Chapter 1036 - Family-memory-wall

~ Los Angeles, Tuscan Villa ~

Sunday, February 9

7:53 PM

Sophia and Felix are arranging décor which they purchased previous day.

Felix is on the ladder, arranging their photos on the wall while Sophia is putting them in the frames and telling him where what goes. It's all about the teamwork.

They got the keys of the villa yesterday morning, and since then they are settling in their new home.

Sarah and Aiden helped, and so did the staff of the Cliffside Villa and they moved their things over within few hours. The nursery is painted, crib is assembled… everything is ready including the room for a full-time nanny who is waiting to hear that the baby is born before she moves in with them.

Sophia and Felix have most of the staff present and working: a cook, two maids and a gardener. Levi and Ryan, their bodyguards are staying in the villa with them as well. They plan to hire a housekeeper and more bodyguards. Jeff offered his people temporarily, but Felix and Sophia said that it's not necessary because only the security is urgent, and Sarah and Aiden set up Eve on the property as soon as they confirmed that the villa is theirs… so it's not so urgent anymore.

"How much time we have?", Felix asked.

"Few minutes. You can hang one more photo.", Sophia told him while handing him the electric drill.

They are setting up the 'family-memory-wall' where photos of them and their family members are.

When Felix got down, he moved the ladder to the side and the two of them held each other while admiring their current progress. There is a photo of the two of them from their wedding, holding hands while gazing at each other lovingly… photo of Sophia with Edward and Stella… photo of Felix with Damien and Smita… Bridgette… Sarah… JoAnna… Rishi and Shibu… Sarah and Aiden with their kids and Kitty... and they have plenty of room for more. 

Some of the gaps are left on purpose, for their baby which is three days overdue!

Sophia said more than once that she is ready to kick out the tenant out so that she can get her body back, but her obgyn confirmed that it's normal for the first pregnancy to go few days beyond the due date.

Felix kissed Sophia on her forehead and reminded her gently: "We will be late for the meeting."

Ah, the meeting of the team-of-six. They didn't have that in a while. JoAnna requested it, and Sophia is curious to find out what is the occasion to gather them again. It's something to keep her mind off from her whale-like body.

…

In the virtual conference room…

"Hi everyone!", JoAnna greeted Sophia and Felix in one window and Sarah and Aiden in the second one. "Thank you for joining. Jeff and I have new targets.", she said with a big smile.

"Targets?", Sophia noticed that it's more than one.

"Yes. Four of them.", JoAnna confirmed. "Let me start from the beginning…"

JoAnna told them about Emma, how she went to the party and was bullied.

Displeasure on Sarah's and Sophia's faces was obvious. JoAnna was happy with their reaction.

"I told them that they need to apologize properly or suffer the consequences. But in truth, no matter what they do, it will not be enough. Because those four lucky families will be used as an example what happens when someone messes with us.", JoAnna ended her explanation.

"We are doing the usual?", Sarah asked. They all know that 'the usual' means how they will relieve that family of their assets while not leaving any traces that can lead back to them to be prosecuted. At least not legally.

"I gave them 48 hours to apologize to Emma with a hint that words are not enough. I don't know how far they will go, but we have 48 hours to gather the information related on their assets and to come up with a plan. I'm sending you information on their families what we have. Sarah and Aiden, please collect data from their extended families also. If they defy us, their extended family will be impacted as well. Also, if you can keep track on their movements, that will be excellent. We don't want to risk allowing them to attack Emma or Charlie in retaliation."

JoAnna expressed her desire that Sophia and Felix take a step back and focus on their new home and the baby. "Look at what we want to do and give your inputs on the plan. I understand that you have more important things to focus on right now. Unfortunately, this is time sensitive and if we postpone it, it will lose its impact."

JoAnna sent names of targets and families and she was about to end the meeting when Felix asked: "So… Charlie and Emma are official now?"

JoAnna's eyes lit up. "I thought that no one will ask!", she exclaimed in delight. "I don't know what surprised me more, Charlie's confidence or Emma's. Charlie asked Emma to marry him! She didn't respond yet, but it's only a matter of time, and based on what I've seen, it will be soon. Emma is super-cute and bashful, but she made it clear that she wants to stay by his side…"

"Is Emma moving in with Charlie?", Sarah asked when JoAnna paused to inhale.

When Sarah and Aiden returned from their Chaos mission last night, Eve told them that Emma is not in her room. Sarah checked Emma's location to make sure she is OK. When she confirmed that Emma is in Charlie's villa, Sarah didn't bother calling her. She knows that Charlie will not hurt Emma, and she stayed in his villa previously.

JoAnna thought for a moment and shrugged indicating that she does not know. "It does not look that Charlie will let her go easily…"

…

~ Cliffside villa ~

While our team-of-six is on the video conference call discussing Emma's and Charlie's situation, in the common room of the second house where the staff is…

Nala and Haru are in the flight simulator, side by side… maneuvering their virtual aircrafts skillfully around obstacles while shooting down enemies. The scores are tight, and the stakes are high. What is at stake? Their first kiss!

The deal they made is that if Haru wins, Nala will kiss him… and if Nala wins, Haru will kiss her.

They wanted to keep that a secret from others, but Nala was too excited and she told Zula... and at the speed of light, everyone else knew. And now Haru and Nala are surrounded by their friends, adopted brothers and sisters, who are cheering enthusiastically.

Haru wants to kiss Nala for a long time, and this is his chance. But in order to do that, she needs to win. On the other side, his pride is at stake and if he loses, the others will mock him.

Nala always had a soft spot for Haru, and ever since he asked her for that beach outing, just the two of them, she knows that he likes her… and she is thinking about that kiss more and more with each passing day. She wants it to the point of shivering, but not like this… not with everyone watching and cheering. It is supposed to be romantic, right?

Back to present…

The simulation ended and Nala was surprised to see that she won. Didn't she just space out? How is it possible that she won? She glanced to her left and she had a suspicion that Haru let her win on purpose… so that he can kiss her! Oh, God! He will kiss her!

If she backs out of this, her word won't mean a thing… and thanks for her not being able to keep it in, everyone knows why two of them competed and what the stakes are!

Nala was startled when Haru touched her right shoulder. Wasn't he on her left in the simulator, just a second ago? Ah, she spaced out again.

Haru extended his hand toward Nala, palm up, while offering her help to step out.

She placed her hand in his nervously.

They stood facing each other awkwardly, her hand in his, while others around them chanted: "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! ... "

Nala saw Haru inch closer to her and she closed her eyes. She can't escape this, no matter how weird it is. It is happening! Any minute now!

She felt her hand going higher and there was a strange sensation...

Nala opened her eyes and held her breath when her eyes met Haru's while his lips rested at the back of her palm.

Haru lowered her hand and smiled smugly. He was pleased to see her reaction and wondered what her expression will be when one day he kisses her for real… on the lips.

"OK. The show is over! Scram!", he shouted at the disappointed crowd while walking away.

Nala stared at Haru's departing back and she is not sure if she is breathing, but she knows that her heart is beating wildly. She smiled while walking away to her room.

Haru threw himself on his bed and sighed while thinking that when the time for a real kiss comes, he will make sure it happens in private. This kind of a spectacle is not what the girl of his dreams deserves for her first kiss… on the lips.

Haru thought of what he did, and he was confident that Aiden would be proud of him because he told him not to rush and to make sure she wants that kiss. And even though Haru is confident that Nala wants his kiss, he saw that she was uncomfortable... well, that is the no rushing part. 

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