With the next organizer decided, the members of the ENSS went home. Claire, whom had no choice but to ride the car together with Ariel, was as white as a ghost when she reached her home. Her driving was the worst she had ever the displeasure to try. She was never, EVER! going to let Ariel drive again!

Not minding the death glares she was giving her, Ariel parked her car at full speed. Be it a miracle, or ability, her car had not a single scratch.

Now Ariel was more certain than ever: she was not going to the next gathering!

With a new firm resolution grandma Ariel made sure that her door was locked, and exhausted, she made herself comfy on the sofa in the living room.

Soon, she found herself unable to get up. Looking at herself still wearing the dress, she threw her head back and put an arm over her eyes. She could always change later.

Her thoughts drifted, thinking back at what happened at the gathering. The newest member, that Simon, had done a good job at organizing the gathering.

Looking back at the past ENSS meetings, they were never as showy as tonight. It was truly a unique experience. At most they would rent a dining room for a buffet, but since she had joined it was the first time to see something so grand.

Maybe the next ones will be as good? Grandma Ariel made a mental note to always be present for when Simon Belcher is the one organizing. Yes, the food was delicious. Maybe I should ask him to invite me over sometimes. Hmm, even getting the recipes would be good enough.

Her eyelids started feeling heavy. Old Tom mentioned the game. It seems to be very popular among the children, and addictive too. Heh, I’m not the one to talk. Ariel thought back at how her husband’s plants were almost on the verge of dying after she had forgotten to take care of their soil.

I’m sorry… Her arm felt a bit moist.

To not feel even worse she forced herself to think of something else. The wife… Viktor must’ve been really sad when he discovered that she had gone behind his back. Wait… How many did he say he had…?

And slowly, she felt asleep.

In the middle of the night she woke up, feling sore all over her body. Groggingly turning around, she had a scare when she almost fell off the couch.

At first she was in a panic, wondering why she wasn’t in her bed. But then she remebered. She had fallen asleep in the living room. Feeling embarassed, she made her way to her bedroom to put on her pijama.

When she finally made her way under the covers she started feeling restless. Feeling annoyed, she went to the bathroom to relieve herself. She had too much to drink at the gathering, still that didn’t make her reflect on her indulgence that evening. With everything being so delicious, she thought that she would do it again again. No question asked.

Some time later Ariel was back under the covers, and finally she could sleep soundly for the rest of the night.

By the time she awoke, it was already 7:30 am. She took her time to get up, and after putting on some comfortable clothing she went down to the kitchen to make brekfast.

From the fridge, she took a jar of peach jam that had been opened the day before. Together with a loaf of bread and some butter, she prepared a simple and nice breakfast.

As she was eating the first slice of bread, Ariel looked at Vittorio Modigliani number on her phone. She had the thought of what to say to him.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ariel was about to call him, but then she thought that he might be busy or still sleeping. Tapping on the table with her fingers, she then nodded and typed the gist of it.

‘I’ve heard that your last ex-wife leaked the family secrets to a rival company.’

After sending the text she stared at the screen for a while. The chat log had nothing but a text that said that this was her number. She found it quite lacking. I should’ve started with something like: ‘Heeey, good morning!’. No, that sounds wrong if it’s followed right after the leak.

As she was pacing around with phone in hand, she felt it vibrate. With a look she could tell that it was her old friend that had answered.

‘Wow. That’s cold. Not even a hello Riri?’

‘Don’t worry, those secrets weren’t important’

‘By the way, where did you hear that? The fact that family secrets were involved shouldn’t be known yet’

‘ |ω・）’

She didn’t expect a rush of messages one after another. Her mouth twitched as the emoticon stared back at her. It seemed like she had worried for nothing. He was way too eager to text to her.

Shaking her head, she simply wrote back a response. At first she was going to write that her neighbor Claire had mentioned it in passing, but then she thought that this might cause her problems down the road. So, she deleted it and wrote a better answer.

‘A reliable source told me.’

‘And hello. I hope your morning goes well. ᵔᴥᵔ’

To make him happy she even added a good morning. She sighed. She didn’t know how he would respond since they had never exchanged phone numbers.

At the time they would meet naturally during her work hours. They both thought that with them meeting basically everyday there was no need to even spend their alone time calling each other.

Unfortunately, when something happened there had been no time for the two to exchange phone numbers.

‘(≧▽≦)’

‘You too Riri! ღゝ◡╹)ノ’

‘Actually, this Sunday I have some time during lunch, how about we go grab a bite? My treat ⊂(▀¯▀⊂ )’

‘If it doesn’t work we can do it another day, just tell me when. I’ll make time for you ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ’

‘Ah… They’re calling me. Text you later (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧’

After another barrage of texts she put the phone down. The amount of emoticons he used hurt her eyes. Was he always like that?

Actually, now that she thought about it, yes. Yes he was.

She sighed. Well, that’s not a bad thing I guess. She cleaned the plate and put away the leftovers, and ten minutes later she was ready to make her routine check of all of her plants.

When she was done she excitedly put on the Omicron earpiece. By connecting to the internet, she briefly checked the forum.

After scrolling down a bunch of memes and help posts, she decided to start playing. A soft light blue light covered her sight, and right after a bunch of words appeared in front of her.

Synchronizing…

Welcome back, Tacha Macha!

As the words disappeared among the sea of light, Tacha found herself back at what remained of the fireplace she made on the fly in the Nightgleam forest.

Weeds had grown from under the ashes of the fireplace, long taken away by the wind. Only the rocks she had used from nearby remained the same way she had left them.

The trees swayed gently from a nonexistent breeze. Looking at them, Tacha couldn’t help but shiver. Bad memories of how the trees made their best efforts to trap her resurfaced.

With fast steps she left the place behind, direction opposite of the radish village. With how much the big angry radish and herself have met, by now they could be called mortal enemies!

It wouldn’t be strange if the big guy would start to chase her straight away.

Shivering at that thought, Tacha Macha hurried her footsteps. She hoped to get out of this dreadful forest as soon as possible!