“Who called earlier?” Ariel asked Joe as they sat in the kitchen of her house after the dinner with Mrs. Cheng.

            “Oh, it was Bianca.” Joe answered nonchalantly.

            Ariel raised her eyebrows.

            “Bianca is… She’s….”

            “You don’t have a secret girlfriend tucked away somewhere do you?”

            “It’s nothing like that!” Joe hastily assured her. “It’s just that it’s complicated.”

            “Kindly explain.” Ariel went to fetch some cookies and coffee.

            “Alright. You remember that story I told you in the garden about how Melissa helped my Mom through school and everything?”

            “Yes, but what does that have to do with Bianca?”

            “Well, when I was about nine, Mom wanted to help someone the way Melissa helped her. Dad travelled a lot for work, and Mom always wanted a girl. Because of that, she took in a foster child, who happened to be Bee – Bianca. Bee’s had a traumatic childhood. She was abandoned by her mother at birth and her adopted mother was not someone you want to live with. Bee was kind of like Cinderella without her Fairy Godmother. When she was six, her adopted mother got into an argument with her boyfriend. Someone fired a gun, the boyfriend was taken into custody, and the government decided that Bee shouldn’t live in that kind of an environment. She went through two foster homes before she came to live with us.”

            “So you knew her when you were young?”

            “Sort of. Mom fell in love with Bee. I think that’s the only way to describe it. Bee reminded her of herself, and when I was 11, Mom formally adopted her and she lived with us until she went to Japan to dance three years ago.”

            “So she’s your adopted sister?”

            “Yes. She never calls my Mom ‘Mom’ though. I think it’s trauma from her first adopted mother.”

            “Wow.” Here’s a girl with a worse childhood than me. “What’s she like? As in personality-wise.”

            “Bee is… well, let’s put it this way. She’s so perfect that even catty girls can’t dislike her because she is so astoundingly nice.”

            “Wow.”

           “Yeah. She’s really pretty but also spirited and flighty. She’s good at everything – school, athletics, art – you name it, she can do it. Because of that, she hasn’t ever settled down with one thing for long. Before she found ballet, she tried all sorts of other jobs and careers. Her fashion sense changes every three seconds, and she hasn’t ever had a best friend or steady boyfriend throughout high school. That drove Mom nuts.”

            “Wow.”

            “Mom’s happy now. She’s been with her boyfriend, Ethan, for almost two years.” He grimaced, “Mom wants grandchildren. Badly.”

            “Ah.” Wow, this girl is amazing…

            “When can I give you your present?” Joe asked Ariel when she’s been silent for a few moments.

            “Hm…?” Ariel asked. She had almost fallen asleep as she had been lying with her head in Joe’s lap.

            “You said you don’t want to get your present until you gave me yours. So when can I give it to you?”

            “Tomorrow should be ok.” Ariel yawned. “Remember the price limit.”

            “It’s not over the limit. I’ll show you a receipt if you care so much.” Joe pretended to sound wounded.

            Ariel laughed. “I just don’t want your present to be 10 times better than mine.”

            “Oh don’t worry,” Joe said enigmatically, “my present will be better than yours for sure.”

            “We’ll see!” Ariel yawned again. “Gosh, I’m really tired.”

            “We’ll, that’s my cue to get lost.” Joe dipped down to kiss Ariel. A quick peck on the lips turned much more enthusiastic than he had anticipated, and soon, Joe’s brain felt foggy. After a long time – or it seemed so to Joe – his brain woke up and he pulled away.

            “You could stay over.”

            “What?” Joe looked utterly shocked.

            “Get your mind out of the gutter.” Ariel wacked him slightly. “I meant you could crash on the sofa. It’s getting late.”

            “I would, but I’m afraid I would be tempted to do other stuff.” Joe said only half jokingly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

            “Sure, Ariel followed Joe to the door, and to his great surprise, gave him a quick peck on the lips before shutting the door quickly behind him.

—————————-

            “Hey Papa.” Rainie smiled into the receiver.

            “Hey Raindrops.” Mr. Yang said affectionately. “How are you doing?”

            “I’m fine.” Rainie chirped. “I’m starting school right after new years.”

            “Terrific. I hope that once you start school, you won’t go shopping quite so much.”

            “Hey! Papa, I’m already regulating my spending habits!” Rainie protested.

            “Yes, I know. You haven’t maxed out your credit card yet.” Mr. Yang joked.

            “Alright Papa, I get it.” Rainie rolled her eyes. “Why are you calling me today? You’ve already wished me a ‘Merry Christmas’ yesterday.”

            “What, I can’t call my daughter up to see how she’s doing?”

            “You know you don’t do that sort of thing.”

            “Alright.” Mr. Yang turned serious. “Do you remember Wilber Pan?”

            “Pan… Pan…” Rainie thought hard. “You mean the son of the President of Pan Corps, the shipping company?”

            “That’s the one.”

            “What about him?” Rainie had a bad feeling about this.

            “Well, we’re in the middle of signing a business deal.”

            “Papa, you run a large online auction business, why are you signing a deal with a shipping company?”

            “The deal if for us to ship our products exclusively by them. This way, we can increase our shipping efficiency and lower costs. It’s also good for them because they will get more business.”

            “What does this have to do with me?” Rainie was feeling nauseous.

            “One of the terms on the contract is for a marriage between you and Wilber.” Mr. Yang stated clearly.

            “Oh.”

            “Don’t ‘oh’ me Raindrops. You knew that your mother and I are looking for a good husband for you.”

            “No, you’re looking for a good heir to inherit your business.”

            “Yes we are. And I won’t lie to you. Wilber’s born in the States and has a MBA from Harvard. He’s actually heading the signing of this new deal with us, and all I can say is: he’s doing terrific work.”

            “Why would he agree to marry me? Is he ugly? Or is he disfigured.”

            “Really Raindrops, would your mother and I pick an ugly or disfigured husband for you? As to why he agreed to marry you, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

            Rainie stayed silent.

            “You knew this was going to happen Rainie. Your mother and I gave you a choice to study commerce and take over the family business. But you wanted to study History.”

            “I don’t want to take over the family business Papa.”

            “Yes, but if you don’t, who will? You’re an only child Raindrops. Our deal was that you would study whatever you want, but your mother and I will find a suitable candidate for you to marry.”

            “I didn’t think it was going to be this soon Papa. I’m only 20.” What about Mike…?

            “And twenty is high time to get married. Your mother had you when she was 21.”

            “Papa, just because you and Mama are happy with your arranged marriage doesn’t mean we all would be!”

            “Wilber is a nice man and he will make the perfect husband for you.” Mr. Yang said with finality.

            “Papa, I’m not going to marry a man I haven’t even met.”

            “You will meet him. He is coming to Vancouver in the new year.” Mr. Yang had anticipated her reply. “I will talk to you later.”

            “Papa!” Rainie exclaimed into the now silent receiver. “Shit!”

——————–

Izumic is a busy bee right now, please leave a message, and she will get back to you when she can breathe. *beep*

PS. She’s sorry about not being able to update soon!

“Be nice. Please?” Joe asked his mom the afternoon before Ariel was supposed to come to his house.

“I am always nice.” Mrs. Cheng pretended to look offended.

“Mom! You never approve of my girlfriends.”

“The only one you’ve ever brought home before was Natasha, and I knew she was trouble the moment I saw her.”

“Mom…” Joe sounded a bit whiny.

“It’s true.” Mrs. Cheng gave her son a look and was glad to see that he didn’t look depressed when she mentioned Natasha. There had been more than a few moments in the past two years that Anita had been worried whether Joe would ever come out of his shell and feel again.

“Ariel’s nothing like Natasha though. I’m sure you’ll like her. And don’t forget her sister is coming too.”

“I didn’t forget. Poor kids. To be without parents when they are so young.” Mrs. Cheng sighed. She knew exactly what that felt like. She had been lucky though. Very lucky.

——————-

“Remember to smile.” Ariel whispered as she rang the door bell.

“I know I know.” Miranda sounded annoyed, “why are you so freaked out.”

“I just don’t want to appear like an idiot.” Ariel fidgeted.

“Don’t worry Ari, you are one already.” Miranda quipped.

“Brat.”

The door opened and Joe grinned at the two sisters.

“Hey guys, come on in.”

“Thanks Joe.” Miranda said as Joe shut the door behind them.

“You can give me your coats and go right in.”

“I’d much rather wait for you.” Miranda poked Ariel. “You ok sis?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ariel smiled serenely.

“Come on guys, my mom is nice.” Joe motioned them to follow him once he had hung up their coats.

Mrs. Cheng met them at the door of the dining room and Joe introduced the girls.

“Allow me to introduce you to each other.” Joe said in a faux French accent.

Mrs. Cheng gave him a light slap on the side of his head, “ignore this goofball here, I’m Anita.”

Ariel smiled and shook Mrs. Cheng’s hand. “Hi Auntie, I’m Ariel and this is my sister Miranda.”

Mrs. Cheng smiled warmly. “I hope you guys are hungry. I’ve prepared enough food to feed a small army.”

“A small army eats less than these two.” Joe supplied, but quickly pretended to be studying his nails when Miranda glared at him.

—————————–

“So where are you from Ariel?” Mrs. Cheng asked when the desserts came.

“My parents are from Taiwan, but I was born in Kitchener.” Ariel’s mind switched to defensive mode. She didn’t want to give away anything she shouldn’t.

“Really? I’m from that area too.” Mrs. Cheng looked surprised.

“I know. Joe told me when he showed me your beautiful garden.”

“I love that garden. Joe told you the story behind it?”

“Yes he did.”

The conversation turned awkward again.

“So Joe told me you parents have passed away.” Mrs. Cheng started again.

“Yes.”

“Don’t interrogate her Mom.” Joe looked at Ariel apologetically.

“No worries.” Ariel smiled. “I don’t mind.”

“My father passed away when I was four in a car accident. My mother died of cancer when I was twelve.” Miranda volunteered without further prodding. This lie usually stopped people from asking too many more questions.

“That’s too bad.” Mrs. Cheng looked sympathetic.

“Yes, I miss them.” Ariel agreed.

“I’ve always wondered Ariel, where your name came from.” Joe asked when the conversation petered away again. “Did your parents really like the ‘Little Mermaid’?”

“Oh no.” Ariel laughed a little. “The ‘Little Mermaid’ wasn’t even made when I was born.”

“Then where did it come from?” Joe was intrigued.

“Shakespeare.” Miranda grinned when Joe looked confused.

“It’s from ‘The Tempest’.” Ariel explained. “My father was an English teacher and loved Shakespeare. Both ‘Ariel’ and ‘Miranda’ came from ‘The Tempest’. Ariel was the playful spirit and Miranda was a generous and kind girl.”

Joe was still confused.

“Just read ‘The Tempest’ later Joe.” Mrs. Cheng chuckled. “To explain the plot to you is going to take a while.”

“You’re familiar with the play then?” Miranda asked Mrs. Cheng.

“Indeed. ‘The Tempest’ was one of my good friend’s favourite plays.”

“It was my father’s favourite as well. That’s why we are named after people in it.”

“Your last name is Zhang, right?”

“Yes.” Ariel’s smiled a little to disguise the lie.

“The only Zhang I know from Kitchener is named Henry. Do you happen to know him?”

“I’m not sure” Ariel pretended to think and looked at Miranda.

“I don’t think so.” Miranda volunteered. “Our family moved to Toronto when we were both really young.”

——————–

“Joe, do you want to take Miranda to see the garden upstairs? I don’t believe she has seen it before.” Mrs. Cheng said after all the dishes have been cleared away.

“Ok, sure. Come on.” He gestured to Ariel and Miranda.

“Leave Ariel here with me for a minute, I want to talk to her.” Mr. Cheng smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t eat her.”

“Alright,” Joe sounded hesitant. He gave Ariel a worried look, which lifted when she smiled reassuringly back.

“So…” Mrs. Cheng started when Joe and Miranda left, “I just have a few questions for you dear.”

“Sure Auntie.” Ariel leaned back on the couch she was sitting on. She looked calm on the outside, but inside, her mind was racing. What could she possibly want to ask and how much should I say?

“How long have you and Joe been going out for?”

“A few days.” Ariel sighed internally with relief. She would not have to lie more about herself.

“Really?” Mrs. Cheng looked surprised. Joe didn’t bring Natasha home until six months into their relationship…

“Yes. Is that surprising?” Ariel tacked that on as an afterthought.

“Yes it is. You’re special Ariel.”

“Thanks Auntie.” Ariel smiled.

“I know this is going to sound weird coming from me,” Mrs. Cheng looked serious. “but please don’t hurt Joe.”

“Can I hurt him?” Ariel smiled wryly.

“I don’t know how he feels about you, but he takes relationships seriously… Perhaps too seriously.”

“Oh.” Ariel didn’t know what to say.

“I know that me saying this is odd, but I’m his mother and I worry about him. His last girlfriend-“ Mrs. Cheng trailed off.

“I understand that he has had a bad breakup in the past, and I assure you Mrs. Cheng, that I am serious about Joe.” Ariel supplied. But for how long? How long can I stay here and be with him? Sooner or later I will have to leave. Is it wrong to want to be with him, even if we have no future?

“That’s good –“ The phone suddenly rang. “Excuse me.”

—————————-

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Miranda asked Joe as they sat on the bench in the garden.

“Probably me.” Joe shrugged. “Mom’s always worry about me.”

“I heard about your last girlfriend.”

“How?” Joe looked surprised.

“Mike.”

“Chatter box.”

“No, it was just that after that time when you said those stupid things to Ariel, Mike tried to make us understand why you did it.”

“So how much do you know?”

“How much is there to know?” Miranda asked instead.

Joe rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. Does Ari know?”

“She knows you had an ex-girlfriend who dumped you, but not much more than that.”

“Alright, please don’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to give her ideas.” Joe joked.

“Joe!” Mrs. Cheng called from downstairs. “Phone!”

“I’m coming Mom.” Joe yelled.

“Come on, let’s go downstairs.” He said to Miranda.

———————-

“Hello?” Joe asked into the phone.

“How’s it going?” Bianca asked over the phone.

“Bee! I haven’t heard from you in a while.” Joe grinned. “I’m fine. How’s Japan.”

“Japan is fine and so am I,” Bianca quipped. “Busy of course.”

“Right, Ms. Prima Donna Ballerina.”

“You’re just jealous.” Bianca’s smile could be heard over the line.

Joe laughed. “Ok, ok. I admit, I want to dress up in a tutu and dance in front a whole bunch of adoring fans too.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of girls chasing you after that.” She teased.

“So how’s Ethan?” Joe changed topics when he realized that he was going to get teased more by her if he said anything else. It has been like that since they were teens. Bee was a year younger than him, but she always out-argued, out-teased, and outshined him in everything.

“He’s fine. Still really busy with that computer company he’s starting up.” Bianca sounded down. “Ethan’s been ecstatic lately because the company is actually making money now, and he’s miffed that I’m leaving Japan to go to New York to dance. He said he’ll wait for me, but he doesn’t seem all that happy about it.”

“He’ll come around Bee. You know he loves you. He just wants to settle down, marry you, and have lots of children.”

“I know he does, and it’s what I want… But I want my career too. I am so close to realizing my lifelong dream. In half a year, I’ll be dancing the part of Odette at the Lincoln Center. How can I give up something I worked my entire life for?” She sounded forlorn.

“Cheer up. Ethan understands how much you love ballet.”

“I know, but he doesn’t see that I have room for ballet and him in my life. This is once in a lifetime opportunity, and he thinks I’m betraying him by picking it over him.”

“You know he’ll come around.” Joe sounded awkward. He never really knew what advice to give to her. At least he could talk to her and talking about stuff like this always made her feel better.

“Sorry I’m unloading all of my problems on you.”

“Now problem. You always do the same for me.”

“Thanks Joe.” Bianca sounded grateful.

“Oh, I have an idea to cheer you up! Mom and I will go see your first show at the Lincoln Center.”

“Really?” Bianca sounded extremely happy. “It would be great if you and Auntie are there.”

“Sure. I think Dad has enough Airmiles saved up from his travelling and I haven’t seen you in forever.”

A noise from the living room distracted Joe for a moment. “Anyways, it’s great talking to you, but we’ve got guests over. I’ll call you later, ok?”

Bianca was silent for a few moments, then exclaimed. “Joe Cheng! You have a new girlfriend!”

“How do you know?” Joe was amazed.

“It’s obvious. Oh my God! What’s her name, what’s she like?” She paused. “Is she anything like Natasha?”

“I’ll tell you all about her later, but nope, she’s nothing like Natasha.”

“Good.” Bianca said with finality. “I’ll call you later.”

———

I’m sorry for not updating for so long. I’ve been ridiculously busy with random stuff. I hope you’ve enjoyed this double update…? I’ll be back with another update soon, but after that, I may not update for a while again because 1) I’m busy (I really need to find a better excuse) and 2) I’m having a bit of a writers dilemma. I’m not sure what direction to take the story in and I need to sort that out a bit more.

If you like my story or have any constructive criticism, please let me know by commenting!

Thanks!

Ariel sat in a pew beside Miranda in the small church they chose to attend. It was Christmas Eve, so it was pretty crowed. Somehow no one thinks of God until Christmas. Ariel thought ironically. And that includes me. But then again, I’m not exactly religious.

Miranda felt her sister fidgeting besides her and frowned a little. Ariel always seem to be restless in churches, yet she always insisted on going to one on Christmas Eve, no matter where they are. Miranda could see why. Being here made it easier to remember her parents. She still remember the last time her entire family was in a church. She had been eight, and it was the last happy memory she had of her family. I’m sorry Daddy; I didn’t mean to drop that reindeer. Would we still be a happy family going to church if I didn’t drop it? Miranda could feel tears forming, but she stopped them. If Ariel saw, she would be worried, and Ariel had enough to worry about.

Ariel let the priest’s soothing voice wash over her and tried to relax. Sitting here like this made her feel as if she was still 12 and her entire family was sitting beside her. Tranquility was not something she felt very often – if at all – and if she could hold on to the past a little longer, she was willing to do almost anything. She missed them so much.

I love you all. Mom. Dad… and… I’m sorry. I love you. I am really, really sorry. Ariel gave herself permission to cry.

Miranda could feel Ariel crying, but she pretended not to notice. Ariel only ever cried on Christmas Eve. It was as if she was getting a year worth of sorrow out of her system on this particular day. It’s a good thing I guess. Miranda thought. She needs it.

——————————

“I’ll get it!” Ariel called out and went to the door. “Hey Josh, come on in.”

“Hey Ariel.” Josh handed her a cake. “My mom made it.”

“Thanks!” Ariel laughed and put the cake in the fridge. “Miranda’s in her room.”

Shrugging off his jacket, Josh went to Miranda’s room.

Ariel went back to baking cookies. After putting last tray of sugar cookies in the oven, she turned on the TV.

There was a knock on the door, and Ariel was extremely surprised to discover who was standing on her door step.

“Oh, hey Joe.” Ariel opened the door wider. “What are you doing here?”

“Mira invited me yesterday, didn’t she tell you?” Joe stepped in to the basement and thrust a large bag at her, “It’s a present for Mira. I got your present too, but since you insisted on exchanging it later…”

“Alright” Ariel laughed and put the bag under Herb.

Joe hugged her from behind.

Ariel yelped in surprise, “What are you doing?”

“Hugging you.” Joe grinned.

Ariel gave him a light punch, but didn’t pull away.

“You’re warm.” Joe gave her a quick kiss.

“You need to stop molesting my sister Joe.” Miranda was standing at the door of the kitchen grinning. Josh, who was behind her, gave Joe an apologetic look.

Ariel pulled away from Joe, who pouted at her.

“You’re not wearing PJ’s.” Miranda said pointedly.

“I’m wearing them, they’re just underneath my coat.” Joe said defensively.

“Josh, you haven’t met Joe yet have you?” Ariel asked Josh.

“Nope. I’m Josh if you haven’t figured that out yet.” Josh waved to Joe.

“I’m Joe, it’s nice to meet you.” Joe took his coat off.

Everyone started laughing.

“What?” Joe looked at his pyjamas.

“Pikachu?” Ariel collapsed on the floor laughing.

“What’s wrong with Pikachu?” Joe demanded indignantly.

———————-

“Ariel.”

“Hm…?” Ariel fidgeted. She was sleeping on Joe, who was trying to shake her awake.

“What do you think your sister and Josh are doing?”

“I don’t know.” Ariel opened her eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost four.” Joe looked at his watch. “Seriously, Mira and Josh has been in her room for hours, are you afraid…?”

“That they’re going to ‘do it’?” Ariel air quoted.

“Er… yeah.”

“Nope.”

“But she’s really young.”

“I know.” Ariel remembered when she and Mira had “the talk”.

———————–

==Flashback==

“I know what you want to say Ari, so you can save your breath.” Miranda grinned, “I was wondering when you were going to give me this talk.”

“Brat.” Ariel glared at Miranda. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you any more than you want to have it with me.”

“I know, I know.”

“Seriously Mira, what you choose to do with Josh is none of my business. Just be careful,” Ariel winced slightly, “and use protection.”

“I know.” Miranda turned more serious as well. “I don’t want to drag along a child with the way we live, and STI’s are just unpleasant.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. What do you want for dinner?” Ariel went to the kitchen.

=End of Flashback==

—————————-

“Does that mean we can do it too?” Joe sounded hopeful.

“Gross.” Ariel leapt up from the couch.

“You’re older than Mira.” Joe began unbuttoning his Pikachu pyjamas.

Ariel looked positively mortified and bolted towards the washroom, leaving a very amused Joe.

“Come on Ariel, come out of there. I promise I won’t attack you.”

Ariel poked her head out and looked at him warily before walking out.

Joe immediately grabbed her and kissed her.

The kiss was not gentle but surprisingly intimate. Ariel felt her embarrassment and apprehension slip away as she kissed Joe back. It was as though she was floating on a cloud and she felt lightheaded. Finally, Joe pulled away.

Ariel turned scarlet. “What happened to not attacking me?”

“That was not attacking. You want me to show you what attacking is?”

“Joe!”

“Ok, ok, no more teasing. You just react so strongly. Are you sure you’re 23? You’re acting like a teenager.”

It was this comment that sobered Ariel. If you only knew Joe. “I’m just not very comfortable with this sort of stuff.”

“You were doing fine.” Joe grinned suggestively.

“Perv.”

“Oh yeah? How about I demonstrated further?” Joe leaned towards her again.

Ariel squirmed out of his grasp. “Really, there’s no need.”

Joe was not deterred. “I say there’s plenty of need.”

Ariel started giggling at the close proximity of Pikachu’s on Joe’s PJ. “Honestly!”

Joe stuck his tongue out and then kissed her again.

———————

“It’s gorgeous here.” Rainie smiled happily.

“It’s cold here.” Mike shivered. They were walking along the beach after they exchanged Christmas gift. The night was clear but chilly, and since Rainie was cold earlier, Mike had acted gentlemanly and gave her his coat. Now he was freezing.

“Oh come on. Look at the lights and the stars.” She gestured to the houses on the North Shore Mountains.

“Yes, the lights are nice, but I don’t see any stars.” Mike could feel his teeth chattering. He sneezed. “Can we please continue this conversation somewhere else? I’m going to freeze into an iceberg.”

“But Ariel told me Vancouver was warm compared to where she was from.” Rainie teased. Mike looked so cute at the moment.

“Ariel is crazy.” Mike sneezed again. Then, gently, he grabbed Rainie, threw her over his shoulder and started walking to his car.

“Stop! Put me down you oaf!” Rainie giggled.

“I’m here, what do you want from me.”

“So glad you could join us man.” Jason slurred. “Go grab a drink.”

“I’d rather not. I have to drive back home.”

“Dude, don’t be such a goody two shoe. Drink up!”

Before Joe had a chance to refuse again, Tiffany sauntered up to him.

“Joe, honey you came.” She smiled dopily.

“Tiff, are you ok?”

“Oh yeah, fine. Never been better.” She tried to drape her body over Joe.

“Tiff!” Joe straightened her as she started to tilt. “How many drinks did you have.”

“Oh, not many.” She rubbed against him and pulled on his hand. “Let’s get a room.”

“Oh you two have fun.” Jason grinned and made an obscene gesture.

“Tiff, I have a girlfriend.” Joe ignored Jason.

“Oh what does that matter? That ugly bitch wouldn’t expect you to be exclusive. She should be happy that you’re even looking at her.” She slurred. Pulling hard on his hand, she led him tipsily to the stairs.

“Tiffany Xu!” He jerked her back.

“Yes?” She leaned up and tried to kiss him. “Don’t say anything baby, just enjoy what I’m going to do with you.”

“I’m taking you home.”

“You want to go home?” She seemed really happy. “Your place or mine?”

“I’m not going to sleep with you!”

“What if I want you to fuck me?”

“Tiff, you’re drunk!”

“Oh psh.” She pulled him towards the stairs, meandering through a throng of dancing people, “I’ve wanted you since we were 12. Except that slut Bianca was always there.”

“Tiff, do you know what you’re saying? Bee is my sister!”

“Oh, you know she wanted you. Why else would she always wear those short little skirts and tights around you all the time?”

“Those skirts were tutus and Bianca is a ballerina!” Joe gave up arguing with her. “You’re inebriated, I’m taking you home.”

Against her protests, Joe picked her up – princess style – towards the door.

————————

“Here,” Ariel pushed a cup of coffee across the counter. “Drink up. You look dead.”

“Thanks.” Joe raised his head gratefully, took a giant gulp of coffee, only to realize it was hot, and spat it back in his cup.

Ariel took the cup from him and emptied it. “What’s with you today? Fresh coffee is hot, remember?”

“There was a party at Jason’s house, and I went.”

“Jason the guy with the spiky hair that always has a harem after him?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you guys were friends.”

“We aren’t. He always insists on having me go to these parties. I tried taking Tiffany home because she was drunk, but then I got stopped on the way and Jason and Brian teamed up on me.”

“What did they do?”

“They forced me to drink two shots of some really strong liquor thing. I don’t even know what it is – and I never want to try it again – but then I got too drunk to drive home, so I crashed there.”

“So for these parties, people always drink, do drugs, and have sex right.”

“Yeah.” Joe just realized what he said. “I mean, I just slept there – not with anyone.”

Ariel crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow.

“What? I’m not lying.”

“You better not be.” Ariel smiled a saccharine sweet smile.

Joe wisely refrained from talking replying.

—————————

“Flour, check, corn starch, check, candy canes, check, chocolate, check, turkey, check, PJ’s for Miranda, check.” Now what type of cereal should I buy? Cheerios are so bland and so are Rice Krispies. It’s near Christmas, so I should splurge a little… But I’m working fewer shifts this month because it’s Christmas and it’s a tight squeeze for rent already…

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Ariel turned at the sound of a high feminine voice and groaned inwardly. “Hello Tiffany.”

“So I see you couldn’t wait before sinking your claws into him could you.”

“I beg your pardon?” Ariel turned back to inspecting the cereal again. She looked utterly relaxed, though beneath that calm veneer, she was a full defensive mode.

“Joe. You couldn’t wait before you crawled into his bed could you.”

“Nope. You know what Joe’s like in bed. He’s insatiable.” Ariel then smiled pleasantly.

“You bitch!” Tiffany tossed her hair, “It’s not like you can satisfy him the way I can. Did Joe tell you that we slept together at Jason’s party the other night? Just wait ‘till he dumps your slutty ass and crawl back to me.”

“Yes, and he also told me how ‘hot’ it was to have sex with someone who just puked all over him.” Ariel winked.

“Bitch!” Tiffany tried to slap Ariel, but Ariel effortlessly twisted her arm behind her back.

“Listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once.” Ariel whispered into her ears. “Stay away from me or I will have no qualms about hurting you. It will be easy for me and oh so painful for you. If you want Joe, go ahead and try to seduce him. You and I both know he doesn’t give a damn about you or he wouldn’t be with me. So why don’t you leave now,” here Ariel gave her a little push, “while you are still relatively unscathed.”

And with that, Ariel turned back to her cereal.

“He’s going to be mine.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why is he going to be yours?”

“Because I want him!”

“Too bad dear, because he doesn’t want you.” Ah! A Fruit Loops sale! All that food coloring can’t be good for the liver though. Oh well, we’ll only eat it once a year. At least they look festive.

————————–

“Joe asked me to have dinner at his house on Boxing Day.” Ariel said as she and Miranda are putting up their Christmas decorations.

“Really? That’s awesome. Does that mean you’ll meet his mom?” Miranda pinned the poster of a Christmas tree on the wall.

“Yes it does. He invited you as well.” Ariel looked at the Christmas tree. “Herbert looks a bit crooked.”

Miranda took a close look at Herbert the poster. “Oh yeah.”

“So you want to go?” Ariel straightened the poster. They have used Herb as their substitute Christmas tree for the last two years.

“Sure, why not. If I’m not there, who is going to prevent you from being uncouth?”

“Be quiet before I throw Herb at you.”

Miranda giggled. “You can try.”

———————-

“Hey Mira, is your sister around?” Joe asked when Miranda opened the door of the basement.

“Ariel’s just getting ready. Where are you guys going today?”

“Just shopping. No where special.”

“Alright. Make sure you have her back by seven. It’s our tradition to have dinner at eight on Christmas Eve.”

“Jeez, you guys have a million traditions.”

“Yup, we do.” Something occurred to Miranda. “You want to come over tomorrow?”

“I thought you guys have a ‘family day tradition’ tomorrow?” Joe said sourly.

“We do, which is that both of us must stay home and hang out. My boyfriend, Josh is coming, so why don’t you?”

“Ok. What should I bring?”

“Food, oh and wear your pyjamas, hopefully ones that don’t show off too much… stuff. I know you’re trying to seduce my sister, but tomorrow’s not the day to do it.”

“Someone’s seducing me?” Ariel walked in to the living room.

“Who? Me?” Joe grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Miranda shoved both Ariel and Joe out.

————————–

“I’m stuffed.” Rainie leaned back into her seat, leaving one last piece of sushi on her plate.

“Finally.” Mike grinned. “I can’t believe you can eat so much sushi. What do you have in your stomach? A dark hole?”

“Black hole. Not a dark hole.” Rainie rolled her eyes.

“Same difference,” Mike took the last sushi off Rainie’s plate and ate it.

“Pig. That was mine.” Rainie glared at Mike.

“You said you were full.” Mike replied.

“So?” Rainie demanded.

“Waiter, check please!”

——————

Hey Guys!

I hope you liked this update. I really would like to hear from you, so please do comment!

“Phew! We’re finally done!” Mike threw his huge bio book in the air. It did an ungraceful spin in the air before promptly landing in a mud puddle.

“Hm… Mike?” Ariel snickered.

“What?”

“You need that book next term.”

“Aw Shit!” Mike quickly retrieved the book, but it was almost fully soaked through.

Laughing at Mike’s attempts at drying off his book, Joe and Ariel yelled a quick good-bye to him before heading off to Joe’s house. The accounting final was tomorrow, and Ariel had pleaded with Joe for some last minute reviews.

“You know everything already Ari, so why are we doing more reviews?”

“I just need a little more help with section 3B. The prof says it’s going to be at least 30% of the exam.”

“But we went over that section at least 5 times. You know it forward and backward.”

“I just don’t want to take any chances. If I don’t get a B in this class, Prof McArthur says I won’t be able to enrol in her class next semester.”

“You didn’t tell me that earlier!”

“I know, but she only told me two days ago. Now you see what I need that review?”

———————————-

“Here you go.” Joe handed a bag of roasted chestnuts to Ariel.

“Thanks.” Ariel smiled. Who knew Joe was so considerate.

“Eat them while they’re hot, they taste better.” He said, “but not too fast, or you’ll burn yourself.”

“I know how to eat chestnuts Joe.” Ariel said wryly.

“I know that, I’m just…” He decided to be quiet. Why am blabbering like a fool? Come on Joe, show her you’re not an idiot!

“You want to walk around?” Ariel asked. Joe had insisted they get roasted chestnuts before they looked at the light displays.

“Sure.” He grabbed Ariel’s hand and led her to the nearest set of light. It was of Santa and his reindeers, and Rudolf’s nose glowed brightly.

Ariel blushed a little. No one has ever held her hand in public before, and instead of being embarrassed like she normally would be, she found she liked it.

For the next half an hour, Joe and Ariel walked around and looked at all the displays. Joe continued to hold Ariel’s hand and he was surprised she let him. It was 10 o’clock by the time they were done seeing the displays and Joe really wanted to ride the Christmas Train after. Even though she was starting to get worried about Mira at home alone, Ariel couldn’t refuse Joe’s puppy dog look. In the end, she agreed. Since it was near Christmas, the line-up was long.

Looking at all the families in the line-up, Ariel felt a little bit teary. She missed her family. A lot.

“You ok Ariel?” Joe asked, concerned.

“Yes.” Ariel gave a shaky smile. “Just thinking about my family, especially my parents.”

“Where you close to them?” Joe asked.

Ariel frowned at him, “yeah, I mean, they were my parents.”

“Oh.” Joe felt the need to defend his last comment. “It’s just that I’m not particularly close to my father. He’s off in Taiwan somewhere doing business related stuff and I haven’t seen him in at least half a year. He’s never really been there fore me, his business always came first.”

“That’s too bad.” Ariel looked pensive. “Kind of ironic. I’d do anything to talk to my dad again.”

Joe hugged her lightly. Ariel stiffened, then relaxed. “What’s that for?.”

“I don’t know.” Joe grinned. “seemed like you could use a hug.”

Ariel smiled back at him, his grin was infectious, “Thanks.”

“I’m so glad it’s almost Christmas.”

“Yes, me too. Especially since all the exams are done.”

Joe nodded, “You thought you did well on the exam, right?”

“I think so. I mean, I got answers for all the questions. I just hope I didn’t make a stupid mistake somewhere.”

“I’m sure you did fine.”

Ariel just nodded.

“Do you want to come over to my house on Christmas Day?” Joe quickly continued when Ariel looked at him questioningly. “It’s just both Mike’s and my Dad are not home on Christmas, so Mike and his Mom always come over to my house. I was just wandering if you want to come too.”

“Thanks for the offer Joe, but I don’t think so.” She elaborated when he looked disappointed. “Mira and I have been alone for years, so we developed all these weird traditions for ourselves around Christmas. One of them is that we must both stay at home.

“Besides, Mike would probably spend Christmas with Rainie.” Ariel continued him.

“Fine, I’ll just spend Christmas alone then.” Joe sighed melodramatically.

Ariel pinched him lightly before running onto the Christmas train – it was finally their turn.

On the train, they oh-ed and ah-ed like little kids at the various light exhibits. Joe put his arm around Ariel’s shoulder and she leaned on him. All too soon, it was time to go home. Joe looked increasingly uncomfortable as he drove near her basement. Although Ariel noticed, she pretended she didn’t.

“Ariel!” Joe called just before she was about to open her door.

“Yes?” She turned around.

“Do you,” He said extremely fast. “Doyouwanttogooutagainsometime?”

“What?”

Joe took a deep breath, “Do you want to go out again sometime?”

“Sure.” Ariel smiled, “but please stop sounding so nervous, it makes me nervous.”

Joe chuckled quietly, looked at her for a moment, and then leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before dashing away to his car.

Ariel stood there, rooted by the door for a long minute as she recovered from shock. That was my first kiss.

————————–

“I want all the gory details.” Rainie exclaimed excitedly.

“I told you Rainie, there aren’t any.” Ariel rolled her eyes as she was brewing coffee. Luckily, she wasn’t facing the counter, so Rainie didn’t see it. “And stop sounding like Mira. She grilled me for details when I got home last night too.”

“How can there not be any details. There’s got to be more to it than what you told me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because there is no way the only thing you did on your date was walk around Stanley Park while eating chestnuts!” Rainie sounded frustrated.

“That is all we did!” Ariel didn’t want to tell Rainie about the kiss. If she did, Rainie would probably get so excited that she would blurt it out so everyone in the Lotus could hear.

“I give up!” Rainie glared at Ariel. “You are hopeless.”

Ariel finally turned around and handed Rainie her coffee, “Jeez, what tipped you off?”

——————————-

“So you ran off? Just like that?” Mike asked incredulously.

“Yup.” Joe leaned back on the couch.

“You never cease to amaze me with the weird stuff you do around her.”

“I never cease to amaze myself.” Joe chugged down his eggnog.

“Why are you drinking eggnog?”

“My mom is making me, something about getting into the festive spirit. and if you don’t get out of here soon, she’s going to make you drink it too.”

“I’m outta here man.” Mike bolted for the door.

—————————-

“Nothing sir.” Arron reported to Ge. “We still don’t know why Ariel is hiding from him.”

Ge rubbed his temples, “why am I not surprised?”

“Our agents are concerned about James’ latest business transaction. It seems that he’s purchasing some land down in South America. The only reason we know about it is because the land he’s buying belongs to an orphanage. Since he doesn’t seem the charitable type, or San Salvador Office flagged him.”

“That is odd. Find out why he’s buying it. It’s definitely illegal, whatever it is,” Ge looked at the paperwork infront of him. “but he’s good. All his documents and paper works are perfect and his stories and alibis air tight. We can’t get any proof on him. All these cover-ups are professionally done. We need to find out who’s doing them.”

“What do we do once we find out?”

“We need to take him out. His company is making a tone of profit – far too much to be gained through legal means and he’s rapidly becoming powerful.” Ge took a close look at the piece of paper in his hands. “He’s dangerous.”

“If you say so, Sir.”

Ge frowned at Arron, “Just spit it out.”

“He is Ariel and Miranda’s stepfather. Wouldn’t they be upset if you arrest him.”

“Judging by the way they’re running from him, I don’t think so.”

“But what if they’ve only got a small quarrel with him and were merely being stubborn and wilful by running away? Wouldn’t they be upset then.”

“Ariel’s not like that. You know that. It doesn’t matter anyways. If what he’s doing is illegal, we take him down.”

————————–

“Joe, dude! Come hang out with us.” Jason yelled loudly into the receiver.

“I don’t-“ Joe started saying.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have time,” Jason slurred, he was definitely drunk. “You haven’t hanged out with us since you started going out with your new girlfriend.”

“We’ve only been going out for a few days you idiot, and stop drinking so much!”

“You’re such a pansy Joe.” Jason swore, “Maria honey, I’ll be with you in a second.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re at Jessica’s.”

“Jessica. Your blond and blue eyed ex-girl friend who swore never to talk to you again?” Joe asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, she couldn’t get enough of me.”

“And yet you’re with another girl right now?”

“So What? Jess and I are hardly exclusive.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Hey, she’s in a room with Brian. I bet you don’t need to me tell you what they’re doing.” Jason chortled as if he told a funny joke. “Oh, that feels good Janice… Oh yes Chelsea.”

“Look, I got stuff to do, I’ll see you later.”

“That lame excuse won’t work… ah… today. If you’re ah not ah here in 30 minutes, I’m going to go over to your house. We all ah know how much your mother loves me.”

Joe didn’t even want to think about what Jason was doing and felt annoyed. Mrs. Cheng hated Jason. She hated his spiky hair, multiple body piercings, and oversized clothing, and he knows it. Anytime he wanted Joe to do something, he threatened to come over. Joe didn’t like Jason much either, but since that one time Jason got him out of trouble in grade 9, it seemed like he was always doing what Jason wanted.

“Stop shitting me man.”

“I’m not fucking kidding you. Get here or I’ll go there.” Jason hung up the phone.

Joe slammed down his phone, grabbed his coat, and started driving to Jessica’s house. Jason is annoying, immature, and a slob, but he never goes back on his words. If Joe didn’t show up in the next 30 minutes, Jason will make good of his promise and come to Joe’s house, and that could be disastrous. Why the hell am I friends with him?

——————-

Hi Guys! Thanks for reading. Sorry for the long gap between the updates. I was going to update around New Years, but I got a bacterial infections and couldn’t. Then school started, and well… Anyways, enjoy this update and please comment!

Happy Chinese New Year!

“Go out with me?” Joe asked Ariel without preamble while she was wiping down the counter at the Lotus.

“What?” Ariel looked at him like he was crazy.

“Please?” Joe joked. Joe finally decided to just go for it… well, after Miranda threatened to decapitate and castrate him if we didn’t.

“Are you talking to me?” Ariel looked around and could see anyone else that he might be talking to. It’s about 10 o’clock Thursday morning, so there weren’t too many patrons around the Lotus.

Joe rolled his eyes, “no, I’m asking the wall.”

Ariel scowled at him, “are you actually asking me out?”

“Yup”

“Er… where are we going?”

“Does that mean you’ll go?” Joe’s grin lit up his face.

“Yes.” Ariel said, feeling rather embarrassed, but betraying none of those feelings on her face.

“Awesome!” Joe mentally did a victory dance. “Bright Nights is happening at Stanley Park for the next couple weeks, do you want to go to that?”

“Sure, I’ve never seen it before.”

“Awesome, it’s pretty fun. When do you want to go?”

“Any time I’m not working.” Ariel went back to wiping the counter.

They finally decided on 4 days before Christmas. Although she tried to fight it, Ariel felt extremely excited that Joe had asked her out. I hope it will go well… this is my first date.

——————————-

“He agreed!” Miranda jumped in front of Ariel at 8 o’clock in the morning on Thursday.

“Hm…?” Ariel said rather blankly. She hasn’t woken up yet.

“Josh agreed to come spend Christmas day with us!” Miranda practically yelled, oblivious to Ariel’s distractedness.

“Oh, that’s great.” Ariel said rather robotically while walking over to the fridge. “What do you want to eat for breakfast?”

—————————

“Dude, congrats.” Mike patted Joe on the back.

Joe grinned foolishly. Ariel agreed to go out with him and nothing can take away his happiness.

“Dude, stop grinning, you’re scaring me.”

————————–

“He asked you out like that?” Rainie asked, outraged.

“What’s wrong with how he asked me out?” Ariel was confused.

“How could he be so blunt? He’s supposed to ask you romantically, not blurting it out in a coffee shop. You shouldn’t have agreed so readily Ari.” Rainie asserted.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ariel was amused. “Besides, didn’t Mike ask you out after he kissed me? You agreed didn’t you.”

“It’s not the same thing.” Rainie declared.

Ariel hid a grin and didn’t press the point.

—————

Merry Christmas!

Ariel was running late to her first class. She missed all of yesterday due to the whole fiasco with Joe. Damn, I wasn’t going to think of him today. So much for that plan. She thought wryly.

The day went by quickly, Ariel’s nerdy tendency kicked in and she soon became too engaged in the lectures to think of much else. Before she knew it, it was time for her shift at the Lotus. As she put on her apron, she realized she hasn’t thought of Joe since breakfast. Not to bad Ariel. She congratulated her self. The only problem was, once she thought of him, he wouldn’t leave her mind. Ariel ended her shift feeling cross, annoyed and tired. She went straight to bed once she got home and slept a dreamless sleep.

This pattern continued for a few more days, Ariel just couldn’t seem to get enough energy. On Friday, the day of Rainie and Mike’s first date, she fainted at work. Jerry freaked and called an ambulance. It turned out to be the flu, but Jerry, being concerned about the health of his customers, told her to take a week off despite Ariel’s protests.

———————

“No Rainie, I don’t need you here, really.” Ariel wheezed into the phone.

“But you sound really sick. Are you sure you’re ok on your own?”

“I’ll be fine,” Ariel sneezed, “I’ll just get you sick if you’re here. Go have fun with Mike.”

“But-“

“No buts Rainie. Have fun on your date.” Ariel hanged up before Rainie said anything else. She flopped down on her bed and fell asleep again.

———————

“Is she ok?” Mike asked Rainie.

“Yeah, I think so.” Rainie smiled. “I do wish I have a picture of her looking sick to blackmail her with later though.”

Mike chuckled, Rainie joined him, and their conversation flowed all though the dinner. The movie was slightly awkward, as Mike didn’t know how far to go with Rainie. In the end, he put his arm around her and she leaned on him. To Rainie, it was the perfect date.

———————-

“How did it go?” Hu Ge asked his best spy Arron.

“It went well, sir. It looks like he took the bait and went out east to look for Ariel and Miranda again.” Arron reported.

“That’s good.” Ge leaned back in his chair. “His trackers are getting better. It’s good Ari has us on her side.”

“It would appear so sir. Though what I don’t understand is why he would go through this trouble just to look for them.”

“I don’t either.”

“Don’t you find it weird that Ariel hates him enough that she would ‘kidnap’ Miranda and take off? Isn’t it weird that he would look for two run-aways that are not really his children? Isn’t it even weirder that he hasn’t reported that they are missing?”

“Very, though I am most concerned with the first one. Both of us have known Ariel since she was in her diapers, and she is not an irrational person. She didn’t decide to run away on a whim, but she won’t tell me why, which is even odder. There must be a reason.”

“What is it sir?”

“I don’t know.” Ge looked sharply at Arron, “but we better find out.”

“Yes sir.”

————————

“That was fun.” Mike smiled at Rainie.

“Yes it was.” Rainie turned to face him at her apartment door. “Do you want to come in?”

Mike debated to himself. Is that some kind of invitation?

Rainie smirked at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

Mike’s ears turned pink. He held up not his hands as if he was surrendering. “Alright.”

Rainie unlocked the door and picked up her phone, “I’m not trying to ruin the mood, but I I better check on Ariel. I hope she’s ok.”

Rainie dialled. The line was busy. “That’s weird; she shouldn’t be making phone calls when she’s sick.”

“Miranda’s probably calling her boyfriend again.” Mike assured Rainie.

“Yeah, that’s probably it” Rainie plopped down on the sofa. Mike followed her. “Ariel didn’t look too well this week. I think the stress of finals, working, and Joe is getting to her.”

“It’s getting to him for sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’s been PMS-ing all week.” Mike joked.

Rainie laughed, and then turned serious, “Why doesn’t he just ask her out then?”

“Because he’s scared of rejection.”

Rainie looked shocked, “that’s why? He’s afraid she’ll turn him down?”

“Yup,” Mike nodded.

“Why would he think she would? I mean, it’s pretty obvious to us she likes him.”

“You know, when you like someone, you analyse everything they do. You think that their every action around you means something and you desperately want to believe that they like you.” Mike looked at Rainie intently.

“And then you start thinking you’re over analysing things, that probably that person doesn’t like you, that they really act that way around everyone, and you’re deluding yourself.” Rainie looked at Mike.

“And this is confusing because you don’t want to be too optimistic, but you still hope that person does like you.”

“Until you really does overanalyse everything, and you get hopelessly confused.” Rainie finished and then smiled.

“Yup.” Mike nodded.

“Speaking from personal experience?” Rainie teased.

Mike looked at her seriously, “Just with you.”

Rainie smiled, “Cheesy.”

“Very.” Mike leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

—————————–

“He Ge.” Miranda said into the phone.

“Hey Mirror, how’s Squirrel doing?” Ge asked lightly.

“Still sick.” Miranda confirmed and ignored his annoying nickname for her. “She is getting better though.”

“That’s good.” Ge was silently.

“How’s it going with…?”

“We tricked his tracker out east again. Don’t worry, you guys should be fine for a couple more months.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes it is. This tracker is better than the last one though, so be ready to move at any time… as usual.”

“Alright.” Miranda sighed, somewhat relieved. “Let me know when you get any other news.”

“Yes all mighty ma’am.” Ge said dryly.

Miranda laughed and hanged up. She looked at Ariel’s sleeping figure and sighed in frustration. Ariel’s sick because of that whole thing with Joe. She is so fragile when it comes to him.

Am I going to fall apart too if Josh and I break up? No I will not. I’m stronger than that. Miranda vowed. I wish Ari would just accept Ge. He’s been in love with her since forever, and he’s done so much for us.

This is so ironic. Ariel can’t accept him because she needs to love him, not feel indebted to him, and that can’t happen because Ari and I are indebted to him, big time. But if Ge doesn’t help her, Ari’s not going to be able to accept him because she’ll begrudge him for not helping us.

Poor Ge. He just can’t win. Yet he is still hopelessly in love with Ariel. Unfortunately, short of James being completely out of the picture, nothing can ever happen between them…

Miranda huffed in annoyance. I know how Ari thinks, but really, Ge is perfect for her. I don’t know why she likes Joe. But I do wish that guy would do something already!

———————

Hey Guys, sorry for the late update! Merry Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus! I’ve uploaded two chapters (this one and the next one), so I guess that’s my Christmas present to you all Thank you so much for reading this story, and although it may seem a bit tame right now, I promise it will get exciting!

Thanks for reading!

–Izumic

All eyes were on Ariel when she came out of the bathroom. There was a moment of silence when everyone just looked at her. Ariel smiled a small smile to let them know that she was ok.

Miranda ran up and hugged Ariel.

“Don’t squish me Mira.” Ariel made a choking face.

“You ok?” Mike asked.

Miranda let go.

“I’m fine.” Ariel smiled.

“Alright.” Rainie said dubiously.

Ariel’s such a good actress. I almost believe her. Miranda smiled slightly.

Everyone was silent as Ariel went and got some water from the kitchen sink. Suddenly, the door bell rang.

Mike made a move to open the door before Miranda breezed by him and opened it.

“Joe?” Rainie asked incredulously.

Ariel, who hasn’t looked at the door, dropped her cup of water. Oh God, what now?

“Hey guys, do you mind if I talk to Ariel alone for a few moments?” Joe asked.

“What if I say no?” Miranda challenged.

“Mira, it’s ok.” Ariel looked at Joe. Let’s get this over with.

“But Ari-“ Miranda stopped talking when Ariel looked at her. “Fine, we’ll be in my room.”

Grabbing Mike and Rainie, she went into her room and closed the door.

Joe and Ariel looked each other for a few minutes. Neither of them said anything.

“So,” Joe began awkwardly.

“So?” Ariel asked – looking perfectly composed.

“I’m sorry.” Joe said softly, trying to gauge her reaction.

“Ok.” Ariel said. “Since you’ve apologized, kindly leave my house.”

“Ariel, come on. I’m sorry.”

“Do you want me to say I forgive you? Well I haven’t forgiven you yet, so don’t bother.” Ariel opened the door. “Leave.”

“I’m sorry for being a jackass Ariel.”

“Glad you know that.”

“Could you close the door?”

“I will close it when you leave.”

“Why won’t you listen to my explanation?”

“Are you trying to explain why you were a jackass? Because you can save it, I don’t care.”

Joe walked over to where Ariel is standing, grabbed the door, and closed it. He stood really close to Ariel, and took a deep breath. “I was an ass because I was jealous.”

Ariel looked confused. “What?”

“I was jealous when I saw the picture of you and Mike kissing, so I said those stupid things.” Joe said all in one breath.

Ariel was still confused. “Which soap opera did you steal that line from?” Is he saying he likes me?

Joe smirked a little. “I’m serious Ariel. And I am really, really sorry. Will you forgive me?”

“Yeah, sure.” Ariel shrugged. “Now get out before Mira, Rainie and Mike suffocate in Mira’s closet of a room.”

Joe didn’t move. Should I leave or shouldn’t I.

Ariel raised her eyebrow.

“I, um, like you Ariel.” Joe smiled nervously. “Would right now be a really bad time to ask you out?”

Ariel’s eyebrow rose even higher. “Probably.” Awkward!

“Can I still do it?”

Ariel sighed, “No. I’ve had enough drama for one day Joe.”

“Oh.” Joe sighed inwardly. “I’ll see you at school then.”

“Ok.”

Joe walked over to the door, “I will try again later.”

Ariel didn’t know what to say, so she stayed silent.

“Don’t look at me like that Ari. I’m not jerking you around.” Joe smiled slightly before walking out.

The room was silent for a few seconds. Ariel sighed, “You can come out now.”

Noisily, Rainie, Mike and Miranda trooped out of Mira’s room.

“How much did you hear?” Ariel asked with a small grimace.

Miranda giggled, “I think the question is, what didn’t we hear?”

Ariel looked at her watch, then walked over to the fridge, “I guess everyone’s staying for dinner?”

———————

“That was interesting.” Mike was lounging on Joe’s sofa again.

“Don’t you have a home to go to Mike?” Joe was annoyed. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was to go to sleep and forget what happened that day.

“Yes, but it’s more interesting here.” Mike grabbed a muffin from the coffee table. “Your mom makes good muffins.”

“I know. Why are you here?”

“To talk about Ariel.”

Joe didn’t feel tired anymore. “What is there to talk about?” He feigned indifference.

“A lot of things. You know Ariel’s not too experienced with this whole relationship stuff, so don’t try anything too weird on her. She may look strong, but she’s really vulnerable when it comes to people and she doesn’t really know how relationships work, so take it easy and cut her some slack.”

“Wow, the day Mike gives me relationship advice. I thought it would never happen.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know. But how do you know his stuff? Since when have you ever analysed girls?”

“I don’t. Mira told me to tell you. And she said if you hurt Ariel, she’ll kick your ass and mine. She’s feisty, that one.”

“Just like Ariel.” Joe chuckled. “Alright, I got it.”

“Now that’s done, how about we play some video games?”

“How about we study?” Joe asked drily. “Finals are coming up.”

“You’re no fun.” Mike pouted.

“I can’t believe he said that!” Rainie fumed.

“Calm down Rainie.” Mike tried to be soothing. Rainie’s got quite the temper and frankly, he was a little amused.

“Where could Ariel have gone? I hope she didn’t do something stupid.” Rainie mutter, looking around the Lotus. Rainie and Mike have been waiting for hours for Ariel to show up for her usual Thursday afternoon shift. Except she hasn’t, and Rainie was getting worried.

“Ariel’s more level headed than that. Don’t fret Rainie, you’ll get wrinkles.” Mike teased, then immediately wished he hadn’t when Rainie glared at him.

“Let’s check out her house.” Rainie jumped up and walked swiftly out the Lotus, leaving Mike to pay for the drinks.

———————–

“Ari! Are you ok?” Miranda knocked on the bathroom door. “Ariel, open the door. What happened, are you alright?”

There was no response.

Suddenly, the door bell rang. Giving the bathroom door a look of despair, Miranda went to open the front door.

“Mira, is Ariel home?” Rainie asked.

“Yes she is.” Miranda opened the door up wider. “Do you know what happened? Ariel came home about an hour ago and just shut herself in the bathroom. No matter what I do, she wouldn’t come out or make any noise.”

Rainie plopped down on a chair and rubbed her temples, “You know that accidental kiss yesterday? Somehow Joe’s got a picture of it. He got really mad and punched Mike. Luckily I was at the school to take care of some last minute registration details for next semester. I saw Joe punching Mike, so I went and got Ariel. Joe demanded an explanation for the kiss. Ariel asked him how it was any of his business, and he called her…”

“He implied she was a slut.” Mike, who was still standing, deadpanned. “Ariel slapped him and then left, and we have been looking for her all day.”

Miranda, who had been silent until then, suddenly punched Mike. Rainie looked utterly surprised.

“Ouch! What the hell! Why did you punch me?” Mike groaned.

“I told you that if you do anything to hurt my sister that I’d kick your ass.”

“How is the picture my fault?”

“It’s not, but punching you made me feel better.”

Mike muttered something about a twerpy dictator before moving as far away from Miranda as he could in the small space.

“So what do we do?” Rainie asked.

—————————

Ariel couldn’t feel anything. She was treading water in an ocean of despair. She refused to go under, to give in. But for all her fighting, she couldn’t get out of this endless ocean. She felt so cold; the ocean is luring her in, refusing to let her go. No matter how she tried, Ariel couldn’t stop the barrage of memories that were threatening to drown her.

———————-

==Flashback==

“How do you like my dress Ariel?” Ariel’s mother, Alyssa Lin, asked. She was wearing a green and yellow sun dress with conservative v-neck that showed a hint of her breasts. The dress hugged her curves and flowed down to just above her knees. She looked like a fairy to Ariel.

“It’s really pretty mom.” 11 years old Ariel answered.

“Are you taking us picnicking mommy?” 7 year old Miranda asked, looking in from the doorway.

“Yes I am sweetheart.” Alyssa went to the door and hugged Miranda and Ariel. Ariel could smell her mother’s perfume, she smelled like lilies.

Grabbing the picnic basket, the Ariel, Miranda, their mother, and James, their stepfather, went to the picnic. The picnic was an annual gathering for the families in the area. Before Ariel’s father died, Ariel’s family had gone to the picnic every year. This was the first time they were here since Ariel’s father died and Ariel’s mother remarried. After arriving at the park, Ariel helped her mom sat up the blanket and take out the food. Miranda had gone to play with the other young children and James, being the busy businessman that he was, was calling someone or another.

“It’s great seeing you Alyssa.” Said Kevin Zhou, one of neighbours. Ariel had no way of knowing he was one of her mom’s ex-boyfriends.

“Hi Kevin.” Alyssa sounded pleasant, but kept her distance.

“You look as amazing as usual.” Kevin grabbed Alyssa’s hand and began caressing it.

“Thank you.” Alyssa replied, trying to pull her hand away. “Ariel honey, could you take this plate to the potluck table?”

Ariel nodded, took the plate, and went off. Halfway to the table, she heard the sound of something hitting the ground. Turning around, she saw Uncle Kevin on the ground with James standing murderously over him.

The rest of the day was a blur for Ariel. They went home before the picnic even started. After getting home, James locked Miranda and Ariel in their room. The two girls could do nothing but listen in horror as James hit their mother and called her names such as slut and whore. This went on for what seemed like hours. After James was done, he stormed out of the house, leaving the two girls to comfort their mother.

Everything went downhill from that day.

==End of Flashback==

————————————-

“Ariel? Please say something, we’re worried about you.” Rainie called out.

“Ari? Sis, come out, please.” Miranda followed.

Mike sighed. “This is no good. She won’t answer.”

“What should we do?” Miranda asked, very worried.

———————-

Joe paced back and forth across his room. I can’t believe how much I’ve screwed up. I bet Ariel would never talk to me again, how am I going to apologize to her? Joe winced as he remembered the look she had given him. It was so cold and devoid of feelings. It felt like a punch to the stomach. I am such an idiot. How could I say that?

“Joe?” Anita Cheng poked her head through her son’s door.

Joe was so preoccupied he didn’t even notice her.

“Joe?” Anita waved her hand in front of his face. “Honey, are you ok?”

Joe snapped out of it. “Oh hey mom.”

Anita smiled, “something’s on your mind?”

Joe sighed; he was not very good at lying to his mom. “Girl problems.”

“Ah. Was this the same girl you were going to bring home to dinner on Friday?”

“Yes.” Joe flopped on his bed. “I was going to bring her home, but then a whole bunch of things happened.”

“You did something to annoy her didn’t you?” Anita sat on Joe’s bed as well.

“That’s an understatement.” Joe mumbled.

“So apologize.”

“I don’t think she’s going to want to see me anytime soon. I was being a jackass.”

Anita considered this. “Language.”

“Sorry Mom.” Joe sounded completely insincere.

“Do something creative. Show her you care.” Anita pretended to not hear her son.

“It’s not that easy.”

“No it’s not,” Anita agreed, “but just try it.”

“Alright.” Joe said dubiously. I cannot believe I am taking my mother’s advice.

“What’s wrong with my advice?” Anita asked.

“Mom, could you quit your mind reading for a minute? It is really creepy.”

Anita ginned deviously, “stop showing all your thoughts on your face then.”

“Alright, alright, mom.” Joe got up, grabbed his coat, jokingly shooed his mom out of his room, and ran out. Mom’s right. I need to talk to Ariel.

———————-

“We need to get Joe.” Miranda said resolutely.

“To do what?” Mike asked.

“To apologize.”

“Ariel won’t accept.”

“No she won’t.” Miranda conceded, then sighed.

“Is this how Ariel usually copes with a broken heart?” Rainie asked dejectedly.

“I don’t know.” Miranda answered thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Mike asked her.

“Well, as far as I know, she hasn’t ever had a boyfriend.” Miranda frowned. “Ari’s usually pretty ‘anti-male’.”

Rainie looked shocked.

Mike scratched his head. “She is? She’s fine around Joe and I.”

Miranda wanted to punch him again, “She doesn’t have anything against guy friends, but she’s never really been interested in guys either.”

“Well that explains it.” Rainie shook her head. “That’s why we’re in this mess.”

Mike’s feeling more lost by the minute, “what? Why?”

“Because, Einstein,” Rainie looked at him exasperatedly, “that Joe was jealous when he saw the picture of you two kissing, which is why he behaved like an asshole. But Ariel doesn’t know he’s jealous, so she thinks that he really meant what he said.”

“Does Joe like her?” Miranda wondered.

“Hell yeah.” Mike and Rainie said at the same time.

“Oh. He has a weird way of showing it. He doesn’t seem very experienced either… so did he have many girlfriends? He’s pretty popular, right?”

Mike considered her question, “Joe is pretty popular with the ladies. They tend to go for his looks and the fact that’s he’s rich doesn’t hurt either. But really, Joe hasn’t had that many girlfriends. He’s always been really serious about them. Actually, he was engaged once.”

“What?” Rainie looked shocked.

“Yeah,” Mike nodded. “It was two and a half years ago. He was 19, Natasha was 21. Joe really loved her. A month before the wedding, she disappeared without a trace. She was on the front page of a Hong Kong newspaper the next week; apparently she married some hotshot director at least twice her age. There was a lot of hype and buzz about her, how she was completely swept off her feet by the director and how in love they were. It was disgusting. She never said bye to Joe, never explained, and never even bothered to break up with him. Joe was destroyed. He took two years off school because of it, which is why he’s doing second year right now.”

“Wow.” Rainie said softly. “I never knew that.”

“So is Joe over her?” Miranda asked Mike.

“Natasha? I think so. He’s pretty into Ariel.”

“If only he would tell her that.” Miranda sighed.

———————

“Be flexible, find a way around adversity.” Ariel muttered to herself. I can’t believe I’m falling apart like this. Where’s the strong girl that Dad thought I was? I can’t believe I’m sitting here weeping like a child. Snap out of it Ariel.

Ariel stood up, checked her face in the mirror and grimaced. I’m a mess. She splashed cold water on her face. You can do it Ariel. She encouraged herself.

———

Thanks for following this story! I am currently very busy with school, so I appologize for not updating this as often as I (or you) would like. I will do my best with updating, but there will be AT LEAST a two week gap between each update. Please be patient, and thank you so much for reading!

“Hey Joe.” Tiffany sauntered up to Joe in the main hallway of VU Monday morning. She grabbed on to his arm, pressed her body close to his, and smiled what she thought was a seductive smile.

Joe pushed her away.

Tiffany pouted, “I have got something you might want to see.”

“What do you have that I would want?” Joe walked on, he was barely paying attention to what Tiffany was saying, all he wanted to do was to find Ariel. He had meant to ask her out over the weekend but both his parents were home, which was very rare, so he didn’t get a chance.

“This.” Tiffany flashed something in front of Joe’s face.

Joe stopped. “What is that?”

“It’s your little friend and her lover. Looks like she’s got you and everyone fooled with her fake innocence.”

Joe grabbed the photograph from Tiffany, and then blanched. Mike and Ariel kissing?

———————

“What the hell is this?” Joe punched Mike.

“Man, what are you talking about?” Mike wheezed clutching his stomach.

“This!” Joe threw the photo at Mike.

Mike look at the picture. Oh crap! “Where did you get this?”

“Does it matter?” Joe grabbed Mike’s collar, “when were you going to tell me you guys were going out? Does it amuse you to see me interested in her?”

“We’re not going out! Joe, let me go, people are looking at us weirdly!”

———————–

“Ariel!” Rainie practically tackled Ariel.

“Hey Rainie. What’s wrong?”

Rainie grabbed Ariel and began pulling her, “come quick, Mike and Joe are fighting in the courtyard!”

“What? Why?” Ariel asked as she ran after Rainie.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good. I’m worried about Mike; he doesn’t know how to fight at all.”

“Oh shit!”

————————-

“Don’t lie to me!” Joe shoved Mike.

“I’m not lying! Joe, come on, let me explain!”

“What is there to explain?”

————————-

“Oh crap!” Ariel swore as she ran near the courtyard. Joe and Mike were fighting in the middle of the courtyard, and they had attracted quite the crowd.

“Excuse me, excuse me,” Rainie said as she moved through the crowd. Ariel wasn’t so polite, she just shoved those in her way.

————————

“What the heck is going on?”

Joe paused.

“Ariel, thank God you’re here, could you explain this guy that we’re not going out?”

Instead of replying to Mike, Ariel looked at Joe, “can we please take this somewhere private?”

Joe looked around, nodded, and began walking. Ariel followed. Rainie helped Mike up from the ground and dragged him along.

They stopped underneath a large pine tree right outside the campus. There was no one else around because classes were in session.

Joe turned, “I hope you guys have a good explanation.”

“For what?” Rainie asked before Ariel could.

Joe glared at her and thrusted a photograph at Ariel, “for that.”

Ariel looked at the photograph silently for a few moments. Rainie, curious about photo, looked over her shoulder and gasped.

“What is there to explain?” Ariel asked Joe.

Joe was taken aback, “why were you two kissing?”

“How do I owe you and explanation for it?”

“Because both of you are my friends, and I don’t want my friends sleeping around so that people could laugh at me.” Joe was angry. It was the first thing he could think of, and he immediately regretted it.

Ariel slapped him. Hard.

Mike’s jaw hit the ground.

Ariel’s eyes were cold. Her voice was clipped and her tone acidic. “What I do does not concern you.”

Joe involuntarily shivered despite of his anger. Ariel gave him a long, calculated, and hard look. Then she turned and calmly walked away.

———————–

Ariel felt empty. She did not, could not, feel anything. She walked.

————————

“How could you say that?” Rainie demanded.

“It’s true.” Joe’s face stun, but he was stubborn and refused to back down. His insides were still boiling from anger, and worst of all… he had no idea why.

Rainie slapped him. Mike stopped her before she could do it again.

“You are a fucking lowlife.” She growled before stomping off.

Mike punched Joe, perhaps in revenge for the earlier punches, “Stop being such an asshole and start making some sense.” Mike ran after Rainie.

Rainie was crying. She didn’t know why, but there were definitely tears streaming down her face. Something about Mike kissing Ariel made her want to cry. She didn’t want to know why. Running seemed like the only option.

    ”Rainie!” Ariel sprinted. She could see Rainie up ahead. “Rainie, slow down!”

    Ariel finally caught up to Rainie. Aw Shit, why is she crying? “Rainie, are you ok? Don’t cry, please.”

    Rainie tried to shake Ariel off, “Leave me alone!”

    Ariel felt helpless, she’s not good at dealing with weepy girls. “Come on Rainie, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”

    Rainie took a few deep breathes and managed to stop crying.

    Ariel waited until she had calmed down before speaking again. “Are you alright?”

    ”Yeah, I’m fine.” Rainie started turning away.

    ”Why are you so upset?”

    ”Why am I so upset? You were kissing Mike!” Rainie exclaimed.

    ”So?” Ariel asked confused.

    Rainie didn’t know what to say.

    ”Do you like him?” Ariel asked.

    ”Mike?”

    ”Yeah.”

    ”No.” Rainie replied automatically.

    Ariel waited.

    ”Yes.” Rainie said in a small voice. “Oh, I don’t know!”

    ”Do you get nervous around him?” Ariel thought of how she felt around Joe, “You’re always blushing, feeling nervous, or have butterflies in your stomach?”

    ”Yes. Sometimes. I don’t know why thought, I like Joe!” She sounded convincing.

    ”Oh really?” Ariel was sceptical. “Oh yeah, what happened with Joe? How come you’re here so late?”

    ”It didn’t work out.” Rainie left it at that.

    ”Oh.” Ariel’s mind was going at 100 miles a minute. What does this mean?

    ”So… Are you and Mike together?” Rainie asked.

    ”What? Hell no!” Ariel exclaimed. “I mean, no, we’re not.”

    ”Then, why were you…?” Rainie looked puzzled.

    ”That was a complete accident. Look, I’m not good at playing matchmaker, but that’s what I’m going to do now.”

    ”What are you planning?” Rainie asked suspiciously.

    Ariel grabbed Rainie’s wrist and started going back to her basement.

“Ariel!”

    ”Hey, trust me. Let’s just go back to my house ok?”

————————

    Mike went to pick up Rainie’s bag, and then sat on the front steps of Ariel’s house.

“Hi.”

    Mike turned around. There was a teenage kid standing behind him with her hand sticking out. “um… hi?”

    ”I’m Miranda.”

    ”Oh, you’re Ariel’s sister. I’m Mike.” They shook hands.

    ”May I ask why you kissed my sister?”

    Mike looked a bit embarrassed, “you saw that?”

    ”Yeah.”

    ”It was an accident.”

    ”You don’t like her? ” Miranda tilted her head.

    ”No.” Mike said.

    ”Ok. Rainie likes you doesn’t she?”

    ”I don’t know.” Mike said ruefully.

    ”Why would she run away if she doesn’t like you?”

    ”You’ve got a point there.”

    ”Of course I do. Oh, if you kiss my sister again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

    ”Wow, feisty aren’t you?”

    ”If you’re looking for a random girl to kiss, find someone other than my sister. She’s not someone you can play around with. Got it?”

    ”Yeah. I know. You know you’re exactly like Ariel.”

    Miranda smiled, the smile looked exactly like Ariel’s “I’m going to kick your ass, but I’m trying to be polite” smile. “I try. Look, there’s Ariel with Rainie.”

—————————

    Rainie saw Mike. “Ariel! Why didn’t you tell me he was still there?”

    ”Relax. He doesn’t bite.”

    ”But I can’t let him see me like this, I look horrible.”

    ”You look fine.” Ariel half dragged Rainie in front of Mike.

    ”Hi.” Mike waved at Rainie.

    ”Hi.” Rainie was looking at anywhere but him.

    ”Alright guys, you’re not kids anymore. Could you not act like teenagers?”

    ”Teenagers don’t act like that either.” Miranda interjected. She stopped once Ariel gave her a look.

    Rainie started blushing like mad.

    ”Guys, come on. I suck at this relationship stuff, so I’m not even going to try to help you guys.” Ariel grabbed Mike’s hand and made him hold Rainie’s hand. “You two like each other; work it out.”

    ”Ariel.” Mike started as Ariel started walking away.

    Ariel herded Miranda back into their basement. “You can do it. I suggest you go somewhere else though, otherwise Mira here will probably watch you guys like she watch Taiwanese dramas.”

    Both Rainie and Mike fell silent. Ariel smiled, waved and then closed the basement door.

—————————-

    ”I can’t believe you just played matchmaker Ari.” Miranda said. She’s been peeking out the window for the last few minutes. “I think they left.”

    ”Miranda Lin, stop looking. It’s none of your business!”

    ”But it’s interesting.”

    ”Go do your homework.”

    Miranda pouted, but obliged. Ariel went over to the window, saw that Rainie and Mike were indeed gone, and smiled.

———————–

    ”So…” Mike started.

    ”So…?” Rainie asked. They were sitting on a bench at the local park.

    ”So…” Mike said again. Rainie looked at him and started laughing. Mike joined in.

    ”I can’t believe we’re so awkward!” Rainie laughed clutching her side.

    Eventually, they both calmed down.

    ”Raine, I like you.” He faced her.

    ”Do you?” Raine asked. “Forgive me for being cynical, but you’re with a different girl every week. If you’re trying to get me to be one of those girls, I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

    ”Why does everyone feel the need to remind me of that? Honestly though. I don’t know what I feel about you, but I know it’s different from how I feel about other girls. I want to try a serious relationship.”

    ”I could say the same for myself, not that I have a whole bunch of guys chasing after me, but I won’t lie to you Mike, up until very recently, I thought I liked someone else. It’s fairly obvious to me now that I was wrong, but I don’t know,” Rainie paused, “I’m not sure what I feel for you yet either.”

    ”Looks like we’re in the same ship.” Mike said.

    ”Boat.”

    ”What?”

    ”We’re in the same boat, not ship.” Rainie smirked a little.

    Mike rolled his eyes. The fell silent.

    ”How would that help?”

    ”Go out on a date with me, and if we don’t enjoy ourselves or if there’s no chemistry, then we’ll break up. At least then we know we’ve tried.”

    Rainie considered it, “alright, that sounds practical. When?”

    ”Next week? Dinner and then a movie?” Mike smiled.

    ”Ok.” Rainie smiled back. “It’s a date.”

——————-

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, but I’m dying from school. I probably won’t be able to update for a few weeks at least. Sorry Don’t forget me!

Ariel was drinking. Coffee that is. She only drinks it when she’s depressed. Yes, it gives her a headache, but unlike its effect on most people, coffee makes her tired and sleepy.

The first guy I really like is going out with my friend. That is so cliché it’s funny. I can’t believe I’m this sad just because Joe agreed to go out with Rainie. Why do I like him that much? I don’t want to, it hurts too much…

————————–

“Ok, that’s simple enough.” Mike muttered to himself, squinted at the page in front of him, and frowned.

“Yes, it is simple enough.” Ariel rolled her eyes.

“I don’t get it-“

“I thought you just said you get it.”

“Let me finish will you? I was going to say I don’t get how you can explain this to me and it makes perfect sense, but those professors who are paid to teach can’t.”

“Ok, one, you skip at least a third of the classes in a semester; of course nothing makes sense, and two, the profs aren’t paid to teach, they’re paid to do research.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. VU’s small, so most of the profs can at least teach a little bit. I heard it’s worse at larger universities.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do.”

“I think we’re ok now. I get it. Thanks Ariel.”

“No problem. I’ll get going then. I have a paper due in a few days that I haven’t even started.”

“How about I take you home?” Mike looked at the clock. “shit, it’s 9:30 already. I think the bus to your house comes by every hour.”

Ariel considered it. She didn’t want to go home by herself. Actually, she didn’t want to go home at all. Going home meant she’ll start thinking about Joe again, and she really didn’t want to. Besides, catching a bus at night in the middle of the winter is a nightmare.

“Why not.”

“Awesome.”

———————-

“So…” Mike started. He didn’t know what to say. The car has been dead silent for the last five minutes at least. It was so awkward!

“So what?” Ariel asked him. She didn’t feel like talking.

“I don’t know Ariel.” Mike said truthfully. “You’re usually the cheery one. Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine.” Ariel smiled a weak smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ariel said stony faced.

“Oh.” They fell silent again.

“So, does Rainie have a boyfriend?” Mike asked after a few moment of silence. Rainie’s a safe enough topic. Ariel really enjoys talking about her friends.

Ariel froze, “why do you ask?”

“Um… Uh…” Mike fidgeted. “I’m just curious.”

“Oh. In that case, yes she does.”

“What!” Mike exclaimed. He turned to look at Ariel to check if she was serious.

“Mike watch out!” Ariel pointed at the red light up ahead.

Mike jerked his head back on the road and slammed on the breaks just in time to avoid pummelling into the car in front of him.

The car after them honked.

Ariel sunk back in her seat in relief, “next time, can you keep your eyes on the road as you drive?”

“Sorry,” Mike said sheepishly. “Rainie has a boyfriend?”

“Yeah.” Ariel looked at him and suddenly realized something. “Oh my God, you like her!”

“No- Oh, why am I bothering to lie to you? Yeah, I like her.”

“It’s a good thing she has a boyfriend then.”

“What? Why?” Mike was puzzled.

“Mike my friend; you are a really sucky boyfriend.”

“How would you know?”

“I’ve never seen you with the same girl two weeks in a row. You would go after any pretty girl. It’s a wonder none has been jealous enough to do something crazy.”

“I don’t go after every pretty girl.” Mike said defensively. “So who is he?”

“You mean you actually don’t know?” Ariel asked.

“Am I suppose to?”

“Didn’t Joe tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Then he got it. “Joe? She’s going out with Joe?”

“Yeah. She asked him out yesterday.” The light had turned green, and mike started driving again.

Joe and Rainie? What the fuck. Doesn’t he like Ariel?

“Oh.”

“Yeah. They’re watching a movie right now I think.”

“Oh.” Mike looked angry, but there was a tinge of sadness too.

“Do you really like her?”

“What do you mean ‘really like her’?”

“Are you serious about her? Or is she just one of your one-week girls? Or worse, just a one night stand?” Ariel looked at him carefully.

Mike kept his eyes on the road. “I was serious about her. I guess plans change eh?”

“Yeah.” Ariel shook her head. “Plans definitely change.”

————————-

“So… do you want to come in?” Rainie asked, then winced inwardly.

“I would love to, but I have a paper due tomorrow.” Joe said apologetically, and grimaced a little. This was awkward. Very awkward. They were behaving like teenagers! To make it worse, it appeared as if there is absolutely no chemistry between them.

“This won’t happen again will it?” Rainie asked Joe with a small smile.

Joe was tempted to lie, then realized that it was probably not a good idea. “I don’t think so. I’m sorry Rainie.”

“It’s ok. I don’t think we’re that compatible.”

Joe stayed silent. He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. The conversation turned awkward again.

Rainie looked at Joe. “You like Ariel don’t you?”

“What?” Joe was caught off guard.

“You like her, so may I ask why you agreed to go out with me?”

“I…”

“To make her jealous?”

“Not really…” He hesitated. “Partly. But it’s not like she likes me, she’s going out with Mike isn’t she?”

“What?” Rainie raised an eyebrow, “where did you get that idea?”

“Didn’t she agree to go out with him tonight at the Lotus yesterday?”

“No. I don’t think so. She agreed to tutor him in bio tonight.”

“Are you serious?” Joe looked really happy.

“Yes Joe, get really excited about some other girl in front of me.” Rainie said sarcastically.

Joe sobered. “I’m really sorry. I’m being an idiot, can you forgive me?”

“I’ll consider it.” Rainie opened her apartment door. “See you around Joe.”

“Yeah, see you.” Rainie closed the door.

Oh my God! Ariel isn’t going out with Mike. Good job Joe, mess everything up just because you jumped to conclusions. Joe berated himself. I’ll go find her right now. Joe started walking towards Ariel’s basement. It wasn’t very far from Rainie’s house. Wait, wouldn’t it be really weird if I showed up right now? It’s almost 10 o’clock. What if she’s sleeping? Or Miranda’s sleeping? Ariel would kill me if I disturb them. Joe stopped. I can wait a day before confessing. It doesn’t help my case if I confess to her when she wants to kill me. Yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow then.

Turning, he walked in the other direction to get his car.

————————

Rainie waited for the tears. Getting dumped after the first date with a guy who didn’t even like her hurts.

The tears didn’t come. Rainie was confused. She felt sad, angry, and hurt, but it wasn’t nearly at the magnitude she was expecting. In fact, she felt fine.

Picking up her bag, Rainie started walking to Ariel’s basement. Maybe talking to Ariel about it would help. I won’t tell her Joe likes her though. He should tell her himself.

————————-

“Thanks for the ride Mike.” Ariel said as she got out of his car.

“No problem. Thanks for helping.”

“Hey, you forgot you paid me. I say that gratitude was uncalled for.”

“Yes, get all text-bookie on me now.” Mike hopped out of the car.

The stood on the sidewalk.

“About Joe, don’t worry too much about it.” Mike said.

“What? Who said anything about Joe?” Ariel had her poker face on.

“I know you like him.” He held up his hand when Ariel tried to interject. “I won’t tell him, your secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks mike.”

Mike leaned down to give Ariel a peck in the cheek. Ariel panicked, turned, and kissed Mike right on mouth.

The stared at each other, both too shocked to pull away.

Something dropped, startling Ariel, who jerked away. She looked in the direction of the sound. On the ground, no more than 50 meters away, laid Rainie’s green bag.

“Oh crap.” Ariel swore. She wiped her hand across her mouth, then turned to Mike. “You, stay right there, don’t move!”

“Rainie! Come back!” Ariel started sprinting down the street.

—————-

Thanks for reading! I hope I haven’t confused people too much. Of course, it all makes perfect sense in my head, but on “paper” ^_^”. Please comment and let me know what you think!

“I’m going to ask him out.” Rainie declared. They were at the Lotus, Ariel was working as usual.

“Who?” Ariel stopped pouring coffee. She had a very bad feeling about this.

“Joe of course.”

“Oh.” Ariel started pouring the coffee again.

“Yeah. You know him well Ariel, what does kind of girls does he like?”

“I, I don’t know.” That’s a good question. What kind of girls does Joe like?

“Oh well, there’s only one way to find out, right? Do you think inviting him to a movie is a good idea?”

“Yeah, that probably is.” Ariel replied a little weakly. What if Joe says yes? Does that mean he likes Rainie? What happens if he says no? Does that mean he likes me? Of course it doesn’t. Jeez Ariel, who are you kidding. Any guy would pick Rainie over you. If she really asks Joe out, you don’t stand a chance.

“Ariel!” Rainie yelled. “Watch the coffee.”

Ariel snapped out of stupor and jerked her hand away just in time to avoid getting scalded by the coffee she was pouring. Unfortunately, even though her hand avoided the hot liquid, the counter wasn’t so lucky.

“Crap,” she swore and grabbed some towels, trying to clean the small mess up with her back to the door and Rainie.

“Ariel!” Mike ran into the coffee shop. He then noticed Rainie sitting there.

“Oh hey there Rainie.” He smiled his most charming smile. No lady could resist it.

Rainie blushed and felt her heart beat faster. Why am I blushing? She berated herself. You like Joe, remember? Joe, not Mike.

“How are you?” Mike asked.

“I’m fine.” Rainie smiled graciously.

Mike felt extremely happy for some strange reason when she smiled. All his worries seemed to have disappeared.

“Mike, I’m quoting you on this, ‘could you two love birds stop flirting?’” Ariel smirked. She finished mopping up the mini spill.

“We’re not flirting.” Mike replied quickly.

Rainie felt disappointed. Weren’t we? She mentally shook her head. Rainie, what are you thinking. Of course Mike wouldn’t flirt with you.

Ariel grabbed a towel and began going around the café wiping down tables.

“I need a favour.” Mike started.

“No!”

“You don’t even know what I want yet.”

“No, I’m not helping you with bio.”

“Please!” Mike begged.

“No, I don’t have time!” Ariel replied. Mike began following her around like a lost puppy.

“Please, just one time! I’ll pay you.”

“Mike,” Ariel turned around to face him. “I can’t. I am working; I don’t have time to tutor you.”

Mike took this chance to give Ariel his signature puppy dog look. “Pretty please. I really need help. If you won’t do it for a friend, then consider this a normal tutoring job, I’ll pay you double of what you would get working here. It’s just once, please.”

“Hey, you’re not playing fair.”

“Please.”

“Fine,” Ariel relented, “but make that triple of what I would get working here.”

“Deal!” Mike jumped up and hugged Ariel.

——————–

Joe was whistling. He was on his way to find Ariel at the Lotus. His mom just invited her to dinner for tomorrow night, and he can’t wait to show her off to his parents. Sure, Ariel wasn’t his girlfriend yet, but he planed on changing that very soon.

Oh, here I am already. Joe looked in through the large windows to check if Ariel’s there. She was. And Mike was hugging her.

What the heck?

————————-

“When?” Ariel gently pushed Mike away and started to walk back to the counter. “Oh, hug me again and I will kick your rear end. I am not one of your bimbo’s.”

Mike ignored her second comment, “Tonight?”

“I’m busy.”

———————–

Joe pushed the door to the Lotus open. What is going on? Ariel is not a touchy feely person, why did she hug Mike?

———————–

“Tomorrow night?” Mike tried again.

“Alright.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Ok.”

———————–

Joe walked in to the café.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night!” Mike happily called on his way out the door. He barely noticed Joe. “See you later Rainie.”

Ariel smiled. He is such a kid.

Rainie frowned. Does Mike like Ariel? He seems far too happy just because she agreed to tutor him.

Joe felt weird. Did she just agree to go out with Mike? Why do they both look so happy? They don’t like each other do they? Mike knows I like Ariel… Would he…?

“Hey Joe.” Ariel smiled and put a cup of coffee on the counter. “2 creams, one sugar.”

“Thanks.” Joe’s voice sounded a bit weird even to himself.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I totally believe you.” Ariel said sarcastically. “What’s bugging you?”

“You.” Joe wanted to say, but he stopped himself. If Ariel did agree to go out with Mike, then there’s nothing he can do. Don’t make a fool of yourself Joe.

“Joe?” Rainie asked. Ariel had almost forgotten she was there.

“Yeah?” Joe turned his stool to face her.

This is your chance Rainie. She encouraged herself.

“Do you want to go see a movie tomorrow night? With me?” She said in a rather hesitant voice.

Joe was shocked. He looked at Ariel; she was facing away from him, busily wiping mugs. I don’t like Rainie. Mike likes her. But Mike asked Ariel out when he knew I like her. Why not go out with Rainie? She seems nice enough.

“Sure.” Joe wasn’t looking at Rainie when he answered her. He was looking at Ariel.

———————-

What? Ariel was shocked. He actually agreed. I guess I really was thinking too much. She turned around. He was looking at her. Ariel could feel her heart speeding up. He’s looking at her in a really intense way. They looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Why is he looking at me like that?

———————

Joe looked away first. He didn’t like the question in Ariel’s eyes.

“How does tomorrow at seven sound?” He asked Rainie.

“That sounds great.” Rainie almost squealed. He agreed!

Joe stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

——————–

“Congratulations.” Ariel said to Rainie once Joe left. She felt like she was going to cry and she was jealous, but she wasn’t petty enough to hate Rainie for it.

“Yeah, thanks.” Rainie beamed. She was too happy to notice Ariel’s discomfort.

“I need to use the washroom.” Ariel disappeared, leaving Rainie confused.

—————-

Hi my dear readers This chapter is the beginning of the rising action for the first part of the story. I hope you have enjoyed it so far. To the few of you that have kindly commented, thank you very, very much. It’s great to know people like this story. As usual, please comment, I love comments .

“So how was it?” Mira asked excitedly.

“It was interesting.” Ariel hanged her trench coat up on the hooks behind the door. Mira had bombarded with questions the second she came in the door.

“How interesting?”

“You wouldn’t believe what I found out.” Ariel told Mira about the story behind the Greenhouse Garden.

“No way!” Mira exclaimed, “So Joe’s Mom used to know Dad?”

“Yeah. Can you believe it?”

“Wow! Did you ask her for stories of him?”

“She wasn’t home. I think she’s away on a business trip. But I wouldn’t have asked her even if she was home.”

“Why not?”

“We can’t appear too curious. It’s kind of suspicious.”

“But still!”

“Mira, I want to know more about Dad as well. He died when I was 12, and I wish I remembered him better But we can’t draw more suspicion to ourselves.”

Miranda looked at Ariel silently for a few seconds, “You’re not telling me something about James are you.”

“Mira-“

“Don’t ‘Mira’ me Ariel. Tell me the truth. What is happening with James, and don’t tell me you don’t know.”

“Am I older or are you older?” Ariel remarked drily.

“Ariel. Tell me or I will phone Ge. And you know he’ll tell me.”

Ariel sighed. “He might be on to us.”

“James?” Miranda paled, “So soon? How?”

“I don’t know. Ge just said the guy that’s tracking us this time got a lead that we’re out west. I don’t know if he knows we’re in Vancouver, but he might. Ge says to sit tight for now.”

“How could you not tell me that before now?”

“What good would it have done? Hell, what good does it do for you to know now? We’re stuck here until Ge can get us new identities, and he won’t do that until it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t know if the tracker knows where we are. I’m betting not or we would be found out already. It usually takes them time to pinpoint us even if they know what city we’re in, so all we can do now is be careful and try not to draw attention to ourselves.”

“How long?” Miranda whispered.

“I don’t know. Maybe a few days, maybe a few months. Depends on how good the tracker is.”

“How long Ari?” Miranda asked again.

Ariel sighed, “I wouldn’t bet on staying here after the New Year.”

“Oh.”

“I know what you’re thinking, don’t do anything drastic about Josh.”

Mira smiled sadly, “I know. But sooner or later I have to.”

——————————-

“So how was it?” Mike asked Joe.

“How was what?” Joe busied himself putting mugs away in the cupboard.

“Your little ‘rendezvous’ with Ariel up in the Greenhouse Garden?”

“What rendezvous? We just talked. She was interested in the history of the garden.”

“Oh man!” Mike started laughing, “You’re disappointed!”

“I am not disappointed!” Joe strived to be calm.

“Yes you are.”

“I am not, and nice try.”

“Oh man, this is hilarious. The great Joe Cheng, dubbed the ‘most eligible bachelor’ of VU last year, couldn’t get a girl more interested in him than his mother’s garden!”

“Shut up dude.”

“It’s true though. I have a new appreciation for Ariel.”

“I’m sure you do. Now can you move your butt? I need to clean up.”

—————————–

It’s another Wednesday. Ariel loved and hated Wednesdays. On one hand, the week is half over and people seem rather reluctant to visit the Lotus on Wednesdays, so she has less work. On the other hand, all the course work seems to start piling up right around Wednesdays, and she was so tired she really wished it was the weekends already.

She was brewing coffee at the Lotus and it was raining as usual. She sighed and glanced at the calendar. December 8^th. Christmas was just over two weeks away. Ariel loved Christmas. It was her favourite holiday to celebrate as a child because both her parents would be home. Her mother, a fabulous cook, always prepared a huge meal for the Christmas Eve dinner. Her father, an English teacher, would read Christmas classics to them after dinner until it was time for the Christmas Eve service. Ariel’s family wasn’t particularly religious, but they always go to the midnight service. Both Mira and herself would fall asleep from exhaustion the second they get back home. They would wake up late on Christmas morning, well rested and happy. The “great present search” would happen after a large breakfast, and the family would spend the rest of the day at home, watching movies, reading, playing games. Growing up in a city like Kitchener, snow always covered the houses during Christmas time, giving the town an almost magical feel. Yes, Ariel loved Christmas because she was truly happy. Spending time with her family was what Ariel loved the best.

And then…

One Christmas, Ariel was 12 and Miranda was 8. Her family had gone to the church service as usual. It had snowed during the day, and the ground was covered with a layer of ice. Ariel distinctly remembered the walk back home. Everyone was so happy but tired. A block away from home, Miranda dropped her stuffed reindeer in the middle of the road. The girls’ father, Matthew, went to pick it up. A car turned too fast on to the street they were standing on. The road was slippery; the car didn’t swerve in time.

The family waited in the emergency room for 24 hours. He didn’t make it. Before he died, he called Ariel to his bedside, his last words to her were, “You are so strong Ariel, but remember, sometimes it’s better to go around a mountain than to climb over it. Be flexible.” She took them to heart. “Be flexible” became her mantra. When she thinks those words, she could hear her father saying them to her.

The funeral was two weeks later. Ariel cried. Looking at her father’s tombstone after the service, she vowed to do what her father had asked of her.

Mira was only eight at the time. She never played with stuffed animals or reindeers ever again.

What should I wear? I don’t want to wear something that makes me look like a total geek, but I don’t want to look like I’m trying to impress him. Ariel fretted in front of her mirror. It is a study session for Pete’s sake. We’ve had plenty of those, and I never really felt the need to dress up… But this time, it’s at his house, and its one of those large fancy houses on Marine Drive, so I don’t want to look like a slob. On the other hand, I don’t want Joe to get the wrong ideas if I dress up. Ariel fell on her bed.

“It’s hopeless!”

“Ari?” Mir poked her head into the living room. There basement only have one small closet size room, and Ariel insisted Mira take it. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Ariel groaned from her bed.

“What’s wrong?” Mira flopped down on Ariel’s bed, nearly causing her to fall off, “if you get me up at seven on a Saturday morning, there has better be a good reason.”

Dejectedly, Ariel explained.

Miranda screamed.

“Mira!”

“Oh my gosh! Ariel has her first crush!”

“It is NOT my first crush! I’ve liked over people before.”

“Fine, fine, but it’s your first crush in like the last 3 years, this is a cause for celebration.’

“Why should I celebrate? I can’t like him, since we move around so much. I don’t know when or where we’ll move to next, and we have to ‘disappear’, and I don’t want to go away feeling like a total wreck because of something that wouldn’t work out in the first place.”

“Ari. Come on. Don’t worry about that. Live in the moment. Carpe Diem, remember? I know you; if you like Joe enough to admit it, then you must like him quite a bit, so why not make a move?”

“When have I ever said Carpe Diem? And have you seen Joe? Girls fall over themselves trying to get him to notice them. I’m not gorgeous, I don’t stand a chance.”

“Regardless Ari, give it a try. You are gorgeous, you just don’t know it, and you’re so much more than just a pretty face. I can go on for an hour talking about what you’re good at.”

“Only an hour?” Ariel joked.

“Glad to see you’re humble as usual,” Miranda said sarcastically, “get up, we’re going to doll you up.”

Amid Ariel’s loud protests and many compromises, Miranda accomplished her task.

—————————–

“I can’t believe Mira talked me into wearing high heels.” Ariel muttered to herself. “Note to self Ariel, never wear high heels on public transit in the middle of the winter.”

Ariel looked down on her attire. Mira had dressed her in a simple form-hugging white sweater with dark skinny jeans and high heel boots. A silver chunky necklace around her neck completes the look. Because it’s raining, like it always is, Ariel wore her waterproof trench coat on top.

Ariel quickly walked up to the gate and pushed the door bell. Joe’s house is extremely large, and he has one of those electronic door opening systems.

“Ariel?” Joe asked over the intercom.

“Yup, could you open the door? It’s cold.”

The door buzzed and opened, Ariel walked in, and almost groaned out loud when she realized how far the gate is from the house. Clutching her trench coat closer, she carefully walked up to the house’s door. Joe really does have a cool house. From the front, it appeared as though the entire house was made of glass. The window panes are tinted, so people could not see in. The house seemed to have three stories, with the top and bottom layer slightly bigger than the middle, somewhat resembling a sandwich. The roof was domed and also made of glass; Ariel thought she saw plants underneath it. That’s funny Ariel, the only person with a greenhouse on their roof is Nana, and she’s been dead for years. You need to stop hallucinating.

Joe was waiting for Ariel at the font door; he practically pulled her in and slammed the door shut.

“Hey.” Joe smiled.

“Hey yourself.” Ariel smiled back as she took her trench coat and boots off.

“You look good.”

“Are you implying that I normally don’t?” Ariel teased. “Where should I put my coat?”

“In the closet. And you need to stop twisting my words Ari.”

Ariel slipped her coat on a hanger and hanged it up in the over sized closet. “I’m just teasing. You have a very nice house.”

“Thank you. It’s very…”

“Groovy.”

“Groovy?” Joe looked surprised.

“What?”

“You don’t seem the type of person to say the word ‘groovy’.”

Ariel smirked, “you of all people should know not to judge a book by its cover.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Figure it out.”

Before Joe had a chance to say anything else, Mike called out from the kitchen.

“Could you two love birds get in here?”

Joe blushed.

Ariel almost did. She raised her eye brows at Joe and walked into the kitchen. “Love birds?”

“Yeah.” Mike was sitting around the Island near the middle of the room. “I’m here to study, not watch you two flirt.”

“Really,” Ariel was sceptical, “I don’t think studious is how anyone would describe you.”

Mike grinned, “It isn’t. But at least you two have stopped flirting.”

“Is that how you flirt with girls Mike?” Ariel joked.

“Nope,” Mike grinned. “But that is how Joe flir- ow!”

Joe smiled beatifically and pretended he hasn’t pinched Mike, “can we start?”

Before Mike could get another word in, Joe opened up the accounting book and started talking at lightning speed. Poor Mike had no chance.

——————–

“I give up!” Mike tossed his accounting book in the air.

“Oh come on Mike, it’s really easy, you just do these-“

“Joe,” Ariel interrupted, “I have to agree with Mike. We’ve been studying for too long, and things don’t make sense anymore. Can we take a break?”

“Please?” Mike whined.

“Fine,” Joe leaned back in his chair, “My head is starting to hurt too. Does anyone want more coffee?”

“Yeah,” Mike pushed his mug over, “thanks.”

“Do you have hot chocolate?” Ariel asked.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Thanks.” Ariel pushed her mug over to him.

“Joe?” Mike asked.

“Yeah?” Joe asked while brewing coffee.

“You should show Ariel the greenhouse.”

Ariel’s year perked up, “Greenhouse?”

“Yeah,” Mike answered, “Joe’s got this great greenhouse on his roof. It’s really cool, he’s got all sorts of plants in it.”

“I didn’t figure you to be a gardener Joe.”

“I’m not, my mom is; she really loves that garden.”

“Why?”

“My grandmother’s friend had a greenhouse on their roof. Mom and Dad got married in it, and so when my parents had this house built, Melissa designed on for her.”

“Melissa?” No way.

“My mom’s friend.”

Nana? It can’t be. There are no other greenhouse gardens in the world like Nana’s…

“Can I see it?” Ariel asked.

“Sure, I’ll take you up there.”

—————————

God. It is Nana’s garden… Ariel started to get emotional. No way. How? Nana never mentioned she designed another greenhouse garden. The one at her house was designed by her and put together by her and Granddad, why would she design a second one?

“Ariel?” Joe waved his hand in front of Ariel’s face.

“Yes,” Ariel stopped her daydreaming. “This garden reminds me of the one that my Nana used to have.”

“Really?”

Ariel nodded. “The lady that designed this, she must have really liked your mom.”

“I don’t know about that, but my mom was very fond of her. Mom was an orphan, her parents died when she was very young, and Mom grew up in an orphanage in Kitchener, that’s in Ontario by the way. Melissa was one of the volunteers at the orphanage and she was very kind to my mother. She supported my mother financially for University, which allowed her to get a B.Com. and become an entrepreneur. She has a very successful career.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, according to Mom, she and Melissa’s son were engaged. Except they were more like siblings, and then they both met people they really love, so that didn’t happen.”

“Really? What was the name of the Melissa’s son?” It can’t be Dad… can it?

“Matthew.”

It is Dad. Wow.

“Why did you ask?”

“Just curious. So how did Melissa feel about your mom marrying someone else?”

“She was a little disappointed, but she really liked my Dad and Uncle Matthew’s wife, so she was happy. They had a double wedding in Melissa’s garden.”

I didn’t know Mom and Dad got married in Nana’s garden….

“Really?”

“Yeah, but then Mom had a fallout with Melissa’s family when I was not even a year old I think. She said it was over something stupid, but Mom’s really stubborn, so she didn’t try to get in contact with Melissa’s family until 5 or 6 years ago. Unfortunately, they moved, so we don’t know where they are anymore.”

“That’s a shame. How do you know this so well?”

“Mom constantly talked to me about it. She feels really bad, and I guess after hearing it so much, I remember it really well.”

“Do you know if your Uncle Matthew had any children?”

“I don’t know. Mom never mentioned any children.”

“Oh.” Ariel sighed in relief. Good, he doesn’t know about me.

“You’re curious.”

“It just sounds like a wonderful story. Both my parents died when Mira and I were young, and we have no other family. So it’s just us.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

“I know. I miss my parents.” Ariel smiled wistfully, then teasingly. “Do you think we should go down stairs before Mike jumps to the wrong conclusion again?”

Joe laughed, but inside he felt a bit disappointed, “That’s probably a good idea.”