Samuel moved closer to her.
" Is it your mother's grave? " He suddenly asked Maria.
Maria flinched from his presence but calmed down.
" Yeah. " One word was she could manage through her hoarse voice. It sounded as if she had been crying.
Samuel glanced at her side profile. The slight wind that blew past her hair made her ethereal in his eyes. Her nose was red from crying. It looked like she was trying to stop her tears.
Samuel didn't realise what had gotten into him. He raised his hand and gave her shoulder a slight pat.
She stiffened but relaxed when he gently rubbed her shoulder. It was push she needed to let her tears out.
Samuel read the date of her death. He was surprised. It was the first anniversary of her death and her husband was nowhere in sight.
A foreign memory of Lily Parker invaded his mind. The kind woman baking cookies with his mother in this same house and him playing with a little girl almost his age.
The little girl has grown up to become a fine woman standing beside him.
" She was a beautiful woman. " Samuel absentmindedly said.
" How do you know? " Maria looked at him while sniffing.
" I saw her pictures at your apartment. And you look a lot like her. " Samuel gave her a small smile.
Jake's voice echoed in his mind again, ' Don't get involved with her. Both of you will get hurt. '
He shook off these thoughts.
' Just for this once. ' He thought.
They stayed like that for some time. Soon Maria pulled away and dried her tears.
" Thanks for your time. " Maria gave her a small smile.
" No worries. "
" Are you free today? " Maria asked him.
" No, I have to be somewhere. I will be back before dinner. "
" Then let's have dinner together. " Maria smiled and left from there.
--------------------
After getting inside her room, Maria immediately rushed to get ready.
She called Sarah.
She picked up immediately.
" What do want so early in the morning? " Sarah groaned from the other side.
" I'm thinking of following Samuel today. "
There was a silence indicating that Sarah was processing this information.
" WHAT?? " Sarah screamed.
Maria put the phone away from her ear.
" Calm down. "
" How can I, after hearing this? " Sarah exclaimed.
" Why are you surprised? You were the one who suggested this? "
" Yeah, but I didn't knew you would do it this soon. "
Maria heard voices from outside the door.
" Hold on. I think there is someone outside. "
She got closer to the door to listen clearly.
She couldn't hear properly but the parts of the conversation made it clear that Samuel was leaving soon.
" Listen. I want you to keep track of all the locations I pass through. I need to figure out who he is first to know his beef with Dad. " Maria explained.
" Alright. Just let me wash my face. " Sarah said.
Maria looked from the window to see Samuel going out of the house.
She quickly followed from the back door and sat inside her car. As soon as she saw his car leaving, she started the engine and connected the phone to her car.
" Let's begin mission Kim possible. " Sarah said laughing while Maria just giggled.
--------------------
Mark and Crystal were looking at the sonogram with huge smiles on their faces.
" That's our child. " Mark said between sobs. Crystal nodded aggressively.
The doctor started briefing them about all the things they should do. While listening to the doctor, Mark's phone started ringing.
He saw his father calling. He wanted to avoid it but Crystal asked him to take it.
He excused himself and went out the room.
" What is it? " Mark asked with a sigh.
" Where are you? I asked you to come to the company and you are slacking. Useless." Jay said with annoyance.
Mark took a deep breath to calm himself, " I'm at the hospital for my wife's checkup. It was more important than anything. "
" Whatever. When you are free, come here immediately. I need to discuss a few things with you. " Jay hanged up.
Mark looked down at the phone with another sigh. He wanted to punch a wall but controlled himself.
He was about to go back inside when a sight caused him to halt his movements.
A girl around his age was walking with the help of a nurse. She was blind. Mark felt a familiar feeling from her.
She walked past him and he kept his eyes on her. She was about to turn a corridor when his feet started moving towards her involuntarily.
He watched her get in a room and walked towards it.
He read the name plate.
.
.
.
.
Sia Kim.