CHAPTER 6 - FAMILLIAR FEELINGS

I INSTINCTIVELY grasped Nicolo as soon as I saw that man. Nicolo looked me in the eye, wondering what was happening to me. "Mama, what’s wrong?"  

"O-Oh, it’s nothing, son. Don’t mind me." I calmly answered Nicolo. At the very least, I am trying my best to calm down in a situation like this. 

"Do you know him? Who is he?" Nicolo suddenly asked. 

I bowed my head to look at Nicolo, and I saw him simultaneously looking at me and at that man who was looking at Nicolai. I might not have noticed that I was looking at that man earlier, but Nicolo noticed it.  

"Maybe he’s one of our VIP guests, son." 

"But why is he looking at Nicolai, Mama?" 

"Ha-Ha a, e, maybe because he thought your brother is cute… like you." I answered, stuttering while trying to smile in front of him. 

"Ohh, okay. Let’s go, Mama. I’m excited to play in the mall!" Nicolo joyfully cheered as he pulled me closer to the table where Nicolai was sitting. 

I was nervous, so I momentarily stopped Nicolo for a while, but before it could even happen, I saw the guy talking to another man right now. My nerves calmed down because he finally broke his eye off my son. I took this opportunity to grab my son, Nicolai, and rushed outside the restaurant so we could no longer see that man inside. 

My pace was getting faster and faster while I was holding the hands of my twins. I even heard Nicolai and Nicolo saying something, but I was not paying attention to anybody right now. All I have to do right now is get them out of there, no matter what. We went straight to the backdoor of the restaurant, where we had entered earlier. As soon as we found where I had parked my car and got into it, my chest, which was about to explode earlier, calmed down in just a minute.

I looked at my sons and saw that they were panting as well. I couldn’t help but wonder.

Is it really him? Or it’s Jonas?

*****

I WAS washing my hands here in this restroom while being deep in thought. I don’t really understand why that kid had an effect on me. What does that kid have aside from an identical face to mine and my twin brother's when we were children? I looked at myself in the mirror and saw myself wondering why this was happening to me. I shook the thought off my head and washed my face one last time. 

It’s impossible to happen, Dylan. Impossible…

My deep thoughts were cut off when I received a call on my phone, so I got a paper towel, dried my hands, and then I fished out my phone from the pocket of my suit. "Alex.", says the screen. I know what she was about to say. 

"I’ll be there soon, Alex." I told him and ended the call. 

I went out of the restroom, thinking that I would go back to that child and talk to him.  

As soon as I got out of the room, Alex bumped into me with his worried face. 

"Sir, I’m sorry, but your brother has been calling you through me." he said worriedly. 

Since Alex has been my secretary from the start that I took over the company from my family, he already knew all the things that I’m doing, from the job to all my shitty things in life. He even knew all about me and my twin brother. 

"Alright, I’ll take care of it." I told him and started to go back to the table where Chairman Marquez was seated. 

As soon as I got there, I sat down on my seat; the same was true for Alex. I turned a little bit sideways and whispered at Alex to order him something. "After this meeting, kindly clear my schedule."  

"Yes, sir," he answered. 

After a while, the meeting has already been finished. Chairman Marquez finalized the deal of partnership that they’ll do with their company together with ours. As soon as he left, I went to the table where I saw the kid earlier, but to my disappointment, he was already gone. 

I didn’t even sense that Alex followed me until here. "Sir, are you okay?" he asked. "You looked like you were finding something." 

Maybe he’s also confused by what I was doing. 

"No, don’t mind me." I quickly answered. 

"By the way, Sir, I already cancelled all your schedules this afternoon."  

"Alright, thank you, Alex." I retorted while scanning the room, thinking that the child might still be here. Unfortunately, he’s really gone. 

"Okay, Sir. I’ll tell the driver to get the car ready."

I just nodded at Alex while busying myself with finding that boy. I can’t compose myself because I can’t get the child’s face off of my head.  

This is literally stressing me out…

"Sir, the car is ready." Alex told me who’s already at my back. 

I faced him and nodded. I just let out a heavy sigh as I started to march towards the door of the restaurant. While I was getting closer, I saw some staff members of the restaurant looking and guiding our way. One of the staff members with a hair bun and eyeglasses even came at me and spoke. 

"Hello, Mr. Mijares. I’m Cathy, the manager of Los Gemelos Restaurant," she politely introduced herself while smiling at me. "We are hoping that you had a good experience here in our restaurant." she added and bowed. 

"Thank you for your service, and the food is great, so expect that we’ll come back." I replied with a timid smile.  

"Thank you again, sir," the manager, Cathy, said. 

I nodded to acknowledge her gratitude as I started to walk outside the restaurant. We went straight to the place where we parked our car, which was just in front of this restaurant. I let Alex sit first, as the door was already opened and my driver, Ismael, was standing on the other side to hold it. I was about to enter the car as well, but the thought of that boy lingered in my mind again. 

I am thinking to ask that boy to Cathy, so I turned to look at her, who’s still waiting for us to leave.  

I cleared my throat so I got their attention, including Cathy's. "Manager Cathy, may I have you for a sec?" 

"Oh, definitely, Mr. Mijares. H-How can I help you?"  

I look at her straight, and I notice that she’s nervous. but I ignored it. 

"I believe we rented the whole place for the meeting a while ago, right?" I asked to verify.  

"C-Certainly, Mr. Mijares." she answered, stuttering.  

"Then why did I see a boy sitting at the table right there at the corner of the restaurant earlier?" My eyebrow creased with curiosity, waiting for a response from Cathy without breaking eye contact with her.  

I saw her clearing her throat, hesitating to answer. She couldn’t even look me straight in the eye. 

"Manager Cathy? Hmmm?" I asked again.  

"S-Sorry, Mr. Mijares, but the child that you saw earlier is the son of Ma’am Kailie Zobel." She tried to answer while shaking. "Though, they left immediately as soon as they finished their business here, we’re still sorry."  

"Kailie Zobel?" It sounded familiar, and I must have heard that name somewhere. I just didn’t know where.  

"Yes, Mr. Mijares. Ma’am Kailie is the owner of this Los Gemelos Restaurant."

Cathy bowed her head as if she were asking for forgiveness. I just sighed because, at the very least, my question has been answered. 

So that boy must be the son of the owner of this restaurant…

Now, the curiosity inside me has been triggered even more, telling me that I should get to know this woman named "Kailie Zobel". I should even ask her how much of a coincidence it is that her son does look like me and my twin brother when we were younger. I don’t want to admit it to myself—this thought that I’m entertaining right now—but I was trying to ignore it.

Kailie Zobel… why do I have the feeling that I need to know you?