On Our First Attempt

Chapter Eight

Ariana was not surprised by Kyle's question, rather she was expecting it. She moved closer to the food and smiled beautifully at it.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked.

"Well that doesn't answer my question." Kyle replied.

"It has no name in particular. I just looked up in the internet and I saw that Cod and Herring fish have great nutrient compositions that's why I decided to prepare a mixture of it for you." Ariana said.

"Oh really." Kyle asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes." She replied anxiously and quickly sat down beside Kyle to give a proper explanation about what she just said. "Cod fish is a low fat flaky white meat fish that is a good source of protein, phosphorus, niacin, and vitamin B-12. An individual 100g raw portion of cod fish just like the amount I used now has less than 90 calories, less than one gram of fat and 17 grams of protein. While Herring fish has a colour of white silver with a bluish or greenish back which contains 173 calories, 10 grams of fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 98 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of protein with 0 grams of fiber, sugar and carbohydrates. You should give it a try." Ariana explained.

"Wow, should I?" Kyle asked cunningly.

"Yes." Ariana replied abruptly, shaking her head back and forth.

"I won't because I don't like fish." Kyle said and stood up to go back to his room.

Ariana was disheartened and sad to see all her efforts in vain again. "You should at least give it a try considering stress I went through to make this. I had to wake up very early and visit the supermarket that is 20minutes away from this place just to find this two gems." Ariana pleaded.

"Well I didn't ask for that." Kyle replied, banging his room door behind him.

Ariana went back to sit in the dinning room, staring at her hard work with a her vision turning blurry in tears. She cursed Kyle underneath his breath, but when she heard some footsteps walking towards her she quickly cleaned her tears and checked to see who it was.

"What do you want now" Ariana asked.

"Give me one good reason why is should eat this your nutritious food and don't tell me it's because am sick because am not." Kyle replied. This one statement made Ariana's day. "Well they are alot of reasons why you of all people should eat this and that is because you are prone to over washing which makes your skin pale, but thanks to constant eating of this nutritious food you will be able to keep a great body rather than the annoying pale one you will have to keep for the rest of your life." Ariana replied, but Kyle took an offence to her last statement, 'rather than the annoyingly pale one you will have to keep for the rest of your life.'

"Are you trying to say that I have a bad body? Have you any idea how many modelling agencies that has tried making me their model? Have you seen me shirtless or where your eyes numb when you saw me the other time? Maybe i've to show you again." Kyle said and quickly pulled off his clothes in anger.

Ariana took pleasure in gazing at Kyle's brawny abs, but she tried to compose herself and act modest and reserved.

"Okay, I.......must admit you didn't put an....y work in having the gre......at body you have know." Ariana stuttered stressing the 'great' a little longer.

"But at least you admit that I have a great body and your no name food would only be adding to what I already have." Kyle replied as he finally puts on his shirt.

"We are even then, since you also admit that my food also have a part to play no matter how small it is. So, you've got to eat my 'no name' food as promised." Ariana said as she forced Kyle to take his seat.

As Kyle was still delaying to have a taste of the no name food, Ariana tried forcing the first food on his mouth when Carlos walked into the dinning room with Jasmine and saw them struggling.

"Guess this explains why you didn't notice i've been on the door." Carlos said.

"You must be so sick that she'd have to feed you as well. Maybe I should come stay here so I can help ease her stress." Jasmine said as urged Ariana to sit in the next seat while she sat on the seat right next to Kyle.

"What's this you are eating?" Carlos asked curiously. "It looks so mouthwatering and smells nice too, I can already guess it would be delicious." He added.

"It's a no name food Carl, but you are right about the taste." Kyle said.

"Can you ever give a full compliment?" Ariana asked, as she stood up to dish out some food for Carlos but paused to ask Jasmine if she'd like some.

"Would you also mind a plate of 'no name' food?" Ariana asked, giving her an irritated look because of what she said when she just got in.

"Well, guess I have to fit in." Jasmine said, equally giving Ariana an irritating look.

"You don't necessarily have to." Kyle defended. "Why are you even here in the first place?" He asked rudely.

"Be polite K. We both came to visit because you were sick." Carlos replied on Jasmine's behalf.

"Thanks Carl, but am all better now. How's my sis." He asked.

"Fine but worried as ever." Carlos replied.

"I already called him this morning to tell her how well am doing." Kyle said.

"We also spoke this morning as well." Ariana added.

"You seem acquainted with everyone already." Jasmine said.

"I guess so, do you have any problem with that?" Ariana asked cunningly.

"Should I?" Jasmine asked, trying hard to conceal her hatred towards Ariana through her speech.

"Uhmmm....,I guess I have to start going now. I only came to check up on you since I couldn't see you yesterday." Carlos said as he stood up to leave after his nice meal he'd had. "Anyway, thanks for the meal Ana, it reminded me someone I miss dearly." He added.

"Still no news of her?" Kyle asked.

"Nope, but it's fine, I know she doing just well, wherever she is." Carlos said before heading towards the elevator.

After Carl's departure, Ariana decided to clear the table off its dirty plates since she figured everyone was done eating. Kyle also stood up to help Ana with the plate but Jasmine stopped him.

"Isn't this supposed to be her job? If you are helping her, why then is she still getting paid?" Jasmine said, holding firmly unto Kyle's hand.

Kyle pushed her hands away and continued helping with the plates without giving as much as a little explanation to her. She felt bittered and insulted by Kyle's silence as he helped Ariana but what could she do rather than match angrily to the living room.

After clearing the table, Kyle decided to show Jasmine his project which he still haven't figured out.

"Wanna help out with this?" Kyle asked.

"Why don't you just give it to your..........." Jasmine hadn't completed her statement when Kyle interrupted her.

"Wanna help out or not?" He asked again, this time more seriously. Jasmine knew if she say another if not yes, Kyle would obviously walk away from her making her even more embarrassed so he complied and they both brainstormed on it together. Jasmine brought up series of idea which they worked in for sometimes.

Ariana who had left for her room after cleaning the dinning room, had series of thoughts about Jasmine's presence.

"Who the hell does she think she is to try intimidating me like that." She wondered. "But what could they be doing together for so long?" She added as she thought they were in Kyle's room.

Still worried for nothing, she sneaked into the living room and was surprised to see them sitting in the living room and working at that. She eavesdropped on their conversation for sometimes.

"Why don't we use the one percent rule? That, you can use to determine your cap rate. So that you can calculate the total monthly to be at least 1% of the purchase price when evaluating the properties." Jasmine suggested, while Kyle had a deep thought about it before replying.

"I guess we should try that out." Kyle replied and started making remarks on his chart book.

Ariana decided to interrupt since they haven't come to a suitable conclusion.

"I think the 1% rule would be too risky, because you might be selecting a cost of capital that is either too high or too low, thereby leading you into missing a profitable opportunity or making an investment that is not worthwhile." Ariana explained.

"So what do you suggest we do? Let the offer go away while still trying to determine the risk factor? In case you didn't know, real estate has always been about risk and reward and positivity counts alot." Jasmine lashed at her angrily for interrupting her conversation, but Kyle on the other hand knew Ariana was right

"So what do you suggest we do?" Kyle asked.

"Given that you are into all the five categories of real estates, you should anticipate that a property's expenses should roughly by 50% of it's gross income, because it does not include any mortgage payment but includes property taxes, insurance, vacancy, losses, repairs, maintenance- expenses and owner - paid utilities. And this can only be done using the 50% rule." Ariana suggested.

"Woah, that is it. That's what I've been looking for. So, how do we calculate the 50% rule in this situation?" He asked.

Ariana got herself seated beside Kyle and collected his chart book from him before explaining. "First, you start with your gross income, then you subtract 50% of the gross income to estimate all operating expenses. This leaves you with the net operating income of the property, then you determine what the mortgage payment will be. It will be your decision to make, hence lessening the risk rate and increasing the reward factor." She explained further.

Kyle was happy and fulfilled, though he wasn't expecting such a brilliant idea to come from a common house help like Ariana. Jasmine on the other hand was angered by Ariana's suggestions as she felt Ana was just some lowlife b***h. As she saw how Ariana and Kyle where now engrossed with making Kyle's project she felt left out then she decided to announce her departure.

"I would be leaving now." She said as she grabbed her bag and jacket.

"Ok." Kyle said, not even bothering to lift his head to watch her leave.

Jasmine left the penthouse angrily and went to Emily's flat to check up on her and also discuss Ariana's before she'd finally leave the Kings Palace.

An hour after Jasmine left the penthouse, Ariana woke up to find herself relaxing on Kyle's chart book with his arms wrapped around her while he was also fast asleep. She sat up and took a lustful look at Kyle's handsome face and alluring lips. As she watched, she was tempted to also touch them. Firstly, she placed her hands on his long dark lashed and traced them down his nose to the tip of his lips and she stopped immediately she noticed some movement from his but then her lustfulness urged her to finally tickle his lips which made him to wake up immediately and grabbed her hand. They locked eyes for a moment, then Kyle tried to say something before his phone suddenly rang. He quickly pushed Ariana's hand away and picked his call.

"Uh....hey.....Valeria......am totally fine now. You should stop worrying now." Kyle said as soon as he picked the call.

"I know, Carlos told me, but something urgent happened and I have to leave for Carlos family house tomorrow." Valeria said worriedly.

"What happened?" Kyle asked, sounding equally worried.

"My father-in-law is in a critical condition and has been in the hospital for weeks now but we were just informed because things got worse. I was wondering if you and Ana could come over to my place and spend the night with us since we'd be leaving tomorrow." Valeria suggested.

"Ok.....We would be there in no time." Kyle said and as soon as he ended the call, he narrated everything to Ariana and they both got prepared to leave for Valeria's place.

They got their stuff silently and boarded the elevator together before Ariana decided to break the silence.

"Why is it that I've never bumped into anyone else on this elevator, you know like coincidentally." Ariana wondered.

"That's because this elevator only carries people going to the penthouse." Kyle replied quickly, all the while avoiding eye contact with her.

"Oh.... obviously you hate sharing." Ariana muttered to herself.

As they got down from the elevator and walked through the lobby, they bumped into Eduardo and he stopped to exchange pleasantries with Ana.

"How are you doing, beautiful?" Eduardo who looked like he was coming from a gym asked.

"Super great. You look hot in that outfit." Ariana complimented, making Kyle angry as he slowly but his lower lip.

"That's the best compliment I've got in a long while. Where are you off to with Mr. Landlord." Eduardo whispered to Ariana but Kyle was ear was sensitive enough to hear and he interrupted before Ana could reply.

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that Mr. Eduardo McMahon." He replied to Eduardo then grabbed Ariana's hands, "Val is waiting." He said before pulling her away from Eduardo.

They got to the front of the palace and a Limousine was already waiting to carry them. Ariana could see anger in Kyle's eyes as they drove to Val's place and the fact that he was avoiding contact with her confirmed he thought.

"Are you angry with me because I touched your face while sleeping without your permission." Ariana asked worriedly.

"NO. Am angry because you stood there exchanging stupid and disgusting compliments with a man." Kyle replied angrily.

"Y

"Uh.....he's a very jovial guy imagine when he dropped me off yesterday he.........." Ariana was trying to explain her funny ordeal with Eduardo when Kyle, angrily interrupted.

"Save that for yourself." Kyle lashed at her, this time shutting her up completely.

They remained silent till they reached Valeria's place and the rest of the day went smooth

SAN JAUN, PUERTO RICO

"Dylan! Dylan!! Hurry up, am over here." Isabella Lopez said as she waved at Dylan who was walking sluggishly towards her.

He greated his granny and entered into the car without further saying anything. Isabella became worried by his moody state and unusual silence, so she tried to engage him in a conversation.

"How was your first day at school? Hope you had lot of fun?" She asked as they drove home.

"No. Rather I had a lot of pity, so much pity, it's making me sick." Dylan replied.

"Wh-What....do you mean by that?" Isabella asked worriedly.

"Well, we were asked about our mother today and I told them my mom might die soon and everyone thought Mom was in a critical condition and they all pitied me." He replied.

"WHAT!? Why would you say that? Your dad told me you spoke with her few weeks ago." She asked worriedly.

"Well I haven't seen her in 4 good years so what should I believe?" He said, tearing up.

Isabella became even more worried about Dylan. Immediately they arrived at their mansion at San Jaun, she rushed over to her husband and narrated her conversation with Dylan.

"Sean, what do you think we should do about this? This is really taking a huge toll on Dylan, he barely even eats these days." She asked worriedly. Sean was about to reply when Longan walked interrupted their conversation.

"Maybe it's best that way. Dylan is only preparing his mind for the worst just like I am. If she fails to come this time around, I will personally remove her from our family registry even if you both are against and I will consider her dead. So it's better if he thinks that way." Logan said.

"Is that the best thing you could say about your kid sis. She's only been childish and she'd realize it soon enough and come back." Sean defended.

"Chil..... childish? Well she has a grown up son now. No child bears children, Dad." He said angrily.

"I know you are hurt but you are the only one Dylan listens to now, so please talk to him, afterall Ariana still has till next two weeks to be considered dead." Isabella said.

"Don't go back on your words Mom. Am taking him to see his dad after lunch." He said before leaving for Dylan's room.

"You heard him right, don't go against your word Bella." Sean said and walked to his room while Isabella staggered to a couch and relaxed on it. "Karma is indeed a gangster." She muttered to herself.