Eli did not bother to go back home after work the next day. He did not want to be around Lillian at all, especially since she decided the best way to handle rejection was to sit moping across the room from him, sighing out whenever he was not paying attention to her, and then ignoring him rudely if he tried to say something.

Instead he took his older brother's car and drove to Mississauga. He found Genesis waiting tables just where he hoped, but instead of saying hello to her first, he sat down and waited until she came to him.

"Eli! It's so nice see you. How are you?"

"I'm good, I'm good. And what about you? I missed you at the party Saturday."

"I know, I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I was looking forward to seeing you again."

"I wish you were there. The party sucked without you."

"Well, I really couldn't go there," she said. "I thought at first I could, but as I kept thinking about it, I realized being so close to Faith, for so many hours, would be more than I could handle. I think if I had gone there would definitely have been a scene."

"I respect that you kept a cool head about things."

Eli loitered around there for more than an hour, ordering a drink every so often so her boss could not complain (occasionally, she would slip him one 'on the house'). When her shift was over, she told him she was heading to Toronto that night anyway, and wondered if Eli could give her a lift. He happily agreed.

The car trip was spent in quiet harmony. They neither of them had much to say, but Eli did not mind. He felt so relaxed and happy around Genesis. Halfway through he slipped one hand off the wheel and gently placed it over Genesis', who smiled and squeezed it back.

When Eli pulled into his driveway, he found Kevin mowing the front lawn. "Hey, is Lillian around?" he called out to him.

"Nah, she's been out all day. No clue where she is." Knowing she wasn't there, Eli thought this the right opportunity to ask,

"Would you like to step inside? You can, um, meet my parents."

She said she would love to and followed him inside. Her bright attitude and welcoming manners instantly charmed Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, and as she said she did not have to go meet her friends for another half hour, she was invited to stay for dinner.

It was a lively dinner for everyone except perhaps Jacob, who seemed unusually quiet and uninterested in the conversation. Genesis however was engaging through the whole meal, telling jokes and stories about her travels. Michael and Kevin especially liked talking to her, which irritated Eli slightly.

"She's a keeper," his father whispered in his ear when dinner was finished. Everyone went to see Genesis to the door, but Jacob lingered behind, and quickly walked away to his room. Eli noticed this, and as soon as Genesis was gone, went after him.

"What's the matter? You've looked down all day."

"It's this email I got earlier. I wanted to talk to someone about all day, but you weren't around."

"What is it?"

"It's from Carter. He says he, Chloe and the others left Toronto yesterday, are going back the U.S., and don't plan on ever coming back."

"You're kidding. She would never do that! Just leave town all of a sudden, without even telling you she was going, without saying goodbye? Getting her brother to write this to you in an email?"

"Read it yourself!" The laptop was lying on the bed and already opened to the email.

From: 21

Sent: July 26, 2010 11:47:33 AM

To: jakebennett8

Hey Jake! Thanks for the email, but sorry I won't be able to meet up with you this week, lol. I guess we should have mentioned sooner, but we left Toronto yesterday. Chloe was getting a bit bored, so she took a new modelling job in NYC. Right now we just got to Hannah's apartment down here, and we're trying to decide where to eat tonight. There's a lot of awesome restaurants to choose from. I don't regret leaving Canada a bit, no offense lol jk. We'll miss you, that's about it. Hopefully we'll see each other again some day. If not, we can always chat online!

"Well, that's just Carter talking, you don't know what Chloe feels. She might be eager to come back again," said Eli.

"Keep reading."

At first Chloe thought we might only be away for a week or so, but she's up for a contract and may have to stay her months. Knowing Chloe, once she's somewhere she forgets about the whole rest of the world and never wants to leave. We've already got plans to meet up with a lot of old friends, it's too bad you can't be here with us. Oh well, I'm sure you've got plenty of friends there that you'll hardly remember us after a month.

"Obviously, they aren't planning on coming back any time soon."

"Or that's what Carter wants you to think."

"Well, it's not like Chloe's his slave! But anyway, you haven't got to the part that hurt me the most."

Tomorrow we're going to stay with Faith's cousins, Daniel and Grace Griffin. She's really anxious to see them again, and so are all of we. We go back a long time. Daniel's a great friend of ours. He's a med student, a great athlete, and so much fun. Daniel and Chloe have always had a bit of a thing between them, so you can imagine how thrilled she is to see him. They're VERY close, and they've missed each other a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if Chloe has a ring on her finger very soon. At least, I've never known Chloe to be as interested in a guy as she is in Daniel.

"Well, what do you think of that," said Jacob. "He's basically saying he wants Chloe to get together with this Daniel guy, and he doesn't think she was ever seriously interested in me! Why would he write this to me? To break it gently to me? What is this?"

"I'll tell you what it is. Carter knows Chloe is in love with you, but wants her to get together with Daniel. He went with her hoping she could keep him from coming back here, and wants to make you think Chloe doesn't care about you." Jacob shook his head.

"Jake, you have to believe me. You'd have to be blind to not see how much Chloe likes you. Carter's not blind! He's stupid, but not that stupid. But here's the problem, you aren't rich or successful enough for his sister. And not only that, but I wouldn't be surprised she hopes to get Chloe married into Faith's family just so he can get closer to her. I've known for ages he's obsessed with her. But Carter doesn't control her heart. Trust me. Chloe left for a bit to do a job, and once it's over, she'll be back for you."

"Carter's my friend. He's always been good to me. This makes no sense."

"Fine, go on believing that Jacob. In the end though, you will see I'm right."

"But what if it's true? What do I have to offer her that this guy doesn't? He's from a good family, he's going to be a doctor, and they've got history together. I'm just some random guy she met a month ago."

"I think it's up to Chloe to decide who has more to offer her," said Eli.

Eli spent most of the night talking to Jacob, reassuring him, telling him all the good qualities that he had that would make Chloe want him, and insisting that Carter's email wasn't true. Jacob only half-listened, he was too miserable to really believe what Eli was saying.