13

Ciara Mendes

"Ciara, although I've never met this guy, I genuinely think you should go out with him." I picked up my phone from the tiled floor beside the bathtub, where Zendra sat playing with the large doll that Giovanni Haynes had given her.

He had shown up on Wednesday with a jar of Sugar Daddies, just like the one I kept on my desk, as a gesture of apology for eating the last one. Zen and I were on our way back from lunch when we encountered him on the first floor. As soon as he saw us, he stood there with his mouth slightly agape, but the surprised expression vanished when Zen, pointing at him, asked, "Aunty, who is the pweety man staring at us?" He smiled warmly at her in response.

On Thursday, he showed up again, and I considered calling security, but he asked if he could gift Zendra a doll nearly as tall as she was, leaving me unable to say no. All she had to do was look at me with those large blue eyes, and I felt as though she had delivered an eloquent speech to