Amy saw the curious gazes coming from Mona and Ian. She smiled when she saw this. "I'm a housewife but I'm also interested in a little bit of everything. What about you? What do you do?"
"I'm a teacher", Nora said casually.
Amy and Mona's mouth fell open. Alex chuckled when she took in their expressions. "You guys look like Dad and I when she said she wanted to be a teacher."
Richard chuckled at the fond memory. It was through his youngest that he learned appearances deceive. But it's Nora, he knows better than to blindly trust this little punk.
"Wait, she's actually serious?" Mona blurted out.
"No one believes me when I tell them what I do. Only mom did", Nora shot a grateful smile in her mom's direction.
"You're forgetting someone", Adrianne grumbled.
"Of course! How could I forget you my-" Nora stood to give Adrianne a hug when the sound of Jared's throat clearing thundered through the room. Nora sat back down as she chuckled in amusement.
"See why I can't stay in this town?" She shot at Adrianne who mouthed a sorry at her.
"Where do you teach?" Amy asked.
"At a kindergarten in East Village. Why are you not overreacting to this unbelievable news? People usually ask me two or three times more to make sure I'm not lying."
Amy shrugged in response as she refilled her plate for a second round. Nora watched this in amusement and Stella caught this. "Nora, I'd support you in anything but Emily is an exception. She's very married and has got a bun in the oven."
Stacy gasped from where she sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor as she looked at Amy. "Aunt Emily, you cook bunnies? That's terrible!"
"No, sweetie. A bun in the oven is an expression which means she'll have a baby soon", Alex explained to her daughter.
The little one's eyes lit up as a huge smile spread on her face. "When will you have your baby? Is it a boy? Can I play with him?"
"You'll play with the baby when the time comes", Amy replied with a smile.
"Married, pregnant, jobless. I can work with that", Nora was counting with her fingers before she nodded to herself.
"You can work with what? Stella, your daughter!" Richard warned but his words fell on deaf ears.
While Amy's pregnancy was in talks, Mona kept her gaze on Ian whose shoulders had visibly slumped. She suppressed her annoyance by continuing to eat. The conversations went on and laughter echoed in the room until at eight in the evening. Adrianne and Jared offered to drop Mona home, while Amy went home with Richard and Stella. The two sisters and the young one went back to Alex's place while Ian was left to clean up alone.
"It's part of growing up", Stella patted his cheek when she saw the scowl on his face when they were leaving.
She threw the party, she left him to clean up. He stored up the left overs in his built in fridge before pulling on rubber gloves to hand wash the plates on the sink. He could not help but let out a sigh of relief, he was initially worried when he saw Mona. They had not spoken or seen each other a full week since he sat her down for a talk last time before they went back home. He was just glad she didn't act up or say something she shouldn't. His door bell went off. He put down the plate he had been scrubbing and removed his gloves to get the door.
His brows rose when he saw who it was through the intercom. He buzzed up the person and waited by the door. Soon enough the person arrived and he let them in.
"You didn't think that I'd just leave, did you?" Mona said as she waltzed back into the house.
"Is there something you forgot?" Ian asked as he closed the door.
"What was that?" She crossed her arms against her chest taking a defensive stance.
"What are you talking about?" He turned to look at her with his usually expressionless face.
"We talked about this, that you were done with Emily. So what was that earlier? Ian, you chose me. The least you could do is suppress your feelings for her in front of me!"
"I told you to give me time", he let out a tired sigh. He had agreed to give up on Amy for obvious reasons and Mona being one of them. Mona fell quiet. Ian had convinced her to go home with the condition of him getting his own place. Running away, as he had realized, was quite irresponsible on his part. He got a place for the wrong reasons but he was also serious when he said he would be responsible for his own actions. Mona could not help but feel more attracted to him.
She took out a sachet from her hoodie pocket and placed it on the counter top of his kitchen. Ian's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Where did you get that? I thought your weed business was seized", he looked between the sachet and her.
"I have my ways", she smirked. She would resell the weed she bought to get the drugs on the table. Ian was quite addicted to them and she was addicted to the sex he offered when high especially when he sniffed it off her naked body. It was such a turn on for both of them. The drug was a mixture of cocaine and a little bit of aphrodisiac. The two could not help their addiction to it.
She picked it up then sashayed towards him swinging her hips in a seductive manner. When she reached his side, she held it up to his face in between her index and middle finger. "You had a long day, let's get you relaxed."
With her closeness and the substance held to his face, Ian felt his resolve weaken. He wondered how his thoughts strayed with Amy when Mona had so much to offer. And so he took the pack with white substance and picked her up and launched a fiery of kisses while leading them to his bed.