Chapter 9 - Temptation coming

August ten years ago, Yao Family Villa, City K

Lexi walking into the Family villa, annoyed with Andrew, and his friends, Paul Gu, Steven Hou and John Nang. None of them, unlike Matthew, would agree to help her with her English homework. Of all her subjects, English challenged her the most, and the five of them were much better at English than she was.

Thank goodness, Matthew, had caved to her request, and was following her to the Villa. Out of all of Andrew's friends, Matthew was always the one who would give into her pleading the easiest.

As they arrived at the Villa, Lexi asked the staff to send food for them up to her suite in an hour. Unlike Andrew suite and Chester's old suite, which had separate Lounge/Study spaces in their suite, hers was more open plan. She loved it, because it did not make her feel boxed in, but as Matthew followed her to it, she started to question if it was the right space to go.

As they entered, Matthew carefully placed his school bag down near the door, and turned saying "Lexi, your parents will kill me for being here…"

"Well I cannot ask Chester."

"You know he would help you with this Lexi."

"He would have, but since …"

"His marriage to Susan …"

"Yes. It is obvious to all of us even after these few weeks of marriage that he detests her more than he did before their marriage and that it is hell for him. The only thing I can think was that he agreed to the marriage simply to please our grandparents. That should not be a reason to marry anyone. It should be about how you feel about the person.

All Matthew could do was nod. Ever since Chester had married, he realised one thing. but he would never tell anyone. Chester and Phillip were in love with each other but as he remembered from last year's civics classes that was illegal. He would not say anything given he loved his brother and only wanted the best. He just hoped that the law would change and allow them to be together.

Lexi continued "And do not lie to me. Andrew, Paul, Steven and John have all gone off with their so-called girlfriends. They are using them, like you warned me about boys in my class will do to me. Talk about double standards."

All Matthew could do was spit out "Damn it Lexi, you should not say that."

"Matthew, get down off that high horse. Andrew last year gave me the big speech about not dating as all boys my age want to do is sleep with me. You, Paul, Steven, John, Phillip and Chester all stood behind him when he gave me the speech. The last thing I want, when I still have a couple of years of High School left is a relationship. And by the way why are you not with them?"

"Lexi!" came Matthews shocked reply. "That is something I will not answer."

Matthew knew his real answer. He knew that he wanted Lexi to be his girlfriend. Yes, she was eighteen months younger than him, but he had realised seven or eight months earlier how he felt. To pursue her though, he was not going to ruin their friendship, let alone the friendsh.i.p.s he had with Andrew and Chester, or Paul, Steven and John, who all considered her their little sister. He knew that he had to be patient.

Matthew, in a calmer voice said, "Come on. How about, while I start my homework, you work on all your homework other than your English homework and then I will help you on that."

Unhappy, that Matthew was avoiding her question, Lexi responded in a sulky voice "Fine, but you do have to answer me at some time."

Finding some space while Lexi settled at her desk, Matthew sat down and started to work through the homework that he had not been able to complete at School during his free time. He knew that he had to do everything to achieve the best results possible this year. His dream, once he turned eighteen, which would be in the end of high school exam period, is to join the army. He did not want to follow everyone's expectations and join JL International as the business world did not interest him. The better his results the better the options in the military for him.

Just over forty-five minutes later while he was packing his homework back into his bag, Lexi called out and he went over to help her. Sitting so close to her was so tempting, but Matthew was determined not to breach everyone's trust. Quickly, they worked through Lexi's English homework, which surprised them both. As they were finishing, the light food and drink that Lexi had arranged were brought in by the servants, who after placing it on a low table left the two of them alone.