(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 309: A jewel expert

Amir and his grandmother were already at the cafe that they had decided on when he showed up. It was one of the branch locations for the cafe that Kim had started up from the cafe inside of the A & D firm. Andrew knew he was late, and felt terrible for it, but there was nothing he could do.

Talking to his Mom took a lot longer than he had anticipated, and typing through his tears that he was going to be a little bit late had been hard.

Andrew pulled open the door to the cafe, scanning the interior with his slightly puffy eyes. It was a nice interior, with the same concept as the cafe inside of the A & D firm. Tile tops to the tables, pops of colour against more rich wood and cream tones. It was also fairly busy so it took Andrew a moment to pinpoint where Amir and his grandmother were.

Amir was all smiles when he first saw Andrew, but his expression quickly shifted when Andrew began to move towards him and he was about to see how swollen Andrew’s eyes were. He actually looked horrified when he realised what state he was in.

Andrew would be the first to admit, his Mom probably saw less of the bottle then she should have.

"Andy! What happened? Did you and Max have an argument?" Amir asked, terrified and Andrew sniffed, giving him a smile as he wiped his nose. He came to a stop before them, both Amir and his grandmother sitting side by side with a full view of the door. They had done that because they were waiting for him. Andrew felt his heart warm.

"No, it was nothing like that. I stopped by to speak to my Mom before I came here. That’s why I’m a little late." Andrew told Amir. Amir’s eyes widened in a bit of surprise. Amir did know that his Mom was dead. After all, Amir had been there when he’d first met Maxwell’s parents. Slowly his expression softened, looking relieved that he hadn’t fought with Maxwell, but the worry still remained.

Amir’s grandma looked at Andrew, his face stern, before his expression melted into one of understanding. He stood, moving around the table before wrapping Andrew in a hug. It was a tight, motherly hug that after just speaking with his Mom made Andrew feel emotional. After the long, long pause, he sighed, pulling back to hold onto Andrew’s shoulder and then motioning for him to join their table.

"Did the conversation go well?" Amir’s grandmother asked softly and Andrew let out a laugh. He turned his gaze towards the tiled table, a slightly bitter smile on his lips. He took in the drinks that Amir and his grandmother had already ordered, and the fact that there was a third, equally sugary drink there for him as well. Andrew’s heart squeezed.

"You mean my one sided sob fest? I think so." Andrew joked and they both chuckled. Amir’s grandmother squeezed his shoulder tightly before pulling out a chair at the table and forcing Andrew down into it.

"Good. She was probably elated to hear about your life. Did you speak of Maxwell?" He asked and Andrew nodded, sniffing.

"Yeah. I did." Andrew told them, a little shy. He’d said quite a lot about Maxwell after he’d finished sobbing about how much he missed her. Probably as a distraction from all of the negative feelings he was having. He did go on a little bit of a rant about how stupid true alphas were and his mixed feelings about being one, but he was sure they didn’t want to know about that.

Amir’s smile was soft, full of love and affection as he reached across the table, placing his hands on top of Andrew’s. In another life, the three of them could have been considered family. Andrew kind of wished that was true. It would have been nice to have Amir as a cousin or sibling.

Andrew didn’t even know his half-siblings.

Amir’s grandmother sat back down with a groan, the action a little slower than both Amir and Andrew were comfortable with, but he waved them off. "Good." He said. "A Mother likes to hear about how happy a partner makes their child. It brings relief, and usually means more grandbabies." Amir’s grandmother’s smile was unrepentant as Andrew went red. Amir did as well.

"Grandma!" Amir protested and he laughed, tossing his head back, all smiles.

"What? Is that not what you and your dear Ben did? Make grandbabies because you two love each other? This is a happy occasion! Andy is planning to propose! Of course both of these go hand in hand, and he’s already gotten his Mother’s permission, as well as Maxwell’s parents." Amir still looked a bit embarrassed, but he didn’t fight what his grandmother was saying. He just seemed uncomfortable with his grandmother talking about his sex life.

Andrew understood that.

It was at that moment that Andrew’s phone dinged and Andrew pulled it out to see it was a text from Maxwell.

Hope your day is going well. Mom and I just arrived at the hospital. Apparently they’ve been chasing their tail all day so I’ll be here waiting for a bit. Miss you.

Andrew’s hand grabbed over his heart. He was pretty sure this was the first time that he had gotten it in writing that Maxwell actually missed him. He wasn’t sure what to feel beyond being even more sure that this was the right meeting.

Amir’s eyes sparkled as he stared at Andrew’s face.

"Who is it from?" He asked, practically knowing who it was from already. Andrew gulped.

"Max. He said he...missed me." Andrew said carefully, the words feeling strange but in a good way on his lips. He couldn’t stop the goofy smile that crossed his lips either. "It’s the first time I’ve gotten it in writing." Andrew told them and both men sitting across from him had soft expressions.

Amir’s grandmother reached out, placing his hand on top of Amir’s on Andrew’s hand.

"A good omen then. Alright. I’ve brought some catalogs that we need to look over. This process, depending on what style you choose, could take a short time, or a while." Andrew swallowed as he got down to business. Amir’s grin was infectious as his grandmother turned, and grabbed a bag that was heavy with binders. Andrew made space on the table top for him to put it down and he waved a dismissive hand. "Respond back to your future fiancé. I would rather you spend your time doing that, then making him worry you are up to something nefarious." Amir’s grandmother scolded, and Andrew fumbled.

He was right, of course. It would do no one any good if Andrew made Maxwell think he was doing something untoward. It would break Andrew’s heart, actually.

That’s upsetting. Hang in there! I miss you too! Love you lots <3<3<3<3 I’ll probably be home in the afternoon, don’t know when but I’ll let you know closer to the time so we can plan what to do for dinner! :)

Andrew sent off his text with a few more hearts before he nodded, satisfied. Amir was all smiles when Andrew looked up. He was helping his grandmother sort the binders out in front of them. His grandmother had a serious, slightly stern look to his face, but it was his eyes that were giving him away. They were soft, like Amir’s and Andrew knew that he had made the right call.

"Have you ever looked for a ring before?" Amir’s grandmother asked, casually. Carefully. Amir’s gaze darted to Andrew, trying to get a read on him and Andrew just shook his head, chuckling.

"No. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I would get married. I thought I would, but given the fact that I hadn’t even begun to look for a ring with my previous partner...maybe I knew something was up, I just didn’t want to admit it." Amir’s grandmother nodded in understanding, while Amir himself reached out and placed his hand on top of Andrew’s again.

"That’s okay. It’s better that you don’t know anything, actually. That means the ring choice isn’t influenced by anything else. Did you have anything in mind? Stone type, carat, anything?" Amir asked softly and Andrew shook his head.

"No. Not really. I just know I want something that screams Maxwell, but also something that isn’t a burden to him." Andrew said and Amir’s grandmother scoffed.

"A burden? If he views it as that, Andy, I’ll knock some sense into him. You aren’t that, nor is your ring." He scolded, waving a finger at Andrew before looking at the binds on the binders, then opening one and passing it over to Andrew.

Andrew adjusted the drinks on the table so that nothing spilled as he was handed the binder. Amir’s grandmother was patient and kind as he described how to look through the binders.

Andrew felt like he was going to faint as he realised why they were using binders, and not anything electronic. Inside of the binders were little plastic sleeves, and inside of the sleeves were gems.

Of all kinds.

Andrew tried to mentally calculate how much money was sitting on this little table, but felt his brain short circuit. Amir’s grandmother noticed his behaviour and snorted, pulling out his phone and handing it to Andrew.

"Each stone had a mock up design. You can see that some are cut, and some are uncut. I wanted you to see what the uncut gems looked like first and give you the website showing you what we could do with them first. They have a wide variety, and therefore have a lot of options. Once we come up with a style you are looking for, we’ll narrow it down from there." He told Andrew, his eyes narrow, but a smile on his lips. "I hope you’re ready." He warned and Andrew gulped.

He might not be as ready as he thought.