"Nat's wait up, we can kill him together," Arya called out as she stormed out of the room, following Natalie.
Their parents just stood there watching. "Honey, do you think we should intervene?" Kimberly asked her husband.
"Nah... I think we should wait and see what happens," Pete replied, smirking. It had been a while since they had seen these children running about, though they weren't technically 'children' anymore.
Arya reached the sitting room, where Marcus was behind the couch, and dodging being caught by going the opposite way of his sister.
"Now how will you run?" Arya said, going from the right side, with Natalie taking the left side. To their surprise, Marcus climbed up the couch and ran towards the dinning table, with two very annoyed girls behind him.
"How are we supposed to remove this,"Natalie screamed.
"And I have to go to work! Oh God... what do I do now?" Arya added.
"You both look so ugly even the world's ugliest person would look like a princess!" Marcus commented, laughing, which only enraged the girls.
"Oh, you're so dead!!!" Came two very angry screams.
Pete and Kimberly watched as the girls chased Marcus under the table and over chairs, the angry screams of frustration and disappointment.
"They grew up too fast, didn't they?" Kimberly said, as she leaned against Pete's shoulder.
"It feels like just yesterday they were little children running around...." Pete added.
"Ok children, that enough!" Pete shouted, when he saw Natalie picking up a vase, getting ready to throw it at her brother. "I'm not having my children assault each other!"
"But dad, did you see our faces?" Natalie asked, vase still in her hand, which was behind her shoulder.
"Yes, just like I saw him wearing your mums dress!" Pete stated, pointing at Marcus.
"But dad, that was different."
"And I have to go to work," Arya added. "I can't go looking like this!"
"Enough! Marcus, apologize to them."
"But daaa-" "Now."
"Fine... I'm sorry," Marcus whispered.
"Girls, don't you have to say anything?" Pete looked at his daughters.
"What? No, we're not-" "Now,"Pete's voice was stern.
"Sorry," Both girls mumbled.
"Dad!" Arya said, as Marcus started laughing again.
"Listen to me young man, no one laughs," Pete said with a warning in his voice. "Oh and Arya, it's nine o'clock," he said with his normal voice.
"Jesus Christ!" She said, as her head automatically turned to the clock on the wall. She gave one last look at Marcus, and saw he was trying very hard not to burst into laughter. His jaws were clenched and he was trying not to look at either girls.
"What the hell did he use?" Arya said as she tried everything to remove the paint off of her face. She even tried to put her foundation over the paint, which only made it worse.
"I'm so going to kill him!" She said angrily, clenching her teeth, as she removed her foundation.
"Hey Damion, can I take today off? You know..." Arya called her boss, getting out of the bathroom.
"I can't do that Arya, you know we have a meeting today to discuss our next field project!" Damion said.
"Aaghhh meeting; I forgot about that... but Damion, something..." Arya tried, but was cut short by her boss. "No Arya, you know very well why you have to be here. I'm expecting you at ten!" With that, the line went dead.
"MARCUS!!!" Arya screamed as she ran down the stairs. "I have to be at work. Do something."
"Fine fine. Jeez," Marcus said as he handed her a small bottle containing a liquid. "Here, take this and apply it and wait for ten seconds, then gently rub."
"What's this?" Arya asked, curiously.
"Paint removal oil that comes with the face paint I used."
Arya grabbed it and ran back upstairs. Opening the bottle, she poured some in her palms and applied it evenly on her face, hoping it would work.
Arya reached work at 10.15am. As soon as she entered the building, Nina, one of her Co workers ran up to her, and said, "Damion is waiting for you. He looked angry."
"Thanks," Arya said, before heading to Damion's office.
Thankfully, the paint did come off, and she was able to make it to work, though she was 15 minutes late. Natalie lent her her dress, so she saved some time.
She knocked on the door to his office, and heard a, "come in."
Walking in, she smiled and apologized. Damion looked up, and gave a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd miss work!" He said, his brown eyes scanning her. He was a middle aged man, who was always dressed in simple shirt and pants. No one would guess that this man could own the only private lab, where new and old species of animals were brought in and tested to sew how they have survived and learn more about their ecosystems and ways to protect them from extinction.
"What are you wearing?" He asked, looking at her pink floral dress.
"I'm sorry. Actually, I stayed over at uncle Pete's place, and Natalie and Marcus also came..."
"Ah, Marcus. No wonder you were late," Damion said smiling. He was one of Pete's close friends from high school through college. They still hang out when they can. Arya got to know about this three months into the job, when she was talking about her police uncle and Damion heard her. "He's a little trouble maker, ain't he," he laughed at his own joke. "Anyway, we have a meeting with potential investors for our next field project. I hope to get something big, such as that Sabre toothed cat that might still be alive, or I've heard that there is a slight chance that elephants have a mutation, that gives them the sharpest memory of any living beings. Imagine, if we get to understand this memory power, humans would be free of alzheimer's and other memory loss problems," he continued excitedly.
"That would be great... how's Rebecca's project coming along?" Arya asked.
"We haven't been able to contact her for the past week," Damion said sadly. "If we cannot communicate with her, I'm afraid we would have to assume the worst."
Arya gasped. "Have you tried the other members?"
The older man looked at her. "Yes," he nodded. "We've tried their personal phone, the company phone, and even the satellite phone that they were given in case of emergencies; but didn't receive an answer."
This statement shocked Arya. Rebecca was her best friend in school, even when no other kids wanted to play with her, calling her the 'weird' kid.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Damion said.
"Sir, Mr Mathew and his team has arrived," Nina said, stepping in. "They're waiting in the lounge area."
"Give them some refreshments and I'll be there in a minute."