Chapter 96 The Unhappy North
Eugene frowned unhappily. “Don’t follow me around. I have business to tend to.” Then, he told Nathan, “You coming or not, Nathan?”
“Of course I am,” Nathan replied. He told Old Man Nolan that he would come another time and left the house behind them.
Silence was their companion in the car until Olivia whispered to her son, who appeared to be unhappy, “What happened to you?”
Eugene listened intently. If he was right, North didn’t talk to him that much earlier.
North was playing with his phone. “Nothing,” he said.
“Are you upset?” Olivia was curious.
“No.” North took a deep breath.
Then, Eugene interjected in an attempt to make conversation, “What’s the story you told Great-grandpa today, North?”
“Nothing,” North answered indifferently.
Now even Nathan could see he was upset. What happened? He’s fine in the afternoon, well, aside from him getting quiet after Zoe came.
Olivia tried to cheer him up. “We moved to a new place. It’s just a hop, skip, and jump away from Nathan’s house. Do you like it?”
That grabbed his attention, since he was a kid after all. “Why are we moving?”
Olivia replied calmly, “So you can play the latest games Nathan develops.”
“Right. It’s just because you want him to take care of me at all times.” He pouted.
“Shh. Keep this between us. We don’t want him to hear that.”
Nathan looked annoyed. “At least whisper when you talk about secrets. Everyone and their mother could hear you.”
North raised his chin. “Watch your tongue.”
“I’m just telling the truth,” Nathan retorted.
“Mommy, Nathan took me along and played until three in the morning. I kept telling him I want to sleep, but he kept saying ‘last game’ every time.” North even looked at Nathan provocatively.
“Nathan!” Olivia was going to hit him. “Can you be more responsible? I thought I told you no all-nighters!”
“No, we didn’t!” Nathan dodged her hit and pointed at North. “Hey, we promised to keep this a secret.”
North grinned at him. “I’m just telling the truth.”
Pointing at him angrily, Nathan declared, “You little snitch! No more new games for you!”
North crossed his arms and snorted. “Don’t come to me if you run into any technical problems then.”
That made Olivia feel amused. “Friendships end so easily.”
Eugene looked at them through the rear-view mirror and felt that North was sulking. There was no reason for him to ignore Eugene, and even when Eugene tried to start a conversation, North wasn’t too enthused.
After getting the groceries and coming back to Muse Peninsula, they bumped into Kate, who had just arrived via taxi. Nathan looked at her and mocked, “And what brings you here?”
She rolled her eyes. “Not for you, that’s for sure. Piss off.”
“This is my turf!”
“No! This is Olivia’s turf!” Nathan was about to retort further, so she pointed at him. “You aren’t going to say no, are you?” Then, Eugene disembarked, and Kate panicked. I knew someone important was here. No wonder Olivia called me over. She changed into her polite mode instantly and greeted, “Hello, Mr. Nolan.”
“Hello.” Eugene nodded.
After some small talk, they went into house Number 5901 of Block No. 3. When they entered, what greeted them was a huge French window. The sun was setting now, and the light that sprinkled the house felt warm.
