"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lia" Elias feels like Cecilia's name rolls off his tongue perfectly, as if it was meant for him to say. He wishes he could say her name all the time; like on their first date, or at the playground with their kids or even in the house they move into together-

Elias shakes his head. He's just met the woman! He shouldn't be having these thoughts about her. He tries to push his fantasies to the back of his mind but ultimately fails. He just hopes they stay at bay whilst he's talking to her and looking at her beautiful face.

Lia looks over to her children and sighs longingly, she loves seeing them have fun. She then turns to Elias to see him already looking at her. She's blushes a little at first but it soon goes away. She hopes he didn't notice it.

"It's so weird...one day i birthed these kids and now my entire life revolves around them; especially whilst being a single mother"

Lia lets out a soft laugh as she thinks back on when her twins were young. They were a struggle though it was all worth it in the end. Elias' heart warms seeing the way she looks and speaks about her kids with such love and care. "I suppose we have a lot in common then. I had to raise June alone too when her mother walked out on us as soon as she was born"

The man shrugs his shoulders as if it's no big deal and takes another sip of his diabetes inducing drink "Although i feel awful that June has grown up without a mother, i'm kind of happy at the same time. That woman wasn't fit to be a mother anyway"

Lia frowns sympathetically and tells him about her own experience "I'm sorry to hear that Elias. My ex husband left me when the twins were only young. I caught him cheating on me with my best friend" She laughs and takes a sip of her drink too, trying to make sure she doesn't get any cavities from it or cry from the memories of her ex.

"Cliché i know..." She laughs again but Elias just smiles warmly. He shakes his head in disapproval and tells her it's not cliché at all. The music in the gymnasium seems to be getting louder, but the two adults don't notice. Their conversation drowns out the noise.

However, Lia looks towards the crowd of children to make sure they're not misbehaving and spots something. Celine has moved away from the group, towards the bleachers and towards June. The twin girl says something to the other girl and tries to drag her to the dance floor.

"Seriously? Does Celine know introverts exist?" Lia says, catching Elias's attention. He watches June give Celine a blank stare and a head shake, indicating that she doesn't want to dance. He knows that Celine has no idea how introverted his daughter is, and it's quite adorable seeing the two interact.

Elias thinks back to how hard it's been for June to make friends with other people in her classes. People have treated her differently just because she hasn't grown up without a mother; or mother figure in her life.

It makes his heart hurt to think that his daughter had to go through that, but his heart warms instead at the sight of this wonderful woman's, wonderful daughter trying to include June in the dance.

"Is she always like this?" The man remarks, gesturing to Celine trying to coax June into coming over to the dance circle that seemed to have formed in the 2 minutes the girl was gone for "June would rather hide away in the corner than he surrounded by this mayhem"

"But it's sweet she's trying" Elias says with a small smile. Lia looks up at her new friend with a sort of deadpan expression "Yep. Both Scott and Celine are extroverts to the core. it's...exhausting to say the least"

"It's very sweet she's trying to include June though. Ah see- i knew Celine would convince her!" Lia laughs happily as she watches June give in to Celine's pleas and goes over to the dance floor. Scott immediately makes his way over with his friends and they start to dance...not very well let's just say.

"Oh Celine is a lovely girl isn't she? June probably won't stop talking about this when we get home" Elias laughs himself as he watches June finally come out of her shell. His daughter is enjoying herself, and that's all he needs for him to be happy.

Cecilia's laugh is infectious too. And her personality draws the writer in more. He wants to be closer to her. They have a lot in common, and while Elias didn't want to mess anything up, he wasn't opposed to having some flirtatious conversations with her.

He just needs to build up the confidence to compliment her first...

A few hours go by and the adults don't even notice. They're too busy getting to know each other. At 9pm the school dance finally ends and parents come to pick up their children. The gymnasium lights turn back on and it almost blinds everyone.

This entire experience has been so surreal for both Lia and Elias. They talked about everything, from their hobbies, to their children and more. It's as if they're childhood friends who haven't spoken in a while.

More and more children leave the dance until it's just the two parents and their kids (with a few other parents chatting away too). Lia spots Celine and June walking over, and she smiles at their interlocked hands.

Celine smiles up at her mother with pure joy "Mom, can June come over to our house tomorrow? Pretty please?" the girl uses her best desperate voice to sway her mother into letting her friend come over.

June nods in response, she really wants to spend more time with her new friend too. Elias chuckles at the girls eagerness to see each other. They had certainly gotten close during the dance and seemed to be attached to each other.

Cecilia's daughter has a strong personality, just like her son as well. He can tell that the twins are heavily influenced by their mother and it makes him smile. She's an excellent role model for them.

"Well you'll have to ask Mr Black. I'm not June's mother am i?" Lia says with some authority to Celine. She looks over to Elias with an expectant expression. She does hope he says yes to this meet-up tomorrow.

The said man however chuckles at Lia's formalities towards him; again showing him how much of a good influence she is to her children "I don't see why not? June can come over and hang out with Celine. It'll be nice, she doesn't have many friends"

"Dad..." June mumbles with an embarrassed blush and Celine immediately teases the girl for it. The twin is a sweet girl but she does know how to push peoples buttons that's for sure.

Lia tells her daughter to go find her brother and to gather their things to leave. Celine does as she's told but instead goes to annoy Scott instead of doing as she's told.

"Well...that settles it" Cecilia says with a smile. She thinks for a moment, wanting to ask Elias for his number- but what if it's too bold of a move and he says no? She could say it's for the kids..yes that's a good idea!

"I guess it's time for you to give me your number" Lia says with confidence. She's hiding the fact her heart is about to beat out of her chest very well. She opens her purse and takes out her phone, handing it to Elias.

"It's to arrange an appropriate time for tomorrow. But if you wanna call me for anything else i'll happily answer" The CEO says flirtatiously. It's clear that she's hoping he does call her for things unrelated to their children.

Elias feels like he's going to puke butterflies at any moment. The millions of butterflies that have gathered in his stomach have probably gone through his entire body and back by the time Lia hands her phone to him.

He's quite shy, much like his daughter, so he doesn't say anything. He doesn't want to say anything silly or stupid in front of her to make her weirded out by him. He just hopes he keeps his cool for long enough.

"It's about time you have my number" Elias says back with just as much flirt. He's shocked by his own words. When did he get so bold? Lia chuckles in response and takes her phone back once he was done putting his number in.

"Why thank you!" Cecilia smiles again, but this time it's full of affection. She takes a moment to think of what to say next: she doesn't want to mess this up "I'll see you tomorrow then...just text me when you're dropping June off. Any time is fine with me"

Lia looks over to the door to the gymnasium and sees Celine and Scott waiting for her, with a happy looking June next to them. It's the happiest she's looked all night. Elias nods and shows off his dimples as he smiles widely.

The woman takes a step back to walk away, but decides to just go for it. With a large stride she makes her way back over to him and kisses him gently on the cheek.

"Goodbye Elias" Lia giggles as she sees the man's jaw drop a little. She leaves the school but his eyes won't move from the door she just left through. He wishes she would run back here and give him a proper kiss on the lips.

"Goodbye..." Elias whispers to himself as June makes her way over. His face has turned bright red. The butterflies are definitely going to come out. He needs to play it cool; his daughter is standing right there!

But he feels so giddy right now. He lets out a deep breath, still overwhelmed by her adorable display of affection. He would most definitely text her tonight. He needs to talk to her even if it's over a screen.

"L-lets go June" June nods and begins to leave, Elias following her. He was excited to see Cecilia again and to see what else can happen between them...

jeyda speaks!

a longer chapter this time...i'm actually loving this so far

gcses in a month haha i'm not ready (someone help me)

i have nothing to say about this chapter so i'll just end the a/n here!

have an amazing day/night everyone ilysm <33