"Nara. You're here." Mom practically ran into my arms, when she saw me outside our family house, holding my suitcase in my hand. She was dressed in a long flowing rainbow colored dress and had worn a pair of sandals on her feet. Her face was bare of make up and her smile radiated, the moment she set her eyes on me.

I enveloped her into a small hug and greeted her. "What a coincidence I met you outside. Where did you go to?"

"Just wanted to buy something around. The shop wasn't open, but I'll try again later in the evening."

I nodded. "Oh ok. Is dad in?"

"He's watching TV. You'll find him in the living room, probably watching football. You know how intense he gets because of those silly matches. What do people even like about sports?"

I gave a hearty laugh. "You ask me this every time and I still never give you the answer you want to hear. Besides, you shouldn't let dad hear what you just said. He'd end up giving a lecture on the history of football. I don't think I want to hear that."

Mom retorted, with a soft chuckle. She pushed the door open, as I began to drag my little box down the hallways. I had always loved our house. It certainly wasn't the most beautiful house on the street, but there was an unusual feeling of comfort I felt, whenever I set my eyes on our home. It was tastefully decorated with simple paintings surrounding every corner of the house. My mom used to be an art curator, before she retired four years ago, and she always made sure to make our house an artistic villa, no matter how small it was.

Our voices must have caught the attention of my dad, because the minute we stepped into the living room, he turned his head around and offered me a smile. "Our royal duchess is back and now ready to grace us with her presence."

My cheeks went red. "Oh God. I can't believe you're still calling me that. I'm too old to be called that."

"You're never too old to get special treatment from your dad." His lips curled up into a smile and I could clearly see where I had gotten my resemblance from. His salt and pepper hair trimmed into a low cut on his head and had a goatee that unusually suited him. His dark eyes crinkled as he smiled, and his face, though covered in wrinkles, still had the attractiveness my mom deeply fell for, many years back.

Mom quipped. "She thinks she's too old for our nicknames. I think our baby's growing up too quickly, James."

"Maybe we should make sure she visits more often. The house seems empty, without her."

I felt a pang of guilt when dad said that. It wasn't like I wasn't trying to see them. I adored them and loved having them around. The only thing was that I had immersed myself into my job and didn't give myself the time to be around them. I know how lame my excuse sounded and it broke my heart because I knew how badly my parents wanted more kids. My presence always filled them up and I promised myself that moment to visit more regularly.

"I promise to visit really soon. I've just been busy." I said, with utmost sincerity.

Mom shrugged. "We know, honey. It's just hard not to miss you. Since my retirement and how tedious your dad's work has gotten, I've been stuck all alone and it's been boring."

"The Johnsons are around. You could visit them even more."

"They're dealing with their personal problems and I'd prefer if they had their privacy. People have limits. I wouldn't want to push it."

"They're not just any type of people. They are your friends. Your closest friends." The Johnsons marital issues weren't a surprise to me. What was shocking though, was my mom's decision to back out.

"Friends have limits too. Know when not to push it." She spoke wistfully.

My thoughts flew to Imade and I couldn't help feeling guilty for unknowingly causing her trouble. I had to pull her and Victor apart. The whole thought of him being around her irked me and it took every willpower in my body, not to blurt out the truth, so he'd be far from her. But I knew that it wouldn't do Imade any good. I knew the things I had to do to set things right. First things first, I needed to apologize to my best friend.

......
I walked within the walls of the Johnsons' Villa, hoping to see Imade around but was unusually relieved to see Tife relaxing in front of the pool.

He was seated with a magazine in one hand, and a glass of Chardonnay in the other. He was dressed in a baby blue shirt and pink shorts, that would have looked funny on anyone else, but somehow gave him an even more attractive appeal about him.

His head raised, when he caught my silhouette drawing closer and he smirked. "Look who we have here."

"Hello to you too, Tife." I paused. "Is Imade around?"

"Not yet, but I hear she's coming with that bullshit boyfriend of hers maybe in the evening."

"Damn it, I really to see her now, so I could apologize to her."

"Because of the fight?"

My look turned puzzled. "How do you kn—"

"Imade tells me everything. I did find your approach to be disappointing. I thought this kind of thing was your forte."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry to disappoint you, your majesty, but this is my first time dealing with anything like this. I still don't know if my plan would work."

"What happened to the confident woman I spoke to, a week ago? She was completely sure she would get rid of that weasel and I really had faith in her."

"She realized that if it went wrong, she could lose her best friend, and that would be the worst part."

Silence ensued between us. Tife spoke in a hushed tone. "Do you want to give up?"

"I owe her that much, to give it a try. So no."

A pleasant look etched across his face and it was hard not to gawk at him. It gave me a warm feeling at the pit of my stomach. "Good. I would have been disappointed if you did."

"Why?"

"Aside from the safety of Imade's mental health, you're also a selfless person and you wouldn't have forgiven yourself, if you didn't do it."

The corners of my lips twitched slightly. How did he know the right words to say that made me feel better about doing this? He really was an expert with women, and it made me slightly peeved how easy it had been to seduce women with that same mouth. "You just know the right words to say, don't you?"

"I just say what comes from the heart. But I am glad it turned out to be what you needed to hear."