Benjamin sighed, he walked to the front door and knocked. He was not like Lulu that would just barge into somewhere without any permission. He waited for someone to answer, he was disappointed when he saw Natasha answer the door.
"Hi Benjamin, is something wrong?" Natasha asked, she was surprised to see him here, she was even more surprised that he knocked, he should have just walked in. If she had not been on her way to the kitchen, she would not have heard him knock.
"Hi Natasha, how are you?" he asked.
"I am well, and how are you? Come in." Natasha smiled, she stepped aside and closed the door when he entered.
"I am good." Benjamin replied.
"I heard you just got back yesterday, how was your trip?" she asked.
"Not as nice as I would have liked it to be... but oh well, such is life." Benjamin said and Natasha nodded, she knew that feeling all too well.
"So, what brings you here? Is something the matter?" Natasha asked.
"Umm no... not really. I just wanted to see Louise." Benjamin responded. She had been avoiding his calls, she had not been answering his texts or messages, he was getting worried.
"She's been avoiding my calls." He said, at first he thought it was just one of her many tantrums, but now, with her complete silence and avoidance, he was starting to be worried. Usually, even when she was upset with him, she still spoke to him, but it was different now.
"Oh... well you're not in luck, she's not home right now." Natasha said.
"Why? I thought she was on summer break as well?" Benjamin asked.
"She is, but she went to the office today, and she won't be back till late." Natasha said.
"I see..." Benjamin said.
"Yes, so do you want me to leave a message?" Natasha asked.
"No, no, I don't want to bother you. It's fine, I will just speak to her later." Benjamin said.
"Are you sure? It is no bother to me at all." Natasha said.
"I am sure Natasha, thank you." Benjamin replied.
"Hey... did something happen between you two?" Natasha asked. Well, she felt like she was in a position to ask, after all, Lulu was her sister-in-law and friend, and Benjamin was her friend as well.
Clearly, there was something going on between them. Lulu had woken up very early this morning, she was sad, and she left straight to the office, not to even mention that she had gone to bed last night rather upset.
"Yes... I said some hurtful things that I did not judge as hurtful then, and well, she got upset and left before I could apologize." He said, he always felt comfortable around Natasha, she was probably the only person he would tell what happened.
"Oh, I see... but you know how Lulu can be, she can get angry, but she does not stay angry for long. Just give her some time, she really does like you." Natasha smiled.
"Yeah... but I don't think she's going to stop being angry time time, you should have heard her, she looked so upset." Benjamin said.
"Just give her some time and continue showing and telling her that you're so sorry and all you wish is for her to forgive you." Natasha smiled.
"Thank you Natasha." Benjamin smiled. "I'll just leave now, enjoy your day." He said.
"Thank you, enjoy your day too." Natasha smiled, Benjamin took his leave and closed the door behind her.
Natasha frowned as she heard the door close. This had to be the first time Lulu had actively tried to avoid Benjamin and he looked miserable. She was worried about the both of them but she decided to stay out of it. It was better she let them resolve their issues themselves.
Benjamin sighed as he walked back home. He did not know why, but he felt like he did not have any peace as long as Lulu was upset with him. It was torture, the kind of torture he did not wish to endure for long.
...
"I'm home." Dom announced as he dropped his keys on the table near the entrance. He came home for lunch so he and Natasha could tell Joy that they would be going on a one week vacation to his parent's house.
He had expected Joy to come out running to greet him since he had left very early this morning, but to his surprise, she was nowhere to be found.
"Hey." Dom said, he walked into the living room to Natasha watching tv.
"Hey." She responded.
"Where is Joy? Usually she's jumping on me and giggling?" he asked worried, the house was way too quiet for his liking.
"Oh, well she was colouring upstairs, then she got sleepy and she's taking a nap for the first time in forever." Natasha laughed, she could not remember the last time Joy took a nap, it had to be over eight months now.
"Aww." Dom said, he was disappointed, he was expecting hugs and kisses, now it was silent.
"You don't seem happy about that." Natasha said.
"That's because I'm not. I like it when she greets me when I come home from work, besides, the whole reason I came home for lunch is so we can tell her the news together, if she's sleeping, it means we won't be able to tell her." Dom said.
"Relax, lunch is almost ready. I'll wake her up when it is, then we can tell her." Natasha said as Dom sat down.
"Okay." He sulked. Natasha almost felt like laughing at him, why did he look so sad just because Joy was asleep. It was because he was not the one at home with her all day, if he had been, he would have rejoiced when she finally decided to take a nap.
"Hey, do you know what's going on between Lulu and Benjamin?" she asked, she did not know why she asked, but she felt like he needed to know.
"No, what happened?" Dom asked.
"Well they got into a fight and Lulu has been avoiding Benjamin since, in fact he came over here earlier to look for her." Natasha said.
"That makes sense, no wonder Lulu stormed in upset last night and she left pretty early this morning." Dom said.
"What happened exactly?" he asked.
"Benjamin said some things that hurt her without meaning to, and I guess she just felt so overwhelmed she left." Natasha said.
"What a shame, she really likes him too." Dom said.
"That's the same thing I said." Natasha responded. "Aren't you going to do anything?" she asked observing Dom's silence.
"Do what?" Dom asked.
"I don't know, maybe intervene like you always do." Natasha scoffed.
"Nope, I'm not going to do anything. So as long as it's not like her hurt her physically or abused her, or said insulting words to her. I'm sure this is just normal conflict that happens in everyday relationships and Lulu is not a child, she can learn to handle them on her own." Dom said.
"I don't need to do anything." He added.
"Wow, what a surprise." Natasha said.
"And why are you surprised?" he asked.
"Because the old you would have intervened as soon as you saw something was going on. The usual control freak side of you." Natasha laughed.
"Firstly, the old me was the big brother of a teenage little sister who did not know her wrong from right. Now that little sister of mine is no longer a teenager, she has gone out into the real world and by now she knows how to take care of herself."
"I will only do or say something if she wants me to or asks for my opinion." Dom said, Natasha had to admit, she liked that he was starting to think this way. The sooner you realized that people would not appreciate the help you offered if they did not ask for it, the more peaceful your life would be.
"I agree with that." She said.
"Hey, you've changed, and so have I." He said.
"Hmm, we'll see about that." She replied as she walked into the kitchen.
Dom laughed to himself and shook his head. He liked that Natasha was getting more comfortable to talk to him more casually like they used to.
"Can I change the channel?" he asked, he did not want to be rude, after all, she was here watching tv before he arrived.
"Sure, it's not even interesting, I am going to set the table first then wake Joy up." she said from inside the kitchen. Her voice was faint but he could still hear her clearly.
"Do you need some help?" he asked. He already knew the answer, however, he just asked regardless out of courtesy.
"No." She switched off the stove and got the dishes to serve lunch.
"Okay then." Dom said as he changed the channel.