New Life : A Second Chance

Beatrice watched as the two women got closer and she noticed that they were sizing her up as well. Their gaze landed on her hand that was in Anton's hand and then back at her.

"Grandpa Anton," one said as they reached close.

Beatrice felt Anton wince before he pulled her hand closer to him, then held on to her arm close to his chest, "What Grandpa Anton? Who's your Grandpa? I'm not your grandpa!"

The woman smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Elder Anton. I just thought, since we're family, that …"

"Well, you thought wrong," Anton replied with a huff, "Only she and my boys can call me grandpa."

Surprise was evident on the two women's faces.

"What? How can the maid call you grandpa?" gasped the other.

"Maid? MAID?!" Anton spluttered, "You're the maid! Your mother's the maid! Your whole family's the maid!!"

Anton was so agitated that his face was actually red and his chest was heaving as he glared at the two women. Beatrice was both worried and feeling warm over Anton's over-reaction.

Before Chen could attend to Anton, Beatrice had already gone down lower a bit to be at Anton's eye level.

"There, there, Grandpa," Beatrice said to him, pulling her arm back and patted his chest gently while rubbing his back, "Chen said not to get agitated, remember."

Huffing, Anton looked at her and took several deep breaths to calm down. Beatrice smiled at him and continued, "And there is nothing wrong with being a maid, you know. It's an honest job."

Anton was huffing and held Beatrice's hand again, patting her hand, "You're right, you're right. My bad, my bad. You won't leave me, right?"

"Of course not," Beatrice replied, "I promised to spend the day with you, and I will."

Anton nodded, looking at Beatrice tenderly and patted the back of her hand.

"You make sure you keep calm and don't worry so much, Grandpa. You have such a soft heart," Beatrice said, looking at him worriedly. "Next time, just remember, when dogs bark, just let them be," Beatrice advised gently, "It's just loud, irritating noise without substance."

Anton smiled widely, looking at Beatrice tenderly, saying, "Okay. You  take care of me so well."

It took a lot out of her to keep her face straight at those words. She had literally met him this morning, so in what way has she taken care of him?

Seein the dotingness in his eyes, though, how could Beatrice deny him anything or expose him? She began to see why the twins were the way they were, despite the dangerous aura that they gave out.

The twins were not as smooth as Grandpa, of course, but they had their own charm.

Beatrice couldn't help but smile thinking of them and realised that she was thinking of them more these days … and in a much more positive light. Well, to be exact, since meeting the old man. The misgivings and hesitations she had about them were slowly being buried under the old man's warmth.

How could anyone not like this old man?

She looked at the two women in front of them and thought, 'well, obviously, those two could'.

Her dislike of them grew even more because of it.

Just the fact that they had been the twins' lovers was bad enough, it was obvious that they had been the twins' first. That grated on Beatrice in a way she never thought possible.

Now, the icing on the cake was the disdain they had on this sweet old man, but they were trying to still butter up to him in an obvious attempt to get back into the twins' pants. 

"How dare you! Who are you to call us dogs?" demanded the other woman.

Beatrice just looked at her, didn't answer her question and instead, asked Anton, "Where do you want to go next?"

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the woman shouted, pointing her finger at Beatrice.

Beatrice frowned.

Such uncouth, rude people. Just what did the twins see in them?

"Like I said, first and last mistake," Anton whispered to Beatrice.

"The folly of youth?" Beatrice asked.

"And teenage hormones. They had good figures from young, and who can resist when they are naked in your bed?" Anton said.

"Really? They were that bold?" Beatrice asked in surprise.

"What can I say?" Anton said helplessly, putting his hands in the air, "The boys had such sex appeal, even at that age."

Beatrice thought about Kyle and figured not many would have his sort of self-control. Then again, perhaps he had never met naked women flinging themselves at him?

Wait.

He had such a low profile as well, so who knows? He might have strings of women that he bedded as well.

Beatrice found her thoughts straying a bit and saw with amusement the two women looking at her and Anton with their mouth wide open.

"Well, I can say that the twins haven't lost that sex appeal," Beatrice said with a laugh.

Anton grabbed her hand and held it tight, demanding her, "Then why haven't you given me any great grandkids yet?!"

Beatrice nearly choked at that statement. He looked so serious, too!

"Grandpa," Beatrice said gently, "These things take time …"

"No no no no no," Anton said, shaking his head vigorously, "You can't take your time with this. One kid a year, okay?"

"Grandpa!" Beatrice said in shock.

"Boy, girl, it doesn't matter," Anton said, rambling on, "Any kids you have would be adorable! Wonderful! Fill the empty halls with their laughter and the pitter-patter of tiny feet. You can …"

"Elder Anton!" two voices shrieked at the same time.

Anton put a finger in his ear and wriggled it.

"I think my eardrums burst," Anton said with an aggrieved face, "Screeching like a banshee."

"Come on then, Grandpa," Beatrice said as she got up, "You should go home. The atmosphere is not very nice."

He pouted and shook his head, "No. You promised you'd spend the day with me."

"I will," Beatrice said, "Don't you need to rest? I will see you again once you've taken a nap."

Beatrice noticed the fatigue in Anton's eyes and was glad that Chen had forced him to use the wheelchair. She had already been thinking of ways to get him to rest when these two women came by.

"No," Anton replied stubbornly.

The two women were beyond angry at this point. From the start until now, they had been ignored by the strange woman in front of them. They hated the fact that she seemed very close to the old coot, and the way he treated her was far nicer than what he had ever given them.

And they were his relatives by blood, too!

The moment that stranger started talking, the old coot had ignored them completely as well. They had never been so humiliated.

Since they couldn't vent their anger and frustration on the old man, they attacked the most obvious target.

That woman.

From the sounds of it, she was one of the twin's girlfriend or something and the old man had already approved of her. 

This cannot be.

Even though they didn't know which one of the twins she was hooked up with, the point was, she could not hook up with either one. Thus, by silent agreement, the women banded together to get rid of this threat.

One reached out and grabbed Beatrice by the elbow, hissing, "Just a moment. We need to talk to you."

Beatrice looked at her nonchalantly, and then at the hand that was gripping her elbow hard. 

"Tough," Beatrice replied, using her hand to pry open the fingers that were on her elbow, "I don't want to talk to you."

Beatrice took one finger firmly in her grip and bent it the other way, saying with a smile, "If you don't let go, I'm going to break your finger."

The pain was too severe and so, the woman let go immediately. Beatrice flung the hand away and took Anton's hand in hers, "Don't be stubborn, Grandpa. I'll follow you home and wait until you get up."

Anton's face lit up, "You will?!"

"Yes, I will," Beatrice said.

"Okay!" Anton replied happily and then looked at Chen, saying as he pointed forward, "Home, Chen!"

Chen replied, "Of course, Sir, home it is."

Anton began chatting happily again, leaving behind two fuming women. 

They had kept quiet as there were a lot of people around. They had an image to protect.

Nursing her hurt finger, the woman glared at the woman that was walking away from them.

"Don't worry, sister. We'll get back at her soon enough," the other woman said.

"This needs to be done properly, Bella," the woman replied, "If either Zack or Yuri finds out, we're finished."

"Oh, don't worry, Stella," Bella said confidently, "We'll not just ruin her relationship, we shall ruin her."

"Rudy?" Stella asked.

"Oh yes, this is surely a job for Rudy," Bella agreed.