Chapter 11 Awaiting His Arrival

Even the dining room where we were supposed to have dinner was so luxurious that it made me feel uncomfortable. The long marble table that probably could seat up to 20 people had me feeling confused about where I should even sit. The chandeliers that sparkled above as they hung from the ceiling also added to the magical vibe of the entire place. "Please, take a seat," Bennett invited us with a sweet smile. I let my mother take her seat next to Bennett, as I took a seat opposite from my mother. "Would you like some wine?" Bennett offered with a sweet smile. I found him to be quite charming, but I decided to turn down his offer for wine. After drinking last night, I felt like I had had enough alcohol at least for a while. "Are you hungry? The food is ready so I can get the chef to start serving right away," Bennett informed us. "I'm not so hungry yet, but I guess we can start with some appetizers," my mother replied with a small giggle. I could tell that she was very at ease with Bennett, and I could also feel just how much they were in love with each other from the way that they kept on staring into each other's eyes as if they were lost in their own little world. While the lovers were busy flirting with each other, I used the time to briefly recall the conversation that I had with my mother before about Bennett. She told me in short that he had been married before and that his wife had already passed away quite a long time ago. His family owns a business and that is where Bennett worked for almost his entire career before recently retiring. He was left as a widower with a son when his wife passed away when their son was still young. Instead of choosing to remarry, he decided to focus on raising his son and running his family business instead. Recently, he had decided to retire after passing on the management of the business to his only son. Given his age, it seemed to make sense that he was ready to embrace retirement. The appetizers were served, and we shared polite small talk about random topics that naturally came up. Bennett seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing for my career and also my educational background. All in all, he seemed like a caring guy who paid just enough attention while also sounding very well-rounded. My mother smiled and laughed along with everything that he said as if she was impressed with every word that came out of his mouth. I had never seen my mother so smitten with anyone, let alone a man, before in my life. “Now that you’ve told me a bit more about yourself, I guess I should also tell you about myself and our family business as well…” Bennett said before making a thoughtful face as if he was thinking about where he should start. “My mother told me a little about you already but she didn’t go into much detail…” I replied without hiding my curiosity. “Well, tell me if my story gets too boring or long for you…” Bennett said before starting his story. What he told me was basically a mirror of what my mother had told me before but delivered in a more engaging way. His life story wasn’t what caught my attention because he didn’t tell me anything surprising; however, when it came to his talks about his family business, things were very different. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Hayes Corporation…” Bennett said after giving me a brief introduction to what his family business does. Have I heard of it? How can anyone not know about it? I felt a fluttering feeling in my stomach as I told myself that the family business that Bennett had been talking so casually about coudn’t possibly be the Hayes Corporation that everyone knew all too well. The large conglomerate is always within the top three of the country while also running its businesses in prominent countries around the globe. The company is involved in real estate, the hospitality industry, and the entertainment industry. The company effectively owns hotel chains, resorts, but also invests in the film industry. “Of course, I’ve heard of it…” I replied. I turned to my mother to silently ask with my eyes if she knew about this as well but had been keeping it from me. My mother only smiled innocently at me and I got the feeling that she didn’t quite know just how big of a shot she had hooked up with her love line. “The Hayes Corporation is our family business. I’m the third generation. Oh, yes, my name is Bennett Hayes, the same Hayes as the Hayes in Hayes Corporation,” he revealed before letting out a loud laugh. He must have thought how he repeated the word ‘Hayes’ so many times was funny and I would have shared his sentiment had I not been too overwhelmed with shock at what I had just discovered. I had absolutely no idea that the man that my mother was about to marry is the owner of that large Hayes Corporation. Just when I was at a loss for words, Bennett suddenly spoke up again to change the direction of our conversation. "I truly apologize for the delay, but my son should be here any time now. Something must have come up at work so he's running a little late. I truly apologize in his place," Bennett said while sounding a little flustered. "Oh, there's nothing for you to apologize about. We're not in a rush to go anywhere," my mother replied reassuringly. I blinked a couple of times at his words because I hadn't realized that his son would be joining us for dinner, although now that I thought about it, it was to be expected. It did skip my mind until that moment that Bennett also had a son, even though my mother never mentioned anything about him joining us for dinner. –To be continued…