One Night Surprise

Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Let Tina Come Over and Play

At the end of the day, it simply meant that Jordan had autism.

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to pry too much,” said Courtney as she apologized sincerely. “How about this? Let me pay for today’s meal in order to express my sincerest apologies.”

Right then, Alexander came back to his senses and saw her flustered face. He soon realized that his attitude was too harsh. After all, she was the one who saved Jordan’s life. He softened his tone and explained, “It’s not that Jordan can’t talk; he just chooses not to talk.”

Courtney nodded and decided to stop asking questions.

Meanwhile, Jordan sat in the midst of an ocean of colorful balls. When he suddenly lost sight of Tina, he frowned and a panicked look crossed over his face.

“Haha!” All of a sudden, the ocean of balls exploded in front of him as Tina emerged under it and looked at him with a big smile. “I’m here!”

Jordan was startled by her and clamored up; it seemed like this was the first time someone had ever played with him like that.

Tina was taken aback. “What’s wrong?”

Jordan shook his head. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and pointed at the table—he wanted to go back.

Even though she still wanted to play, Tina saw the look of shock on Jordan’s face and nodded understandingly. “Are you hungry? Let’s go back.”

While they were having their meals, Jordan insisted on sitting next to Courtney despite Alexander’s countless attempts to discourage him. Tina was quite generous as she climbed onto the seat next to Alexander and said, “Since he likes my mommy so much, you should just let him sit next to her. I’ll just sit here.”

Since Courtney seemed fine with it, Alexander let the matter slide and looked at the cute little girl who was sitting next to him; he felt that she was quite pleasing to the eyes. “His name is Jordan,” said Alexander to Tina.

“Jordan.” Tina nodded obediently. As she thought of a question, she immediately asked, “That’s right— how old is Jordan? What if he’s younger than me?”

“He’s five years old. His birthday is a day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Courtney’s expression froze for a moment. A day before the Mid-Autumn Festival? What a coincidence! He shares his birthday with Tina!

“What about you?”

When she heard Alexander’s question, Tina scratched her head and looked at Courtney for help. She was unable to remember her own birthday—after all, she was only a five-year-old child.

Courtney had no idea why she blurted out that Tina’s birthday was a month apart from Jordan’s.

“Tina’s birthday is on the 14th of September.”

Alexander didn’t follow up with his question, dismissing it as a casual and unimportant question.

While they were eating, Tina and Jordan had the same taste in desserts. When the last dessert arrived, Tina ate it with excitement while Jordan ate in silence, but judging from the clean dessert plate, it was quite obvious that he was pleased as well.

The young kids couldn’t seem to sit still as they ran to the play area again after finishing their meal. Meanwhile, Courtney and Alexander waited around for a bit. They were calm as they waited in the beginning, but as time dragged on, Courtney began to check her watch frequently.

After countless reminders, Courtney finally said, “We have to go home now, Tina.”

Tina stuck her head out from the ocean of balls. “No, I want to play with Jordan for a little while longer.”

“Tina Hunter.”

Whenever Courtney called Tina by her full name, it meant that she was about to get angry.

This tactic normally worked, but Tina seemed so courageous all of a sudden that she completely ignored her mother’s warning and continued to play with Jordan in the ocean of balls.

Eventually, Courtney went down herself and dragged Tina out. “It’s already late—you have to go home with me, Tina.”

One of Tina’s arms was held by Courtney, so she quickly used the other to grab Alexander’s pants. “Save me, Mr. Alexander.”

Alexander had planned on keeping his son company while he played outside, so he didn’t care how long Jordan wanted to play. Besides, he seemed to have taken a liking to Tina. With that, he swiftly fished Tina out of Courtney’s hands and held the latter in his arms. “Children just like to play; it’s okay to let them play a little while longer.”

Tina wrapped her arms around Alexander’s neck and made a face at Courtney. “You have nothing to do at home anyway, Mommy. Why don’t you talk to Mr. Alexander and improve your relationship?”

Courtney almost had a heart attack when she heard those words.

“What are you babbling about? Tina Hunter, you come down right this instant… I’m sorry President Duncan, I’m not trying to hit you…”

Tina was like a monkey that held onto Alexander’s body, refusing to come down. Courtney usually raised her hands to pat Tina’s buttocks as a threat, but now that the latter had Alexander as her shield, Courtney had no other means of getting her daughter.

The mother-daughter duo messed around for a while as the people in the restaurant giggled at their antics. Courtney finally gave in and huffed helplessly. “You’d better put her down, President Duncan. It seems like she’s lacking discipline—I’d have to go back and talk to her about it.”

“It’s alright.” Alexander showed a rare smile. “Tina is quite cute; she’s just a little hyperactive. It’s a good thing that she gets along with Jordan.”

Tina’s sharp ears picked up his words as she chipped in and said, “In that case, can you please bring me over to play at Jordan’s house, Mommy?”

Courtney’s face turned red as she spoke through gritted teeth. “Tina Hunter!” Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

That’s Alexander Duncan! How can a company intern like me visit his house so casually?

“I’ll go home if you promise me this, Mommy.”

As Courtney was about to forcefully grab Tina, Jordan quickly took out a pile of sticky notes from his small backpack and wrote on it. He raised it up and showed it to Alexander. ‘Please let Tina come over and play.’

Alexander was stunned. Jordan rarely asked anything from him, let alone something about making friends.

He remembered his psychiatrist suggesting that children with autism needed to meet more people. Alexander’s heart wavered slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he suggested, “How about next Saturday? I’ll send someone to pick you and Tina up.”

“Huh?” Courtney stared at him with her eyes wide open. Am I imagining things?

Tina, on the other hand, jumped down from Alexander’s arms in excitement and grabbed Jordan’s hand as she gave him a forceful high five. “Yay! I’ll be coming over to your house, Jordan!”

Since Alexander had invited them, it would be rude to blatantly refuse him. Once Courtney had approved their playdate reluctantly, the two kids finally agreed to leave the Japanese restaurant.

If I stay here any longer, the entire restaurant staff will know who I am.

Once they were out of the mall, Alexander’s driver drove the car over as Alexander offered in a deep voice, “Let me send you guys back.”

Before Courtney could refuse his offer, Tina had taken a step forward and climbed into the back seat of the MPV. She sat in the car and waved at Courtney. “Come on. Get in, Mommy! It’s a very comfortable car!”

Courtney pressed her forehead against her palm ashamedly. Her instincts were telling her that after today, Alexander would definitely think that she had a spoiled brat and was one of those parents who didn’t know how to educate their children!