Nicole watched as Tia walked in and returned her smile. "Thanks Tia.""Oh, it's nothing, I quite like picking them up from school," Tia said.Tia had taken a liking to picking the twins up for kindergarten, so much so that it did not feel like a chore for her anymore. Instead, it was the most relaxing part of her day, as compared to the rest of the things she had to do on a daily basis.'How I wish I could go and pick them up from kindergarten every day. Those little munchkins are too cute. It's like all my worries would just vanish into thin air each time I see them smile.' Tia mentally sighed."Everyone's all here?" Stanley asked."Hey, Daniel. Hey, Gloria," Cherry Jean greeted from behind.Everyone turned to where Cherry's voice was heard, all with frowns and grimaces plastered across their faces.After an awkward pause, Gloria came to her senses and chirped, "Cherry, you're here! Come have a seat."Cherry politely greeted everyone in the room before linking her arm with Sta
Cherry, who had linked arms with Gloria, happily chirped, "I'll go over and visit her after we've eaten dinner."Cherry had taken a fond liking for Gloria, in spite of knowing that she would not be with Stanley. She envied him for having such an amazing mother, and if anything, Cherry actually felt at home under Gloria's wing.Ever since they met over a blind date that Gloria had set them up on, Stanley had made it clear to her; they would not progress beyond a relationship which Cherry could be on board with.On the other hand, Cherry loathed her family for setting her up on blind dates without her consent. She did not want anyone to interfere with who she wanted to be with. She had, for the longest time, been standing her ground and protesting that she was old enough to make her own decisions.At the dinner table, everyone chatted with one another happily. However, once the meal was almost over, Cherry slipped away to look for Tia. Nicole, who noticed this, shot Stanley a look of
'For the first time in a long time, he openly announced his relationship with her to his family. For him to do something like that takes a lot of courage. He must've thought very highly of her. I don't want to be the third wheeler here,' Tia continued.With an expression of sympathy on her face, Cherry looked at Tia and said, "Tia, have you never once considered that the person you love shares the same feelings for you too?"It was at that moment that Cherry understood why Tia was so afraid of crossing the line. 'She cares much more about Stanley than I've previously thought.'Cherry then reflected on how Tia had reacted when she attempted to pair the two of them together. Whenever Cherry tried to create opportunities to bring them both closer together, Tia would crumble into a panicky mess.'My efforts have pushed her to the point where she would guard her emotions even more fiercely. I'm afraid that dragging this on in the long run will obliterate whatever feelings they have for
Tia sat there in a daze as Cherry left the room.'This is a dream, isn't it? Everything just came rushing out all of a sudden. I can't believe he doesn't have a crush or a girlfriend all these whiles. But what did she mean when she said Stanley thinks that I have feelings for someone else? Who else does he think I like?' Tia pondered.Tia felt lightheaded as she dragged her feet back to her room. 'I think I need some time to process all of this information. I can't think properly anymore. Seems to me that a lot of things have happened under my nose...'Meanwhile, Cherry had just made her way to the living room.And when Stanley saw her coming in, he quickly stood up, "I'll send you home.""Sure!" Cherry chirped and followed him out."Stanley, the only person Tia has feelings for is you. You better go ahead and win her heart," Cherry teased and smiled.Stanley could not believe what he had just heard, so he gave her a blank stare.In turn, she simply looked at him and shrugged,
Nicole then theorized, 'If Stanley and Tia had gotten together earlier on, perhaps Mom might have a milder reaction as compared to what she's dealing with now.'Jared, who remained uninterested, gently caressed Nicole on the shoulder. "It's getting late. Let's head to bed."Nicole still had a lot on her mind, as she had been worried sick about Stanley. 'I guess I'll leave the rest to him.'After a slight pause, she looked up at Jared and smiled. "You can take a shower first. I have a call to make."Jared immediately understood Nicole's intent and made his way to the bathroom. "Okay, but don't take too long."Nicole took her phone out and dialed a number that was all too familiar to her now.Then, Zane's voice blared out from the speaker. "Nicole?"There was a tone of surprise as he greeted her.Suddenly, Nicole felt an overwhelming surge of emotions. "Zane?"Zane issued a massive sigh of relief at once. "Since you're calling me right now, this must mean that you remember every
Nicole was dead serious. "Yeah, I can't back out now."Zane pondered for a moment, whereupon he agreed, "Since we can't avoid this, we might as well work together once more. However, you don't need to come over to HQ to do any field work. You can stay where you are now and provide us with intel. Don't hesitate to let us know what you need help with."'As long as she doesn't put herself in danger, there shouldn't be a problem,' he thought.Nicole nodded. "Sure, no problem. I'll handle the side of things here at San Joto and leave the rest to you."To that, Zane sternly replied, "Okay."'If the Eastern Falcon is thinking of making a return, we won't hold ourselves back this time around,' Zane thought, determined to bring his adversaries down.Nicole sighed as she hung up and she reminisced about the days when she was still an active member of the organization. Near-death encounters were commonplace back in those days.Then, Jared came up to Nicole and whispered in her ear, "Have y
Since Harvey had given them the chance to bring him down, they would just seize it. It would be stupid not to.After careful consideration, Nicole smirked and said, "Well, that works.""I'll get on it then!" Lulu beamed excitedly, ready to do something big.And to that, Nicole chuckled and nodded in agreement, "Right. I'll leave it to you."Since Lulu had taken charge of any dealings with the Ellison Group, Nicole had faith that she would be able handle it well."I'll be on my way, then," Lulu responded, and began humming a cheerful tune as she left.After giving Lulu's figure a smile, Nicole got busy and flipped through the documents on the desk to peruse them.About an hour later, she heard a knock on a door."Come in," Nicole said without looking up, as she was focused on her work.It was Patricia, who then opened the door and walked up to Nicole's desk. "Ms. Riddle? There are updates pertaining to Damien."Upon hearing that, Nicole immediately looked up. 'Has he finally d
Nicole, expecting some sort of news from him, was surprised when Jared maintained his silence. "Did you really just come over to have a meal with me?"She thought something significant had happened, but upon noticing that he had not said a word along the way, she concluded that she had simply misunderstood.The smile from Jared proved exactly that. "Just a meal, yeah.""Oh, I thought something occurred, and you came over to tell me about it." Nicole took a sip of water.Teasing her, Jared said, "You seem quite disappointed."Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and placed her glass down. "Of course I'm not."As Jared's sudden appearances usually indicated that there was something he needed her to know, it was natural for her to assume that he had brought some kind of word with him. Still, she was happy that he had simply brought her out for a regular meal.With a gentle smile on his face, he explained, "I just signed a project, and I thought I'd come to see you after I'm done with it."