  &quot;Mateo's birthday is in three days&quot;, Theresa said over the phone the next day.
  Rita settled on her work chair at home, clutching her phone to her ear. She was gradually getting to the end of her workload and she could afford to relax when she was done.
  &quot;Ohh, why didn't you inform me earlier&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;I know... I should have done that, I didn't want to disturb you knowing you'll be swamped with work&quot;, Theresa sighed.
  &quot;You know I'll never be too busy to help you out. You've been there for me Theresa even in times when I didn't expect it&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;Now, you're making me teary. Okay, so you can still help me. I'm totally swamped with everything, the food, presents. I don't even know where to begin&quot;, Theresa whined.
  &quot;Okay... Okay, I'm coming over&quot;, Rita laughed.
  &quot;You're a life saver. But don't forget to co

  &quot;Oh goody! That's great, that's settled then. Let's move to the number of guests we'll be inviting, personally I don't want to invite a lot of guests&quot; Theresa said.
  &quot;I agree especially with the way things have turned out these past few days, I don't really support we having a lot of guests&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;True. So, would twenty guests be okay?&quot;.
  &quot;That sounds good, twenty it is&quot;, Rita said, crossing off the number on her jotter.
  &quot;That's settled. All we need to do now is prepare for twenty guests. I'll send out some invitations to these guests so they'll know beforehand&quot;, Theresa smiled.
  &quot;So, who are these guests? Anyone in particular?&quot;, Rita asked, tapping on her phone.
  &quot;Just some of Mateo's school friends and their parents, that's all&quot;, she said.
  &quot;Okay then. Theresa, you wouldn't believe what I saw w

  &quot;Ma'am, we've been able to get some information concerning the attack&quot;, Ramirez said over the phone the next day.
  Rita was just preparing to have an online meeting with some investors when Ramirez's call came in.
  &quot;Shoot&quot;, Rita ordered.
  &quot;First, we discovered that he has no email, no bank accounts linked to him. The only thing we linked to him was a phone number we traced to a burner phone&quot;, he said.
  It wasn't much but Rita was grateful for their help. It made her feel much better after hearing this information.
  &quot;Thank you&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;You're welcome ma'am. We also discovered he used a jamming system that prevented us from coming to rescue you on time&quot;.
  &quot;Oh my gosh! I guessed as much because I wondered why you guys didn't arrive on time&quot;, Rita sighed.
  &quot;Not to worry ma'am, he'll be behind bars for a long tim

&quot;Mateo's birthday is in three days&quot;, Theresa said over the phone the next day.
  Rita settled on her work chair at home, clutching her phone to her ear. She was gradually getting to the end of her workload and she could afford to relax when she was done.
  &quot;Ohh, why didn't you inform me earlier&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;I know... I should have done that, I didn't want to disturb you knowing you'll be swamped with work&quot;, Theresa sighed.
  &quot;You know I'll never be too busy to help you out. You've been there for me Theresa even in times when I didn't expect it&quot;, Rita said.
  &quot;Now, you're making me teary. Okay, so you can still help me. I'm totally swamped with everything, the food, presents. I don't even know where to begin&quot;, Theresa whined.
  &quot;Okay... Okay, I'm coming over&quot;, Rita laughed.
  &quot;You're a life saver. But don't forget to come with Ramirez, I can't risk your life unnecessarily&quot;.
  &quot;Sure, I'll come with him&

People she called friends