As soon as Lola stepped out of the gates of Chairman Lancaster’s residence, the smile on her face instantly disappeared. Silence quickly swept past her on the mild breeze, making a single withered leaf roll on the road.
"Shit..." she blurted out under her breath, looking at the empty road. "I forgot... Silo has already left."
Her face twisted as she recalled that Silo had just dropped her off and left under her orders. Looking back at the residence, Travis was already gone.
"Great!" she huffed, laughing to herself. "This is why the twins say, Brain isn’t braining because mine surely isn’t."
Thanks to Atlas, her brain wasn’t working as it should. Now, she had to commute from this place all the way to the Summit Partners.
Damn it!
****
Meanwhile, Silo stood in the corner of the gym while watching Cedrick train with Haji. His eyes might have been fixed on the two, but his mind drifted elsewhere.
"She really is hiding something from me," he muttered to himself. "Now that I think about it, she was lying. No doubt about it. She’s just avoiding the conversation—"
"Avoiding what kind of conversation?"
Silo almost jumped the second he heard Haji’s voice right beside his ear.
"The hell, Haji?" he gasped in disbelief, covering his ear as he gave Haji an incredulous look.
Haji chuckled as he was removing the bandages on his knuckles. "He’s been talking to you, but your head is just somewhere. Gotta help our little superstar right here." He then jerked his chin toward Cedrick, who was standing on Silo’s other side.
"Ah?" Silo turned, only to see the awkward smile on Cedrick. "Ah... heh."
"So, what kind of conversation is she avoiding?" Haji pressed. "You’re talking about Lola, right?"
Silo frowned at him, then rolled his eyes. "Don’t talk to me." He then gave Cedrick a stern look. "And you, you come to me today. You have a photoshoot in two hours. We’re leaving now."
"Yes, sir!" Having said that, Cedrick quickly grabbed his things and headed to the shower.
As he went, Silo turned to Haji again. "Haji, are you being too harsh on the guy? Lola just said to help him be healthy, not someone who can beat people up."
"And that’s what I’m doing."
"You were almost killing him right there."
"If only you stepped in that ring, you would understand that that’s not what I’m doing!" Haji intoned before he leaned in a bit. "Do you want to try so I can show you?"
Silo scrunched up his nose, looking at the guy with displeasure. But before he could say anything, Haji leaned back and rubbed his chin.
"By the way, Silo," Haji blinked. "I didn’t know that woman had kids. I’ve known her for years, but I never saw her pregnant."
"Right... she brought them here, huh?"
Haji snorted at the thought of those little devils. "Can you find a way so she doesn’t bring them here ever again?"
Silo arched a brow at Haji and then thought of the twins. Thinking about how those two innocently crushed his spirit with just a few words, and just bullying him by calling him silly, he understood Haji’s dilemma.
Those two had a tongue as sharp as a dagger — like Lola’s.
"They got you too, huh?" Silo sighed, causing Haji’s brows to rise.
"Wait, what?" Haji blinked. "Did they beat you up too?"
"Beat me up is too much... but well..." Silo’s face twisted in dismay. "They said my brain isn’t braining."
"Is that a new saying?"
"For kids, maybe." He shrugged. "Did they also tell you you’re stupid without telling you you’re stupid?"
Haji deadpanned, remembering getting beaten up by two five-year-olds. And thinking about it, it was... humiliating.
"No," his voice was dead just like his expression as he stared at Silo. "Worse."
More like they told him he was weak without telling him he was weak. Because being called stupid was not an insult to Haji; he had long accepted he was not that bright. However, he had taken pride in being strong, but those kids just thrashed him with their speed alone.
"Just... keep those children out of here, okay?" Haji leaned closer to Silo’s side, offering him the biggest and most fake smile he could ever show. "Also, tell Lola she has a bad thing for names. Who names their kids as if they were mascots?"
****
Minutes later, Silo rode with Cedrick in a van to the photoshoot Lola had arranged for Cedrick. She already had good photos of Cedrick’s looks on the same day that his audition recording was taken. However, Lola wanted more, and this time, with a different theme to show Cedrick’s cuter side.
"Is Taz busy?" Cedrick asked out of curiosity. It had only been a while since he came to know Lola and Silo. However, thanks to Haji and Silo, he was growing more and more comfortable around these new people in his life.
Silo cocked his head and nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, she had to take the twins to school and enroll them in pre-school."
"Isn’t it a bit late for that?"
"I don’t really know." Silo shook his head. "I never had children, and I don’t know if the twins should even go to school or if they were already late for it."
Cedrick opened his mouth, but then he pressed it together. The twins were already five, so if he was right, they should have already started elementary school. Still, he wasn’t sure, so it was better to leave it at that. Besides, Cedrick didn’t want to poke his nose into Lola’s other business because clearly, someone was not really happy with him.
"Are you okay?" Suddenly, Silo’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You suddenly went quiet."
"Well." Cedrick scratched the back of his head. "I’m just wondering... how to make Lola’s husband like me."
"Husband?"
Cedrick nodded. "He doesn’t seem to like me, and I don’t want to be the cause of their problems or even start a misunderstanding."
Yet, Silo’s expression remained just as confused. Seeing this, Cedrick knitted his brows until Silo finally uttered,
"She doesn’t have a husband. What are you talking about?"