As soon as Jonathan left, Jake quietly made his way over to the small wooden table supporting a bright red cordless land-line phone and simply stood in front of it. Doria joined him seconds later.
"Aren't you going to call her?" Doria asked.
"No, you should be scared. What if it happens again, but with ten times more force!" Jonathan's voice echoed from the other room where he was still on the phone with Kelvin.
"Just hand it over to me." Doria demanded, reaching for the phone. But Jake was quick to snatch it first and grip it tightly.
"No!" he exclaimed as Doria tried to take it from him.
"Argh, give it!" Doria demanded again but Jake refused.
"Shame on you, Doria!" Jake said, sighing and lifting his right free hand in a halting manner.
"What the heck is wrong with you today!" Doria retorted.
"How can your IQ possibly hit rock bottom like that?" Jake shot back.
"Well, your IQ just hit hell." She clapped back.
"Sis!" Jake exclaimed in exasperation.
"On being stupid in thinking we have superpowers! Superpowers, Jake! Really!" Doria continued her rant.
"It was an assertion of mine." Jake defended himself.
"Mm-mm. Listen, who got an F minus in their math exam?" Doria asked smugly.
"Here we go again!" Jake groaned in annoyance.
"Mm!" Doria responded nonchalantly.
"Me." Jake admitted reluctantly.
"And who got double A pluses in their math exam? That's right, me! Now give me the phone to call Miss Tetra." Doria demanded triumphantly.
"No, I won't!" Jake refused stubbornly.
"Why are you so concrete headed!" Doria yelled in frustration.
"Lord!" Jake exclaimed painfully chuckling at his sister's antics. Just then they heard their father's voice from the other room asking about the noise they were making.
"Sorry dad! I apologize." Jake shouted back at him while Doria simply exhaled and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Jake was quick to react. "Now listen up you ungrateful brat - Wait, I need to check in on dad," he said, putting the phone back and walking over to his father in the hallway. As soon as he left, he sprinted back and snatched the phone before Doria could take it, startling her. "No, you don't!" he exclaimed.
He then walked over inside the small hallway, standing a few centimeters off the exit to the living room, keeping a close eye on Doria. "Dad, would you mind going to your room?" he asked Jonathan.
Jonathan was on the phone with Kelvin and asked Jake to hold on. "Yes, I do mind. Why do you want me to go to my room?" he asked Jake.
"Because I'm about to play 'Refrigerator' by Kaylee Moon." Jake replied straightforwardly.
"Not that song again!" Jonathan groaned.
"We're all familiar with it. I, being generous enough, stand here to warn you in advance before disaster strikes." Jake said, trying to justify his choice of song.
Doria yelled from the other room, suggesting that Jake could just not play the song altogether. But Jake was adamant. "No one asked you!" he yelled back at her.
Jonathan tried to calm the kids down. "But though, I thought you hated that song. That's your mom's favorite and our 'disturbance' song," he said.
"But I like it now, and I want to listen to it." Jake lied.
Jonathan paused for a second, still not reading through Jake's plans. "Do as you please." he finally said.
"Here we go!" Jake whispered under his breath. He promised his father that he would keep the volume down and waited for about five seconds after Jonathan left for his master bedroom before going back to the living room to discuss his plan with Doria.
"As I was saying! There's no need torturing ourselves by calling her," Jake said, continuing their earlier conversation.
Meanwhile, in Michelle's car, Eric was asking Michelle if she was okay. She looked tired and stressed as she drove him to his apartment. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." she replied.
"You don't look fine. You look like you just fell from the sky." Eric observed.
"Well, that's because I did." Michelle admitted.
"We all did, Michelle. We all did. But for real, what the hell just happened?" Eric asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, Eric. I don't know. One minute we were standing well attached to the ground, the next minute we were floating in the air like balloons." Michelle sighed.
"And then we came crashing down like rocks." Eric added.
"Yeah. That part sucked." Michelle agreed.
So, you're telling me. I hit my head on the pavement. And you hit your head on the barbell from the gym," he said, trying to make sense of what had happened.
"Yeah. That's why I have this bump." Michelle replied, pointing to a bump on her forehead she'd hidden with her hair.
"And that's why you have that bruise too." Eric added, pointing to a bruise on her cheek.
"Yeah. That too." Michelle confirmed. They looked at each other and laughed nervously.
"God, that was crazy." Eric said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yeah. Crazy." Michelle agreed, managing a weak smile.
As they reached Eric's destination, he thanked Michelle for dropping him off. "So... uh... thanks for dropping me off." he said awkwardly.
"No problem. Sorry that you hurt yourself." Michelle replied, her voice filled with concern.
"Hey, it's not your fault. You didn't know we were going to defy gravity for seventeen seconds," Eric reassured her.
"Still... I'm sorry." Michelle insisted.
"Don't be. It's okay." Eric said, trying to ease her guilt.
They looked at each other and sighed. "Well... I should go," Michelle said finally.
"Yeah. You should." Eric agreed as he stood up and walked to his apartment door.
As he was about to leave, Michelle called out to him. "You sure you don't want me to do a check-up on you!" she yelled from the car.
"No, no. You have to work!" Eric yelled back.
Michelle sighed under her breath. "Yeah. I do."
"Besides, I'm fine. Really." Eric reassured her one last time.
"Okay. If you say so," Michelle replied before waving him goodbye and driving off to her final destination.
In the living room, Jonathan was frantically searching for his car keys. He checked the sofa, the coffee table, the bookshelf, the fireplace, but he couldn't find them anywhere. "Damn it! Where are they?" he muttered to himself.
"Jake! Doria! Have you seen my keys?" he called out to his children who were sitting on the couch, engrossed in their video games. They ignored him.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Jonathan said, walking over to them and turning off the TV.
"Hey! We were playing!" Jake protested.
"Yeah!" Doria agreed.
"My problem is that I can't find my keys and I have a very important meeting in half an hour!" Jonathan explained, his voice filled with frustration.
"Don't lie." Doria retorted.
"So? That's not our problem," Jake said dismissively.
"Yeah. Maybe you should be more organized," Doria suggested sarcastically.
Jonathan was not amused. "Don't talk back to me, young lady. And you, mister, did you call the babysitter like I asked you to?" he asked Jake.
"Uh... yeah. Sure," Jake lied.
"Don't lie to me, Jake. I can tell when you're lying." Jonathan warned him.
"Okay, okay. I didn't call her. But I will. Right now." Jake promised, taking out his phone and pretending to dial a number while Doria rolled her eyes at him.
"You better do that. And fast. Because I'm leaving as soon as I find my keys." Jonathan said before resuming his search and heading to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Jonathan checked the drawers, the cabinets, even the fridge, but he still couldn't find his keys. "This is ridiculous! Where are they?" he exclaimed in frustration.
Just then, he heard a giggle behind him. He turned around and saw Mimi standing in the passageway holding his keys in her hand. "Looking for these?" she asked mischievously, waving the keys in front of him.
"Mimi! Give me those keys right now!" Jonathan demanded.
"No!" Mimi refused and ran away with a laugh.
"Mimi! Come back here!" Jonathan called after her as he chased her down the hallway.
Mimi ran into her bedroom and locked the door behind her just as Jonathan arrived. "Mimi! Open this door!" he pleaded from outside her bedroom door.
"No!" Mimi refused from inside her room.
"Mimi, please! I'm begging you! I need those keys!" Jonathan pleaded again but Mimi simply asked "Why?"
Jonathan was trying hard to convince Mimi to give him his car keys. "Because I have to go to work!" he explained, but Mimi didn't believe him. "You're lying! I heard mommy saying earlier that you don't have work!" she retorted.
In the living room, Jake and Doria were amused by the drama unfolding. "Dad just got caught lying." Jake commented, chuckling.
Jonathan tried to reason with Mimi. "Um, well mind helping me out," he asked her. But Mimi was adamant. "No! You're supposed to stay with us!" she insisted.
"What? No, no, no. That's not how it works, Mimi. Mommy was just joking. I only have to 'Help her' take care of you guys for a week while she goes on to work." Jonathan tried to explain.
"You're lying!" Mimi accused him of lying.
"Well... life's not fair sometimes, Jonathan. You have to learn that" he said, feeling sorry for himself.
"But Mommy said you're not good at taking care of us!" Mimi retorted.
"What? No, no, no. That's not true either, Mimi. Mommy was just... teasing me. She knows that I'm very much responsible and I try my best to take care of you." Jonathan defended himself.
"But you're always busy and stressed and angry!" Mimi pointed out.
"Well... sometimes grown-ups are busy and stressed and angry. But that doesn't mean they don't love their kids," Jonathan tried to explain.
"But Mommy said you're boring and lame and no fun at all!" Mimi continued her accusations.
"She did!?" Jonathan exclaimed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Jake was amused by the drama unfolding. "Someone, give that girl an Oscar for using emotion as her strategic plan!" he commented.
Back in the corridor outside Mimi's bedroom, Jonathan tried a different approach. "Ugh. Listen Mimi, if you give me the keys, daddy will buy you a big gift." he offered.
"Gift!" Mimi exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah. It can be any," Jonathan promised. He leaned against the door and dropped flat on his face once it opened.
"Here, have the keys," Mimi said, handing over the keys to him.
"Thank you sweaty, daddy promises to give you a big gift later," Jonathan thanked her and made his promise.
Back in the living room, Mimi smiled as she watched the frantic Jonathan leave through the door. "What are you up to?" Doria asked Jake who replied with a cryptic "It's definitely up to no good."
In the garage, Jonathan expressed his frustration, "Family and their drama. " As he got into his black colored car and sped off to work.