Oddey was in her room, reading her romance novel. She stopped for a while and closed it then crossed her arms, and then rested her head on the desk. Her pixie nose smelled a scent that was stuck on her clothing, and she knew that it was not her perfume.

It was Gage's body spray that got stuck to the fiber in her clothes.

That subtle scent that she did not want to wash off made her reminisce about him. Also, from what had happened to her in that elevator, even though she had an asthma attack from it. She remembered how Gage was so kind, helpful, and understanding towards her until they were saved.

The thought of her sleeping on his lap popped into her mind. Oddey did not recall how she got to his lap, how she got so close to him that her cheeks turned very red from embarrassment. "Oh, my God," she grumbled and covered her face with her hands. "He must think I'm so lame. Why did I have to get stupid asthma?"

"Odette?" Her mother called out to her that the young artist darted to her.

"Mom..."

"Is something wrong?"

"Uhm... no, no," the girl stammered.

Eva went to her and then placed her hand on Oddey's shoulder. "Aww... you must still be shaken up. I know how much you don't like to be in tight spaces for so long."

"Maybe just a little. I'm not gonna lie, I was so scared. But, I'm okay now."

"You still take it easy. Your Dad and I are just glad that nothing worse happened to you."

"Me too, Mom," Oddey replied.

"Alright. Dinner is ready."

Later in the dining area. Eva was putting the dish in a big bowl while the father and daughter talked. "I know that Carmela University is a good school," Leon talked to his daughter. "But don't you want to go to study in New York, maybe somewhere in Europe or Japan, I know you always wanted to be there again?"

"Any school is a good school," Eva said as she brought their favorite dish to them.

"She's right, Dad," Oddey agreed. "And I'm happy in that CarmU. Rita is there, I made new good friends, and most of the professors there are nice and... I like this..." She paused because she was about to mention Gage.

Eva's eyes widened. "You like what?" Leon asked after noticing that her daughter got all choked up

"I... like that... one of my professors gave me this job to design the set in a play and..."

"Wow, that's so great." Leon was impressed. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Do you need help? I know a thing or two about designing a theatre set."

Oddey acted all cheeky and made this funny grin towards her father. "Hmm... I think about it."

"Just let me know." Leon winked at her. "Anyway, I'm very hungry."

"Do not fear. The food is here. Let me pour the soup into your bowl," Eva offered as she reached for the serving spoon.

"No." The man stopped Eva by taking her wrist there was an awkward silence. Oddey had this smug in her face as she looked at the two people she loved. The woman that she considered her mother and her father had something between them. "Ahem... no, it's okay, I'll do it."

"No," the woman said to her in a stern tone. "You sit down, and I'll do it."

Leon just did as he was told and just stayed back. "Yes, Ma'am."

"I like this, all of us eating together like this," Oddey beamed. "Too bad, I have to go back to school on Monday."

"Then go to Dubai with me then," Leon insisted.

"But your business is already under construction here."

"I can send people here."

"Dad," Oddey whined.

"I'm... just suggesting."

"Let's stop talking about changing schools or moving elsewhere and have a nice dinner," Eva told them.

"Yes, Mom," Oddey agreed.

"She's right, I don't want the soup to get cold," Leon said, and then they all began eating their dinner. "Odette, I think you're getting thinner. Eat as much as you can."

"Of course, especially when pork soup is one of my favorites. I miss having dinner. Just the three of us like this. I wish we couldn't do this all the time."

"Me too." Leon stroked Oddey's black wavy hair while she started eating. He turned to the two people sitting with him as they had dinner together and thought how happy he was to be with them tonight, watching them talking and laughing. It was a time that he loved to cherish.

After dinner, Eva put the plates, bowls, utensils, and glasses in the dishwasher while Oddey went straight to her room, and then Leon came in, "Do you need a hand?" he asked.

"No need," she answered. "Thanks to you, we have this dishwasher in the kitchen."

Leon snickered. "So how's everything?"

"Well, work is manageable. By the way, I assessed the new roster for your company here and I must say, a lot of them are very promising."

"I can't wait to work with them then. Thank you, Eva."

"I must admit, it's pretty lonely that Oddey is in college most of the time."

"I know what you mean. It feels like it was only yesterday that she was this four-foot tall wearing her uniform with a pink backpack and Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox, and I would help her tie her shoes."

"Now she's old enough to tie the knot."

Leon glared at her, "Don't even joke that," he playfully warned.

Eva giggled then for just a second after, she became serious, "I saw them," she informed, "Leon knew who she was talking about. "Him and your wife. I just thought you should know..."

"Ex-wife. We divorced before I went to prison," he corrected. "And I know."

"You do? when?"

"I saw them one time in the supermarket. The look on Adrian's face was priceless," the man chuckled.

"It just so happens that your daughter and their son were trapped in one elevator," Eva said.

Leon stopped laughing. "I see, I do think it's time to tell Odette about me and them. Soon."

Eva became quiet and stared blankly at a window. "Just promise me to leave her out of your agenda towards them."

The man held her face so that she gazed at him in the eyes. "She's still my daughter. I swear that I won't let anything bad happen to her."

Meanwhile, Oddey was already asleep in her room with the novel she was reading in her hand. Leon entered and watched his daughter sleeping peacefully. Though in his eyes, the seventeen-year-old was his little girl that he had to protect at all times.

Leon pulled her blanket to her shoulder, and then he kissed her forehead until he noticed the book she was holding. He carefully took it from her hand, but before he put it on her nightstand, that was when he recognized the cover.

It was his book, Leon was shook that she had it and then turned the pages so fast that it was fanning, but the letter was not there. Not anymore. He turned to Oddey and knew she had it.

----

In the Munro house, Gage was in his room lying on his bed, wanting to relax from what went on in school it made him think about Oddey. He remembered their conversations and her face when she slept on his lap.

The thought of her lingered in his mind, her glossy hair, the beautiful glow on her cheeks. Gage took his phone out and opened his Instagram, then went to the search icon and typed her name.

At first, it was in three different spellings, one with two D's and the other in one T's. Eventually, he got the right letters and found her profile since he saw that Felix was their mutual follower.

Lucky for him, it was not set on private so he sat up and looked through her photos to see what she liked to do such as her paintings, her OOTDs, the places she went, the food she loved to eat, and the people around her. He tapped one of her selfies in which she went to Japan with a sakura tree and its petals falling behind her, which highlighted her pinkish glowing skin.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door that startled him Gage closed the app and hid his phone, "uhm... come in," he stammered. It was his father coming in. "Oh, hey, Dad. I was about to go to sleep."

"I just want to check up on you." Adrian walked up to him and sat down at his son's bedside. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, Dad," Gage assured him.

"I know. Listen, I may look calmer than I look... and so does your mother, but when I heard you were in danger, I felt like I had lost you."

"Dad, I was just stuck inside the elevator. That's it. You told me not to get scared when that happened."

"I know, I know," Adrian chuckled because he felt silly to worry too much. "But you're my only son, I can't imagine... you know."

"I know." Gage just nodded at his father.

"It's only the three of us."

"Yes, Dad, I know, and I'm fine, I'm here, aren't I?"

"Right, you know me. Okay, change of topic. Why don't we go out together, just me and you?"

Gage smiled. "Sure, Dad, I like that. What do you have in mind?"

"What about we play tennis tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Tennis sounds great. It's about time to do some father-and-son stuff. I'm so happy that you're here."

"Me too. Well, I better leave so you can hit the hay now." Adrian stood up from his bed.

"Okay, goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, son."

Once his father got out, Gage laid back down and opened his phone again to look at Oddey's Instagram account before going to sleep.

Gage was asleep, and he began dreaming that he was inside the elevator with Oddey, and they were sitting on the floor next to each other. He was gazing at her, and she turned her head to him, showing her sweet face, "If this was my last day," Oddey said. "I want to say that I have these strong feelings for you."

"Me too," Gage admitted. He held her face and could feel her smooth, soft skin, then gazed into her eyes, while his other hand intertwined with Oddey's.

Oddey's eyes lit up. "You do?"

"Yes."

Their face went closer, and he brushed his lips toward hers. Gage could feel her soft lips and just kept going like he wanted to savor the moment. It felt so real that it took about a minute or even more, but it felt like the best thing that could ever happen to him.

Once they were done and pulled away from each other, Gage closed his eyes, and and touched her forehead with his. However, when he opened his eyes, Oddey was gone in a flash. Shocked, he looked around for her, "Oddey? Oddey?" he kept calling her. "Where'd she go?"

Seconds later, the boy woke up panting and realized that he was back in his bedroom. What happened was just in his mind, but now it was stuck in his head and his heart. while he tried to sleep again.