“Just make orders. What do you guys want to eat?” A familiar voice suddenly rang. Thea cast a look and saw Mia sitting not far from her table.
She should be in school right now. It was still a long time before the summer vacation. What was she doing here?
Thea grabbed her phone and checked out the calendar, trying to figure out the time. And then, she sent a message to Logan. After the family meeting, she got her brother’s number.
Logan replied pretty fast, saying that their school was not taking any days off.
So Mia just skipped the class? And she came to another city so her parents wouldn’t catch her?
Thea gave it a thought and immediately understood. Mia must hate her so much that she decides to become rebellious.
But… Why did she choose this place out of so many other places?
Could it be…
Thea stood up from the table before she turned to ask Daisy, “Keep an eye on the table next to ours. I will be back soon.”
Daisy also recognized Mia by now. So she instantly nodded.
Thea went outside of the diner and called Drew. Drew picked up the phone immediately after seeing it was Thea’s call.
“Hello? Demi? How’s everything going in your place? How’s the shooting? Your Mom and I are going to the city to visit soon. We can drop by and see you on the crew. I mean, if that won’t interrupt your work.”
They didn’t have any excuse to come to the town. They just wanted to check out Thea.
Thea suddenly didn’t know what to say at that moment. This was her first time calling her biological father. She cleared her throat, “Actually… You guys don’t need to come to visit me. I’ll be back soon after finishing other shoots.”
“What’s wrong?” Drew faltered.
Thea could only tell the truth, “Well… I just saw Mia in my place. She’s probably here to see her friends?”
“Mia?!” Drew frowned, “She skipped school?!”
Thea instantly said, “Don’t be worried. I’ve sent my assistant to keep an eye on them. She’s still a kid. It’s normal for her not to be able to accept things so fast. I will try to talk to her and make her go back soon. If it doesn’t work out, I will call you again. Is that okay?”
Drew smiled, “Of course. She’s your little sister. Just do whatever you deem necessary.”
Thea nodded heavily, “Of course. I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else. Have a good day, Dad.”
And then, she hung up the phone. Thea was still blushing after the call was over. She had used every fiber of her body to call that man Dad. Thea had never been a sentimental person. She called Drew because she thought the man deserved that. He and his wife had searched for Demi for years. It was the least she could do for them.
But her heart was still pounding violently after she called him that.
Her hand still clapped the phone tightly when she went back to the diner.
****
Meanwhile, Drew was getting giddy before his wife.
“What happened? You look so happy.” Fritzi just walked out of her bathroom.
A smile curved at Drew’s mouth, “Demi just called me, and she called me Dad again!”
“Really?” Fritzi smiled brightly. But she soon grew a bit disappointed, “Why didn’t she call me.”
“She will call you soon, honey,” Drew comforted his wife.
“Why did she call, though?” Fritzi asked curiously.
The smile on Drew’s face instantly froze, “Oh, she saw Mia at her shooting site, and she’s having lunch there. They bumped into each other.”
Fritzi shot up from her seat, “What? She should be at school this time! Did she skip school?”
Drew looked at her calmly, “Just take it easy, honey. Demi promised that she could handle that for us. She said we don’t need to worry.”
Fritzi was still worried, “But Demi’s there alone in a city she barely knows. She’s a star, and she has to be busy with her shooting. How could she handle that by herself? We should send some help over.”
Drew nodded, “Makes sense. I’m sending someone now. I don’t think we should go. I don’t want to make it embarrassing for the kids.”
Thea called Cody after hanging up the phone, “Cody? I have something to tell you.”
Cody had one hand on the steering wheel as he looked out of the window. This street was packed with tourists. He had never come to any place so crowded in his life.
Thea still didn’t know that he had come here to visit her. She was telling Cody about Mia on the phone.
Cody navigated his way through the column of cars on the street as he heard the whole thing, “I’m okay with that. But are you sure you want to handle this by yourself?”
Thea quickly responded, “Yeah. Mia left home because of me. I have to come up with a plan to make her feel better. This is probably a chance to fix our relationship.”
And then, Cody finally saw the girl standing by the street. Luckily, there were not too many cars around her. So he picked up his speed. Thea didn’t even see him when he pulled over.
She was still talking on the phone, “Girls of her age are pretty sensitive. I don’t want her to be cut off from her family because of me. I’m sure Mia will understand it after having a conversation with me.”
By then, Cody had gotten off the car and gently approached Thea, tapping her shoulder.
“Geez!” Thea gasped and spun around.
When she saw Cody’s face, her eyes widened, “Cody? What the heck are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me.”
Cody just smiled. He was glad that he had surprised Thea successfully. Mia and her friends disappeared when the two people returned to the diner.
Daisy was also surprised to see Cody. Thea asked her where the girls were. Daisy told her that the girls had left a couple of minutes ago.
“Mia said that she’s gonna go to your crew to see you. Cody, could you come up with a way to stop Mia from doing that?” Daisy was so worried, “Miss Weston doesn’t like Thea. I don’t want her to show up tomorrow and do something to impede the shooting.”
Cody thought for a second and turned to ask Thea, “What do you think?”
Thea had expected this, “I’m okay with that. I want to see her anyway.”
Cody patted Thea’s shoulder, “You don’t need to worry about anything. I will make sure things will be okay.”
Daisy felt much more relaxed after hearing her boss’ words.