Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Anya was sprawled out on her bed, chatting away on the phone with her

boyfriend. Ash was right there too, lying nearby, soaking up every word like it was

the latest episode of her favorite show.

That afternoon, Leo and Chunky were both slammed with work. The black market

was buzzing-everyone wanted Chunky for side gigs, and he was so busy he

barely had time to catch his breath. In the sweltering summer heat, he ran aroundnoveldrama

until he was drenched. After two weeks of this, he'd dropped a noticeable amount

of weight.

Naomi tried twice to swing by her son's apartment, hoping to catch him at home,

but both times she went home disappointed. Bruce had no better luck-he struck

out after several attempts too.

Whenever they called, Leo sounded just as rushed as ever. "Don't worry, Mom,

Dad. I'm just a bit tied up right now. Once I get some free time, I'll come pick you

up and we'll grab dinner together." Same old line every time.

Their anxiety only grew, so they decided to just wait for him at the entrance to his

building. It was late-the stars were barely visible and the crowds had long since

gone-when Leo's car finally rolled up.

"Mom? Dad?" Leo spotted their license plate from a distance.

He parked and hopped out to greet them. When Bruce noticed Chunky with Leo,

he was caught off guard-he had no clue which friend this was. After Leo made

introductions, Chunky sensibly excused himself: "Leo, go catch up with your folks.

I'll head home."

That night, the three of them went to a little restaurant. Leo explained what had

him so busy: "Between the renovations, buying equipment, and all the trips to city

hall, I just haven't had a free moment."

Naomi noticed how much thinner her son looked, and her heart twisted with worry.

All through dinner, she kept piling food onto his plate. "Eat up, sweetheart. If Anya

saw you like this, she'd never let you skip a proper meal at home again."

Bruce looked at Leo, torn between pride and concern. He kept adding food to

Leo's plate too, peppering him with questions: "If you need anything, promise us

you'll call, okay?"

"I know, Dad. I will."

"What's left in terms of paperwork?" Bruce asked, still looking for something else

he could help with.

...

After dinner, the three of them wandered around the neighborhood for half an

hour before Leo drove his parents home and then headed back to his own place.

He went straight to Chunky's apartment, fired up his laptop, and got to work.

"Chunky, in the early days, it's up to us to lay the groundwork for the new system,"

he said.

They powered through until nearly

midnight before Leo finally trudged

home to shower and crash. Chunky,

completely wiped out, couldn't even

be bothered to check for takeout-he

just flopped into bed and was out

like a light.

Meanwhile, Mia and Molly had

gotten the latest gossip on Leo from

Naomi. "That kid is getting secretive.

He used to tell us everything, now he

only talks to Anya. We're totally out

of the loop," Molly grumbled

bouncing Wayne on her lap.

Mia held onto Henry, who looked

ready to bolt at any second, and

said, "We're all family, but Leo and

Anya are a team. It's normal for him

to lean on her. I mean, I don't tell

everyone everything about our

household, either."

"Keep talking like that and you'll scare off all your friends," Molly shot back with a

laugh.

For Henry, his mom's arm was like the string holding a kite-no matter how hard

he squirmed, he just couldn't get free. The "kite" twisted around and tried to pry

himself loose. "Let go, Mom, c'mon!"

Wayne thought watching his brother try to escape was better than any cartoon.

"Leo probably keeps things from us because he doesn't want us to worry-or

maybe he's afraid we'll force some money on him," Mia added.

"Are we really that clueless?" Molly asked.

"Absolutely," Mia replied, grinning.

Jade just gave them a look.

But now that they were in on the secret, the next weekend Mia and Molly grabbed

the map, zigzagged through half the city, and finally found the place Leo was

renting.