Chapter 4

After Ariel waved goodbye to Eric and Melody, she carefully crossed the রাস্তা to meet up with her brother. Her sandy-colored haired brothers was holding a carton of দুধ that he bought from the Deli.

"Ariel, what was going on? Who was that man আপনি were talking to?" রাঘববোয়াল asked.

"I was trying to save his daughter," Ariel explained.

"Really?" রাঘববোয়াল asked.

"It's a long story," ব্যক্ত Ariel. As they walk away from the Deli, Ariel told রাঘববোয়াল the details of the story such as saving Melody, standing up to Eric, and a ডিনার with them. When she finished, রাঘববোয়াল was amazed. That was a ব্রেভ thing his big sister did!

Ariel and রাঘববোয়াল finally came upon their apartment. They went inside and took the elevator which led them to the 22nd floor.

"Daddy, we're home!" Ariel and রাঘববোয়াল walked inside their room M28. The apartment room was small but still contained enough room to fit her, Flounder, her dad, and their sisters, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana. The apartment room had a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

Triton was sitting in his chair পাঠ করা the Daily News. Attina, Andrina, and Adella, both came প্রথমপাতা early from their jobs.

"Daddy, we're home," ব্যক্ত Ariel.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to worry about আপনি two," ব্যক্ত Triton. He was a little bit concerned of why his two kids were spending longer time than usual at the deli when he only sent them just to buy milk.

"What took আপনি so long!" Adella ব্যক্ত impatiently, who just came out of the রান্নাঘর along with Andrina and Attina.

"Adella, calm down!" Attina scolded. "There's no need to be dramatic!"

"But I'm soooooo thirsty and hungry!" Adella whined.

"Gee, poor Adella. She didn't eat breakfast," Andrina said, sarcastically.

"I was almost late this morning! And I didn't have time to go the cafe!"

"Whatever!"

"Calm down. I have the milk," ব্যক্ত Ariel.

"Yeah, Ariel was trying to save a girl's life!" রাঘববোয়াল defended. Triton turned around from his newspaper with interest and all the sisters except Ariel had their eyes widened. রাঘববোয়াল began to tell the story in an excited way.

"Yeah! There was a little girl who was running in the রাস্তা and-then-she couldn't-the car was like 'Vroooom!'and the girl was like 'AAAAAAAAAH!' Whew! Then Ariel ran and saved her!" And then, there was this man, who was like 'blah blah blah!' at the kid and "hubba hubba hubba!' at Ariel," রাঘববোয়াল finished, imitating Eric's hypnotized trance.

Triton's expression changed from an interest to a frown.

"WHAT!"

"OOoooooooo! Ariel's got a boyfriend!" Adella teased, as Attina, Arista, and Andrina giggled.

"He's not my boyfriend!" ব্যক্ত Ariel, blushing. "The man was the father of the girl I rescued from. He invited me for ডিনার tomorrow just to repay me," Ariel explained, hopefully her dad didn't get the wrong idea and hopefully that her sisters would stop teasing.

"Whew! That is a relief!" Triton sighed.

"So, what's the man's name?" Attina asked.

"Eric Daniel Barnes," Ariel answered, প্রদর্শিত হচ্ছে everybody Eric's buisness card.

"Eric Daniel Barnes? No way!" the sisters exclaimed.

"You know him?" Ariel was confused.

"Yeah! He's our co-worker!" ব্যক্ত Andrina in a "duh!" tone.

"Ariel, where are আপনি and Eric going to eat dinner?" Triton asked. Even though, he is already aware that Eric Daniel Barnes, he still feels uneasy about letting his youngest daughter having a তারিখ with him. Especially after hearing from রাঘববোয়াল that Eric had expressed interest in Ariel.

"Yes, daddy, I want to. We're having ডিনার at his house," ব্যক্ত Ariel.

"His house!" Tirton exclaimed.

"Father, Eric is a decent man so, he won't touch her," ব্যক্ত Andrina, calmly.

"You're sure," Triton asked, cautiously.

"Yeah, don't worry. Eric has no interest in marriage," Andrina answered.

"Daddy, I want to go. It is not a date. It is just for one night. Please?" Ariel pleaded. Triton hesitated. Despite Andrina's assurance, he still doesn't feel comfortable about this. How would he know that Eric would not make moves on her? On the other hand, he knows that it would be a great insult if Ariel doesn't প্রদর্শনী up at his house for dinner. He sighed.

"All right, Ariel. আপনি can have ডিনার with him tomorrow. But be careful," Triton said, still worrying.

"Daddy, I'll be fine," ব্যক্ত Ariel. Gee, her dad could be so overprotective sometimes.

Meanwhile, back at the Barnes' home, Eric and Melody had gotten ready for bed.

"Good night, Melody," ব্যক্ত Eric as tucked Melody in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Daddy," ব্যক্ত Melody. He was about to leave when Melody called him.

"Daddy, please keep the lights on!"

"Why?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I hate the dark!"

"All right," ব্যক্ত Eric. He left without turning the lights off. He hoped that this would be the last time she requested him to do that.

Eric changed into his pajamas and climbed into his king-size bed. As he laid his head on his pillow, he looked to his left to another বালিশ পরবর্তি to him. He fell asleep dreaming about a certain lovely red-haired woman that still left his হৃদয় burning for her.