You'll Fall For Me, Today or tomorrow

“Ellie! I was about to call you to come downstairs. Come, let me introduce you to some friends.”

Yuliana introduced the women to her daughter. “Young people like yourselves should have lots of things to talk about. Enjoy!”

Apparently, her mother had put her in charge of accompanying the guests.

Ellie reluctantly walked over to the group of young women and sat down with them.

As they sat together, the women never seemed to stop talking about Matthew.

Ellie, burying her annoyance, casually responded to their chat.

Eventually, she got tired of it and simply scrolled on her phone, ignoring them. Those women seemed to have noticed Ellie’s mood as well. They stopped interacting with her.

Some of the smarter ones went ahead to entertain Margaret, while others sought out Yuliana. They merely saw Ellie as their junior and believed Matthew’s niece was of no help to them.

In return, Ellie got the peace she wanted.

It was already getting dark outside, since the days were shorter in the winter. Nevertheless, the Tysons had their house brightly lit inside and out.

Sienna and Matthew made their entrance one after another. When Yuliana saw them, she quickly abandoned the other women. She was obviously more hospitable towards Sienna compared to the rest.

“Sienna, what a surprise to see you with Matthew! Did he pick you up himself?”

Yuliana’s comment had been suggestive on purpose.

Sienna responded quite generously. “We ran into each other at the gate, that’s all. Yuliana, I hope I’m not late.”

“No, of course you’re not. Come in, come in. Matthew, I’ll leave Sienna in your care. I have to tend to other guests.”

Yuliana shoved Sienna towards Matthew. Her attempt to set them up was too obvious.

The other women were not happy with what they saw. They knew about Sienna, being from the same circle after all and having met on several occasions. They never thought they would meet such a strong competitor here.

Ellie looked on apathetically. Sienna seemed to be much more cunning than Shermaine.

Sienna did not show a single trace of smugness just because she ‘seemed’ close to Matthew. Her expression, her smile, and her attitude remained casual and appropriate, and she did not let herself seem too intimate or too distant.

“Matt, happy birthday.”

Sienna presented her gift to Matthew, who did not even give it as much as a glimpse. He accepted the item and thanked her with little emotion.

“Thanks.”

The other women at the scene caught on. They hurried over to Matthew with their gifts and wished him a happy birthday.

Ellie chose this time to play the part of a generous host. “Come, ladies. I’ll be safeguarding your presents on my uncle’s behalf. You can leave them to me.”

She took all the gifts and then set them aside, providing Matthew some relief.

the opportunity to head

threatened to pop out. They felt honored to have been in such close contact with Matthew. Each of them desperately wished that the man would fall in love with them. Somehow, everyone was confident that they had shown their best side, and had even made themselves believe that Matthew must

and reserve on their faces. When another round of conversation started, they were in such desperate need to display their intelligence that

sidelines. The women began to discuss current events, business, and then eventually Faulkner,

Ugh…

there scrolling on her phone, adding nothing to the conversation. Shortly after that, she rose from her seat and went to look for Yuliana.

was certainly getting on

man, right? He’s a good man, but does that mean all the good men in the world belong to them? Uncle Matt is so obviously uninterested in any of those women.

snorted and made her way

chess with George. Ellie popped in, made herself comfortable, and proceeded to complain about

in the world gone extinct? They never take their eyes off you, Uncle Matt. I mean it, they’re just

coughed once as his eyes flitted to his granddaughter, clearly not

Matt can’t find the right woman? Honestly, the way you all rush into things is embarrassing. The women out there are going to think that Uncle Matt is going to be single

a rush. Your

never intervened in matters like this. He preferred

bothered by these worldly affairs. After retirement, he had been living a life of leisure, never worrying about anything and never needing to. He enjoyed a quiet

flew off the wall, he

you talk some sense into Grandma? She doesn’t understand Uncle Matt at all. He’s just not looking for a girlfriend at the moment, otherwise… do they really think he

turned to face her uncle. “Isn’t

agreed with her,

the show. It’ll be bad if both sides go head to head with each

pondering for some time, moved a black pawn forward. He lifted his head and

We don’t have any secrets.

it at first, but the fact that she overdid it

our secret. You shouldn’t ask

“Right…”

question. “You’ve been acting quite strangely when it

I can’t stand it. I have always admired Uncle Matt. For someone of his great stature to be forced by his own family to get married, with

exactly what had been on her

in the picture,

is there a woman I don’t

gazed intently at the chessboard, not at all shaken

and replied, “Whether I have one or not,

man grew

After tonight, I’ll have a

that, I’m sure Grandma will listen.

fueled by excitement, pulled her grandfather into a hug and

but the old man pretended to be disgusted by intimacy. “For goodness’ sake, Ellie. You’re a grown

I love

long either. They could not hide

returned to the world below, the guests huddled around the man of the hour with a birthday cake. They lit the candles and asked that he make a

do any of

Ellie who did them on his behalf. She blew the candles and

contrast, so much so that even Margaret’s attempts to mediate were proven ineffective, leading to