Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“MOMMY, I like that pencil case. It looks nice,” Summer spoke as the little girl looked up at her with her hands pointed to one of the mall stands with colorful pens and art supplies displayed on it.

It was Sunday, and right after attending the worship service, Lyzza decided to take her daughter to the mall. No matter how hectic the time was, given the fact that she helped her mom with managing the store and she needed to study at the same time, she would always make sure that she’d have plenty of time to spend with her daughter at the end of the day.

“Didn’t you have a new one already? You haven’t used that pencil case yet,” she answered strictly and looked down a bit to face the kid.

“Yes, Mom.” Summer nodded. “But I like that pink one, Mommy. It looks so pretty.” Her daughter slightly pouted her lips and gave her the puppy-eyed look.

Now, could somebody tell her how she could resist this cute little devil in front of her?

However, she decided to be strict and chose to discipline her daughter instead. She put her hands on her waist and raised her eyebrows. “You can’t be like that with me, Summer,” she responded, which made the kid look down.

Summer played with her fingers as a result of her being anxious. When the kid looked back at her, she was already on the verge of tears.

She then hugged one of her mother’s legs.

“Sorry, Mommy,” Summer said softly, then hid her face between her mother’s legs.

Lyzza deeply sighed, then carried her daughter. They were currently in the bookstore’s secluded area, so they could not be seen in public that much. She was actually there to buy some school supplies too.

“Okay, what do you want to pick in exchange?” She leaned down to face her daughter and asked her about that.

“The stickers, mommy,” the kid responded. “I won’t ask Tito Cai to buy me stickers tomorrow.”

They both stopped for a moment. She knew how much her daughter liked those personalized stickers. It looked like she even liked the pencil case more.

“Okay. But just one is enough, got it? You won’t ask for anything else? Is it a deal?”

Her daughter happily nodded. “Thank you, Mommy,” the kid said sweetly as she gave her mom a peck in the cheek.

Her child’s sweet gesture made Lyzza weak. Summer was such a sweet baby. She was naturally soft and caring, even though she had her own tantrums at times.

“Sure, let’s go and get one.” She put her daughter down and went to the shelf where the pencil case was located. “Is this the one, baby?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

She then realized why her daughter liked it so much. The pencil case was covered in pink and, to top it all off, it had a picture of a famous doll wearing a military outfit but in a cute, stylish way.

She later grabbed all the supplies that she needed before they went on their way to the counter.

“Baby, sit down here for a bit,” she stated as soon as she saw the queue at the counter. The kid might get tired of standing up while waiting, she thought. Her daughter could be short-tempered sometimes and get bored easily.

“Yes, mommy. I’ll behave here.” She smiled at her and looked at the other kids sitting on the same bench as her.

She returned to the end of the line and gave small glimpses of her daughter’s direction, who was sitting and having a chat with the other kids.

Summer gave her a flying kiss when she saw her mother looking at her. She did the same, which made her daughter burst out in laughter. It made her giggle too, then she returned her gaze to her bag and grabbed her wallet since it was her turn to pay.

“Three hundred forty-eight, Ma’am,” the cashier stated. She pulled out a five-hundred-bill and handed it over to the cashier.

When she got the receipt and the supplies, she immediately left the counter and started to look for her daughter.

Her face went pale when she realized that her daughter was not sitting on the bench anymore.

“Summer,” she nervously called her daughter and went to the direction where the other kids were gathered. “Have you seen Summer?” she asked one of the kids whom Summer was having a conversation with a while ago.

“Miss, what do you need from my kid?” One of the mothers asked.

“I-I was just asking if she had seen my daughter,” she replied. “I saw my kid talking to her a while ago.”

“She went outside.” The child pointed to the door. “She said she saw her dad outside.”

She quickly rose to her feet without even thanking the child and her mom due to the growing dread she felt for her daughter.

Who was the daddy referred to? Maybe a stranger went with her and took her away!

“Oh my God,” she nervously whispered while examining every corner of the place. “Where are you, baby?”

Confused and fearful, each stride she took was to the left. She didn’t even care if she ran into anyone coming her way.

“Summer, baby,” she called. She saw a man leaning onto the railings while scrolling through his phone and grabbed his arm. “Sir, have you seen a little girl, around three years old? She’s wearing a pink dress.”

“Oh, sorry, Miss. No, I didn’t see her,” the man replied.

One after the other, she questioned every person who crossed her path. And just like the man before, no one had seen her child, either.

“I’ll let the information center and the central management know about this so we can help you find your daughter, Ma’am.” said the store security guard, whom she asked for help with.

“Thank you.”

The man nodded and patrolled the other station using his radio.

She was advised to sit down for a bit while the authorities looked for her daughter. In that way, it would be easier for her to see her kid once the authorities find her. But even though she wanted to, she couldn’t stay still. She couldn’t bear to sit down while her daughter was nowhere to be found.

She rose from her seat and started to walk and find her daughter.

“Summer, baby!”

She heard her voice echoed in every corner of the mall, blasting through the speakers in order to let everyone know that she was looking for her child.

Lyzza abruptly halted her footsteps when her vision caught Summer’s pink dress. The kid was inside a boutique while looking up at two strangers.

Her daughter’s lips parted, so she knew that the kid was having a conversation. But what caught her attention more was the man in front of her daughter.

Without even being aware of it, she quickly hid behind a post as soon as she realized who her daughter was having a conversation with.

It was none other than Gideon Vesarius. Her daughter’s unknown father.

“YOU’LL just simply accompany me to the mall. Besides, it’s just one bag, please.”

Carollette, his little sister, whined at him like a child. She even shook his arms extremely hard while he was sitting in his swivel chair.

“I have tons of work, Rolle. I can’t come with you. You can ask Tiburcio to accompany you instead,” he answered calmly, talking about their family driver, while scanning through the papers piled up on his desk.

He was at his workplace even though it was Sunday. He needed to finish all these pending documents that had to be signed before the week ended in order for him to start managing the construction process of his soon-to-be-built airline in Bicol province.

“Please, Gideon. It’ll be quick, and today is Sunday, by the way. Today’s supposed to be your day off,” she persisted.

“No. I need to finish this paper. You’ve always known how badly Dad wants us to have our own airline in Camarines Sur.”

Carollette finally let go of his arms and walked toward his front desk while continuing to throw temper tantrums.

“Just go by yourself. I’m sorry, I really can’t come with you today.” he took his pen down and looked at her.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “You’re always like that.” A tear escaped from her eyes, so she quickly changed her gaze. “You said you’d make it up to me when you got back from the military. Now, you’re always busy with the company. You never keep your promises. The time you promised to make up to me keeps on piling up.”

He couldn’t help but face palm the minute he heard her sniff. Thinking he had lost, he sorted the papers piled up on his desk and kept them in a vault located right below it.

“Fine, let’s go,” he stated, which made his sister change her gaze and look at her.

“You said you have a lot of work to do,” she replied.

“That could wait, come on.”

She couldn’t help but smile, so she covered her lips with her hands.

“You can end your tantrums now. You really know how to make me say yes.”

“Of course!” She giggled and held one of her brother’s arms as soon as they started walking outside his office.

Her sister felt bad when he told her he was going to the military. He promised her that he would always come and visit, but it always ended up being broken. Now that he was done with military service, she would always remind him of his broken promises.

“That Wayla Shane thinks her boyfriend is really into her. She doesn’t even have any idea that the guy’s also trying to get his way into my pants,” her sister blurted out once they got inside the mall.

“Is he courting you?” he interrogated.

She couldn’t hold back the giggles. “No. It’s more like trying to boast. He’s so full of himself. And besides, duh! I don’t like cheaters.” The brat rolled her eyes and put her left cheek against his arm. “But you know what? I’m starting to get pissed at him. He’s so annoying.”

He stopped himself from walking and gazed at his sister quickly. His eyebrows creased together, and his face was rendered emotionless.

“Does he scare you? Is he doing something wrong or something that you don’t like and out of line?” he strictly asked, willing to find the man her sister was talking about.

He wouldn’t even think twice about throwing that guy a punch using his own hands in order to defend his sister in case he did something bad to her.

“You need to calm down, Gideon. He’s not scaring or hurting me. And even if he tries to, I’ll be the one breaking his bones. I studied martial arts, remember?” she responded, flipping her hair.

He immediately calmed down after he made sure of his sister’s safety around the guy. When Carollette reached the age of fifteen, he made sure that she would learn martial arts in order to protect herself. He even asked one of his buddies from the military who owned a gym and a martial arts school to teach his sister personally.

“That’s the boutique,” she almost screamed while pointing to a store that sells bags. She enthusiastically grabbed him inside, like a little kid.

She finally let go of him once they got inside. She couldn’t contain her excitement to the point that she almost looked like a child galloping out of extreme happiness.

Carollette asked for some assistance from one of the staff in the store in getting the bag that she always wanted.

He shook his head and walked towards the couch to take a seat and wait. But before he was able to sit down, somebody held the end of his shirt, which made him stop.

“Daddy,” said the kid, looking up at him.

The little girl was wearing an all-pink outfit. She was wearing a pink dress, pink stockings, and even the shoes she was wearing were pink too. His hunch told him that the kid was about three years old.

The little girl had a cute nose and slightly chubby cheeks that made her look adorable. She also had a beautiful pair of eyes. Her eyelashes were long and curly, which really complimented her brown-colored eyes. Brown orbs just like his and Carollette’s. And most importantly, her smile looked very familiar. It was stuck in his mind, but he couldn’t point out where he saw it.

“Daddy.” The little girl called with a big wide smile. Her eyes were almost twinkling.

“Hello, little girl,” he responded, and smiled.

He knelt in front of the kid and held her shoulders. He stared at the kid’s face, and he couldn’t figure out why he was having the urge to hug her. He tried to stop himself, thinking that she might scare the little girl.

But his doubts were all cleared when the girl decided to hug him.

“Daddy, you are really here. I missed you so much,” the child said sweetly, hugging his neck tightly with her tiny arms.

Something touched his heart the moment he heard the little girl’s voice. He found himself hugging the little girl back. And at that very moment, he felt peace. It was as if something he had been missing was now found.

His head moved and he gave the little girl a peck on the forehead, unconsciously.