Chapter 45

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Francy's p.o.v

Sunday.

"She did what?" I yelled over the phone. "What did he do? He didn't hug her back did he?"

"Nope." Rehan answered. "He seemed surprised, but I don't think he knows she likes him."

"Listen to me brother. If you have any tool that can make her disappear now is the time to say something."

"Sorry. It's illegal in this country. I couldn't import it." He answered.

"Aaaaaargh." I dropped down dramatically. "Just keep an eye on her."

Out of all my brothers, Rehan was the only one I could tell all these problems to while I was here and he was away. Kai would charge me by the hour and Ace would just make fun of me for being a jealous girlfriend. And now Rehan was back, which meant I had eyes everywhere and loyal support.

"Relaaaaax. I got it. " He clicked this tongue changing his accent to an Italian mobster one. "No one disrespects family and walks."

I instantly changed my voice and accent too. "You do one for me, I do one for you."

"I'll make it snappy."

"Leave the gun, and take the cannoli. " I said.

Rehan broke character. "Ugh, now you have me thinking about food. I gotta go snack on something."

I laughed. "Kai probably raided all the snacks in the pantry. You'll have to go and get some from Ace's secret stash."

"Noted."

"Love you and talk to you soon."

"Bye sister. Love ya."

 I hung up and joined Remi in the living room.  After work, Remi and I decided to put our all into getting the house done in a week.. It sounded impossible, but the tighter the deadline the harder we worked. She had already started.

Up on a ladder, she was trying to hang a painting.

"I'll do it. I'm taller."

She got down and handed me the painting as I climbed the ladder.

"How's Rehan?" She asked.

"Having the time of his life. All the attention is on him at home."

"And what was that last part about?" She asked.

"Ugh don't get me started. I don't want to think about it." I tried to shake off the anger in me.

"A little bit more to the left please," Remi said and I positioned the painting to the left.

"Perfect." She did an okay sign and I went down the ladder.

That made the walls in the living room checked off the list.

I put the ladder away and helped Remi roll the old and damaged carpet and take it outside with the rest of the things we were going to throw out.

While trying to preserve as much as we can from the antique and vintage look in the room, we still had to throw out the old armchair, the carpet, and a few other things that were no longer serving the house.

We got back inside, getting the mop and bucket ready.

Remi added the cleaning solution in the bucket, while I was pushing the furniture aside so Remi can go over without tripping over them.

The honk of Tim's truck went off outside. He was here.

"Make sure, you go over the floors a few times so when I get back with the new things we can place them right away."

"Ay captain." Remi saluted me.

I grabbed my bag and headed outside. Tim was already out and loading his truck with the stuff we were going to throw off. Apparently, he knew a guy for these types of things and we could just give him these old things.

The plan was to drop off the things and then go pick up the stuff Remi and I had bought days ago and were waiting on us to find a way to bring them over.

I helped Tim with the rest of the stuff and then got in the front seat of the truck.

"Let's make a quick stop for coffee and we'll head there," Tim said as he got in.

"Sure." I put the seat belt on.

It was a typical summer day. The sun shone directly from the window on my thigh. I tried putting my bag there so I don't 't get a sunburn.

Tim parked the truck in front of a coffee place, grabbed us two cups of coffee and then continued driving.

"How is the house coming along?" He asked.

I took a sip of the coffee through the straw. The ice was cracking in the cup.

"We're almost done. Then all we have left is the greenhouse. Once we are done with that the project is done."

"You work fast. Are you in a hurry to go back home?" He asked.

"Well yeah." I sighed. "As much as I love it here I miss my home. My family..My cats..My boyfriend."

I glanced at him, and he sighed depressed. "It's nice to be in a relationship."

"Sorry.." I forgot he was still getting over the whole rejection thing.

"He treats you okay?" He turned towards me.

"Yes. He is a great guy." I answered proudly.

"I trust your taste." He smiled and focused on the road. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Thank you. "I smiled.

 "Wanna play the radio?" He asked changing the subject.

I nodded happily.

After finishing up most of the work and loading the truck with all our stuff, we headed back to my house.

We had a brief chat here and there, but now it was too quiet. He seemed to be in thought.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sorry." He smiled. "I was thinking about something."

"You're not worried about Sole again, are you?" I asked worriedly.

He sighed. "I just feel bad for myself. I always rush into feelings without thinking first. I should have taken more time to think it through. In the end, I couldn't even see it through and tell her I like her. So I decided. I quit on love. I'm too much of a coward for it. At least for now."

"Sorry " I answered not knowing what else I can say. He seemed like he had his mind made up.

"Don't be. I have way too much free time on my hands, so I'll just do sports or something."

"A hobby is nice." I smiled.

"Yep." He answered and kept driving in silence.

I kind of felt bad, but there was nothing much I can do. I hoped there was a happy ending for Tim somewhere in the future.


***



Monday morning

Remi and I pushed the bikes behind Lea, doing the last of our deliveries for today. She seemed to be in a bad mood. Which for Lea it was very rare.

"Lea.." I spoke.

"Mm?" She answered, but I was sure she did it out of instinct after hearing her name.

"You okay?" Remi asked.

"Mm." Lea answered.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She waved her hand and laughed. "It's just the weather."

I took a step back and leaned towards Remi to whisper. "Let's invite her over after we're done for some ice cream and see what's wrong."

"I was thinking the same thing. This is so unlike her." Remi replied.

Lea kept sighing all the way to the last house we delivered medicine to.

"Lea, do you want to stop by for ice cream?" Remi asked her.

"Um.." She was about to reject us when I added.

"Oh, you know. You can see the house too. We can show you the before and after pictures of what we've been working on this whole month."

"Well, I guess I can take a look." She replied.

After giving her the biggest scoop of ice cream Remi and I sat in the kitchen in silence, while Lea was looking at the polaroids. She kept sighing.

"Oh come on. You have to tell us what's wrong." I demanded.

My worried state was now full on- curiosity.

She closed our journal and took her ice cream while playing around with the spoon. "Have you guys ever been in love?"

"Well well....." I grinned. "Are you having love problems?"

"She is. She is." Remi grinned too. "She's in loveeee with someone."

Her whole face turned red. "I ..I ...I just asked."

"For research purposes?" Remi teased.

"For a friend?" I teased too.

She leaned on her elbows on the table going even redder than before.

"You are such bullies." She pouted.

"Oh come on." I smiled proudly. "You can tell us. We have someone we like too."

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

"My crush is amazing." Remi bragged. "He is really good with math. He is tall and handsome. He even plays baseball."

"Whoa. That's awesome." Lea smiled.

"Well, my crush is really good with computers. A genius. There's no one like him in this whole country." I bragged too.

She smiled in awe of our crushes.

"And yours ?" I asked.

"My crush has the biggest heart." She took a breath and leaned her head over the table. "He is sweet and kind and helps everyone."

"That sounds like an amazing person," I said.

"You got good taste" Remi smiled.

"He's always been there for me and my family. There is not one single memory in my life without him."She sighed in pain. "But lately something is troubling him. He seems sad. And it's making me sad seeing him like that."

"Oh no. Have you tried talking to him?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he doesn't want to tell me anything. I mean I'm just fifteen. I'm just a kid to him." She let out another disappointed sigh.

"Oh, so he's older." Remi brushed her hair back. "Maybe it's a school thing."

"In the middle of summer?" I asked.

"Right." Remi swung her head back laughing. "Sorry."

"You know... You can try to guess what's wrong and just see how he reacts to your guesses. I do that with my boyf...crush." I smiled. "I learned this from my brothers. Sometimes they don't want to talk about things when they're in a bad mood, but the moment I find out why they were upset, it's like they feel understood just by me knowing it. So when my crush is brooding and he's upset and doesn't want to talk, I just go and say "work..school..game problems? And check to see what he reacts to. Then I just nod and tell him. "I know you. You'll handle it." and leave him with that. He instantly feels better. Sometimes just knowing that someone understands you and confirms your feelings are valid, makes you feel so much better."

Lea was listening intently and then perked up excited. "That's great advice. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smiled.

"You can have this." She handed me the ice cream back.

"I feel much better now."

I took the ice cream. Why go to waste?

"So..Have you made a move on your crush?" Remi was still here for the gossip.

"Nope." Lea placed her palm on the table. "Not yet. But... in four years.. In four years I'll have him."

I choked on the ice cream. "Four years?"

Not another Kai.

"That's crazy. Why would you wait that long?" Remi asked.

"Exactly. You don't need to wait that long." I took another spoon of ice cream.

"He won't take me seriously. I'm still a kid to him. And technically it's illegal."

"What?" I choked again and placed the ice cream down, giving up on it. "How old is this person?"

"Bit older than you." She smiled shyly.

Remi suddenly hit my arm.

"Ouch." I rubbed my hand. "what?"

She tried to signal something with her eyes.

"What?"

"She says... he was there.. for her family," Remi muttered in a really low voice. I barely understood her.

I shrugged... So? He was there for her family so maybe he is at the baker...

Oh..

Oooooh.

Oh my god.

"Do you like Tim?" I blabbed it out in shock and Remi crossed her arms.

Lea froze in shock from this reveal.

"See what you did?" Remi shook her head in disappointment.

Oh shut up Remi. You did it first with Sole.

"You won't tell him won't you?" Lea asked worriedly.

"We won't." Remi took her hand.

Lea leaned dramatically on the table."But what if he gets a girlfriend in the meantime?"

"He won't," I argued and leaned back in my chair happily. "He told me himself he is giving up on love."

"What?" Lea got up in shock.

"This works out in your favor." I explained. "Tim wants to focus on other things now. That gives you the opportunity to charm him. The moment you get to 18 you have to go all out. "

Lea smiled. "Of course. If there is one thing I know is that the women in my family always get the guy they want. Always."

"For now just do something for him," I suggested.

"Like what?"She asked.

"Like making him laugh. You're good at making people laugh and now he needs a reason to smile."

She seemed to be in thought and then grinned. "Okay. I can do that."

Remi shook Lea's hand. "We leave Tim in your care."

I shook her other hand. "Give him the happy ending he deserves."

She got up smiling.

"One more thing." I stopped her. "Tim is great. But you're great too. In case something changes in the future, with your feelings or his,  you should remember that your happiness matters too. It's okay to change your mind sometimes and move on."

She nodded. "Of course. But.. for now, I'm motivated. If it all goes well in few years,  I'll invite you to our wedding."

She grabbed her bag and headed out the door. "I have to go now. See you around. Thanks for the ice cream."

We waved her off and Remi turned towards me. "Should we have encouraged her like we did?"

I nodded. "Of course. It's up to her to give her best even if she's younger, and if it works out in the future, even better. As for Tim, I'm happy to hear someone is watching out for him with pure-hearted feelings."

"True." Remi nodded. "This is as far as we go, my friend."

"Should we get to work now? The sooner we get the house done, we can move to the greenhouse and go home."

Remi nodded. "Let's do this."


What Francy was referring to with the cannoli* ( reference 2:06, but I'd watch the whole thing If I were you 🤣)

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