╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

An awkward silence filled the air.

"Um, Sophia?" Sonny asked, snapping his fingers in front of her. She didn't budge. "I think she's excited?"

Sophia had to admit, she needed this job, but when she heard those two words, it dawned on her. Usnavi was going to be her boss. He was going to be in charge of her. She had to listen to what he told her. She had to abide by his rules, and she knew darn well how he felt about her. She wouldn't be surprised if Usnavi drowned her with the crappy duties. Usnavi cleared his throat.

"Well, since you work here now," Usnavi announced, glaring at Sophia in bewilderment. "I'm going to give you your first task."

Sophia blinked, pulling herself back into reality. Usnavi explained where the certain cleaning supplies were and instructed her to start cleaning the windows. Sophia sighed and nodded in response. Sonny eagerly followed behind his best friend, volunteering to show her the easiest way to get the job done.

Usnavi couldn't help but shake his head at the pure happiness that Sonny had with Sophia being back in town. It was as if Sonny had totally forgot that she up and left him for no reason a few years ago. Usnavi watched Sonny and Sophia leave to the the outside to begin the cleaning. He smirked at the thought of him being her boss.

He was the bigger man now. He called the shots. He definitely was going to torture her with the worst of assignments. Usnavi looked at Sophia through the window and saw her head turn to the side. She pointed and began to jog toward the direction. Unsavi raised an eyebrow and made his way out of the store.

He looked the direction and saw Sonny and Sophia running up to a familiar face. It was the smartest woman on the block, Nina Rosario.

"Yo Nina!"

Usnavi sprinted up to his little sister figure and engulfed her into a tight hug. Nina commented on the height that Sonny had gained on her.

"Girl, you can't be growin' on me too!" Nina exclaimed, comparing her height with Sophia's. "Where has the time gone Sophia? You're absolutely stunning!"

As Nina was admiring Sophia, Usnavi was struck with confusion once again. It was as if nobody cared that Sophia disappeared for a few years, without saying anything. Abuela soon came into the scene, which relieved Usnavi from the thought of the disappointment of Sophia returning. But Abuela greeted Sophia before him, which was something he was not expecting, and he didn't like it either.

"Mija, what a beautiful woman you have grown into," Abuela complimented, wrapping her arms around her softly. Sophia chuckled and hugged Abuela back. "The block must know of your return," Abuela shouted, grabbing her hand, as well as Nina's. "Both of you!"

Usnavi rolled his eyes in response of the praise that Sophia was receiving. It seemed that everyone was over her just disappearing all of a sudden. But Usnavi still wasn't over it. She still never gave a reason, and she didn't seem to be too apologetic about it either. Usnavi turned to Sonny who had his arms crossed, and his eyes all over Sophia in joy.

"My man, who's watching the store?" Usnavi questioned, snapping Sonny out of his trance. Sonny whipped his head to the side as he saw the front doors of the store fly open. "Yo!"

Sonny loudly cursed before taking off toward the robber, which caught Sophia's attention. Something in her mind clicked as she saw the man running down the sidewalk. She stole a quick glance at Usnavi before pushing through him and after the man. Sonny was sprinting, but within seconds he saw a figure catch up with him.

Sonny looked to the side, gaping at the sight of Sophia breezing straight past him. Sonny started to slow down, watching as she dashed down the sidewalk, getting closer and closer to the criminal by the second. Sonny gasped as she lunged at the man, and took him straight down onto the ground.

Usnavi, Nina, Abuela and Sonny all made their way up to Sophia as she fought the man for the item that he stole from the store. A crowd quickly surrounded the scene, long before the four friends made it up to her. Usnavi pushed though the crowd to get a closer look. Once he was all the way through, a hard punch went straight to her face.

"Holy shit!" Usnavi shouted, inhaling sharply. The punch looked painful, but it didn't seem to faze her. "Whoa..."

Usnavi's jaw dropped as he watched Sophia throw a harder punch at the man, knocking him straight out. 

"Damn, that girl can fight!"

"She's got quite an arm!"

Sophia was breathing heavily as she climbed off the man. She made eye contact with Usnavi's wide amber eyes, and tossed him the item that the man stole. Surprisingly, Usnavi caught it, but kept his eyes on Sophia. He could already see the bruise beginning to form around her eye.

"You're welcome," Sophia exhaled, coughing from the lack of oxygen she got knocked out of her. Usnavi was speechless. He saw her eyes look over his shoulder, and it was as if she had saw a ghost. She quickly looked back into Usnavi's eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow morning loser."

Sophia slowly began to back up, which quickly turned into spinning around and running away from the location. The crowd had departed at the moment, but Usnavi just stayed in place.

"That was super bad ass," Sonny commented, patting Usnavi on the shoulder. "That was incredible! Thanks to her, we got our stuff back."

"Where do you think she's going?" Usnavi wondered out loud, looking over his shoulder. He expected to see someone, but he just saw a bunch of normal people walking around the streets as usual. Usnavi turned back around. "Where did she learn to do that?"

"I don't know man," Sonny responded with a shrug. "But that made me even more proud to call her my best friend."