Chapter 9

"No!" Shouted Holly standing inside with her father in the cellar of the doo peas tower as the few members of Nick,'s crew were working together to dig a different tunnel behind wooden construction zone board. "In which dream have you imagined me leading Parker on?"

"Didn't you like that boy before? I'm granting you a chance to make your moves," Remarked Nick seeing the daughter shake her head.

"I like him because he is my friend. Not because I have a crush on him. If you would have been around more often you would see that,"

"Really what I don't understand is how he doesn't show you any interest. You're a really pretty girl," Nick commented continuing to convince the girl to help out.

Xander entered the cellar, with the help of Ayesha who showed him the location of the digging. Both noticed that the Altos were arguing and stared at each other.

"Is it weird, that I expected the girl to reject?" Questioned Xander making Ayesha shake her head and look at the duo.

"He never moved his finger on me, cause he knows that I am in love with somebody else. He has always respected that and I'm not going to lead him on with lies just because you're planing a breakout!"

"Boss, you don't have to ask your daughter. I can handle the boy on my own," Stated Ayesha making Xander nod.

"I do know half of the students there at the school. I can act as a co-pilot or ask him for help, to avoid meeting the team. I know him a little bit or at least enough to trick him out,"

"I'm really grateful for your offer. I just believed that it would be easy for all of us if we had Holly play along with us," The Spaniard commented watching Ayesha nod.

"Right, but we all know Holly doesn't want to play along and we can't force her to. We better do it on our own, then this we all have under control and can fix available issues when needed," Ayesha mentioned making Nick nod, then he heard from behind the wallpaper a device's noise turn off followed by a female voice.

"You gotta hold it straight to the rock," Said Claire, followed by a growl, which sounded like Don's voice.

"After an amount of time it doesn't work as easy as at the start," Commented Don.

"Let's get in and see what's up," Nick offered and walked behind the wallpaper along with the young team members to see Claire along with Robbie and Bert working their way together, each with a drill, and Don was massaging his arms to rest for a moment. "You four only are already this far?" Questioned Nick curious making Don nod.

"Yes and this is like the second time I stop to rest my arms," Commented Don still massaging his arms, while behind him Claire shook her head knowing Don wasn't quite honest with his answer.

"Hmm, I think you three can work here until the lunch break. Upon the lunch break, Don will take it from here along with Xander and Ayesha. Later at 5, I come back down to see, what we will do next or how are we going to work on from up there," Nick said making the team nod and Don lay down on the ground tired.

"I will rest for a few minutes. Don't wait for me," Said Don making Xander chuckle, which placed his foot over his stomach making the man yell at him. "Stop that!"

Xander cackled, then left the place, while Ayesha stood back to talk to Nick Alto about something.

Xander made his path through the stairs, then before he left he spotted Holly Alto on the outside leaning against a Margaret Vaguester with a sad facial expression and the black Doberman of Nick stood there by the girl watching her talk in a foreign language. Xander walked in her direction to see her sob, afterward, the dog nudged her hand, so she would use it to pet him.

"You and your father don't seem to get along well," Xander spoke wondering if the girl would reply to the man.

"It's…complicated to explain," The girl answered making Xander nod.

"I see," Commented Xander joining the girl beside the car while caressing the vehicle over the hood impressed by its build. "I don't know if this helps you, but I also don't get quite along with my father," Xander added seeing, she didn't react to his comment. "It's hard to tell, whose fault it is for real, I began to yank out in other directions as a teen and would constantly go on with it as an adult man. My dad wasn't happy about that, eventually even less when I decided to not go to college and make a living with a basic level job, then use the money to waste it on parties and drinks. I'm certain this is all my fault. I chose to go this way and well, I just went on with the current day, never thought about the future where I would go someday, nor that I would lose one of my parents so early…..I didn't have any bad ending with my mother as she left, just…..I felt like, she could have left knowing she could count on us, that we wouldn't be screwed up without her. She was I think the reason we held tight together," Xander opened up saddened about remembering his loss, then noticed Holly pass her hand under the nose to clean up some fluid.

"Have you ever felt like the place you're in doesn't seem to be the place where you belong?" Asked Holly looking at the taller man. Xander shrugged his shoulders unsure about what to answer.

"Perhaps the fish market, where I had a job. That place felt like, it was more of a downgrade for me…..well after my choices it was eventually. Do you think because of your disagreement with your dad, you believe you don't belong here?" Questioned Xander making Holly shake her head.

"We three are all the total opposites. They're both stuck together in the crime business since ever, and throughout my growth, they have convinced me, that one day I would be the head of their gang and move on with the legacy just as my grandfather did, but surprise, I couldn't accept that. I knew this all was wrong and I tried to tell them about it, but they only cared about the profit and taking over the town to put the Landgraabs down. Their main profit comes from illegal businesses and I couldn't get used to doing something I know is wrong!"

"Have you wondered if you're adopted?" Questioned Xander. "Lowkey stupid question,"

"Wish I was. But I'm really related to them. It must come from a previous ancestry from either my mom's or father's side. My dad's parents were divorced and his father stood here in Sunset Valley, while his mother returned to Granada in Spain. My mother's parents are in Leiria. I barely see them now. I used to take phonecalls from my mother but now they're rare,"

"Okay," Spoke Xander. "You and…..Parker are good friends from what I've heard?" Questioned the man making Holly nod.

"Yeah. Parker and I are friends since elementary school. He's like a brother to me or what I used to say, when we were younger…..my Iberian brother," Foretold Holly making Xander chuckle.

"Iberian? But isn't he Swedish?" Asked Xander slightly bewildered making Holly nod.

"Yes, but from his father's side only. His mother is Portuguese, she's from Albufeira I believe," Responded Holly waking his interest.

"Oh so basically you two can speak Portuguese with each other?" Questioned Xander making Holly shake her head.

"Actually we should, but sometimes Parker misunderstands me, cause my Portuguese is kind of…..a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, which sounds a little different. Parker doesn't know any Spanish, so he usually gets lost,"

"Strange, I thought both languages were the same,"

"Some words may be the same, others words might be spelled alike but have a different meaning. That's also another issue for the language,"

"Have you ever heard him speaking in Swedish? I heard it's similar to English a little?"

"There are a few similar words. I kind of find the language different. I don't know, but I think they pronounce the K very strangely. Like I always thought the word Köttbullar was prounounced like this, but apparently, it's something like shötbüllar...I'm not quite sure if I'm pronouncing it right,"

"That's odd," Commented Xander making the blonde nod. "Uh, about the prom, do you think you have someone out there you wish, would ask you out?" Questioned the short-haired man making Holly look away from him.

"Why would you want to know?" Questioned Holly neutrally.

"I'm curious. I thought that you liked somebody after saying something before about getting respected for liking somebody,"

"Well…. there's this cute guy from the other tenth grade. His name is Davy Linnell," Supposed Holly making Xander nod.

"Never heard of him….why do you like him? Do you know it?"

"He's funny and playful. Mostly with children and animals. He's a good talker and listener," Mentioned Holly. "I had been interested in him before knowing all that…. We met through a little mishap. Upon seeing him for the first time I felt my heart drop. That's when it all began" The girl explained, afterward Ayesha walked out of the office to spot the two by the car talking. Ayesha got curious about the two, afterward, Holly moved away from the vehicle and led Milo over the sidewalk to head to the central park, afterward Xander moved past the building to see Ayesha standing there looking at him.

"Uh….how long have you been standing there?" Questioned Xander.

"Oh don't worry, just got out now. Did I miss something important or shall I say…..embarrassing?"

"Nope, just learned that the boy Parker is like a brother to her and she likes a certain boy named Davy Linnell,"

"That name rings a bell to me…..I think he's got in there an insertion on the bulletin board offering himself to babysit," Mentioned Ayesha making Xander shrug his shoulders.

"Probably. I think she would appreciate it when he would ask her out, but he doesn't know how she feels about him,"

"Well, wish I could help but that's kind of not in our hands," Commented Ayesha making Xander grin.

"We now have lunch break for two hours? Right?" Questioned Xander making Ayesha nod. "Are you going somewhere?"

"No," Responded Ayesha. "Have any idea?"

"No, I could go home, but I'd be there alone, so it's no use. I also don't feel like walking into my dad's house to get the rest of my stuff..."

"What about we two take a jog to the beach?" Offered Ayesha. "We could either go like this or pass by our home and switch clothing,"

"Jogging?" Questioned Xander estranged about the offer, then Ayesha nodded.

"Well, this could help you gain extra endurance for the future. If repeated more often. I've done it every morning before I get to the warehouse,"

"You wake up early just to jog?!" Questioned Xander shocked, making Ayesha chuckle.

"Well, not so early but I do jog in the morning and go straight to the warehouse. Lately, I haven't done that. I took a break for a couple of days,"

"Okay, that's not bad,"

"And? Shall we?" Questioned Ayesha, then Xander ran off towards the school laughing at the woman for having left with a head start. "That's not jogging," Warned the woman seeing Xander running in front of the sidewalk, afterward Ayesha shook her head and followed the man, but passed over the school ground to keep up with him.

Upon reaching the next stairs, Ayesha jumped halfway across them and leaped further landing in front of Xander, which stopped to avoid crashing against her.

"Woah!" Complained Xander then the pair looked around the area together. "Have you another way we shall jog to?"

"Just forward," Spoke Ayesha and Xander began to jog beside the woman a little bewildered from not racing the same way he did before.

"It's a little weird now when I'm doing it," Commented Xander. "I feel slow, to be honest,"

"You gotta start somewhere. You cant expect to improve in one day. That's impossible,"

"I heard some people managed it with the help of some book,"

"There's no such thing. There's just hard work and efficient partition. Let's move on. At least a half an hour for you wouldn't be bad,"

"Okay, so far it's easy for me," Commented Xander making Ayesha smirk.

"I want to hear that in an hour," Stated Ayesha making Xander nod.

"Oh you will, don't worry," Promised Xander confidently.

About 40 minutes later, the duo went around the town and had stopped by the central park and Xander sat on the ground resting his energy, while Ayesha stood behind him stretching herself.

"Ok, I think I have overestimated myself with this here…..how are you still…..good after this?"

"I'm used to it, " Responded Ayesha. "Or well, I'm more of the sporty person. I like sports,"

"I like it too, just I prefer doing other things like parkours or playing soccer or dodgeball,"

"That's fine. You and your schoolmates probably had this for amusement just as in other schools," Commented Ayesha making Xander nod, then stood up from the ground, followed by the woman lending him her hand. "What do you think? Should we get a hot dog from the vendor or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"It think now that we're here, we could have one," Responded Xander and walked towards the cart with the vendor, which had two people in front of them. While waiting Xander looked around, then shrieked as he recognized his father, that stood by the well talking with his neighbor Simis Bachelor, while around the fountain the two children Bella Bachelor and Mortimer Goth were playing tag. "Man I just spotted my father right there at the park" Mentioned Xander, then Ayesha looked at the fountain to see the senior chatting with the brunette man.

"You're going to say something?" Questioned Ayesha watching Xandere shake his head. "You're not going to hide forever. I know about what happened in the past. I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you two to avoid each other,"

"Yes, I know what you mean, but…..at the moment I don't feel brave enough to talk to him," Admitted Xander, then watched the queue move and the last person stand there to get the hot dog.

"Hi have you got per coincidence tofu sausages?" Questioned the man in front of the duo.

"Bad luck. I sold the last one to the girl over there," Responded the hot dog vendor pointing at the Alto heir, which had begun to eat her snack. "For the half of the price, I can just give you the bun with the sauces and the other ingredients. Isn't the best solution I got at the moment. Or you try at the taco stand, that sure has a better choice," Offered the man, making the young man nod and leave.

"Thank you," Replied the man and Ayesha got forward along with Xander to order.

"What do you want? I pay," Offered Ayesha surprising Xander.

"What? You can't do that. I should be the one offering it," Xander stated.

"You're anxious that it's a woman doing this?" Questioned Ayesha watching Xander shake his head.

"No, no, no! I do like this kind of offer. It just didn't have to be right now," Answered Xander making Ayesha nod.

"I'm inviting you out on this one. Next one you can do, if you want," Offered the woman making Xander nod, then look at the hot dog vendor along with the woman. "Good morning. I'd like to have a chicken hot dog with everything and what would you like?"

"The same," Responded Xander, then waited for the man to prepare their hot dogs.

After three minutes the man was done and handed out the hot dogs to his clients, then Ayesha gave the man six coins, then left along with Xander who had already taken a bite of his hot dog.

"The sausage tastes different, Commented Xander watching the woman bite on hers as well.

"Hadn't you ordered chicken sausage?" Questioned Ayesha.

"I said the same. Or wait, you ordered it differently," Commented Xander making Ayesha nod.

"I shouldn't eat pig meat, you know,"

"Right. We're from a different religions. I didn't think about it. I'm not very religious you know,"

"It's alright," Spoke Ayesha watching a blonde man with short beard approach the hot dog vendor to ask him something, afterward he spotted the duo and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Hey is any of you two interested in an eating challenge?" Questioned the blonde making the two shake their head.

"As much as I love free food, I have to skip this offer. Attended it once and it was the worst night of my life," Confessed Xander making the blonde nod.

"Alright, I keep looking for the last candidate. Thanks for the talk," Answered the blonde moving further to the vegetarian, that had previously visited the hot dog stand.

"That guy is the older brother of the principal," Presented the man.

"Great, have they anything in common?" Questioned Ayesha watching the blonde approach the stairs, then miss a step, which led him to fall down and cause Mortimer and Bella's father to laugh. "I'm sure the principal can stand on his feet, right?"

"Yes, his only flaw is, that he has pollen allergy and during spring, he's a leaking fountain on the outside sometimes," Commented Xander making Ayesha nod.

"Perhaps the older brother has fewer reasons to complain about," She stated, then heard a male voice, then looked aside to see the father of Xander walk past the two.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here, Xander," Commented Buster looking at Xander, afterward he glimpsed at Ayesha, which raised her eyebrows surprised. "And Tamara I guess….I could swear you looked differently,"

"Perhaps, because she's not Tamara, dad," Responded Xander. "That's Ayesha. We work together in the same area," Explained Xander making Buster laugh.

"What? You're telling me already, that you have a job?" Questioned Buster making Xander nod.

"Were logisticians," Answered Xander, while Buster shook his head.

"You can't fool your own father. I know you too well," Commented Buster, then Xander looked at Ayesha and shrugged his shoulders.

"Your son told me, what happened between you two. He knows he messed up at some moments a lot. He is trying to remake his life. He was lucky enough to find a job here with us. Usually, we take people with a degree, but our boss got convinced and gave him a chance. I'm as well showing him everything he needs to know. He's willing to do what is asked," Explained Ayesha making Buster frown. "By the way, I'm not Tamara. I'm called Ayesha," Responded the woman taking out her badge card to show her full name and address of the company, then Buster squinted his eyes to read it.

"Oh…..I'm really sorry, ma'am. You two looked very alike to me," Commented Buster making Xander sigh.

"They're not even similar, dad. They happen to have similar skin color and that's all," Added Xander making Buster nod.

"Well, you have to forgive me I didn't often see your friend. Just knew by description," Mentioned Buster making Ayesha nod and put her card back. "Where's your card anyway?" Asked Buster looking at his son, which shrugged his shoulders.

"They're working on it. He's at the moment often around me at the work, but he's got a code, when he needs to enter the warehouse," Mentioned Ayesha while Xander nodded.

"Were more often out on the road driving and.,...getting the furnitures out from other houses. You might see us very often driving in a van,"

"Alright, I don't want to burst your conversation, but we gotta finish our lunch. Our break isn't quite big and we can't appear at work late or starving. If you don't mind, we're going to leave," Ayesha made up making Buster nod.

"Oh, that's good. Xander, please keep listening to all your people there. You seem to be in a good place," Buster expressed making Xander nod, then Ayesha moved her arm to call Xander to follow him.

As the two were farther from each other, Xander began to chuckle and looked at Ayesha.

"I wasn't expecting you would straight up lie to my father like that,"

"I didn't want him to become suspicious or too curious about us, so I just told him, what he wanted to hear. One of the different ways to lie to people,"

"It was a good way, that I have to admit," Xander confessed making Ayesha nod.

"That's great, oh, and don't worry. We still got 45 minutes of break. I just wanted to get us out of there," Commented Ayesha making Xander nod.

"That's okay. Another time I can talk with him better. Until there I can think about something,*"

"Saying things related to being logicians is already good enough. Don't worry about the lies,"

"I might question you or the others about it. Just to be sure…..," Xander mentioned walking along with Ayesha towards the sidewalk beside the central park while having lunch.