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The pair made it back to the living room after their little tryst in the bedroom. Gael made them both some coffee using the espresso maker his grandmother gave to Angela. He thought it was convenient to have one. 

Making a cup of cappuccino for her at any time of the day was now part of the favorite things he liked to do. Gael loved it when she smiled, the simple joy of having the drink, that smile reached her eyes, causing fucking butterflies in his stomach. They were probably moths.

From the kitchen, he could see her sitting at the end of the sofa, looking serious as she scrolled through her phone, curious lines creasing between her brows as she focused. He lifted two cups of coffee and brought them to the living room. "Here."

Angela glanced up, looked at the cup, and beamed as she received it, then took a sip right away. Some milk foam sat on her upper lip like a mustache, and she licked it clean. She looked so cheerful; he couldn\'t help but smile with her. "Thank you. It\'s so good!"

"What were you working on?" Gael took a sip of his own drink—two shots of espresso. The beans Angela bought had notes of dark chocolate. He liked it.

"I\'ve been looking for some properties. I told you before I was thinking of moving… I\'ve got no luck in the market. The houses I saw online didn\'t appeal to me. They were beautiful…just not my taste."

Right. She did mention she didn\'t want to stay in this place anymore after what happened with the neighbors. He couldn\'t blame her. After what happened that night and how she felt so anxious while sharing a ride with Mrs. Robinson\'s son in the elevator, Gael was certain she wouldn\'t want to stay here for long. 

Talking about properties reminded Gael of something he had been avoiding the past few days. He clicked his tongue and sighed, setting his cup on the coffee table and then running his hands down his face, looking distracted.

"What\'s wrong?" Angela probed.

"God. I\'m still pissed about it."

"About what?" She set her cup next to his and turned to face him, bringing her knees up to her chest and giving him her full attention.

Gael sighed again, rubbing his nape, seemingly uncomfortable talking about what he was going to say. He didn\'t want to tell her, but he couldn\'t keep it from her either.

"Purchasing Morgan\'s share required more funds—understandable because it\'s a huge company, so we\'ve already anticipated that. Thirty percent of it would come from SVR Corp and the rest mine. It was basically the same if I\'d continued my initial plan to open up a firm, but we still needed more. So I gave my accountant the go signal to sell some of my assets to bring more money to the table. 

"Last week, after…what happened, he listed off several properties that he believed needed to be let go. A couple apartments in New York and some spaces in high-rise buildings—including the one you saw that was in the works."

"The one that was supposed to be your office?" she asked.

"That one. Mika and J\'s apartment too. I can\'t imagine her living there and I don\'t think she wants to either. It was the day of J\'s burial. My accountant thought we couldn\'t delay it if we wanted to put everything on the market asap. I was too distracted with everything that\'s been going on when I gave my approval that I skimmed the list, thinking they were all properties that I had meant to sell for a while now anyway."

Angela looked so keen as she listened, already anticipating some bad news in his story with her brows drawing together.

Gael briefly closed his eyes. "My house here was on that list. When I reviewed it later, it was already sold. It\'s not mine anymore."

She gasped. "Oh no…"

"Yeah... So I was hoping I\'d stay with you while I\'m here. I\'m kinda homeless." A shy smile danced on his lips.

Angela couldn\'t tell him she was a little disappointed that he unintentionally sold the house. She loved that place. They made memories there—really good memories.

Gael could sense that she was sad about that, and he remembered all the post-it notes that he was still yet to read. That was one of the first things he thought of when he realized his mistake. "I had Santiago clean up the room. I made sure he swept every inch of it to find the notes. He kept all of what he found together with the furniture in a storage unit. I may have lost the house, but I kept everything else safe."

Her cheeks colored. She had forgotten about the notes, but he didn\'t. Angela took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "It\'s okay. They aren\'t important anymore. You already know how I feel." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He looked visibly better, grinning at her.

"Well…" She clapped her hands. "That\'s a bummer, but we can\'t do anything about that anymore. I\'m sure Nina wouldn\'t mind having you around. You were so good to her when she came to New York. She\'d love our company."

Gael winced. "While I like your best friend, I don\'t think I\'ll be comfortable living in her place for more than one night and I don\'t want to impose on her. I\'ll probably just stay in a hotel near Nina\'s building."

"Or you can stay here?"

"Without you? And also risk running into your neighbors?"

"Right…" Angela chuckled. She wasn\'t even keen on staying here and Gael felt the same. Even if they stayed here together, there was still the issue of the awkward run-ins or ride-alongs with the Robinsons. "How long are you staying?"

"I\'m not sure. Right now, things are…tolerable in New York. Maybe a couple of weeks."

She stared at him, subconsciously chewing her bottom lip as she thought of something. "I have an idea…"

He cocked his brow, his interest piqued upon watching her think. He loved seeing her work the gears in her brain. She looked so adorable with her left brow slightly arched and her lip biting. Angela did those whenever she was thinking of something and then jotting it down on her notebook for her books. It made him want to get in her head and see what she was all about.

She cast a huge smile on her face, a tiny dimple peeking below the corner of her lips. Then she started, "Well… There\'s another place we can both stay under one roof. It\'s very spacious and I\'m pretty sure the owner would love to have you as a guest."

"O…kay?" He folded his arms across his chest, waiting for her to continue.

Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed a number.

Wondering, Gael asked, "Who are you—" 

Angela held up a finger in the air and he shut his mouth, watching her quietly. Whoever she was calling, it seemed as though they took their time answering. At last, the other end of the line answered and then she spoke.

"Hi, Daddy. Are you home?" She paused. Her eyes flickered towards Gael whose mouth hung open as he listened to her. "Good. I\'m staying there for a while starting tonight." She paused again, her father\'s voice sounding excited through the receiver but Gael couldn\'t make out the response. "You don\'t mind Gael staying with us, do you?" Another pause. "Great! I\'ll see you at dinner!"

Angela ended the call and faced Gael, the smile on her face so bright he was nearly blinded.

"You want me to stay at your father\'s house?" Gael\'s heart began to race. He didn\'t know why he was getting nervous. It wouldn\'t be the first time he\'d be meeting Charlie. Perhaps because he was actually going to sleep there…and not just for one night?

"Uh-huh." She nodded enthusiastically. The thought of having Gael at her father\'s house would have scared her before. However, a lot of things had changed since, and right now, there wasn\'t anything that held her back in enjoying his company around her family anymore. Angela was even looking forward to celebrating her birthday for the first time with him where her relatives would be present. "Are you nervous?" she teased.

He placed a hand on his chest where his heart was supposed to be. It was definitely beating faster than normal. It could be for the fact that the last time Gael spoke with Angela\'s father in private, Charlie sort of threatened him. "You kidding? I\'m thrilled.." Totally.