Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, Jarred\'s villa ~

After the grand opening event ended, Thomas Smith joined Jarred for a dinner. Thomas is Jarred\'s cousin and also David\'s and Aileen\'s father.

"So, what do you think about Emma?", Jarred asked Thomas. He knows that Thomas wanted to attend the event with a goal to get a better look at Charlie\'s fiancée.

"I don\'t have an opinion.", Thomas responded. "I mean… she is good looking and works in medicine. But neither of those are indicators if she will be a good wife for Charlie or not."

Jarred smiled. "I was not aware that you are concerned with how good Charlie\'s wife is."

"As his Uncle, of course I am concerned. You seem to approve of her."

"As his guardian, I do."

Thomas snorted. "Charlie is a man. He does not need a guardian."

Jarred laughed. "What can I say? Charlie is by my side for a long time. It is difficult for me to stop watching over him just because he is legally a grownup."

Thomas forced a smile. Why does Jarred always need to point out that Charlie is under his wing for a long time? Everyone knows that, alright? If not for that crappy nephew, Jarred would not have so much power in the family and he, Thomas Smith would be the CEO of Smithsonite corp. Thomas reminded himself to calm down. He can\'t snap in front of Jarred.

"I must admit that I am surprised to see that Charlie is so close to Jeffrey White. Now I understand the origins of those last few deals we made with White corp."

Jarred nodded. "If you paid attention, you would notice the origin of that closeness as well."

"What do you mean?"

Jarred smirked. "Emma is close with the Whites. Charlie only jumped on that train."

Thomas frowned in response. If Charlie has a relationship with Jeffrey White, that is one thing. But if that relationship is coming from Emma then she is not a simple pretty girl like they all think.

~ Los Angeles, Charlie\'s villa ~

At home, Emma called Mike and Tiffany to come to the living room. She wanted to hear about their plans.

Charlie was there as well, and he told Emma that he will not meddle unless Emma asks him to. These are Emma\'s brother and assistant so he will watch from the side.

Mike told Emma that thanks to his good grades, he got accepted to take courses on UCLA as part of the special, customized program. He picked two courses he will take online, and one requires attendance in person and classes are on Saturdays.

"When I make some progress, I will consider taking on more courses. Since I will start working on Monday, I don\'t dare taking more than three courses at this time.", Mike explained and showed to Emma his plan until he graduates with a degree. He said that he will start with courses in few months, when he saves some money for the fees needed.

Emma was impressed. She told him not to worry about financing. "Just how we agreed, I will take care of your tuition costs, and you can pay me back in installments. We will talk about you paying me back in few months once you stabilize your income and have a better understanding of your regular expenses."

Mike was happy with this. With Emma\'s financial assistance, he can start taking courses right away.

Emma hooked her hands on Mike\'s shoulders. "You are my brother. And even if we argue, I will not stop those payments. So, focus on studying and improving your life. OK?"

Mike hugged Emma and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks."

Emma looked at Tiffany. "I don\'t have any right to ask about your education plans, but I want to know what are you planning for your living arrangements. We are not chasing you out, but I assume that the two of you will not stay here in guestrooms forever."

"I will move out as soon as I have enough savings, just as I planned.", Tiffany responded. "I estimate in another month or two."

Emma knows that Tiffany planned to stay longer because living in Los Angeles does not come cheap. To rent an apartment, she will need to pay at least one month in advance and a security deposit. Furnished apartments are expensive, and alternative is that she needs to buy her furniture. Once other moving fees are added, the price tag skyrockets. There is no way that only after one-two months of savings Tiffany has enough for an apartment in a good area, which probably means that she will need to live in a sketchy area and to commute.

Emma turned to Mike. "What about you?"

"We will move in together.", Mike responded. "In a month I will have my paycheck and we should have enough for something that is close to here and to my work. Proximity to my campus does not matter because I need to go there once a week."

Emma glanced at Charlie who gave her an approving nod and pushed a laptop toward her.

Emma pointed at the screen which had a map of Los Angeles open and asked: "What do you think about a place in this area?"

Mike and Tiffany leaned closer to see better.

"That is a great area.", Mike said. "It\'s about halfway from my work and here, and it\'s close to campus as well."

"But we can\'t afford the rent there. We checked.", Tiffany reminded him.

Emma spoke while pointing at the map. "There is one apartment about here... It is furnished and with no tenants. Owner is looking for house-sitters. Are you interested?"

Mike and Tiffany exchanged glances.

"What?", they asked in unison.

Emma looked at two excited sets of eyes while explaining: "It\'s a fully furnished three bedroom apartment. It\'s not a top floor unit, but it has two balconies and I hear that the views are amazing. It\'s in a building with a pool, gym and an underground parking."

Mike wanted to accept excitedly, but Tiffany pulled him back. "For how long will that be available? We don\'t want to move in and then few weeks later we need to find another place because owner changed his mind."

"It will be available as long as you want.", Emma assured them.

Mike found Emma\'s smile suspicious. "How can you be so confident?"

Charlie poked Emma. "Just tell them."

Emma shot a glance at Charlie before speaking: "It\'s my apartment. As long as you pay for utilities, you can use it."

"How did you get it?", Mike asked reluctantly.

"In the same way I got the funds for the rehabilitation center. Don\'t worry. It\'s legal."

"Does this mean that you approve of us?", Tiffany asked Emma.

Emma pressed her lips into a line when she saw how insecure Tiffany is. Emma walked to Tiffany and took Tiffany\'s hands in hers. "I am sorry, Tiff. I know firsthand how people can be mean and look down on others because of prejudice. I believe that you are a great person, and that is why I decided to hire you as my assistant. Don\'t doubt that. I was hurt because you didn\'t tell me that you and Mike are in a relationship, without considering your reasons… To answer your question, I can see that my brother is happy and that both of you are committing to make this work and that is enough for me to support you."

Tiffany smiled. "Thank you."

Mike gave Emma a bear hug from the back. "Yup! Thank you!"

Mike pulled Tiffany in and they ended up in a three person hug.

"Come here…", Emma waved to Charlie to join into the hug.

Charlie hesitated for a second before responding: "Nope. I\'m fine."

When they broke out of the hug, Emma turned to Mike: "You need to tell mom."

Mike grimaced. "Can\'t you let me enjoy this moment? Why do you need to spoil it?"

Emma laughed. "OK. We will talk about mom some other time." She spoke to Tiffany and Mike: "Next two days are busy because rehabilitation center starts working. On the weekend we can go together and check out the apartment. If you like it I will give you the keys and you can move in right away…"

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