bunny became very excited, his eyes even sparkled as he gazed at Lucy with excitement.

"Can I really get a reward, mummy." Lucy nodded as a respond, she didn't think that it was too much to give him a reward for his good deed. Children had to be praised and encouraged, but it shouldn't be too much. Too much of sweet could cause cavities and so were the praises, she still knew when to stop. She had never been a mother before, raising Jesse hadn't been easy, but she had learned a lot over the years to give Jesse a conducive environement for his growth. Like every mother, she only wanted the best for her child, so she gave him the best of her all.

"Alright, then can mummy owe me reward ?"

Jesse finally said with hesitation, while looking forward to his mother's reply. He wasn't sure if his mother would reply, but she had once taught him a saying that said, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.' He wasn't sure if that was how she had said it, but he understood that he had to try, he wouldn't know the result if he didn't try. Besides, he wouldn't be losing much from asking either.

Looking at the little bunny who was looking forward to her reply, Lucy chuckled and pinched his tender little face.

"Alright little fox, as long it isn't an excessive request."

Jesse's eyes sparkled even more when he heard his mother agree, he didn't even think about the rest of her words, he only knew that she had agreed. In order to express his happiness, he pulled Lucy closer, wrapping his hands arround her neck, he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I love you so much mummy, you're the best." After expressing himself, he quickly jumped back towards his room as if afraid that Lucy would suddenly change her mind, despite knowing that Lucy wasn't the type to go back on her word.

"You really raised a little fox, I wonder who he looks like with that attitude of his?"

Catherina who had been quiet all the while finally spoke while munching the rest of chips in her hand.

Lucy unconsciously thought about Austin, he could be considered a big fox, it was just like Jane had said. This brother of hers was very good at everything, he was also good at tricking others, just like a fox.

"So how was the meeting with Austin Kingston ?" Catherina suddenly said while pulling out from the packet of chips another crispy chips. She suddenly became addicted to eating chips after tasting one of it. She had always been particular about her diet, eating the crispy chips would probably add a few pounds to her weight.

Upon this realisation, Catherina decisively put away the packet of chips reluctantly, she picked a wet tissue that was placed on the low coffee table and carefully wiped her oil stained fingers.

"You haven't told me much about that guy since the day you met, is he as Jane had described ?"

Lucy picked up the half eaten packet of chips and carefully placed it in the trash can, she wasn't in a hurry to answer, she was seriously thinking about Catherine's question.

"Austin Kingston is just as Jane had defined, Cathy, he's handsome, erudite, ultraclassy, the epitome of suave sophistication. Every contoure of his profile seemed to have been sculpted meticulousely by divine hands. With a tall and muscular body that even clothes couldn't hide, he's basically the dream man in maiden's fantasies."

Catherina didn't immediately comment on Lucy's description, she didn't think that Lucy could have exagerated either. It should be known that Lucy wasn't the type to randomly give praises, it was practically difficult to receive her praise or catch her attention.

For a man to be able to catch this cold beauty's attention, Catherina was suddenly looking forward to meeting him.

"You realised that this is the first man you've praised to be down to earth?", Catherina leaned closer towards Lucy who had suddenly paused in her actions. She looked at the girl who had received the title of the cold beauty, ranking first as the campus bell.

She lived up to her name as the cold beauty with a gentle temperament, an unreachable blooming rose, attracting numerouse bees.

"What do you mean?"

Lucy tilted her head and looked at Catherina who leaned at the door and looked straight at her with a scrutinizing gaze. She sized her up with a profound gaze, but she couldn't find anything unusual about Lucy. The results of her scrutiny dissapointed her, yet she had long expected it, Lucy could be moved, but she couldn't be enchanted.

"Nothing, I was just wondering if the suave and and ultra classy Mr Kingston could match our gorgeouse and elegant Miss Grey?"

"What?" Before Lucy could react to Catherina's cassual remark, she had already walked out to answer a call, putting in the back of her mind the comment just now.

Regardless of whether she was intentional or not with her cassual remark, she left Lucy seriously contemplating on it. It was unknown what she was thinking, but she suddenly walked towards the coffee table and picked up her phone.