While they were walking outside, Mrs. Gusman arrived and hurriedly began preparing for the guests that were about to arrive.
The Jones were happily walking around the subdivision, a private community where many wealthy people live. The cheapest house you can buy there is worth 5 million dollars, so the security here is strict. If you are not a resident there, you can't come in easily if you don't have an invitation.
The residents there have their own codes for them to use the private gate. But if you are just a visitor, you need to register at the front gate, if you are going to use it. Alternatively, like what Ashley did, she gave her code to Sato and Manager Hoshi so that it wouldn't be hard for them to enter the neighborhood.
Grandma Hanada was so happy while walking with Harumi. Tanaga and Ashley, on the other hand, were pulling the stroller where the twins were in. The two didn't invite Juanita so that she could have a rest.
They had been walking for a long time when they bumped into two Asian-looking ladies. When they got near to the couple, they stopped first to look inside the stroller.
Ashley and Tanaga stopped first so that they could see the twins closely.
The two ladies looked like they were just in their early twenties. They were also beautiful and the other one was like a celebrity. Ashley couldn't stop herself to be mesmerized by the beauty of the two ladies.
"Ohh, they're so cute, and they're twins! Both boys?" the girl who looked like a celebrity asked them with a beautiful smile plastered on her lips.
Ashley smiled back. "Yes, they're both boys. This one is James and the other one is Ashton," Ashley introduced her sons proudly.
"Come to think of it, if that hunk of a husband of yours got you pregnant before he ran off, you would have one too," joked the celebrity-looking lady.
Tanaga was just standing and obviously losing his patience, but he just let it go because he saw that his wife was enjoying the chatting.
Ashley thought of introducing herself as she needed to have a connection with her neighbors. At least if there would be a meeting for the Home Owners Association, she would know someone.
Ashley offered her hand. "Hi! I'm Ashley Gu- I mean Jones. I live here. How 'bout you?" she introduced herself.
The celebrity-looking lady was the first one to reply." Hi! I'm Ann Wen and this is my friend and manager Lea Kuan. We're not residents here. I wish though! Hahaha! We are only here for work and just staying at a friend's house. Nice to meet you!" Then Ann accepted Ashley's hand and shook hands.
When Lea and Ann both looked at Tanaga, that was just the time Ashley remembered introducing him.
"This here," then she pointed at Tanaga, "is the father of the twins, Tanaga." She didn't say the last name of Tanaga, so they were not sure if she and Tanaga were a couple.
Lea stretched her hand to have a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Tanaga," she said while waiting for Tanaga to accept her offer.
Unfortunately for her, Tanaga didn't accept it. Instead, he just answered, "Nice to meet you too," while his hands were in his jacket pockets.
Ann hesitated on offering her hand. "Nice to meet you as well, Tanaga." Tanaga just nodded.
"Sige, mauna na kami sa inyo. Pasensya na at naabala ka pa naming [Okay, we'll be heading out first. I'm sorry if we disturbed you]." Ann said to Ashley while speaking in Tagalog.
Ashley was astonished because Ann looked like she was of Chinese-American descent. She didn't expect that she could speak the Filipino language, as it was not in her face.
"Oh my, you know how to speak Tagalog? Are you even a Filipina? Cause honestly, it didn't look like it. Hahaha."
"Hahaha, yes I'm a Filipina. I also thought that you're also a Filipina, but I don't know about your husband, so I just tried it," Ann explained while she was waiting for Ashley to deny that he was not her husband.
"Hahaha! He's a Japanese-American, but he knows how to speak Tagalog, so be careful," Ashley replied in a friendly tone.
Tanaga cleared his throat to inform Ashley that he was about to lose his patience.
Ann and Lea were not thick to not notice this hence they immediately bid farewell so that the Jones could continue on their walk. When they were now walking away, Ashley called them back. "Ann! Lea! If you have time, and you want to eat some Filipino cuisine, there will be a small feast in our house later."
The two stopped and stared at each other first. "Sure, why not? If it's not a problem for your family, we'll be thanking you now. By the way, what time is it?" Lea was the one who answered, as she was the manager of Ann.
Ashley gave her phone number and the address of their house. She also gave the time of when the feast would start. The two, as a return, gave their cellphone numbers. After that, they happily jogged away.
When the two left, the Jones continued on walking. Because of their silence and the fact that they didn't even look at each other, Tanaga and Ashley started to form something in their heads.
When they spotted a bench, Tanaga decided on sitting there first to wait for Grandma Hanada and Harumi there. Ashley didn't hesitate and sat down on the bench first.
"Gosh! It's really hard as it's been long since the last time I exercised. I quickly got tired," Ashley said to herself. This was clearly heard by Tanaga, and he thought that she was dropping hints.
He suddenly thought deeply about what Ashley was saying.
'Well, if I'm just worried about you… It's been so long since we did it. If that's what you want, then I'll make you beg for it later.'
Tanaga was looking at her beautiful and soft face while thinking about those things.