25. We meet again, Elizabeth.

LARA.

"Has all the orders you requested for been brought to your table?" A man in suit asked me. He was one of the waiters in the bar.

"Yes, thank you." I replied and he walked away.

"Girrrrrl, this is fire!" Grace replied while Janet nodded in agreement. "I mean, giiirl, you sure know how to plan things."

"I know, giiirl. That's why I'm the Lara. Nobody comes close!" I replied, feeling myself.

Tony had called me two days before that his brother who had gone abroad to study was finally returning home after a couple of years. He told me he was going to introduce him to me when he arrives. Being who I am, I wanted him to accept me just like his brother has accepted me. Thinking about that, I planned a little party for him at a bar to welcome him and introduce him to my friends. I told Tony about it and he loved the idea.

"Why isn't Beth here yet though?" Yeesha asked out of the blue.

"She talked about being late at work today due to some stuff. She'll be here anyway," I replied as I excused myself and walked out of the bar to catch a serene scene of the environment. I was on this when my phone rang. Immediately, I checked the screen of my phone to see who the caller was. It was Tony, so I picked it up. "Babe."

"Hey, babe. We're at the venue. Where are you at?" He asked from the other side of the venue.

"I'll meet you there right now. Just come in and look around, you'll see my girls."

"Alright." He said and hung up.

I heaved a long sigh to calm myself from getting nervous. Tony already told me that his brother was a nice person, but I hoped he was going to be nice to me too. When I was ready, I walked back to the bar. Sighting them from afar, I could see that he was already seated with my girls, together with an unknown guy who I guessed was his brother.

"Hey guys!" I said to them immediately I got there.

"Babe," Tony called with a broad smile on his face. He dragged me to him by the hands and we have a short kiss on the lips before letting me go.

"Hmm, so I'm guessing this is… she." Tony's brother who sat directly on the right side of Tiny said.

"Yeah," Tony replied and chuckled while I also smiled sheepishly. "Babe, meet my little brother—"

"Little? What the actual fuck? Dude, I'm twenty four! I ain't little no more!" Tony's brother protested, raising his hands in the air as he glared at his brother. This action of his made everyone on the table to laugh.

"You'll always be little to me, man." Tony replied and nudged him while he just rolled his eyes, making everyone laugh once more. "Anyway," Tony started when they had all stopped laughing. "This is my brother who just returned from the Europe. He's Luca." Then, he turned to Luca. "Bro, this is my babe, Lara and these are are her friends." He introduced.

"Hi, Luca," I greeted him with a smile as I stretched out my hand to him and he also stretched out his to shake hands with me.

"Nice meeting you, Lara." He replied. "And permit me to say you're so beautiful."

"Thank you! I know that though," I replied, feeling like a god right now. Then, we released each other's hands and he greeted my girls too. Then, we began to eat.

"So, what's up with you two?" Luca suddenly asked after a few minutes that the table has been silent.

"Well, we're good. We're taking it slow," Tony replied and he looked at me with a smile. I smiled back to him, knowing what he meant.

Ever since I told him about the baby the other day, he had been so happy. On times that I do not expect, he would buy me presents, and do several stuff for me. He would always remind me not to stress myself too much because he would not want anything to happen to me or his baby.

Poor guy, not knowing it isn't his baby. He can't know anyway, and as long as the secret doesn't get out, nothing can go wrong.

"That's good."

"Besides, there's a good news I should share with you." Tony said with a smile on his face. Then, he placed his arm around my neck and looked at Luca.

"We're expecting our first child."

"What?!" Janet and the other girls asked in shock. "Really?" They asked again when they turned to face me.

"You guys didn't know?" I asked them. I can't remember telling them anyway, but I felt they would have noticed in a way or the other that I was carrying a baby.

"Well, you didn't tell us. So, how would we have known?" Grace asked with raised eyebrows. It seemed like she was offended because she heard such a news from an outsider and not from me directly.

"Just let it go, uh? Surprises come everyday." I replied nonchalantly and Tony nudged me. I looked at me and the face he gave me was like he was telling me to apologize to them for not letting them know. I rolled my eyes and turned to face the girls. "I'm sorry, okay? I was going to tell you later on."

"It's cool." Yeesha replied.

"And congratulations dear," Janet added.

"Thank you!"

"Now that you all are done with your discussion, will you let me speak to my in-law to be?" Luca said and we all giggled, turning to face him.

I felt giddy all over when he called me his in-law to be. That means that he was accepting me or should I say, he has accepted me already.

"Congratulations. I'm happy for you two." He said to us and we smiled.

"Thanks, man." Tony said to him and he simply nodded. We all continued eating our food.

"I've been meaning to ask," Tony started. "What of Beth? She's not coming?"

"Yeahh, she is. She had to do stuff at work and she's going to be…" I paused as I saw Beth walking in looking very tired. She must have come here directly from work. That girl loves me too much to not honour my invitations and I was glad. "Speaking of the angel, here she comes!"

"Hey guys," Beth said immediately she got to our table. She crashed on the empty chair which was obviously for her. Then she dropped her bag on the table.

"Hi!" We all chorused.

"I was just asking about you, Beth." Tony said to her.

"I'm really sorry for coming late. I had so much to do today. It was so tiring."

"It's obvious you're tired, babe. Thanks for making it." I replied to her. Then, I turned to face Luca. "So, meet my best friend, Beth." I turned to Beth. "Beth, meet my baby's brother—"

"Luca?" Beth called, a look of surprise on his face as she stared at Luca in disbelief.

"Okayyy, looks like you know his name already, even though I don't know how." I muttered to myself as I stared at both of them, everyone else on the table also doing the same. We were all wondering where and how she knows him.

"We meet again, Elizabeth." Luca replied with a smirk on his face, his arms folded.