[This chapter is dedicated to Erin_Glaser. Thank you for picking up this story and for showering it with your power stones.]
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"It's only Sofia that we'll pick up because Eva will go straight to the restaurant because her shadows will be with her."
Lucille started calling bodyguards as shadows ever since she heard her and Ellise talking and using the word 'shadow'. She found it cool and even shared it with her friends and now they all call their security guards shadow. Well, mostly Eva's bodyguard since Sofia's father is a scientist in ANAT and his daughter does not need a shadow with her.
The situation with Eva is different since her father is a Russian diplomat. She has shadows everywhere. Lucille only has Jin and Soraya with her. Jin has always been uncle Jin for Lucille and Soraya is only known as an ordinary nanny and not a bodyguard. Also, ever since Noah uses bodyguards from Ellise, they don't see the shadows they have. They only know that somehow it's there. Well, Ellise swore it's there since they don't see or feel them. They are that good.
"Okay, then. Can you type Sofia's address on the GPS for me?"
"Okay!" Lucille was very eager to be asked for help and quickly loosened her seatbelt to type Sofia's address on Jess's car's GPS.
Jess' lips curved into a smile when Lucille typed her friend's address on the GPS from her memory. Until now, she still finds herself amazed by the little girl's memory.
"Aunt Jessie, is it really okay to bring Macao with us?" She glanced at the backseat, worriedly looking at Macao who was a surprisingly well-behaved puppy even when they didn't train him. He simply listens when he's being talked to.
"Yes, it's fine. I called the restaurant in advance and asked for their permission to take Macao with us."
Lucille sighed with relief and sat back properly on the passenger seat.
They are heading to Matsugen. Noah had a reservation at the restaurant for their supposed meet-up today but since he had to fly to Shanghai for some emergency, they had to cancel. However, since Lucille is left at home, Jess decided to still use their reservation but with Lucille. And Lucille happened to tell her friends that were also a fan of Japanese cuisine that she'll be having lunch at Matsugen, they all wanted to join them. Hence, her and Noah's lunch date to talk things out became a lunch date with Lucille and her friends.
She wasn't complaining though. Spending time with Lucille is never a boring one. She loves listening to her never-ending stories. Getting a glimpse of her brilliant mind and wondering how much she could achieve in the future with that brilliant mind of hers.
And when they picked up Sofia, another kid with such an inquisitive mind, Jess found herself smiling from ear to ear with the two girls in the backseat of her car. Soraya moved to the passenger seat so that Lucille and Sofia could talk and play with Macao on the way to the restaurant.
The squealing intensified between the two when they decided to video call Eva who was also on the way to the restaurant. Jess glanced at Soraya who was sitting calmly on the passenger seat as though she had seen enough of the girl's antics.
While Jess couldn't help but miss Dana. When they were younger they were just like the two girls in the backseat and she put a mental note to call Dana later.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the two girls jumped out of the backseat like young gazelle, being trailed by Macao. Before she or Soraya could open their mouth to remind the two to be careful, they dashed to a black SUV at the far end of the parking lot that had the backseat flew open and a young girl with red hair shot out like an arrow, screaming, bent down and grabbed Macao into her small arms.
"That's Eva, I supposed." She said to Soraya as she unclipped her seatbelt.
"Yes." Soraya smiled and got out of the car.
When they approached the three girls who were all squealing over Macao who kept on jumping around, happily. Men in black suits who were standing around the girls like fences gave them a wary look, especially Jess since it's the first time they saw her.
"Let's go in now, girls!" She called the attention of the three girls, not minding the piercing look from Eva's shadow.
"Hello, Little Miss Jessie," Eva bowed down slightly, giving her an impish grin.
Jess smiled back at the girl with beautiful bouncy red hair. Soraya who was standing next to her, snickered with Eva called her Little Miss Jessie. It seemed that Lucille loves to talk to her friends, sharing lots of things with them.
They all walked inside the restaurant with Eva's shadows trailing behind. Two of them joined them inside the restaurant while the rest were left behind. Jess was about to ask Soraya about it when Lucille yelled "Opa!"
Jess knew that opa means grandpa in German. Some of the few words that she learned from her German grandmother. But Lucille's sudden screaming was not that halted her steps in entering their private room, reserved in Matsugen but the old man that Lucille called opa.
He's the same old man that she met in a company event that she attended with Gareth in Mumbai. The old man picked up Lucille and carried her in his arms. Jess scoffed inwardly. Lucille wasn't light for her age and the old man picked her up like she weighed nothing. The old geezer doesn't look fragile at all!
"Hello, Jessica," he greeted her with a beaming smile.
"Hello, Sly Old Man," she greeted back without a smile.
"Oh!" Jess squealed. "Papa also calls you Sly Old Man," Lucille widened her innocent eyes to her great grandfather.
"So, this beautiful young woman is your Little Miss Jessie?" He asked his great-granddaughter but his blue eyes were strained on Jess. The corner of his eyes was crackling with amusement.. "It's amazing to finally meet you, Miss Zimmerman."