Stuck in you

Eric was suspicious when he heard that Jack and Rachel were going to be living together.

He put the rag down and grabbed Rachel's hand, leading her to the balcony.

Mendes, being a child, didn't know what was happening. This seemingly secret conference confused and intrigued him.

His interest grew when he saw Eric suddenly pulling Rachel into the balcony.

As much as he was curious, he was nervous, too. He promptly followed them and asked anxiously, "Where are you going?"

Rachel patted Eric on the arm, a signal for him to wait. She stopped walking and turned around. "We just need to talk. Can you stay here while we do that? We won't be long."

Mendes frowned and asked, "Can't I come with you?"

It was difficult to refuse the request of a child who was as cute as a bun, but Rachel immediately responded, "No."

Eric felt sorry for the little boy. He had thought that she would let Mendes come. He was only a child, after all.

"Stay here and wait for me, okay? We just have to talk for a bit in the balcony, and I'll be back before you know it." Although Rachel had not given in to the boy's request, she continued to talk to him patiently.

He was too young to understand what she meant. Even so, he didn't like that she was acting so secretive.

He only wanted to be part of things.

Mendes looked at Eric and then at Rachel as the two were about to leave. Pouting, he said reluctantly, "Okay, you go ahead."

Rachel was amused by the fact that the child was clearly hurt. "Be a good boy and wait for me. It'll only be a moment, sweetie."

Mendes looked at her with a hint of reluctance in his eyes. It could be difficult at times to convince a little child, but although he pouted, at least he was reasonable.

Lowering his voice, Eric asked, "How long will he be staying here?"

"Someone's picking him up tomorrow night." Lucas had already returned, and he had called Rachel earlier to let her know that he was going to pick up Mendes the following night.

Although she liked Mendes, Rachel no longer wished for him to stay any longer than he was scheduled to.

Honestly, if anything happened to the child, it would be difficult to explain things to his parents.

They hadn't shown up so far, though.

When Eric heard her response, he blurted out, "So let me get this straight. You will be left alone with Jack then?"

"Yes..."

with you? Why are you two living together all of a sudden?" Eric was agitated now. "Jack is playing

afraid that she was causing him to worry too much. "It's okay. Don't think about it.

What's

him. She had learned that sometimes, it was better not to let people know

they would not have everyone's eyes on them all

that Eric would do, so Rachel simply told

tell him exactly when everything

it seemed as though bad news just kept piling on. "Rachel! Think it over! It's not safe to live alone with a man, especially given

agreement. "That's exactly what I was thinking. So, are you

you and Jack? Be in the same

room

plastered on Rachel's face. "There's a

struggled to come up with a response. He would never want to live with the man who

what he had done because Eric was trying to use Celine to get back

married Rachel and

down in a cunning, less obvious way, but failed. Along the way, he had

was no longer a big deal. Although Eric knew that he had somehow brought this upon himself,

to talk about Jack behind his back, but he was afraid to be in the same room with the guy, more so

own. Do you remember how much that house has cost you? You don't want to be throwing away that kind of money. Besides, this

what she was thinking. "You're afraid to

moment of silence, Eric nodded, clenching

"I find it strange, though, how he's in such a hurry to

Rachel couldn't tell him about the deal. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder and said vaguely,

It was clear that she did not want to divulge too much. Wrapping up the conversation, she said, "That's it. In the coming months, if you want to come by, you can call me, or you can

Eric kept silent.

windows rattled slightly. Both of them turned their heads to find Mendes

looked as though Rachel had already made up her mind, there

much. She wanted to avoid the shock and embarrassment

now than to

the discussion. "What were you

"It's a secret. Shush."

said. His

grew, it seemed. When Lucas called, Mendes took

for a time, Lucas finally understood. He said, amused, "Okay, okay. We'll

Mendes exclaimed in agreement as he

whose child is

dinner, casually