Chapter 107 – Mandy Foundation Opening

Chapter 108 – And then, there was Gray

Carol was waiting for Arthur in her special room at his office building. She had just sent Gray on some errands when he joined her there, because they were headed to have lunch at a new restaurant in town. It was themed for the eighties and the guide had given it a high score, specially for the seafood dishes.The couple enjoyed exploring new places and trying different foods.Arthur kisses his wife before asking her about her assistants, “I passed Gray on the hall. This room used to be more crowded. What happened to your other assistants, Carol?”“Well, Grass is doing a short course on public relations. When she finishes it, she will move on to work for Jackson, since she is a natural with children.”“That is a great quality. I think Jackson appreciated you sending Grass to the Foundation.”“He sure did. Jackson had already noticed how patient and caring she is, because he saw that she did a great job help

Chapter 109 – Tourism and gastronomy

It was not hard at all for Marie and Makena to choose which courses they wanted to take in college. Marie had already worked in the tourism area, being a guide back in her country. She also loved to travel and she knew much about world history and geography. Her dream for the future was to open her own travel agency, specialized in the main touristic destinies in Africa, the continent where she was born.When Marie started her studies, she met many people with similar dreams and she made good friends, who even talked about being partners in business after the graduation.As for Makena, she decided to take a gastronomy course. She enjoyed to cook so much and she was always trying new recipes. At school, she hoped to master in international cuisine, since she had been more used to the local one, back home.Moreover, Arthur had asked George to get some temporary work permits for them, while they applied for citizenship. As soon as they got the permits, Makena start

Chapter 110 – Like old times

Mandy, Mark, Steph, Charlie and Dorothy had gathered on a Saturday night to eat pizza, candies, popcorn and watch some comedy movies.They were at the movie theater in Mandy´s house and the cook had prepared this delicious food for them and a variety of natural juices.Steph was enjoying her watermelon juice and Dorothy had found a new delicious flavor in the kiwi juice.They got ice cubes from a huge bucket and filled the long glasses with them, before pouring the juices in.The teens had laughed a lot with a comic movie that told the story of a couple in love, that got lost in a mall and couldn´t find each other for hours. It was necessary for them to escape insisting salespeople and deal with the loss of cell phones and credit cards robbery. Everything was exaggerated, so the filmgoer could laugh his heart out.When the movie finished nobody was in a hurry to leave, then they kept chatting and eating the snacks.“I didn&

Chapter 111 – Steph´s memories

After the first two years of great success with her music career and the products linked to her name, Steph decides to rest for a while. The world tour was great, but also exhausting. So, she is at her parents´ house for a month, while her manager plans her future steps.She is happy to be near family and friends again. Some of her cousins drop by to see her, she goes shopping with old school friends, which is fun because she has to use wigs to avoid the fans from recognizing her. And of course there are Mandy´s visits, because she is her best friend. They take turns going to one another´s home as they always did. Then it is possible only to chat or see a movie together to enjoy each other´s company. Sometimes they enjoy the pool and listen to good music while sunbathing.Steph´s family and friends are her main source of inspiration, and since her manager was pushing her to deliver new lyrics for her next CD, she took the opportunity to wr

Chapter 112 – Heartbreaking condition

Brian had a degenerative disease that, in time would cause him to lose his vision. The treatments could postpone it but not avoid that he became blind.Some days he had to use eye drops and rest in his room even if it was day time. His mother would shut the window and put on some soft music to distract him during these long hours of waiting. Brian didn´t complain because he was afraid to become blind and did everything he could to follow the doctor´s recommendations.In these occasions he missed Steph and she made it clear that she missed him too.“Brian, why can´t I sit with you while you rest your eyes? I miss you bad, you know?”“Steph, I miss you too. But the drops make me so sleepy that you would get very bored.”And then they had to endure it. Brian was now ten years old and Steph was nine. The doctor told his mother that he has already lost twenty per cent of his capacity to see and he was wearing gl

Chapter 113 - A castle in France

Because it was so important to Mama Castle, Arthur took his family to France in the first occasion that arose. They all agreed that the visit shouldn´t be delayed anymore, because since they went to the farms so frequently, Mama Castle was starting to feel hurt and a little abandon. And going to France was no sacrifice at all. In fact, it was the first visit there for Carol and Mandy and they were very excited about it. Mark was travelling with them because onone of them, including Mama Castle, would have it otherwise.He was considered a family member and nobody even remembered or commented about the time of the breakup. What really mattered was that Mandy´s face had gained its light back and Mark was cheerful beside her, also fealing peaceful. When they were together it was as if the world was in the right track towards happiness.The castle was located to the south of France, but not too distant from Paris.The weather was good and the plane trip

Chapter 114 – French style

While Arthur guided Mandy and Mark to see the castle´s library, Carol followed Mama Castle upstairs to choose the room that she most liked. The luggage would be sent there.“You know, Carol, one day you will be ‘the lady of the castle’ just like you are the ‘lady of the house’ back home.”“Oh, that´s just some nonsense that Sunsquasch came up with.”“Anyway, I want you to choose the room that you like most and I will keep it only for you and Arthur. No other visitor allowed there.”“That is sweet of you.”There was a beautiful room with preserved antique furniture, but the bedroom´s walls were all painted in pink and Carol didn´t think it would please Arthur. Then there was one room with dark brown furniture from the sixteenth century. Most valuable but not too much to her taste. And the third bedroom was perfect for her, since the walls were painted in