7. Unforeseen Encounter

3:30 PM. The gates have opened for the dismissal of the primary school students. Edward Bartlett, a first grader teacher, had just walked out of the building to monitor the school gates. On his way to the gate, a little girl who was sitting alone on a bench caught his attention. The little girl was in a frilly blue dress staring down at her swaying little legs with matching blue doll shoes, and a blue sling purse beside her.

He approached her. "Hello, little girl, where are your parents? Why are you alone?" And the blue hues of her eyes met his.

Zia Scott's eyes quivered as the man she had been longing for two weeks had appeared before her. "E-ed...ward...?"

His forehead wrinkled for a second but it then vanished and got replaced with a sweet smile. "You know me? I haven't seen you around before though. Can I sit next to you?”

She just nodded in response, then he sat beside her.

"I...I…” She was reluctant to say anything. Her mind went blank. She had so much to say to him, so much that she didn't know where to start. All she could do was to look at him and study every feature of his face before he vanished again. The face of the man that she loves.

However, in his eyes she just looked like a little girl who was not very good with talking to strangers. "Uhmm, what's your name? So I can page your parents. Maybe they’re still in the campus." He continued to smile at her, trying to give her a sense of comfort.

"Zia!" She exclaimed, but then her eyes widened as she realized her mistake.

Edward, who heard the name of the woman he had been missing for weeks, was also surprised. "Zi...a?"

"Phia!" she added. "I'm Sophia. Yes, t-that's my name," she stuttered, trying to avert her eyes.

"Sophia..." he whispered underneath his breath, repeating the name, then he looked at her. "You have a very beautiful name."

"Y-yes." She fiddled with her fingers in nervousness. "M-my dad named me that," she said, bringing consistency to the lie she had told Jonathan McGrath.

"So where are your parents, Sophia? Why are you here alone?"

She looked up to him. "P-parents?"

"Parents?" she thought to herself. What excuse could she give? She had just been aimlessly wandering around the streets alone as her thoughts also wandered on the possible explanations behind her mysterious situation. And her feet had just subconsciously brought her inside the school campus where Edward was working. It was as if her feet had followed what her heart desired.

"Sophia?" His soft voice had brought her attention back.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you waiting for them to pick you up?"

"Y-yes."

"Then, while you wait for them, do you wanna hear a story?"

"Sure!" She responded with enthusiasm, trying to act like a kid. 

He leaned his back against the bench as he stared into the far distance. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy, I think he was around your age." He softly chuckled. "He had just moved into a new neighborhood, he didn't know anyone. He was lonely and grumpy."

While he was looking away, Zia took out her phone from her purse and sent a message to Gray in secret.

The text message read:

Gray, I'm with Edward rn. At the school. Pick me up ASAP.

Oblivious to her actions, he continued to tell his story. "One time, while the little boy was playing alone at the park, three big boys came and bullied him. But just then, a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere and hit one bully in the head and his nose bled. And as the crying little boy looked at the direction where the ball came from, he saw an angel." He turned to her. "Have you seen an angel?"

"No." She pouted.

"No but after all that’s happened to me, seeing an actual angel won’t come as a big shock to me anymore," she thought to herself. "But wait." She brought her little fingers up to her chin as she thought hard. "Is he talking about the first time we met?"

"I met an angel," he continued. "She had sapphire eyes and golden hair."

"You're making me look like a treasure box with that description," she chuckled as she thought to herself.

"She saved the little boy from those bullies."

"Oh," she thought to herself as she sighed. "Gray totally disappeared from his memory when it was actually her who kicked the ball. I just helped him get up."

"And since then, the little boy and the angel have always been together." He turned to her and smiled.

"That's it?" She asked in dismay.

He chuckled. “Do you want more?"

"Yes!" She raised her fist in the air to show excitement.

"Because Gray is still not answering me," she thought to herself. 

"Hmm." He rubbed his fingers on his chin. "Then should I tell you a sequel of the story between the little boy and the angel?"

"There's mooooore~?" she tried her hardest to sound interested, clasping her tiny hands together over her heart. "I wanna hear mooooore~"

"This cutesy act is draining my energy, I swear," she thought as she stole glances on her phone beside her for Gray's reply.

"So as the little boy spent time with the angel," he started again. "He realized that the angel was actually a little girl. Then as they grow old, the little boy  who had become a young man fell in love with the little girl who is now a young woman."

"Wow, they grow up fast," she nonchalantly uttered, spouting silly comments like a little child would do.

"Well, they're fictional characters after all." He chuckled. "Anyway, the young man, he was quite handsome." He lightly scratched his cheek. "And the young woman was extremely smart."

"Wait," she interrupted. "Is the young woman not beautiful?"

"Wha--of course the young woman is beautiful too," he replied. "In the young man's eyes."

"How dare you. If I weren't in love with you too, I could bait a guy or two, you know," she thought as she glared at him.

"Ah," he uttered. "She has an angelic voice too," he added.

"Because she's an angel, yes," she said with a conceited expression as she crossed her arms and nodded along.

He found her actions funny. "You're such a precocious child, and listens well too." He patted her head lightly.

"So what happened next?" she asked, seeing that Gray still had not responded.

"The young man was hesitant to pursue the woman. They have been friends for a long time after all, he was afraid to get rejected and their friendship might also fall apart in the process. And all the guys who pursued her were rejected for the same reason: she has no interest in romance." He turned to her. "Do you have someone you like?"

"Should you be asking that to a little kid?" she thought to herself.

"I'm still too young to think about love," she responded with her arms crossed.

He softly laughed as he found her actions cute. "How old are you, Sophia?"

"Twenty-five," she thought to herself. "But clearly you won't believe that."

She looked at him. "Take a guess."

"Hmm." He tilted his head as he stared at her, studying her height. "Five?"

"Yeah! I'm five years old!" She stuck out her left hand to his face, showing five fingers.

"What a smart little girl." He smiled. "Just like your name."

"My name?"

"Yeah, your name is a Greek name which means wisdom." He lightly touched her nose.

"I see." She giggled as her nose felt ticklish. "Why do you know that?"

"Hmm." He exhaled heavily. "My fiancee taught me that."

She noticed that he was starting to space out. "And so? And so? What happened to the young man?" She hopped on her seat, catching back his attention.

He smiled at her then turned to gaze at the far distance once again. "The young man plucked all his courage and finally confessed to the young woman. And despite the young man's worries, she actually accepted his love right away."

"The man must be so lucky." She smirked. Fortunately due to the huge gap in their height, he didn't see it.

He curved up a smile as he lifted his head to look at the sky. "You're right, he's the luckiest and happiest man in the world."

She was surprised by his words. She could not help but feel butterflies in her stomach. A lot has changed--the situation, her body, her lifestyle, Edward's daily life without her. But one thing that remained was his undying love for her. It seemed that her message was assurance enough for him to continue living and await her return.

"E-edward." With her call, a series of thoughts bugged her mind. Should she tell him the truth? Gray believed her so maybe Edward would believe her too? Edward would surely understand her, right? And even if he wouldn't, she could just tell him secrets that only the two of them knew like the way she was able to persuade Gray.

"E-dward, I--" she stuttered in nervousness.

"Hmm? What is it?" He looked at her, paying close attention to what she was about to say.

"I--"

"Sir Bartlett!" A woman with raven black long hair wearing a provoking red blouse that exposes her cleavage paired with a black pencil skirt called out to him as she approached them.

"Ms. Cogzell." He turned to her and stood up.

"Mrs. Bowtell wants to see you in her office," she said as she stood before him.

"Okay, one second." He turned to Zia and crouched down to level her eyes. "I have to go now, will you be alright by yourself?"

"B-but I still have something to say," Zia exclaimed.

He gave her a couraging smile. "Yeah? What is it?"

She stared into his eyes. "I--I--" she was hesitant to tell him. She was afraid. He had just gone back to work after he grieved for a week. She didn't want to give him news he will get stressed about for another week. She noticed the woman glaring at her with crossed arms behind him. The woman was tapping the sole of her heels on the pavement, waiting.

"Sophia?" He brought back her attention. "What is it?" he asked in a soft voice.

She stared into the green hues on his eyes as she thought to herself, "I miss you."

"Thank you," she uttered softly, almost whispering.

He projected a sweet smile in return. "Thank you for listening to me."

She just sighed in her seat as she watched the man of her life walking away from her, slowly disappearing from sight.

"I don't like that woman."

She was startled by the sudden voice coming from the back. As she turned around, it was Gray.

Gray crossed her arms as she continued to stare at the back of the woman beside Edward. "She looks like a snake, and I hate reptiles."

Zia looked up to her. "What do you mean?"

"It's my gut feeling. She's dangerous."