Chapter 36

In the elevator, Chan succumbed to her inability to change Sam and her sisters' minds and proceeded to sulk, waiting in dread for doom to come.

They were outside the apartment building when Soriya said, "Wow! That's a very nice car."

"Maserati," Dara said. "Nice."

Sam chuckled as he clicked on the automatic button on his key. The doors unlocked, and he said, "Get in."

Dara opened the front door of the passenger side for him, and he gently placed Chan onto the leather seat. A few moments later, they were on their way.

"So tell us about Lilly," Dara said from the back seat. "Help us get some idea of what she wants for her presents."

Sam chuckled. "You can interrogate her when you see her."

Dara nodded. "Okay. We'll do that."

Soriya rubbed her hands together and laughed out evilly. "Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha… We shall use rope. It needs to be in a dark room…"

Chan rolled her eyes. "Your imagination is going haywire again."

"As if yours hasn't," Soriya said. "I heard the furious tapping of keys late into the night, darling."

Chan blushed and took a peek at Sam. Hopefully he didn't suspect she was an author of children's books. More importantly, she hoped he would never find out she'd started penning a very adult book that probably set the pages on fire, and the very first one was starring him, or what sounded like him, as the sizzling hot hero.

Sam glanced at her. "So what do you ladies do for a living?"

Dara chimed in proudly. "As you know, I'm an interior designer and decorator. As you also know, I work for Cooper & Hunter and will be working on your next hotel."

Soriya was next. "I'm still a student, doing IT. Only one more year to go until I graduate. I'm interning at Johnson and Mason, Ltd., internet design and all that jazz."

"Sounds interesting," Sam said. "And you, Chan?"

Chan licked her lips. "My job isn't as interesting."

"She's a writer," Soriya put in. "She used to be an elementary school teacher before that."

Chan blushed. "It's something I've always wanted to do."

Sam smiled. "Good on you."

Chan flicked her gaze to him. Oddly enough, his words sparked a glow in her heart.

"Thanks," she said.

About forty minutes later, they arrived at an immaculate suburban neighborhood full of nice, medium-size houses perfect for upper-middle-class families. Sam parked the car along the street and came around to help Chan out. She protested wholeheartedly, telling him she could walk. Sam, however, was having none of it. In the end, she found herself in his arms anyway.

"Nice neighborhood," Soriya said as they headed up the driveway. "When I get myself established, this is the type of place I'll be living."

Up at the house, the door was opened even before they reached it. Greeting them was a lovely, plump, middle-aged lady with a big smile on her face, along with the homey, delicious smell of freshly baked bread and Sunday roast.

"Hello," she said to the group.

Dara and Soriya waved at the woman, radiant smiles plastered on their faces.

Chan tightened her arms around Sam's shoulders and said, "Hi."

"Come in," the woman said, moving to one side.

Dara and Soriya didn't need to be told twice.

"Something smells delicious," Soriya said. "I'm Soriya."

"Have you been cooking?" Dara asked. "I'm Dara by the way. And that one over there is Chandra. You can call her Chan."

The woman laughed, nodding her head. "Well, come along. Let Adam have a look at that ankle."

Sam, Chan in his arms, nodded and stepped into the house. He brought her into the living area, and the moment he placed her on the sofa, children's noises could be heard—squealing with delight and footsteps rushing into the room.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Lilly came running along with two boys trailing behind her.

Sam picked up his daughter and kissed her cheek with affection. Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back on the cheek.

Chan looked on, her heart aching at the scene she beheld. Both Dara and Soriya were watching as well, their eyes large and their smiles radiant with adoration.

"Aww… That's so cute," Dara said.

When Sam put his daughter back down again, Lilly rushed over to Chan and jumped up and down.

"Hi, Chan. You remember me? You gave me money for the monkey show? And you did my hair and gave this blue rose to me in the restroom at the café." She bent her head a little to show Chan the blue rose in her hair that was messily bound on top of her head. The flower, of course, was off-color and brittle. It was quite dead, actually.

"Oh, wow." Chan was pleasantly surprised. "You still have the rose."

"So that's where it is," Dara said. "I thought you lost the rose that day."

Lilly finally turned to Dara and Soriya. "Who are you?"

Dara chuckled. "I'm Dara, that one's sister." She nodded in Chan's direction.

"And I'm Soriya," Soriya said. "Also, that one's sister as well as this one's sister." Then she turned to the two boys. "And who are you?"

The boys laughed. "I'm Timothy," the older one said, nodding and flashing a toothy grin.

"I'm Jason." The younger one even posed himself like he was some kind of superstar, also showing a toothy grin.

The brothers reminded the sisters so much of themselves. They chuckled.

"Oh dear, I think we've found our clones," Dara said.

"In a different gender," Soriya teased.

It was then a lovely female voice said, "All right, kids, time to go play outside."

When she made eye contact with the woman, Chan noted she was pretty, but she wasn't the person she'd seen in the restroom.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Sam as his attention never wavered from her. He wondered why she was so anxious about coming here. The fact she'd done her utmost in changing his and her sisters' minds about seeing Adam didn't go unnoticed by him either.

A man appeared behind the woman and started shooing the kids out.

"Come on, kids. Let's go play somewhere else. Let Dad check his patient, please," he said.

The boys, upon seeing their father, ran out the door obediently. Lilly, after telling Chan they could play together once she'd finished with her checkup, dragged both Dara and Soriya by the hands out with her.

Adam introduced himself to Chan and told her he was Sam's family doctor as well a family friend. His father used to be Sam's family doctor before him, too, back in America before they moved here to Australia.

Chan allowed Adam to examine her sprained ankle while Sam sat there watching. As uncomfortable as that might be, she couldn't tell him to leave simply because… well, she didn't want him to leave. Then she wondered where Marian, Sam's wife, was.

Finally, Adam finished. "It's fine. No broken bones. It'll be back to normal in a couple days."

"That's a relief," Chan said. "Thanks for doing this on such short notice."

Adam chuckled. "No worries."