Chapter 595

Benson’s dinner invitation was for his place the wooden cabin in the mountains.
Penelope had some bad memories of the place, and even after steeling herself, she wasn’t prepared for what she walked into.
Because Benson hadn’t just invited her. He’d also invited Sherry, her colleague, and Theodore. The moment the three of them saw each other, Theodore’s face
darkened, while she and Sherry were mortified.
Benson just chuckled and came over. “Let me introduce you all.”
Sherry took a deep breath. “Didn’t I tell you the other night that, uh, I already know Ms. Laurier?”
She nudged Benson pointedly. What on earth was her brother thinking?
“I know you two know each other, but Theodore and Ms. Laurier don’t. I have to introduce them,” Benson said, looking completely baffled.
Sherry couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “And how did I tell you I knew Ms. Laurier?”
“You said Ms. Laurier is Theodore’s ex-wife
At that, Benson finally realized his mistake.
He smacked his forehead, suddenly looking just as awkward as everyone else.
Lately, his mind had been so consumed with his script that he had no brainpower left for anything else.
“Ahem, well, introductions are still in order. Theodore and Ms. Laurier definitely don’t know your colleague.”
Benson forged ahead, but when he got to Sherry’s colleague, a rather pretty young woman, he fumbled again.
“What was your name again?”
This time, Sherry completely lost it and kicked him.
Benson was cooking himself, so to escape the awkwardness, Sherry led Penelope and her colleague to the pond behind the house for coffee.
While the colleague was in the restroom, Sherry whispered to Penelope, “My brother is in his thirties and still single. I introduced him to my colleague, they’ve been texting for days, and he can’t even remember her name. I could just strangle him!”
Penelope stifled a laugh. “Mr. Cooper is… unique.”
“You mean he’s an oddball, don’t you?”
Penelope pressed her lips together. He was more than an oddball; the man was certifiably insane.
Who else would gather his own sister, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s ex-wife in the same room?
Inside, Benson brought a platter of fruit to the fireplace where Theodore was sitting in the room’s only armchair He had one leg crossed
over the other, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window.
The window framed a picturesque scene of distant mountains, but compared to the
profile of his face, the scenery was just a backdrop.
Benson sidled up to him. “The protagonist in my new script is based on you.”
Theodore turned to glance at him. “You said the same thing about your last script. And the one before that.”
“That’s because you are my muse!”
“What crime did I commit to deserve this?”
Benson smiled and offered him the fruit platter. “Everyone has many sides but not everyone’s sides are so captivating. Every facet of you leaves me breathless, so I have to write each one into my work.”
Theodore sighed. If he didn’t owe Benson his life, he would never subject himself to this psychological torture.
“So, Ms. Laurier is your ex-wife.”
When Theodore didn’t take any fruit, Benson picked up an apple and started eating it himself.
“Can’t you ever focus on reality?”
“The woman who abandoned you, forcing you to walk back to Orenth in a snowstorm which led to you
getting knocked off a hillside and nearly dying… so that’s what she looks like.”
“Shut up.”
“You still love her.”
Theodore froze and turned to look at Benson.
Benson sighed. “If I had met your ex-wife sooner, I never would have introduced my
sister to you.”