This chapter has not been revised by any beta readers. Please help me improve my English by contacting me if you find any grammar mistakes.

I was back to Los Angeles the day after. It was exactly 9 am when I got home and left my luggage in my room, which was in the second floor of my house. I couldn't help myself to check my phone every five minutes, but Bella hasn't called me yet.

I was going down the stairs, calculating the hour difference between Rio and LA, and concluded it was already 2 pm there. She should have called me already. Why hasn't she?

A sudden thud followed by a tight hug interrupted my thoughts, and I struggled to see something among the red hair that covered my eyes.

"Joey!" I heard a familiar female voice.

"Marissa, what a great surprise!"

Marissa was my cousin. She was almost as tall as I was, although she was only 16 years-old. She was a genuine ginger with natural red hair and freckles on her face and shoulders. She looked at me with a wide smile on her lips. She was always so eager and pleased to see me that I've once wondered if she had a crush on me.

"When did you get here?" I asked her.

"Last night" she said, "I wondered why you weren't home and your mom said you remained in New York for some reason she wasn't aware of."

I knew how Marissa's mind worked; she was trying to find out why I didn't come back with the others. Maybe she already had a guess because she probably had talked to Joe or Jamie on the phone, but she wanted to hear me spit it out. I wasn't going to tell her though. I wasn't going to tell anybody. Not yet.

"Is she Jew?" she suddenly demanded.

"What? Who are you talking about?" I laughed.

I had to act now. No problem, I was a good actor.

She followed me as I headed to the kitchen, "You were with a girl, weren't you?"

"No I wasn't." I kept the mocking tone in my voice. "Where did you get that guess from?"

"I'm a clever ginger."

"You sure are! But now your guess is wrong."

I met my mother in the kitchen, finishing her breakfast. She looked at us and her eyes quickly assessed that touchy situation. She immediately jumped in to save me. God bless this woman!

"Joey! I missed you, son." she opened her arms to hug me.

"I missed you too, mom."

"Did you buy me that moisturizing balm I told you about? Don't tell me you left New York without it!"

Moisturizing balm? She hadn't mentioned that to me. I knew what she was up to though.

"Sure, mom! It's in my bag. What a rare thing you asked me to buy, no wonder it took me some extra days to find it." I could feel Marissa's eyes on my back when I went on: "Come with me, mom. I'll give you your balm and show you the pictures we took."

"Great!" she turned to Marissa before leaving the kitchen, "I'll be right back. Can you do those dishes for me, sweetheart?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but she considered it for a moment and said: "Sure, auntie."

When we were out of Marissa's sight, I passed my arm around my mother's shoulders and whispered to her: "Thank you, mom!"

She smirked.

I kept checking my phone every five minutes, but phones are nasty things that decide to ring when you're stuck in a situation that makes it impossible for you to answer the calls. Mine rang when I was taking a shower, and I had to fight the impulse of running out of the bathroom to answer it. I almost slipped and fell in that short second when your brain doesn't know what action to take - if it should keep where you are or send you wet and naked across the house as a lunatic.

I smiled when I saw Bella's name on my phone screen and called her back.

"Hi baby." she answered.

"Hey baby." I sighed. I never sigh when I talk to a girl on the phone; what was happening to me? "How are you?"

"I'm tired, but I'm fine. And you?"

"I have a black whole in my heart because you're not here with me."

I never thought I'd say that to a girl someday, because as everybody knows, you never tell a girl you like her; it makes you look like an idiot. But I felt good when I said it, so I regret nothing.

She sounded awkward when she laughed at my cheesy line.

"Are you home?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm already in LA. And you?"

"Yes, I'm home too."

"What time did you get there?"

"Around 10 am."

"And why didn't you call me earlier?"

"Because I knew it'd be too early. We have five hours between us now, remember?"

Well, that argument was valid.

"So, when am I seeing you again?" I whispered as if I was by her side.

"It's simple; board an airplane and face a nine hours flight."

We both laughed.

"Don't challenge me, girl!"

"Oh, I do challenge you, sir!"

"Well, prepare yourself for a surprise then."

She remained silent for a moment.

"Are you serious?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, I am."

I was so lost in happiness talking to Bella that I didn't notice someone with red hair spying through the door's tiny opening.