Brandon is playing host to Louis.
He made a special trip to see Brandon.
Last time, although Sophia agreed to let them continue with her design plans for the holiday estate, she made it clear she wouldn't be involved in the project anymore.
Since there were some implementation issues with the blueprints during the construction process that needed to be ironed out with the designer, Martin had tried to get in touch with Sophia a few times but got the cold shoulder, forcing the project to hit the brakes.
Now, as time kept ticking away and the project was still at a standstill, with Martin unable to sway Sophia, Louis was getting antsy. He had no choice but to come himself, hoping to have a heart-to-heart with Sophia.
But he only found out she was out of town when he got to the office, and he missed her.
Louis had no clue how long Sophia's trip would be or how much longer he'd have to wait. So, in the end, he could only turn to Brandon, hoping Brandon would do him a solid because of his grandpa's friendship and persuade Sophia.
"Sorry, Grandpa Louis, but I've gotta side with Sophia on this one."
After hearing Louis out, Brandon declined politely yet firmly.
Louis tried to play the sentiment card. "I'm not trying to twist her arm or anything, just hoping she’d reconsider. Maybe you could give it another shot for me? You know, Renata and I aren't getting any younger; who knows if we'll even be around to see it."
Louis couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I was thinking about having Renata come with me to talk to her."
"Grandpa Louis!" Brandon cut him off in a cool tone, "If you truly respect her, and Renata, you wouldn't drag Renata into this. You're not asking for a favor; you're guilt-tripping her."
Louis was at a loss for words, cornered by the truth.
He knew this all too well, which was why he never brought Renata to see Sophia.
He genuinely wanted to have a sincere chat with Sophia, but he hadn't anticipated arriving right when she was out of town.
Just then, a knock at the door interrupted them.
Marian's coquettish voice followed. "Can I come in?"
As she finished speaking, Marian had already pushed the door open, and with a warm "Grandpa" greeting, she dashed over to Louis, affectionately wrapping her arms around his, cooing, "Grandpa, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the office? I almost missed you."
"I'm here on some business," Louis said, looking at Marian. "I swung by your office earlier and thought you took the day off."
His tone was polite, a far cry from the warmth he'd shown before.
But Marian didn't seem to mind and clung to his arm, explaining with a pout, "I was working. Just stepped out for the company's health checkup downstairs. When I heard you were here, I hurried up."
As she spoke, she couldn't resist glancing up at Brandon and politely greeted him, "Mr. Crawley."
Brandon didn't acknowledge her, already standing up, apologetically excusing himself from Louis. "Grandpa Louis, sorry to bail, but I've got work to sort out. Feel free to make yourself at home."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate