"Julia!" I say, entering the apartment and see her sitting on the sofa talking to Wyatt. She turns around to look at me.

"Ari! Lovely apartment and what a lovely flatmate that you have," she says, putting emphasis on flatmate.

"Is dad here too?" I ask her. Because if he knew that I lied to him about living with a guy, he would just go crazy.

"No! He is not. Luckily," she tells me and I relax, "Give me a hug, Ari." I instantly move closer and envelope her in a hug. Gosh! I missed her. She smells of home and reminds everything about it.

"Mrs. Campbell would you like some more tea or something to eat maybe?" Wyatt asks, "I make a mean mac and cheese, by the way. Till then, you two catch up," he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"How is dad doing? And how are you? And why are you here? Why didn't you tell me you are coming? God!" I shoot all my questions at her as soon as Wyatt leaves.

"Calm down! How are you, my girl?" She asks, pushing a strand of my hair behind.

"I am fine. Why didn't you tell me you are coming?"

"So that you could cover the lie about your flatmate," she raises her eyebrows at me, the same way she used to whenever I sneaked the snacks out of the kitchen and lied about it.

"Yeah... Don't be mad and please Julia, don't tell dad," I join my hands infront of her and flutter my eyelids giving her my puppy eyes.

"Oh please, don't do that. I won't tell your dad," she says and squeal in joy.

"So, how come you are here in LA?"

"I came for Josephine's baby shower. She was one of clients back at that time. She really insisted on me coming and so I thought, this would be a great chance to come and meet you too. Also, it's your birthday next week. Your dad and I decided on your gift," she says.

"It's your birthday next week?" Wyatt asks, coming into the living room with a tray of tea.

"Yeah..." I say, biting my lip.

"I didn't know that."

"It's on 25th," Julia tells him, making me nudge an elbow at her.

"I will just go and change into my comfy clothes. Then we can order something to eat," I say. I feel so hungry. I was eating my second wing when Wyatt's call came and I left everything. I need to call Asher too for leaving abruptly.

After changing quickly, I make my way outside into the living room. I see Julia and Wyatt in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and chatting lively as if they are long lost friends.

"What are you both doing?" I ask.

"Knowing how little of a cooking talent you have and by the amount of ramen stalked in here, I think all you eat is the outside stuff. So I am making dinner for you guys. Wyatt was kind enough to help me," she says.

"Here, I warmed up your tea again. It got cold," he handles me a steaming cup of tea and Julia smirks at me.

"You are going to cook, wearing that?" I ask her, referring to her blue bodice dress that she was wearing. Julia has a wonderful closet. She helped me develop the sense of style that I have today. Even at an age of forty-three, she looks amazing, thanks to her korean skin caring habits.

I still remember when dad met her the first time, Julia always make fun of it. She was one of her client. At their first meeting, he was expecting some thirty looking woman that he didn't even notice her. She looked so much younger like someone in her early twenties. When he returned home, all he could tell us was how he met a Korean woman who longed do young.

"My luggage is at the hotel. So, I will have to work with that only," she shrugs her shoulders.

"Take one of my pyjamas and top. You will ruin your expensive dress. Also, this way you can stay the night here and we can watch 'Friends' like we used too," I say.

"I would love that," she says, before closing the door.

"She is a lovely lady," Wyatt says from behind me.

"Yeah! She is," I say and turn to face him, "Thank you for the tea," I add and sip on it slowly.

"No problem!" He says, looking down at his feet, "Ariella, about last night..." He begin to say and I go into panic. I need to run away from here. Please don't bring it up.

"We were both pretty drunk," he says.

"Yeah, we were. I am really sorry for that. I took you out to refresh your mood and not to make things awkard," I start saying.

"I also don't want things to be awkard. You are getting what I mean. And it's few days since Vanessa," he looks at me.

"I get it. I am also not looking for relationship, boyfriend or hook-ups."

"Sure! We are good, then?" He asks.

"Absolutely!" I reply to him and he hugs me taking me by surprise. Honestly speaking, I am fucked up. First Asher and now him, I signed up myself for this rollercoaster ride and now I don't know how to stop.

"Thank you for last night!" He says.

"Huh?"

"I meant the fun part, the karaoke and food. Not the other part," his face becomes all red, making me laugh.

"Anytime!" I pat on his shoulder and leave to see Julia.

******************

"Mhmmmm! This tastes amazing," Wyatt says to Julia, biting into the stir-fried she made.

"She makes better food than this. But we have an inadequate pantry for her. Right?" I look at her and she only laughs.

"I wonder, why Ariella doesn't know any of this? She literally made a mess of the kitchen while washing dishes only," he tells her and then proceeds to tell all about the embarassing incident.

"So, why did you lie about it?" Julia asks me, after the dinner when I was setting up the laptop and bed for our Friends marathon.

"You know why, Dad would have just flipped out. And I needed a place to live," I explain, "If he would have told me about it rather than worrying himself, I would have found some other place. But this isn't bad. He is a good guy. Don't you think?" I ask her and wait for her answer.

"I mean, no he is not a bad guy. He seems a nice guy. But I am sure, your dad would have understood," she says and I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Really!"

"Okay! Probably not but we could have arranged for you to live in a hotel till you could find a place or you father as he is, wouldn't have hesitated to buy a whole new apartment for you," she starts to say.

"But that would have been all his doing. And you know how I really want to do this on my own. I want to prove you guys that I can be independent and do things by myself," I say.

"You don't need to prove anything, Ari."

"Yes! I need to," I say, "Look at Chloe! She is a famous lawyer. She knows how to run a house, a family, how to cook and everything. When mom left, she did everything. And she always kept me protected. But I know nothing. Maybe I don't need to prove it to you guys but maybe I need to prove it more to myself. To all those others."

"I don't ever want that someone comes to me and points out that I don't know basic stuff. I don't know how to live and survive on own. J just want to make you guys proud and feel proud about me," I tell her.

"We are proud and we respect your decision. Okay, I will not tell him but you would have to at some time," she says and I nod at her.

"Come here! I can't believe how big you have become," she extends her arms out for a hug and jump into them.

"I love you, Julia. Thank you for being more of a mother to me than my real mother."

"I love you too, Ari!"

*************

Author's note: Hello! How are you guys doing? What's your thought on this chapter?

I really loved writing the scene with Julia. And Wyatt is so cute. I adore him. But I adore Asher too.  Which team are you in?