When Wesley didn't say anything, Blair asked, "That bad, huh?"
Wesley merely stared at Blair, lost in some wild thought. Cecelia kicked the dazed man and scolded, "What's wrong with you? Say something."
Snapping out of his reverie back into reality, the soldier shot to his feet and told the saleslady, "Please pack everything she tried on, including what she's wearing."
Blair was shocked by his generosity. Cecelia was stunned too. 'What does he mean by doing this?' she thought.
Ignoring the two women's surprised gazes, Wesley made his way to the checkout counter. Blair returned to the fitting room to stop the saleslady from packing anything up. "I'm sorry. Please wait a moment."
The saleslady said confusedly, "Miss, the gentleman said he would pay for everything."
"I know, but… Please just put them here. I want to change back first."
The saleslady was puzzled. Nonetheless, she nodded and left the fitting room. Blair closed the door and changed, wondering what was going on in Wesley's head.
'Is he getting impatient?' That was the only reason she could figure out. After all, she had spent half an hour in trying on six sets of clothes and Cecelia had kept asking his opinion on every outfit. Men got impatient easily.
After putting on her own outfit, Blair came out of the fitting room, holding six sets of new clothes in her hands. Cecelia and Wesley were waiting for her at the front counter.
With a happy grin, Cecelia said excitedly, "Over here, Blair. Wesley will pay, and Niles can reimburse him."
'Niles can reimburse him?' Blair then got what she meant. Cecelia still thought she was Niles' girlfriend.
Blair gave the clothes to the saleslady and went over to hold Cecelia's arm. "Thanks, but I have enough clothes at home. When I got my first job, my friend went shopping with me and I bought a lot…"
"But you bought those. These are from me… Um…from Niles. What's more, these are the latest styles. You know, you can't have too many clothes," Cecelia said as she gestured to the saleslady, motioning for her to pack the clothes.
Wesley was about to check out. Blair strode over to him and grabbed his hand to stop him from taking his bank card out. Meanwhile, she told Cecelia in a low voice, "Look, Niles and I aren't dating. Please, I can't accept this gift…"
Wesley broke free of her grip. He didn't help any, but just made it worse. "Mom, don't listen to her bullshit. She and Niles are fighting," he told his mother, who was still reeling from Blair's words.
Blair was stupefied by what he said. 'What's he saying? A fight…with Niles?'
Cecelia was at first disappointed by Blair's words. Now she instantly understood after Wesley cleared that up. The girl said that because she was pissed at her younger son. The mother gnashed her teeth and comforted Blair, "Blair, don't be mad. I'll call Niles right now and give him a piece of my mind. Wesley, go ahead and pay."
With that, the angry mother walked out of the shop to call Niles.
Blair was in a dilemma. Wesley was paying the bill, and Cecelia was calling Niles. Which one should she stop? She heard the cashier quote the total price for the clothes. It was a six figure total. That was too much. She suppressed her urge to go for Cecelia and turned to Wesley, reaching out her hand to grab his bank card.
He grabbed hold of her wrist instead and stopped her.
Blair turned her head to look at Cecelia, unease increasing in her heart. As she tried to break free of his grip, she confronted Wesley, "Why did you say that to your mom? Why do you have to buy all these clothes? I mean it when I say I don't need them. Besides, your brother doesn't seem to have much money. He can't afford it, and it's not his problem."
Wesley threw her a glance. "I know my brother. I'm not going to ask him." He let go of her hand and signed his name on the sales slip.
Blair was even more confused. 'What does he think he's doing? He told his mom he'd get Niles to repay him. And now he's saying he's not?'
Finally, Blair walked out of the store together with Wesley holding several shopping bags.
Cecelia was still raking Niles over the coals.
When Blair approached her, she heard the mother yelling, "Shut up! Don't talk back. Just listen to me. What kind of boyfriend are you? She's such a nice girl. Whatever, if I know you piss her off again, I'll beat the tar out of you. Understand? That's it now. Your brother and Blair are here. Bye." The mom put her phone back in her purse after she was done.
'Oh, poor Niles…'
Blair felt so sorry for the guy. He had to be completely confused.
But Wesley was partly responsible for this. What he said to Cecelia just made things worse.
The three of them continued shopping in the plaza.
On the other side, Niles looked at his phone, confusion written all over his face. He couldn't make sense of this. He wondered why Wesley and Blair hadn't explained anything to his mom.
Before he could compose himself from Cecelia's tantrum, his phone rang again. This time it was Keith.
He had an ominous feeling. Praying good luck to himself, he answered, "Hi Grandpa! What's up? Everything going okay?"
Ignoring his unctuous words, Keith asked in a stern voice, "You busy now? I have something to tell you."
"Yeah, I'm busy. Busy getting my ass chewed by my mom. Busy keeping my anger in check." That was true. He was indeed feeling angry and gloomy.
Keith cut to the chase. "Leave Blair to your brother. I'll make it up to you some other way." After some careful analysis, the old man was certain that Wesley had feelings for Blair.
Niles was lively and outgoing. His EQ was higher than his brother's. If the two brothers fell in love with the same girl, Wesley would lose.
It wasn't easy for Wesley to have a thing for someone, but now Niles took Blair away from him. Keith felt sad for his elder grandson.
'Make it up to me?' Niles' eyes lit up. 'Leave Blair to my brother? Of course no problem. I'm not her boyfriend in the first place.' However, he pretended to be sad and retorted, "I get what you mean. But… That's not fair. I don't have a girlfriend either. I…" He deliberately paused with a sob.
Keith sighed helplessly. "I know how you feel. I know it's not fair. But Niles, you know your brother. He's an idiot about love. I tried to set him up, but his bad temper frightened his dates away…" The old man let out a heavy sigh again.
Niles played along and replied in a sorrowful voice, "Yeah, Grandpa, I know my brother. Fine, if he loves Blair too, then I'll give up on her. After all, I only have one brother."
