Jason North

“He went over there,” Lisa replied, pointing towards the restroom on the far end of the hall.

Handing Lisa over to Audrey, Laura headed in the direction Lisa had pointed.

“Liam!” Laura muttered through gritted teeth in frustration.

Behind her, Audrey watched Laura match off in anger.

“I think we should go after her,” Audrey said.

“I think so too, Aunt Audrey,” Lisa replied. She didn’t want her mom to catch on to what they were trying to do. Liam had told her he had seen candidate number two before he headed in the direction of the restroom.

“Okay, let’s go; we can get your bags later,” Audrey said, and they went after Laura.

******

In the rest room, standing beside Liam was a cool, tall, and handsome young man, and Liam thought, I think I’ve found my candidate number two.

“What are you looking at, kid?” the man asked.

"Nothing; I just noticed how funny your shoe looks with that on it,” Liam replied as he cleaned his hand with the tissue in his hands.

The man looked at his shoe and smiled. “I didn’t notice that,” he said.

“Yeah, well, it’s the difference in height,” Liam replied.

The man chuckled at the child’s humor as he dried his hands with a tissue, wondering why the boy was alone without a guardian.

“Can I get your card?” Liam asked the stranger.

The man was surprised by the request. What did a young child want his card for?

Liam looked at the man curiously and said, “Don’t tell me you don’t have a card; that’s a red flag already.”

The man laughed, took a card from his suit pocket, and handed it over to the boy.

“Here you go; do I get your card too?” the man asked playfully.

“No, you don't; that’s not needed; it’s against the rules,” Liam replied.

“Okay, cute guy, let’s go find your parents," the man said, holding Liam’s hand as they headed out of the restroom.

Laura, who had just gotten to the door, was about to push it open when a man stepped out and bumped into her.

Their heads hitting each other, “Watch where you’re going,” the man said in anger as he looked up at the person who had bumped into him.

“You should watch where you’re going too; the door isn’t meant for you alone,” Laura replied sharply. She immediately disliked the tone of the man, and her reply came out defensive.

“This is the male restroom, so I’d say I have more right to be here than you do,” the man replied.

Laura rolled her eyes, unimpressed by his argument. "Well, maybe you should consider looking before barging into people," she retorted, crossing her arms. The tension between them heated up as people passing began to glance their way.

The man clenched his fists, his face turning unreadable. "Who do you think you are?" he snapped.

Laura stood her ground, her voice steady and firm. "I'm someone who expects common courtesy and respect, regardless of gender."

The tension in the air grew thicker as their argument escalated, drawing even more attention from the onlookers.

They were both so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice the child standing between them.

Liam could sense the tension between her mom and candidate number two. He didn't want that to happen. He knew his mom didn't like men who treated women wrong; she always told him to treat Lisa right.

"Mom?" Liam said, timidly tugging at Laura's sleeve, his eyes filled with concern.

Startled, Laura and the man finally broke their gazes and looked down at the child, their anger momentarily forgotten.

"Oh, thank God, Liam, why did you run off without telling me?" Laura asked as she hugged him.

The man looked at Laura smugly and said, "You should take better care of your child, ma'am, and not spend time arguing with strangers."

The man's condescending tone only fueled Laura's annoyance. She looked up to reply and noticed he was gone.

“Oh, you found him, thank God,” Audrey said from behind Laura as they finally caught up with her.

“Don’t you ever go off like that again without telling me OKAY,” Laura said to Liam as she stood up and took his hand.

A few minutes later, they had gotten their bag, and they were headed to their hotel room.

“What’s the state of the business? Give me a rundown of what you have so far,” Laura said to Audrey.

“Humm, okay,” Audrey replied. She knew what a workaholic her boss was, so she didn’t argue.

“We have analyzed their data, and some very interesting patterns popped up,” Audrey replied.

The twins were both tapping away on their iPads, playing games, so Laura turned to Audrey.

“Okay, what and what?” Laura asked.

“We noticed a drastic reduction in their customer base, following a reduction in customer rating since the last quarter of the year before,” Audrey replied.

“Okay, by what margin is the reduction?” Laura asked.

“We noticed a reduction of thirty percent,” Audrey replied.

“Humm, that does not sound good,” Laura replied, pausing to think.

Just then, the car pulled into the hotel. “You’ll fill me in on the rest later,” Laura replied.

Tapping the twins, Laura said, “Put those in the bag; we are going up to our rooms.”

"Okay, mummy,” they both said.

Lisa leaned over to Liam before they stepped out after their mother and asked, “Did you get his card?”

“Yes, I did, but mom saw him, and they almost fought,” Liam replied, concerned.

“Lisa, Liam, get out of the car,” Laura called.

“We’ll deal with that later, okay?” Lisa said to Liam hurriedly as they came out of the car.

“What are you two up to again?” Laura asked, raising her brows in suspicion.

"Nothing, mom,” Lisa said quickly, her face breaking into a cheeky smile.

“We are being cool, mom,” Liam replied too.

“Okay, hold my hands, and let’s go,” Laura said to them, holding out her hands to them.

As the twins latched onto her hands, Laura turned towards the entrance of the hotel and saw the man again, and she froze.

Moving closer to his sister, “That’s him,” Liam whispered to Lisa.

“Who?” Lisa asked.

“Candidate number two, let me check his name,” Liam whispered back.

“What is it?” Lisa asked impatiently.

Unaware of the drama going on among her kids, Laura noticed the man was walking towards them.

Liam placed a hand on his sister’s ear and whispered, “His name is Jason North.”