ISOLATED

c h a p t e r 1 6

Chapter 16

When Genesis said that she was okay with taking care of Charlotte for as long as she needed, she didn't think of not being able to have dinner out anymore because now, there's a toddler in the house. She and Gael promised to take his friends out to dinner, but they ended up not going out and they're now in the patio having dinner with the doors and windows open so just in case she needs help, they can get up to help the girl.

After the afternoon, Genesis made Gael promise to not bring up Mattias unless he got a call or any other type of update. But both of them knew that was going to be impossible.

"You're an amazing cook," Jackson says, his eyes beaming when he looks at Genesis. The girl made lasagna, which was the easiest thing for her to cook that would be enough for so many people. So many being just Jackson, Sebastian, James, Hannah, Natalia, Gael, and herself. "Thank you," Ginny answers, smiling softly.

It means a lot because she's never made vegan anything ever and with Hannah coming over, she knew she had to keep her dietary restrictions in check. But at the same time, she didn't want to make 3 lasagnas for everyone, so the girl rushed something quickly and tried to find a vegan recipe for lasagna. And apparently, she's succeeded.

The girl's only feeling worse now that Mattias is missing and the only thing she's spent her afternoon worrying about is how to make a vegan lasagna. The whole situation is making the girl very tense and it's not benefitting the entire afternoon at all.

Gael finishes his plate and he leans back in his seat. Genesis glances at him to check up on him and she looks back at Natalia. "How's Charlotte doing?" Natalia asks. Genesis takes a deep breath and she breathes out, knowing that the conversation is going straight to Mattias.

"She's doing just fine," Gael says, smiling softly, "We woke her up just a few hours ago from her nap and she had dinner, now she's back asleep." Gael looks over at Genesis. Their gazes lock for just a second, but Genesis is the one to break it. "Playing house is fun when the child is Charlotte," Genesis answers. "And when the daddy is me," Gael jokes and he looks over at Ginny. "Shut up, we all know you only enjoy this because it's me in the house with you," Ginny jokes and she looks around the group.

"Can I stay with you guys too? Maybe then I won't feel freaked out that my best friend has fucking disappeared and has last been seen 8 fucking days ago," Seb curses. He doesn't speak much but when he does, it always hits. "You don't get to say what's on my mind." Gael hisses, looking over at Sebastian, "If I didn't have a 3-year-old girl sleeping in my bed right now who needs me to take care of her, I would've gone away and searched for him."

Sebastian knows exactly where the conversation is headed. They're all sitting here and Gael is the only one with a reason to stay exactly where he is. James sips his beer and he eats his lasagna. "Heard you canceled tonight?" James changes the subject, but he instantly swallows his next words remembering that Gael hasn't told Genesis about his boxing and he's not supposed to know that she knows.

"I'm staying in tonight," Gael answers calmly, but his heart is beating out of his chest and he's terrified that if he moves just a little closer to Genesis she'll catch up on his half-truth. He's usually such an incredible liar, but when it comes to this, he's terrible at it. "Gael has a toddler to be responsible for, if he left, I'd hate him forever," Genesis answers, instantly opening the door to joke again.

"You said you hated me forever yesterday," Gael picks up on it, and he instantly takes the opportunity to lighten up the mood again. "Let's not talk about Mattias too much," Genesis says to Sebastian, hinting back at the conversation he started just a few minutes ago, "We have men searching for him, and the second we get something, me or Gael gets a text."