"Yes, Aunt Lulu, yes, I have two." Joy said then she kept silent and looked around the room. This made Lulu confused, she wondered why Joy had stopped talking?
"Mhmmm, so what's the second one?" Lulu asked. Joy kept silent.
"Hello, earth to Joy, what happened?" Lulu waved her hand in front of Joy's eyes. Joy blinked as her eyes followed Lulu's hands.
"What happened? Why did you stop talking?" Lulu asked.
"Well, I wanted to leave you on a cliffhanger," Joy giggled.
Lulu laughed and shook her head, Joy was really something else. For a moment there she had thought that something bad had happened to her.
"How not nice, I was really worried," Lulu laughed. "But it's not worry at all, tell me what's the second big news?" Joy giggled hearing her aunt's words. She always had fun with aunt Lulu.
"So, my mommy and daddy said that we are going on a mini-vacation on Saturday to grandma, grandpa and grandpappy's house!" Joy exclaimed.
"Really?" Lulu gasped.
"Yes," Joy nodded.
"Wohooooo, I am so happy for you my love," Lulu laughed. She carried Joy and spun her around the room. Joy giggled, she loved the feeling of being lifted up and spun around. She rarely got dizzy.
"I am so happy too Aunt Lulu," Joy smiled.
Lulu was starting to get dizzy so she put Joy back on the bed and took a deep breath to steady herself. The entire room was moving. She had made a mistake, she was no longer ten, she could not spin as fast as she wanted without getting dizzy.
"Are you okay Aunt Lulu?" Joy asked sounding worried.
"I am alright my dear, just a bit dizzy," Lulu giggled. She sat down and laid on her bed. Joy climbed on top of her.
"Do you feel better now?" Joy asked, she placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Much better," Lulu smiled.
"Aunt Lulu, I have something to ask you." Lulu frowned once she heard Joy's tone of seriousness. She sounded as if she was about to ask her a question that was a matter of life and death.
"Aunt Lulu, will you come with us please??" Joy pleaded, she batted her long eyelashes and her bright brown doe eyes shone.
"Oh my dear, why is that even a question?" Lulu chuckled.
"Because you have been busy lately and I want you to really come with us," Joy said.
"Of course I am coming with you, even if you did not invite me or tell me, I would certainly find my way there," Lulu chuckled. Family was most important. Besides, she was sure that some time home would do her some good and she would be able to get away from all the stress that she was feeling right now.
"Yayyyyyyyyyyy, I love you so much Aunt Lulu." Joy hugged her.
"I love you too my dear," Lulu smiled.
"Now, please excuse me while I go fold my clothes because I cannot be a dirty aunt," Lulu laughed, she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom.
"Okay Aunt Lulu," Joy laughed, she loved her aunt so much. She was so funny and always so fun.
Joy was busy waiting for Lulu to finish what she was doing when Lulu's phone rang in her bag. Joy brought out Lulu's phone from her back and smiled when she saw who was calling.
"Who is calling me Joy?" Lulu asked from inside the bathroom.
"It's Uncle Benjamin," Joy giggled, she knew it was him because as he called there was a picture of him sleeping and Lulu holding balloons that displayed while the call was still going on.
"Oh," Lulu said.
"Yes, should I bring it to you Aunt Lulu? Or should I answer it?" Joy asked.
"No, don't answer it Joy. Just leave it there, I will talk to him later," Lulu lied, she had no intention of calling him later. She just did not want Joy to answer it.
"Okay aunt," Joy said, she left the phone on the bed and walked into the bathroom.
"Why don't you want to answer the call Aunt Lulu?" Joy asked.
"I'm really hungry right now and I want to go and eat first, come on," Lulu lied once more. She carried Joy and tickled her.
"Okay Aunt Lulu," Joy laughed as Lulu carried her downstairs into the kitchen leaving her phone ringing.
...
Benjamin sighed. He was so worried that Lulu was actually bent on ignoring him. She had not picked up any of his calls and he was starting to believe that she truly hated him.
He knew that she was home already. He had checked outside and saw her car parked in the driveway. He did not want to bother her by going to see her so late, however, he was becoming very concerned. This was unlike Lulu.
"Pick up Louise, pick up," Benjamin murmured under his breath as his call was not picked for the third time in a row.
"Louise, just hear me out," He said to himself. Even though this was an answer to his deepest prayers, for her to leave him alone for once, he just could not allow things end the way they did. She was so upset and he did not mean to make her that upset.
He did not know what the matter was in the beginning, but as soon as she blew up and started to ignore him, he started to see just how much he missed her. He did not want her to be angry with him, that was the last thing he wanted, he just wished to make peace with him.
Benjamin sighed, if his calls were not going through, the maybe his texts would.
"Louise, I am really sorry for offending you. I did not mean to hurt you, I just wish that we could talk and iron things out," Benjamin spoke as he typed. He did not know if this message sounded sincere enough, but he would certainly give it a try. After all, there was no harm in trying.
Benjamin sighed before he sent the message. He was not one to prefer to send someone texts. He believed that communicating face-to-face was better, but that was not an option right now. Lulu did not want to see him.
So he had to resort to the next best thing... text. He reread his message once more before sending it. He only hoped that she would at least reply even if it was not a positive response.
"Please reply Louise, please," Benjamin sighed.
...
"Work was really something else today," Lulu laughed while Natasha watched her eat.
"I can imagine," Natasha replied.
"So, tell me, how was your day?" Lulu asked.
"Well, my day was fine, nothing happen... oh except... Benjamin came over here to look for you earlier," Natasha said. Initially she wanted to wait for Lulu to be done eating before she told her.
But Lulu had asked her how her day went and she felt that it was better to tell her now than later.
"Oh..." Lulu said.
"Yes, he looked and sounded very worried... he wanted to know if you were around... he said you were not picking any of his calls." Natasha did not want to intervene in their matter, they were two adults and they were friends, however, she did want them to settle this as much as she wanted them to settle it themseleves.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"We... we had a fight and I realized that there's no point in trying to be friends with someone who does not want to be," Lulu said. She could not hide anything from Natasha, no, never. She was her number one confidant.
It was better she knew what was going on so she did not worry.
"It was that bad huh?" Natasha asked and Lulu nodded.
"But you know that Benjamin cares about you, he's your friend, you are always happy with him," Natasha said.
"You know, I am, or rather, I was... but when I realized that he does not even consider my feelings in this so-called friendship. I do not think that there is any reason to continue insisting with someone who does not care."
Natasha frowned, that was far from the Benjamin she knew. If anything he cared a lot.
"I do understand that you have your own feelings and ideas right now, and you are entitled to that, but I think that you should give him a chance to explain himself."
Lulu frowned, she did not want to do that, there was no point leaving ties when they were only causing her pain and hurt.
"I'm serious Lulu, you will continue to feel sad and hurt if you don't face it, so face the problem, talk it out when you're ready and then make a good decision from there," Natasha said.
"That's just my advice, you might think differently and that's perfectly okay." Natasha did not want it to feel like she was imposing or being nosy, she just wanted to give her opinion.