Chapter 4

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

"Ariel, what was going on? Who was that man 你 were talking to?" 比目鱼 asked.

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

"Really?" 比目鱼 asked.

"It's a long story," 说 Ariel. As they walk away from the Deli, Ariel told 比目鱼 the details of the story such as saving Melody, standing up to Eric, and a 晚餐 with them. When she finished, 比目鱼 was amazed. That was a 《勇敢传说》 thing his big sister did!

Ariel and 比目鱼 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 比目鱼 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 阅读 the Daily News. Attina, Andrina, and Adella, both came 首页 early from their jobs.

"Daddy, we're home," 说 Ariel.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to worry about 你 two," 说 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 你 so long!" Adella 说 impatiently, who just came out of the 厨房 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," 说 Ariel.

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

"Yeah! There was a little girl who was running in the 街, 街道 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," 比目鱼 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!" 说 Ariel, blushing. "The man was the father of the girl I rescued from. He invited me for 晚餐 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, 展示 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!" 说 Andrina in a "duh!" tone.

"Ariel, where are 你 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 日期 with him. Especially after hearing from 比目鱼 that Eric had expressed interest in Ariel.

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

"His house!" Tirton exclaimed.

"Father, Eric is a decent man so, he won't touch her," 说 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 显示 up at his house for dinner. He sighed.

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

"Daddy, I'll be fine," 说 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," 说 Eric as tucked Melody in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Daddy," 说 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," 说 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 枕头 下一个 to him. He fell asleep dreaming about a certain lovely red-haired woman that still left his 心 burning for her.