Chapter 4

After Ariel waved goodbye to Eric and Melody, she carefully crossed the jalan to meet up with her brother. Her sandy-colored haired brothers was holding a carton of susu that he bought from the Deli.

"Ariel, what was going on? Who was that man anda were talking to?" menggelepar, flounder asked.

"I was trying to save his daughter," Ariel explained.

"Really?" menggelepar, flounder asked.

"It's a long story," berkata Ariel. As they walk away from the Deli, Ariel told menggelepar, flounder the details of the story such as saving Melody, standing up to Eric, and a makan malam, majlis makan malam with them. When she finished, menggelepar, flounder was amazed. That was a Brave thing his big sister did!

Ariel and menggelepar, flounder finally came upon their apartment. They went inside and took the elevator which led them to the 22nd floor.

"Daddy, we're home!" Ariel and menggelepar, flounder walked inside their room M28. The apartment room was small but still contained enough room to fit her, Flounder, her dad, and their sisters, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana. The apartment room had a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

Triton was sitting in his chair Membaca the Daily News. Attina, Andrina, and Adella, both came utama early from their jobs.

"Daddy, we're home," berkata Ariel.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to worry about anda two," berkata Triton. He was a little bit concerned of why his two kids were spending longer time than usual at the deli when he only sent them just to buy milk.

"What took anda so long!" Adella berkata impatiently, who just came out of the dapur along with Andrina and Attina.

"Adella, calm down!" Attina scolded. "There's no need to be dramatic!"

"But I'm soooooo thirsty and hungry!" Adella whined.

"Gee, poor Adella. She didn't eat breakfast," Andrina said, sarcastically.

"I was almost late this morning! And I didn't have time to go the cafe!"

"Whatever!"

"Calm down. I have the milk," berkata Ariel.

"Yeah, Ariel was trying to save a girl's life!" menggelepar, flounder defended. Triton turned around from his newspaper with interest and all the sisters except Ariel had their eyes widened. menggelepar, flounder began to tell the story in an excited way.

"Yeah! There was a little girl who was running in the jalan and-then-she couldn't-the car was like 'Vroooom!'and the girl was like 'AAAAAAAAAH!' Whew! Then Ariel ran and saved her!" And then, there was this man, who was like 'blah blah blah!' at the kid and "hubba hubba hubba!' at Ariel," menggelepar, flounder finished, imitating Eric's hypnotized trance.

Triton's expression changed from an interest to a frown.

"WHAT!"

"OOoooooooo! Ariel's got a boyfriend!" Adella teased, as Attina, Arista, and Andrina giggled.

"He's not my boyfriend!" berkata Ariel, blushing. "The man was the father of the girl I rescued from. He invited me for makan malam, majlis makan malam tomorrow just to repay me," Ariel explained, hopefully her dad didn't get the wrong idea and hopefully that her sisters would stop teasing.

"Whew! That is a relief!" Triton sighed.

"So, what's the man's name?" Attina asked.

"Eric Daniel Barnes," Ariel answered, menunjukkan everybody Eric's buisness card.

"Eric Daniel Barnes? No way!" the sisters exclaimed.

"You know him?" Ariel was confused.

"Yeah! He's our co-worker!" berkata Andrina in a "duh!" tone.

"Ariel, where are anda and Eric going to eat dinner?" Triton asked. Even though, he is already aware that Eric Daniel Barnes, he still feels uneasy about letting his youngest daughter having a tarikh with him. Especially after hearing from menggelepar, flounder that Eric had expressed interest in Ariel.

"Yes, daddy, I want to. We're having makan malam, majlis makan malam at his house," berkata Ariel.

"His house!" Tirton exclaimed.

"Father, Eric is a decent man so, he won't touch her," berkata Andrina, calmly.

"You're sure," Triton asked, cautiously.

"Yeah, don't worry. Eric has no interest in marriage," Andrina answered.

"Daddy, I want to go. It is not a date. It is just for one night. Please?" Ariel pleaded. Triton hesitated. Despite Andrina's assurance, he still doesn't feel comfortable about this. How would he know that Eric would not make moves on her? On the other hand, he knows that it would be a great insult if Ariel doesn't tunjuk up at his house for dinner. He sighed.

"All right, Ariel. anda can have makan malam, majlis makan malam with him tomorrow. But be careful," Triton said, still worrying.

"Daddy, I'll be fine," berkata Ariel. Gee, her dad could be so overprotective sometimes.

Meanwhile, back at the Barnes' home, Eric and Melody had gotten ready for bed.

"Good night, Melody," berkata Eric as tucked Melody in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Daddy," berkata Melody. He was about to leave when Melody called him.

"Daddy, please keep the lights on!"

"Why?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I hate the dark!"

"All right," berkata Eric. He left without turning the lights off. He hoped that this would be the last time she requested him to do that.

Eric changed into his pajamas and climbed into his king-size bed. As he laid his head on his pillow, he looked to his left to another bantal seterusnya to him. He fell asleep dreaming about a certain lovely red-haired woman that still left his hati, tengah-tengah burning for her.