Edward stared at his phone with an expression painted with yearning. That call seemed to be a short one. And he so wanted to talk more; however, he figured she was already exhausted from whatever schedule she was catching up on.
“Here, I brought you pillows.” Felicity set the pillows down on the couch. “I’m giving you your last chance. Are you really set on sleeping on this hard couch? Because I can just sleep in my mom’s room and you can sleep in mine.”
He gripped on his phone and turned to her. “You know…” He paused. “I think I’ll just go home after all.”
“Oh,” said Felicity. “Will you be alright? It’s still a few miles to your home.”
“I’ll be fine. Listen,” he approached her. “Thank you for dinner. I’m sorry I can’t stay with you tonight.”
So I guess all our major characters are up at midnight, huh? I mean, I'm up too so it's only fair hehe.
“Give me ten reasons why I should go with you,” said Gray who was sitting on the dining table with her cheek leaning on her palm as she listlessly yawned, staring at her empty plate. “One, you’re my guardian,” said Zia, cooking in the kitchen. “Two, you’re the only one who knows about my situation. Three, you’re my best friend. Four, you have nothing else to do---” “Excuse you but I have a jam-packed schedule today,” countered Gray. Zia sneered. “Really? Like what?” “I have a three to five hours schedule of resting after breakfast, five-hour nap after lunch and ten to fifteen hours of sleep after dinner.” Gray leaned back on the chair, still yawning. “How rude of you to assume I have nothing else to do.” Zia brought a ce
“Why don’t we just give her to a staff member? For sure they’ll handle lost children better than us,” complained a visibly irritated Gray. “Yeah but what if a bad guy takes her? We should take her to her parents ourselves. She’s our responsibility now,” countered Zia. “Ourresponsibility? I believe it's her parents’ responsibility, Zi. We’re not heroes. You came here to have fun, right? Go take her to a lost and found center and let them announce about the parents over the speakers. That’s faster. Believe me.” Zia scoffed and turned to little girl, El, but she was gone. She looked up at Gray. “Where is she?” Gray looked around and noticed that the girl was actually gone. “Where is she?” repeated Zia with a
“Sarah?” uttered Gray Stewart as she saw Sarah Lewis hugging little girl El. Sarah turned to her. “Gray? You were the one who found her?” Gray stood up from having squatted down by the corner. “Y-yeah.” Sarah put both hands over her chest. “Oh, thank God you found her.” Then she squatted down to level with El’s height. “Elreese.” She put both hands on her shoulders. “I told you not to get out of the staff break room, right? But you disobeyed me. Why?” she said in a stern but calm tone. Elreese started to quietly sob. “S-sammy.” She sniffed, big drops of tears falling from her eyes. “It’s alright, El. Sammy’s not angry.” Sarah gently rubbed her frail shoulders. “Just tell Sammy why you went out.”
“I’m not what?” asked Sarah Lewis, bemusement painted all over her face. Gray Stewart herself was startled by the words that came out of her mouth. She looked at Sarah who was visibly confused and insulted, then she calmed herself and sat back down. “N-nothing,” she quietly said. The rest of the ride, nobody dared to speak. And they were tortured by the deafening silence that ensued. When they got off the cart, the two little girls were already waiting for them. “Sopieeeee.” Elreese tightly hugged Zia who was slightly bigger than her. Her eyes were teary again. “Don’t cry, El.” Zia wiped her cheeks with her chubby hands. “Let’s play again next time, okay?” Elreese obediently nodded while sniffing her snot. “Okay.”
In a highly respected suburb on the outskirts of the city stood the two-storey house of Theresa Scott. A vintage house in calming shades of wood with a spacious front lawn surrounded with waist-high wooden gates. In the early waking of the sun, Theresa was mowing her lawn. She was a woman in her late forties, medium size with an average height of 5 foot 4 inches. She had shoulder-length straight blonde hair and ocean eyes. She wore a vintage clothing style and stood like a mighty oak. And even as her age was evident in her facial features, it could be agreed that she was an attractive woman in her youth with oozing charisma. As she was pushing the lawn mower, a sedan pulled over at the gates. Her attention shifted to the person who climbed out of the car. “Sweetie!” exclaimed Theresa as she saw Gray approaching t
Zia and Theresa met each other’s eyes, and Theresa seemed to have noticed her weird expression upon seeing the pie. “Do you not like key lime pie, honey?” she said. “I can bake something else.” “N-no.” Zia faltered. “T-that’s actually my favorite.” “Really?” said Theresa gleefully and sat back on her chair. “How coincidental. This is my daughter’s favorite pie too. In fact, she always made me bake them when she was little, that's why she was just as plump as you.” She tittered. “That iscoincidental.” Said Gray in a sarcastic tone. Zia picked up her spoon and took a sliver of the pie and tasted it. And as the food was melting in her mouth, only then did she realize how much she yearned for this sense of fin
Zia’s heart skipped a beat when she heard her mother calling her by her real name while looking at her. She must think of an excuse already or change the subject but she could not think of anything. Her mind went blank. Theresa slightly tilted her head while still eyeing her, then she said, “You’re…Zia…” She paused. Then she tucked the photo back in the pink album and abruptly tidied up and put the albums back in the box. “Oh, look at the time.” She looked at her wristwatch. “I better start preparing dinner.” She smiled uneasily at them. “I’ll be in the kitchen. You kids just stay here. You can watch tv if you want.” She rose with the box in hand and seemed to be in a hurry. When she left, Zia and Gray shared a bewildered glance. “Do you think she knows?” asked Zia.
“I wonder where we should be eating tonight.” A look of puzzlement crossed Edward Bartlett’s face. He turned to her. “Excuse me?” Belinda continued scrolling down her phone. “I mean, that last restaurant was good too but I think it’ll be more fun to explore other restaurants as well.” “Uhmm…” He paused, staring off into space, thinking. “Did we decide to go eat out together tonight?” She chuckled. “Oh, would you rather we eat in your apartment? I can’t cook so I just figured we’re eating out, but if you say you’re cooking then let’s.” “No.” He lightly chuckled and softly scratched his cheek. “I’m sorry but…” He looked at her with an awkward expression in his eyes. “What I meant was that I don’t remember talking to you ab