“It’s not you I’m looking for; I want to speak to Sonia. Is she there with you?” Grace asked on the other line, prompting Charles to glance over at Sonia.
“She’s here,” he answered.
“Pass the phone to her.”
Having made a noise of agreement, Charles handed Sonia his phone while saying, “Here, it’s my mom.”
Sonia took the phone over and greeted pleasantly, “Mrs. Lane.”
“Sonia! I’ve missed you so much.” Grace beamed as soon as she heard Sonia’s voice on the other end of the call.
Sonia, on the other hand, smiled as well. “I’ve missed you, too, Mrs. Lane.”
“You could always drop by to see me, you know,” Grace pointed out, feigning dejection.
“Sorry, Mrs. Lane. I’ve been tied up with tons of stuff recently. I barely have time to breathe,” Sonia winced and said apologetically.
“Well, you could come over for a meal right now if you have the time. I’ll bust out a few of my best recipes for you,” Grace cajoled kindly.
Sonia was just about to say something when Charles—who had been eavesdropping—spoke up instead. “Mom, I’m bringing my darling for seafood.”
Grace, however, was insistent as she countered, “You know how restaurants never run a quality check on their seafood supplies, and it’s not as if they could do better than me when it comes to cooking.”
for the offer, Mrs. Lane. We’ll go over to your
you soon!” Grace chortled happily,
Sonia a resigned look. “Well, it looks like
Now, we should probably go and pick out gifts for your parents.” With that, she linked arms with him
mall, they finally picked out an elegant cloak for Grace and a tasteful
ties with the Reeds, and their relationship was more family than anything else. In particular, Grace had been best friends with Sonia’s mother. As far as
wasn’t long before Charles and Sonia pulled
the house looked the same as
the sound of the car pulling up. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Sonia, and she approached the latter with her arms spread
Sonia greeted with a
embraced, Charles stood by the side and drawled sarcastically, “Don’t
“I see you every day, and believe me when I say I’m getting tired of it. My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good look at you!” She clasped Sonia’s hands in hers and slowly spun
amused by the
have,” Grace insisted. “Your
because I’ve lost all my baby fat, so now I appear a little more slender than usual,” Sonia placated. “Alright,
along, then.” Grace took her by the hand and
no one else at home but them, and
his buddies. No matter. Sonia, why don’t you tell me how you’ve been for the past six years.”
easily with a nod and began to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept it
the last of the story. She slapped the edge of the coffee table in a physical show of frustration and snapped, “I knew those Fullers were rotten! You should have told us how badly they were treating you, Sonia. If you had told us, then we would have stood up for you and gotten them to back
agreed as he bit into an apple. “That’s what I
she had kept mum about her abusive marriage wounded him, and the rage he felt never went away. That
her. Tears pricked her eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to make
Toby, but they couldn’t come to her defense all the time. Besides, they weren’t actually related to her, which meant her troubles
to do with you?” Grace gently prodded the younger
but she smiled good-naturedly as she wrapped
and
sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you have on the
thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic. She rose to
in the pot, and thankfully, she made
brought two tall glasses of juice over to Sonia and said, “Here you go, Sonia. Have some juice while you watch a bit of television; I’ll be in
Mrs. Lane.” Sonia nodded with a
Charles a look. “Come and
just heard as he pointed at his nose. “Are you
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