Love Struck (The Taylor Brothers Book 4)

The day was over and the whole class breathed a sigh of relief. They could now go to Adam's party in a few hours. Nelson returned home to find his ma busy baking a lemon raspberry cake. His ma was a passionate baker and had always dreamed of starting her own bakery but couldn't take out time to start one. Still she kept her dream alive by catering to a close group of friends and neighbors. She was happiest when she was busy baking something for her clients.

Nelson approached her and watched her give finishing touches to the delicious looking cake. His ma looked up at him, knowingly. "Do you want to say something, Nel?" She asked. Nelson nodded.

"Yes, actually, I thought a lot about what dad said today in the morning. I had a talk to Levi too and I've decided that I'll join uncle Henry's restaurant from tomorrow, " he told his ma. He chose uncle Henry's restaurant for a reason. Uncle Henry was the most sweet tempered and the most patient of the lot and he was very kind to his employees. Moreover, with Stuart and Sean too there, life would be fun than in his dad's restaurant. Sterling Plaza was a little too professional and required a lot of hard work and uncle Benjamin was a hard taskmaster.

"Why not from today?" Asked his ma. Nelson scratched his head.

"Adam's hosting a party at his house tonight, ma. He wouldn't accept any excuses. Everyone's going, " he told his ma, trying to convince her.

"It's Adam's birthday tomorrow, I remember, " she pointed out. Nelson smiled. Adam was his school friend having studied together since sixth grade. "Don't worry, I'll inform your dad of your decision." Nelson felt relieved and went to his room to complete his home assignments so that he could be free to enjoy at the party. Carter came over an house later to copy all his homework.

"Why do you have such awful handwriting? It seems a spider had crawled all over your notebook with inked feet," he grimaced.

"So that you can't copy my work," said Nelson with a laugh. Carter sat down with a magnifying glass to copy word for word. Nelson played video games while he copied. At last it was time to go to the party. Carter was very excited to go to Adam's party as he loved the food at his house.

"His housekeeper makes the most awesome food ever, " he said, his mouth watering at the thought. Adam Steele was an only spoiled son of his billionaire parents. His mansion was teeming with employees and his housekeeper, Greta Martin made the most delicious food ever. Nelson had tasted it many times when he had visited him. Greta Martin was a quiet middle aged lady and Nelson had never heard her voice till date, since he never saw her speak. She was always over burdened with work and kept her eyes down, concentrating upon her work.

He wore a black shirt over his favorite denim jeans and adding a whiff of perfume, he was ready. Carter too stole his signature perfume and added it all over him. Nelson choked. "Dude, how much did you put? The girls will faint if they get near you," he told Carter with a laugh.

Carter looked at him with horror. "Then give me a shirt. A black one like yours," he asked.

"No way. We'll look like retro twins, wearing the same clothes," said Nelson with horror but Carter was Carter, after all. He picked up another black shirt of his and wore it. Now they really looked like retro twins of yesteryear, wearing similar clothes and smelling the same too. Nelson scoffed and  picked up his car keys and walked out to his car with Carter following him out. They both climbed into Nelson's car and drove off to the party. The moment they alighted from the car and went inside, looking all alike, Adam and their whole group chuckled.

"Seriously, you two!" Said Levi with a laugh. They were gathered at the huge living room which was cleared to host the party. Nelson could see nearly all the students from their batch were invited. There were drinks and delicious looking appetizers served on a buffet table where Carter dashed off to.

Nelson greeted his friends and sat with Levi, drinking beer. Carter brought his food and they all stole pieces from him. "I didn't know we had such hot chicks in our batch, " said Carter watching the girls all scantily clad with heavily made up faces drinking and dancing and squealing for no reason.

Levi caught hold of Carter's face and turned it towards him. "Stop eye-ra*ing them, will you?" He said playfully.

"Hey, my food!" Yelled Carter with horror seeing his empty plate. He had just heaped food onto it and his friends stole them all! "Why don't you get your own?" He stomped with disgust to get more. This time, Nelson too followed him to the buffet table. As they were serving food onto their plates, the connecting door to the dining room and kitchen opened on the other side of the table and a young girl emerged with a huge tray of food. Carter smiled at her. Apparently, he knew her already. Nelson was struck by her beauty, her sparkling blue eyes, her rosy, creamy complexion, her long chocolate brown hair had him glued to the spot. She didn't have a single touch of makeup on her and her plain jeans and top and apron wasn't anything fancy. It seemed that she had been slogging in the kitchen making these delicious goodies for them, yet she looked more beautiful than all the girls at the party. She didn't look more than Nineteen, maybe younger.

"Hey, Annalise. How are you?" Greeted Carter with a smile. The girl looked at Nelson and then blushed at his piercing gaze upon her. She then looked at Carter and smiled.

"Hi, I'm fine," she said in a melodious voice. Then she unloaded all the food from her tray, arranging them onto the individual platters.

"Helping your mom?" Asked Carter. The girl smiled at Carter and nodded. Then she smiled shyly and Nelson and disappeared through the door, closing it after her. Nelson still stood staring at the door when Carter poked at his ribs.

"She cooks so well, doesn't she?" Asked Carter,  as he served himself.

"Who are you talking about?" Asked Nelson now with displeasure. He wanted to beat Carter into a pulp since he didn't introduce Annalise to him,

"Annalise Martin,  who else? She's Adam's housekeeper, Greta's daughter," informed Carter. Nelson nodded. So that's who she was. He carried his plate to where his friends were and sat beside Levi to eat but his eyes were glued towards the connecting door in case Annalise appeared again. He had to admit that the food was really good.

An hour passed by and yet she hadn't appeared again. Nelson was restless to go and search for her. His heart was half-heartedly present at the party. He excused himself to go to the washroom. Afterwards, while returning back, he peeped into the dining room to see if she was there.

His heart stopped seeing Annalise standing beside a table in the dining room, giving finishing touches to a huge three-tier birthday cake. Adam's mom, aunt Kelly was supervising her work, yelling at her every now and then. Nelson felt bad since she was really good at her work yet Adam's mom was being too harsh on her. He walked back to the party venue but what his mind was on what he saw.  After a few minutes, Adam announced that they needed to move to the dining room to cut the birthday cake. All their friends cheered and rushed along with him. Levi dragged him along.

"Where are you lost, dude?" He asked. Nelson didn't answer but went along with him. As soon as they reached the dining room, Adam pulled them to his side. The four of them were closest friends after all. Nelson looked around for Annalise but she was no where to be seen.

"No cake smashing, everyone. Just let this be a civilized cake cutting," ordered Adam's mom with a stern voice. Everyone nodded.

"Yes aunt Kelly," they sighed. No one looked happy though. He cut the cake while they cheered and sang. They all fed him a piece and he fed them back. Annalise came with a nervous face to take the cake away to serve everyone. The girls moved back with disgust, seeing her as if they would get dirty by breathing the same air as her. Nelson didn't move. Adam led everyone out of the dining room back to the living room.

"Serve us there," he ordered Annalise over his  shoulder without looking at her.

"Yes sir," she mumbled meekly, carrying the huge cake which looked heavier than her to the trolley. Nelson stood watching her. He wanted to help but was scared of Adam's mom, staring at Annalise, ready to yell at the drop of a hat. One of the girls in their class, brushed past Annalise and the cake wobbled, ready to fall. Nelson rushed forward to help her.