A Love Trap

Brown and Laura had lived in L City most of their lives. Living there was totally different than living in J City. Understandably, they were not used to the lifestyle here.

They had developed dark circles under their eyes, obviously from lacking of sleep.

Ashley knew Ellie was struggling. So, she said, "Brown, Laura, it's getting late now. Why not go to sleep? Give Ellie sometime to think about it. She has her own concerns. I will talk to her."

"Okay! We will go to sleep," agreed Laura. "But don't stay up talking too late. It's not good for your health."

"We won't. Goodnight Laura!" said Ashley.

Laura and Brown walked to their room. Ashley looked at Ellie and asked, "What do you think, Ellie? Should we keep them here or let them go back?"

Ellie looked confused. "I don't know. I want to keep them here so that I can take good care of them," she replied. "But they are not used to the life here. I really don't know what to do."

Ashley thought for a moment, and said, "I think it's the best to let them go back to L City.

They have a life there, and they love it. But they will not leave this place if you don't agree because they love you.

At the same, it's tough for them to adjust to their life here, too. We can't stay with them all the time. We have to go to work, which means they would have to navigate the city by themselves, and J City is huge! They don't know where to go and how to get around.

Of course, you can run all the errands for them. But they are still healthy and wouldn't want to be fully dependent on you. They care about you and don't want to burden you. I think they will be happier in L City.

If you want, we can go visit them more often."

Ellie agreed, "I guess I don't have much of a choice."

Ashley was glad that Ellie finally agreed. She asked, "When do you plan to send them home?"

Ellie responded, "Maybe in a couple of days. I want to spend a little more time with them."

said, "Okay! Don't think about it too much. All

phone rang. She answered it quickly as she didn't want to wake up

said in

Andrew commanded in his usual

him. "I already told you! I

end. "You only said that you would not need me to pick you up after work,"

sure I told you I would be staying

out," he said

sleep without Ashley in his arms. He had a hard time falling asleep without her by his

You can't be so—" Andrew hung up. She didn't even

to tell him off

Screw it! It will take at least three minutes to

me know when you are taking Brown and Laura back. I will go with you," she

guessed what had happened. She teased her, "You are leaving, because your friend is here to pick

loudly and ran to grab her friend to

before she

grabbed her purse and said,

out and got into the car. She realized Andrew was in the driver's seat. She glance at him. "Why are you here? You told me you would ask Johnny to pick me up," she asked.

emotion whatsoever. "So what? Do you prefer Johnny to drive

was no expression on Andrew's face. However, he already made a

subsidiaries in Africa still needed someone to

a good choice.

rubbed his nose wondering who was thinking about him at that

it was his boss, who was

he knew his boss was jealous of him because of a simple question posed

though his face was expressionless. She could tell something was off