Chapter 972 - Aidens birthday party (1) (1/2)

~ Los Angeles, Cliffside villa ~

November 17

That afternoon, there was a barbecue party in the garden.

Emma and JoAnna wheeled Aiden's bed (with him on it) outside.

Jeff, Steve and Bridgette arrived and joined Sophia, Felix, Jesse, Haru, kids and the staff. They all helped in making the garden look festive with balloons and garlands.

Aiden always liked these gatherings in the open. Everyone likes barbecue. And last time they gathered like this when they had their boy-girl talk.

Oscar and Elanor arrived with Stella and Edward. And they brought presents as well.

”Really, I told you no presents.”, Sarah complained.

”They are not for you.”, Stella responded while keeping the boxes next to Aiden's bed. ”When he wakes up, he can open them.”

Edward was staring at Kitty who didn't leave Sarah's side. ”It's a leopard cub!”

Sarah was amused by Edward's expression. She never saw him so excited. ”I told you but you didn't believe me. Call her Kitty.”

When everyone gathered, Sarah stood on the chair and addressed everyone: ”Thank you for coming. Today is Aiden's birthday and I didn't want him to miss a chance to be surrounded with friends and family on this important day. Unfortunately, he is unable to participate actively today, but we have our drones recording the event so that he can watch it later. There is also a booth set up…”, Sarah gestured toward the side. ”In there you can record whatever you want to tell the birthday boy. I'm sure that when he wakes up, he will say his thanks in person.”

Elanor hugged Sarah and held her for a long time.

”Thank you for doing all this for him.”, Elanor said with a trembling voice.

JoAnna saw that Emma absentmindedly is standing on the side.

”Hey, what's weighing on your mind?”, JoAnna asked Emma.

Emma wanted to ask how does JoAnna know, but then she realized that her expression is easy to read. ”I had an almost argument with Charlie this morning.”

”About?”

Emma shrugged. ”I don't know. He asked me to stay longer after the treatment… and I was frustrated that he asked me that, when I know that he has only few minutes before his company for the hour arrives. And he asked me why I don't treat him as a friend, and I snapped…”

”Snapped?”

”Yeah… I told him that I can't be his friend if he is not treating me as one. I mean, really… do you have friend who will wait for you the whole day and fill in ten minute gaps between people who come to visit you?”

”No. But didn't you allow him to treat you that way from the start?”

”I admit, I did. But I was living there, and it was not strange for him to call me to join him for a chat… I was available and he was stuck in a bed, and then a wheelchair. That aside, I was frustrated that he is treating me like a servant while talking about friendship. He brought up how I don't come to visit him, and he didn't visit me once since I moved out.”

”You want to be friends with him?”, JoAnna continued probing. She still is not able to gauge if Emma has any feelings for Charlie or not.

”It's not about wanting or not. You can't force a friendship and I feel that while staying there, I was too available, and he got used to it. At the same time, he is talking about being friends while his actions say otherwise… and he even asked if I see him as more than a friend.”

”Do you?”

Emma snorted. ”Didn't you listen what I said so far? Friendship is not working out, how can anything more than that be possible?”

”It is one thing what is possible, and another what you are thinking… or what you are feeling.”

Emma frowned. ”He is a nice guy… but his emotional intelligence is negative. If I allow any feelings to grow toward him I will just cause myself to suffer. He does not need a friend, I told him to get a dog. But that was probably a bad advice. Even dogs need more time than what he is willing to give. As for more than friends, there is an endless queue of young misses with good family backgrounds lined up while waiting for his schedule to open up. And this little respect I have for myself is not allowing me to stand at the back of the queue.”

”What if… you are at the front of the queue?”

Emma grimaced. ”You should know me better than that. If a guy wants to show his sincerity, he needs to make sure that there is no queue. I have no intention to fight for spending time with my man. If his attitude is right, he will let the world know that I am his only one, and everyone else needs to scram.”

Emma wanted to add how that was also a point why things didn't work out with Brian, but she decided not to bring him up. It's another endless topic, and this is not the time for it.

”It seems that Charlie wants to be friends.”, JoAnna pointed with her chin toward the entry into the garden area where Charlie was. He was wheeling himself in slowly toward two of them.