CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE;Okay--They ate longer than usual since they were talking as they ate. Jack is especially noisy as he fools Becca now and then. Victoria was also a lost cause as she helped Jack fool Becca and, Althea's son, Kai, was also fooled.He was still a kid after all.Melanie was occasionally throwing a deadly glare toward both Jack and Becca. Althea was laughing along with them, completely amused by their topics.It was originally from chickens and lizards, but who knows when the topic turned towards dinosaurs. Jack said that chickens developed from them as well as lizards. So basically, if they kill a lizard, they just kill an offspring from an ancient animal. And if they ate chickens, they were eating them.Althea was speechless about his nonsense.It even becomes chaotic when Kai enters the conversation, asking why and how the chicken evolved from dinosaurs. Victoria was the one who answered him."It was because," she said with all seriousness. "Kai, some dinosaurs can
CHAPTER FORTY;A Ring-“They’re gone?” a small voice asked from behind. Althea turned to see Kai. She smiled and patted his small head.“Yup,” she said then pushed him back inside the store. “They’re busy.”“Oh,” her son said with disappointment lacing his voice. “I see.”Althea looked down on him and ruffled his hair. “You like them?”“I,” he paused. “I like Victoria’s stories about the flying dinosaurs.”Althea gaped before laughing very, very hard. She scooped Kai into her embrace and bit his chubby cheeks. He groaned and pushed her face away from her with his fleshy hands.“What are you laughing at?” He asked with a frown on his cute, small face. Althea had the urge to bite him again, but she restrained herself. She instead smiled and hugged him even tighter.“Nothing!” she responded, then she remembered something. “Right, where’s Charlotte?”“Oh,” Kai said, as if he just remembered it now. “She said she doesn’t want to get scolded, so she just dropped me here and fled.”“…” That
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE;Ice Cream--“Good morning, Althea,” an old lady greeted with a big and bright smile that was stretched from ear to ear.The smile was contagious, Althea smiled back. “Good morning Mrs. Goodman. What flowers are you looking for today?”“Oh, I want those pink roses over there,” she pointed out the vase which contains the flowers. “It’s lovely.”“Sure,” she said. “For what are you going to do with this?”Mrs. Goodman snorted, “I am giving to my good husband, I’m pretty sure he forgot that it’s our wedding anniversary right now, boys- old men- they are all the same! They always forget things such as this! I’ll give him flowers instead- and shock him until his grey hairs fall off!” With that, she laughed.Althea laughed as well while cutting off the rose's inappropriate length for the bouquet. “Men are sure forgetful…”“Hmm?” Mrs. Goodman said, “Seems like you know it yourself.”Althea said, “Yes, it's common knowledge.”The older woman gave off a burst of laughter.“Goo
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO;A reunion--The guy with furrowed brows then followed her finger. When he saw who it was, his cold demeanor cracked, and he asked in surprise. “Kai?”“Hello, Ty…” He paused. “Hello, Mr. Barns.”Tyler looked down at the boy that he hadn’t seen for the whole month before looking around, but his eyes didn’t see the person he was looking for. He approached him, letting out a small chuckle. “Mr. Barns? Did your mother tell you to call me that?”Kai pursed his lips before shaking his head. “No, she didn’t even mention you to me.”Tyler looked at him, speechlessness was written on his face. He raised her hand to ruffle his hair before laughing. “Your mother can really be rude sometimes.”“Tyler!” Sheryl furiously said behind his back. “Why are getting friendly with him? Look at what he did with my dress! This is expensive! Can this kid even pay me back for this?!”Tyler turned to only glare at her. With that, she zipped her mouth. He could not bother with her anymore and t
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE;A piece of truth and a lie--His stares were penetrating and were heated as the sun as if they were trying to melt her along the floor. The usual cold and stoic he always wears was gone, it was broken with only two emotions; shock and disbelief.His green eyes were trying to focus on her and Kai but they kept on wandering whenever his mind entered that scene again and again. That was 7 years ago, he believed that he could vaguely remember the things that happened during those times considering it was already too long- but by the mere mention of her pregnancy- his memories that were locked and buried deep in his mind came rushing in like a broken dam.Sheryl finally noticed his reaction and when she deciphered and understood them—she was instantly engulfed with one strong emotion; regret. She bit her lips and cursed her loose mouth. If only she knew how to read the atmosphere and how to hold back and use her brain amidst anger and panic, she would have not slipped
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR;Ugh.---"And that's it," Althea said after a long silence among the three. She smiled at the two. "Mystery solved, case closed- game over."She sighed and looked away. She watched Kai- who was currently walking slowly back at them while admiring the ice cream in his hands. He was cautious to not run with somebody and spoil his dessert again. Althea can only sigh again and roll her eyes in her heart because- who is stupid enough to not look and be cautious when walking inside a place where many children run and play around?'Ah,' Althea said in her mind. She took a sneak peek at Sheryl before shaking her head mentally. 'Of course.'Only those people who are stupid enough to get absorbed in their little world and put on an expectation that no one will have the guts to run into them."I hope this won't be brought up in the future." Althea paused. "I hope we won't meet again in the future.""Hmph," Sheryl scoffed. "As if I also want to meet you in the future."Althea c
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE;Kai's Father--Althea wondered what is it that she did wrong that day. She wants to know and keeps on visiting her memories and she found that she did nothing bad to get bad karma.She was just having a peaceful morning; cooked their breakfast, watered their flowers, and opened the shop—so she directly assumed that this day, like the other days, would pass peacefully.Who could have thought that the woman, whom she met just a week ago, the one who shouted at Kai because of a very, very immature reason (she asked him what happened after they got home), would tell her that she, herself, do not wish for their paths to meet again, will have the guts to appear in front of her doorsteps?Althea can't help but question her rationality. She also can't help but shake her head because of disappointment.When they were still in high school, she viewed Sheryl as a righteous, decent woman. After all, she was raised in a wealthy household, where a female is raised to be decent t
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX;Anotherside--Augustine?Sheryl's heart thumped loudly against her chest.Her laid-back posture straightens and her eyes are looking fiercely at the boy.Kaid doesn't know the meaning behind her glare, but he also doesn't care. He calmly shifted his eyes away and looked outside the shop.Sheryl didn't have the time to scrutinize his action as her mind was running at a fast pace to the point that even she couldn't stop it.'Augustine?' She asked herself. 'Is it the Augustine I know? No, that's not possible. There are many Augustine in the world. It's impossible to be him.'But no matter how hard she tries to deny it, a big fat fact is presented in front of her; it isn't impossible no matter how hard she made it sound.Amidst the ruckus inside her mind, she managed to ask Kai. She was low-key panicking and when she was about to ask the kid, she almost dived in front of him and clamped his small shoulders. Good thing she wasn't planning on shaming herself and stopped