*Ring ring*, Stephanie was relaxing by the pool with her brother when her phone rang. "Hi, what's up?" She answered in a surprised tone when she saw the caller. "Hi. Where are you?" Ellen asked, still anxious. "I'm home, why do you sound scared? Is everything okay?" She replied and asked, alarming Chris by her side. "Um, I told my parents I was out with Abby and Kell to the mall, but I kinda lied." Ellen expatiated. "Let me guess, you are with yours truly." Steph said sarcastically. "Yeah." Came Ellen's reply. "So, what's the problem?" Steph asked. "I'm at the clubhouse and so are they. I don't know what to do Steph, your parents are here as well, and some other people I don't know. They told me they'd be going for a business meeting, but I didn't know it would be held here. Help me please." Ellen pleaded. "I see. Let me think of something, we'll call it a truce after this, okay. I will call you back." Steph said and hung up. "Who was that? What happened?" Chris asked with intrigue. "It's a friend of mine who's got boyfriend/ parents issue; I have to do something." Steph explained briefly and left the curious Chris. Ellen did her business in the washroom and waited anxiously for Stephanie's call. Henry called but she didn't answer, because she couldn't tell him she was hiding from her parents. It was one hell of a 10-minute wait, but the call finally came from Steph. "Hello?" She answered. "Have they left yet?" Steph asked immediately, and Ellen went out to check. "Not yet, but it looks like they're leaving in a hurry. What did you do?" Ellen replied and asked with interest. "Good. Well, my father might have gotten a call that I'm suddenly feverish and throwing up around while having severe diarrhea. And you know, being a daddy's girl and all that, he must drop everything and come home with mom, ergo your parents coming with them to check up on me. And with that, meeting adjourned." Steph propounded with pride in her voice. "Oh My God. How are you going to pull that off? Who even made the call?" Ellen asked as she made her way back to the court. "Grace, my personal maid made the call. I can pull it off because every time I'm in Ghana, I get sick with one thing or the other. I have allergies sweetie; I just need to bring them out. Besides Chris will take care of me, gotta go, bye Juliet. Have fun with your Romeo." Steph said, taking a mixture of some foods to fall sick. She had exactly 30 minutes to get sick, an hour if there was traffic, to sell her plan. "I can't believe this. Thank you so much Steph. Please get well soon, bye." Ellen expressed her appreciation and hung up. Steph sighed at the other end of the phone, thinking about the fact that Ellen is going to such lengths to be with a guy who might hurt her in the end. 'I will kill you if you hurt her Kobby.' And with that thought, came her puke as she rushed to the washroom. "Well, there you are. Was there a queue in the washroom, or you were doing the number two business?" Henry asked with a smirk. "Of course not, I was on a call. It's getting late, I must go back. I will call my driver to come and pick me up." Ellen replied out of embarrassment and expressed her wish to leave. "Okay, let's have dinner and leave okay. And don't call your driver, I will take you home." Henry said and grabbed her hand, taking her to the restaurant. "Bye Elle, I had loads of fun with you today. Have a goodnight okay." Clara said and hugged her. "I had fun too Clara. You both have a goodnight." Ellen replied and bid she and Eric goodnight. "Yo bro, we've got SAT exam coming up, don't stay up late chopping love with our jewel, learn!" Eric teased Henry, when he bro-shook him and patted him at his back. "Yes dad, I will." Henry said sarcastically, hugging Clara as well and turned to open the door for Ellen. "Wow, such a gentleman. Who would have thought the king would turn into a lovesick puppy." Eric commented and Henry glared at him before smirking. "Don't be fooled bro, I'm still on top the food chain." Henry winked and entered the car. "What did you two mean by that?" Clara asked suspiciously, after Henry left. "Relax, I'm just teasing him. Can I tell your driver to leave so I take you home too?" Eric replied to assuage her and changed the subject. "Sure." Clara replied with a diffident smile, secretly happy about Eric's offer.
***
"Are my eyes deceiving me or that was Terry's son I just saw hug you." "Oh My God, grandma, grandpa. What time did you two get here?" Ellen exclaimed, intentionally avoiding the question asked. "We got here about an hour ago. We were told you've all gone out and decided to surprise you. Now tell me, was that boy Terry Yawson's son?" Her grandfather answered and quizzed again. "I believe his name is Henry or something. Yes, Henry. Is he a friend of yours?" Her grandmother chimed in and asked. "Um, yes please, he's my friend from school. We won the quiz together for our school a short while ago." Ellen explained as briefly as she could. "Oh, I see. I didn't know he was the boy Aaron spoke about winning the competition with you. I hope you know he's not the type of guy we keep around us. He's Terry's son after all. I don't want him near you or vice versa. That boy is bad news." Her grandfather commented and warned, making Ellen uncomfortable. "Ben leave the girl. I'm sure she knows what's best for her, and that is her education for now. Besides honey, your grandfather is right. That boy will just toy with you till he's bored…" Her grandmother defended. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you don't know Henry like I do. He's not bad once you get to know him. And we are just friends, so please don't worry, he won't hurt me." Ellen got defensive with an outburst, but smiled in order not to escalate matters. Her grandparents could ruin things for her if they reported her to her parents. "Okay but be careful dear. Sometimes, people aren't who they portray themselves to be. Anyway, how are you doing?" Grandma Jessica decided to play ball and drop the subject. "I'm fine grandma, how about you please?" Ellen replied with a relieving smile as they went inside the house. Grandpa Ben, however, wasn't too convinced about the relationship between Henry and his granddaughter. After all, he did business with the Yawsons', and he knew their lifestyle. "So did you go out alone with Henry?" Ben asked out of the blue. 'Oh My God, will you let it go already?' Ellen thought as she turned to answer, "No please grandpa, I went out with friends from school, it was a get together at the mall. I asked for permission before leaving too." Ellen explained. She was finally able to breathe when her grandfather relented and said, "okay, I believe you. Don't ever let your guard down around that boy, there's no telling what he can do to you. Now come and give your old man a hug, I've missed you." Ellen nodded with a smile and rushed to hug him.