Ch-3
"Does your booboo hurt?," Little Charlie asked.
"Nope, my love," she said.
"But there's blood," he said.
"It's just a scratch, it will be gone after they clean it and bandage it," Luciana said.
He puled her arm back and blew on her wound. "Blowing… less booboo," he said, stumbling over broken words.
"You're smart, aren't you?" she said, rubbing his head with her good hand.
Luciana didn't know why but she loved this kid. His father. His father was hopelessly grouchy and lacking empathy.
Little Charlie smiled widely at her words, feeling happy being pampered. The handsome man was observing them the moment his son started talking to her. Charlie was talking a lot and smiling too! He was never like this with him!
"Charlie, enough of talking. Come here," he said.
But Charlie had buried himself in Luciana's bosom. He liked this beautiful sister-like figure and her smell. She wasn't like his dad.
Luciana gently pushed him up. "Whoa whoa whoa, back up lil guy. You shouldn't invade someone's private space like that. I'm okay with it, but you need to ask first." her voice was kind but stern. She couldn't allow a child to do whatever he wanted, especially not with another person's body. Charlie blinked and nodded, asking and making sure he heard her say yes before wrapping his arms around her again.
"Charlie, come here."
The little boy shoveled in deeper.
Seeing this, Luciana twisted her nose at the man. "Can't you be softer with the kid? Why are you scaring him like this? I wonder how your wife tolerates you. If I were in her position, I would have dumped you and left with this cutie," Luciana said, narrowing her eyes at him.
All of a sudden, the temperature in the car dropped, making it colder than a second ago.
Luciana shivered literally even though the AC was at its minimum. Even Evelynn felt colder. And the dark brooding aura from the man filled the car making it difficult for them to be comfortable.
"What's your name?" Luciana asked all of a sudden.
The arrogant Jerk turned his head sharply, their eyes meeting. His were unblinking and piercing, making her feel the slightest rush of fear.
"My love, your dad is a meanie," Luciana said to the kid, directing her attention away. He intimidated her.
The driver felt sweat bead from his forehead hearing this woman's voice. No one dared say any variation of those words to their boss. The ones who do never lived an hour longer.
Little Charlie nodded his head, agreesing with the woman.
"Boss, we are here," the driver said quietly as he stopped the car.
They entered the hospital. Since this man was rich, he booked the VIP ward. Not for the women but because he was there with his son. He needed his safety.
A doctor came and started tending to their wounds. As she cleaned her wound, Luciana winced and gritted her teeth.
"Aunty, booboo, u hurt," the little boy said with teary eyes.
The doctor rushed out to retrieve something and silence stretched between them.
"I am Oscar," the man said all of a sudden.
Luciana looked at him with a questioning look and turned her face to the side. 15 consecutive minutes after she asked the question?
"Your dad is weird," she whispered in Charlie's ear.
"Baddie," he added with a smile.
Oscar was still watching his son intensively, checking his watch, his phone and his surroudings every passing minute. He felt anger and jealousy towards this woman as she grabbed every drop of his son's affection. And here he thought his kid just had a heart of stone, just like him.
The doctor returned and finished the rest of his task. She removed glass pieces and cleaned her wound and then wrapped her arm.
Oscar was asked to pay the bill and get their medication. He took his son and went to the counter. He paid the bill and then got the medicines for them. By the time he returned, he heard them talking quietly among themselves. For the first time in his life he felt weird about eavesdropping. Like he was actually invading someone else's privacy and cared about it.
"Babe, now look what we're dealing with. You lost your job. And I lost my bike. What shall we do now? We have bills to pay and barely a month to survive," Evelynn asked worriedly.
"Don't worry. I will bed that pot-bellied old man. I shall keep this job at least for a week till I get the pay," Luciana said.
"I can't race till this wound heals," Evelynn said sadly.
"It's gonna be okay." Luciana assured her though it sounded more towards herself than her friend.
"And the rent?" Evelynn pressed.
"I will use the savings," said Luciana grimly.
"Then what about your university fee?" Evelynn said.
"I am considering the distance course. It is cheaper and much more affordable for me," Luciana said.
"It's good too," Evelynn said, in an attempt to make the loophole sound more appealing.
"And we shall leave now. I don't want to see that arrogant asshole's face." Luciana said.
"Indeed, and his first driver. That man… he gets on my nerves." Evelynn huffed.
"Yes, he has this face that says 'I am the king and everyone has to bow for me'. Fuck… I barely know him and I already detest him," Luciana said.
"No one asked you to like him too," Evelynn said.
"I am not saying I liked him. I hate him. Thankfully, he won't appear in front of us after we step out of this hospital," Luciana said.
"Yes," Evelynn nodded.
"But… I like the kid. He is so cute. I wonder how he can have such an arrogant father. I pity him. See, he can't even talk properly at his age because of his fear of his own father. I hope the kid has at least got a beautiful, kind, and loving mother," she said. "I don't mean to be so assumsive and nosy of someone else's business, it could be completely different behind the scenes but the kid."
"You are concerned about the kid a bit too much, Lucy." Evelynn said.
"Indeed, I am concerned. You know right, that I had a similar problem during my childhood and was bullied because of it. If not for my mother and brother, I wouldn't have overcome it. I was always bullied because of this problem. I hope the kid won't suffer like I did," Luciana said.
"Then marry that arrogant king and become his mother," Evelynn said and Luciana nearly fell off her chair laughing.
"I would have married him for the kid but such a shame… I don't want to suffer in the hands of that jerk," Luciana said.
"Okay! Enough. Before he gets back, we have to leave," Evelynn said.
"Yes," Luciana said.
Just then, her phone dinged. A notification banner popped up, the email icon flashing.
Opening it, she read the mail. And the contents of it made her widen her eyes.
"What happened?" Evelynn asked.
"That old man fired me!" Luciana said.
"It's okay," Evelynn tried to console her.
"I will go and collect my pay. Will you come with me?" Luciana asked.
"You go and come back. My hand and my body hurt. I will rest," Evelynn said.
Luciana nodded.
Oscar waited for some time before walking inside the ward. He felt pity but he masked it. He didn't want to get involved with these women. Their lack of finances wasn't really his burden to carry. They had caused a scene, snatched his son, and left him to deal with the paparazzi, and then left with zero consequences. He was beyond pissed. He rather slaves over his work than mull over them.
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Author's Notes:
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