A pair of innocent round eyes were staring back at him when Neil Mo opened his eyes. The bright light entered his eyes and Neil narrowed his eyes to adjust his sight to the lighting.
"Uncle, you've woke up," Hazel spoke when he looked at her again.
"Hazel?" His voice was groggy as he had just woken up. Neil tried to sit up but paused when he felt that weak pounding on his head. Then, his body felt sore all over from sleeping on the sofa.
Something slid off his body and Neil held the thick blanket in his hand.
The memories of what happened last night went to his mind. He came back after having a little too many drinks. Then he ran into Teacher Qian and they exchanged a few words before he had somehow fallen asleep while waiting for her to reheat the food for him. Then, she must be the one who covered him with the blanket.
"Uncle, good morning." Her lips tilted up into a smile. The little girl walked over to the coffee table and came back with a glass of water. "Uncle, drink."
Neil reached for the glass and drank with a smile on his face.
The feeling of having his niece to look after him was pretty good. Perhaps, this was the reason why his brother, Adam used to come over to his office and bragged about his cute daughter.
When the glass was empty, Hazel's little hand was stretched up to him again and this time, she was holding some medicine.
"Teacher Qian said you will wake up with a headache. If you eat your medicine, it would not be too painful." The space between her eyebrow creased a little bit as Hazel tried to recall what her teacher had reminded her earlier.
Hazel woke up that morning and went down to have breakfast and found her uncle sleeping on the sofa. Then, her teacher came out of the kitchen and reminded her to stay by her uncle's side until he woke up.
His lips turned into a warm, gentle smile. Neil took the medicine and patted the girl on her hair. "Thank you."
Hazel took the empty glass from her uncle, refilled them with water, and brought them over. Then, she stayed to supervise as her uncle drink his medicine. When he was done, the furrow on her face returned and Hazel looked at her uncle hesitantly.
A chuckle escaped him when he saw Hazel shifting her weight between her feet. He put the glass on the side table and looked at the little girl. "What is it? You have something you wanted to tell me?"
"Uncle, you," she paused to look at him properly. "Next time, don't drink too much, alright? Mama said drinking too much is not good for the body."
Neil's expression changed from surprise to pleasure. Recently, the little girl had started to talk to him a little bit more and had now expressed her worry about him. Of course, he would be happy.
"Are you worried about me?"
"Un." Hazel nodded. "You are my uncle. My family. I worry about you."
Hearing her answer, Neil was unable to say a word a guilt feeling crept into his heart. He thought over Adam and Clare's death again and was reminded of his promise to look after the little girl.
"You said you were going to look over me," Hazel continued in a small voice. "Therefore, you have to look after your health and live for a very, very long time. If you drink too much again, then I will get angry."
Neil stared at the little girl for a while and slowly, his lips tilted into a smile. The sight of Hazel pouting her little mouth in her attempt to show him her anger was too cute.
"Alright. I won't drink too much next time." He stretched his hand to pull her into his embrace but decided against it when he realized that he was reeking of alcohol. In the end, he chose to pat the little girl on her hair.
"Sorry, I didn't come back and have dinner with you last night," Neil spoke.
Hazel shook her head and gave him an assuring smile. "It's alright. You can accompany me again tonight."
"Alright. I will come back and accompany you tonight," Neil made a promise. A thought crossed over to his mind and he made a suggestion. "How about I take you out to play this weekend to compensate for last night?"
The little girl's expression brightened up at his world. "Can we?"
"Hmm," Neil nodded.
"Can we take Teacher Qian with us?"
"Of course."
The little girl clapped happily before she composed herself. Neil let out a soft laugh as he watched his niece. Then, he urged Hazel to go and have her breakfast before he went upstairs to get ready for work.
When he walked down the stairs again, Hazel had already left for the kindergarten with her teacher. He adjusted his cuff and was about to head out from the house when Auntie Emma who was in charge to look after the house walked over to call him.
"President Mo," Auntie Emma called. "Miss Qian had prepared something for you to eat. She said it would help you to alleviate your hangover."
Neil glanced at the kitchen and the smell of something delicious wafted over his nose. Seeing that he still had time before the first meeting started, Neil nodded and head over to the kitchen.
…
Sunflower Kindergarten,
Edith heaved a sigh as she slumped on her seat and laid her head on the table. The children were taking their nap and it was time for her to take a breather.
Last night, she had tossed and turned in bed as she tried to decide what she was going to do with that feeling blooming in her heart. Ideally, cutting off that feeling would be the right move, as the chance of her to succeed was thin, but in the end, she could not bring herself to make any decision.
Anyway, she hasn't figured out whether the feeling she had was merely a crush or something else.
If it was simply a crush, of course, she would choose to cut it off. However, if it was more than that, she hoped that she can at least give herself a chance before she back out.
It looks like she will a little more time before she can make her decision.
Perhaps she should calm down and rethink what she should do next?
Edith took out her phone and began to check for messages. Her grandfather sent her a daily message to inform her that he was doing alright and that she should look take care of herself. Her hand froze as she stared at her grandfather's message.
Should she go back to Z Town and clear her mind?
Anyway, wasn't Lily planning to head over to Z Town with Alex on the school holiday?
When the school holiday started, she will have to stay around and accompany Hazel. Perhaps she should start planning some activities for them to do together instead?
Edith looked at the calendar and realized that the school holiday will begin in a few weeks. After the school holiday ended, she will have the opportunity to accompany both the uncle and niece for another week before she should return to her life and back to her apartment in A City.
Since that was the case, she should take the opportunity to figure out what she was going to do next before the contract between her and Neil Mo ended.