Chapter 28 - THE MAN WITH UMBRELLA

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

Nino walked over to the little girl, her heart slowed the pace when she noticed the little girl is fine. Her heart went out to the girl immediately who must have been frightened to death, she prolly thought it will be her last day on earth. Seeing the position of the girl reminded her of how shocked and stricken she was when she saw her parent's corpses. She wiped off the tears in her eyes and neared the child. The little girl flinched when she touched her shoulder.

"Hey, calm down," Nino cooed. "Are you hurt?"

She examined the girl's body, praying not to detect any injury on her. Her nerves calmed when she noticed her body was intact but she noticed something strange on the girl's body. Like teeth bites on her shoulders and a ruddy bruise on her right arm. She traced a finger there but the girl slinked back and stood to her feet. She drew away from Nino with eyes filled with anxiety.

"I'm not going to harm you," Nino said in the most calming tone but it didn't take away the look in the little girl's eyes. "Are you okay?"

Nino stared at the little girl with light chocolate curly hair which streamed down to her back, almost touching her butt. Her sea blue eyes shimmered with so much fear she can't seem to interpret. Her nose and mouth made her face look so adorable and Nino could also see tears glinting in her eyes. She wondered what could have happened to her. And the speed at which she rushed out took her by surprise. What could make a little girl like her this terrified?

"Hey, you don't need to be scared," Nino held out her hand and takes slow steps toward her. The little girl was clothed in a floral dress which ran to her knees. "I just want to make sure, you are okay."

The little girl turned away from her to the white bungalow opposite them. Nino followed her eyes and saw a man in his mid-forties prolly, dash out of the house toward them. His hair was tied up in a man bun, he was dressed in a thick black polo and grey pants. Nino returned her eyes to the girl and saw how wide her eyes went at the sight of the man. The little girl traced her feet backwards.

"Why do you want me to teach you everything?" The man prompt immediately he reached them. He gently grabbed the girl but if Nino wasn't mistaken, she saw a little bit of force in his pull making the little girl gasp. "Be a good girl."

She watched the man stroke the girl's hair but something about the way he stroked her hair was off. There was something she was not seeing there. It reminded her of what happened hours ago.

"You have to obey dad, you know. Don't make it hard for you and me. Be a good girl," Nino watched the way the girl was reacting to his touch and something in her tells her something is wrong. Why would a child be afraid of her dad?

"Alright, be a nice girl and let's go inside. You almost got killed by a car and I can't bear to lose you."

Nino couldn't take her eyes off them and she discerns hesitation in every step the little girl took. Who is this man to this little kid? Is he really her dad? Driven by her instincts, she placed her hand on the man's arm. Stopping him in his tracks. The man turn to her and questioned her with his eyes.

"Who are you?"

Knocked back to her senses, she let go of the man's arm and shook her head. The man gave her a thorough look before going back with the kid inside the house. Nino let out a breath and went back to her car. She started the car and drove off. She raced back home and it was already getting cloudy. From the look of things, it's going to rain soon. It hadn't rained for three days and Nino appreciated that. She looked at the time on the screen of her phone. It said 5 o'clock and she still have an hour to reach home. She wondered how Daniel was faring, she prayed that man in her house hadn't done anything to him or sent him leaving. When she went to seek his help. Daniel had occupied her mind, wondering if he was okay.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of her phone, she looked down at her phone and saw Marcus calling. To be honest she was so preoccupied with everything, her house, the stranger who bought her house over. The company plus Daniel and his mom that she had forgotten about Marcus who put her in a worse trauma. She heaved a breath and swallowed her ego.

She answered the call and puts it on the loudspeaker. "Hello, Marcus."

"Nino, how are you doing? Are you doing okay?" Her lips almost curled into a smile, he still cares about her. He still contacts her. No matter how much she tried to hate him for what he did, she just can't. She already had a soft spot for him.

But yet she still needs to ask him if all she heard that night was false or the truth. Her heart thumped against her chest, merely by thinking of it. She wished everything is false. She missed him dearly.

"I'm fine, Marcus and you?"

"I'm good too, I was hoping we meet tomorrow after work. I wanted to ask you to meet me today but it's already late. Why don't you meet me tomorrow, I have something to tell you?"

Her heart hammered. For a minute she was tempted to ask what is all about but her heart isn't ready to go into another frenzy. "Okay....." Her words were cut off when there was a roar in the sky and it started splashing. She activated her wiper and it started doing its job.

"Tomorrow then, what time?"

"Choose any time that is convenient for you, I'm available."

"Alright, 3 or 4 is okay." She hung up the call and watch the roads get wet. She was with no umbrella nor was she wearing clothes that could withstand the rain. Her wiper wiped off the water that splashed on her windshield. She raced home but her mind suddenly trailed back to what happened in his office.

She came to a stop in front of her house, it was already dark when she reached home. She never knew things will turn out like that, she climbed down of her car and stood in the rain. Technically, she wasn't aware of her environment anymore. All she could think of was what happened in his office. She always had this huge respect for him and he was her last hope for the cartoon her company was working on.

"You know I admire your resilient spirit to move your company forward but I'm afraid my money will be stuck if I invest in your company again. I already sold off my shares."

"I know, you are my last hope. That's why I came to you, huh? Help me? 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒."

Nino's eyes followed the man as he came over to her and stood behind her. Chills ran down her spine but she hoped he listen to her, she turns to look at him. "I promise your money won't get stuck this time. I guarantee you that..." His left hand found its way to her face.

Tears streamed down her face as she dropped herself to her knees. She never expected that to happen. She always saw him as a mentor. She again felt filthy with herself at what happened in his office. Why does everything have to come with a price? She scrubbed her arms in the rain, trying to get rid of his touch. She tried to get his marks on her hands off when she noticed something shielding her head. The rain was no longer beating her mercilessly.

She looked up and saw the man who occupied her parent's house with an umbrella. Shielding herself from the rain, she locked eyes with him and her heart warmed at the sight of him. This is a man she ought to be afraid of. A man she can't tell who he is truly but for some reason, she feels happy when she sees him and she isn't scared of showing her miserable side to him. Driven by her emotions, she stood to her feet and threw her arms around him.

She hugged him tightly and cried her eyes out, she poured out her heart to him. Her head was placed against his chest and she nestled tightly in his embrace even though he wasn't hugging her back. She let tears stream down her eyes as she poured out her emotions. They stayed in that position in the rain for a couple of minutes and he wasn't even making an effort to push her away.

"Are you okay?" Nino was brought back to her senses and pulled away from him. She released her hold from him and nod.

"Yes, I'm fine." She bent down and picked up her bag. "And thank you." She walks away from him into the house.

Toro stood frozen on the ground, he wasn't expecting that. Also, he wondered why he was out in the rain and holding an umbrella. It felt like something was compelling him to do this. He did see her from his bedroom window. She was lowered to her knees and the rain showed no mercy on her. He wondered what happened.

And for a minute, he has this uncanny feeling in him, she looked familiar. Seeing her in that position reminded him of someone. He pushed those thoughts behind him and went inside.

Nino wiped her eyes with her palms and wondered what pushed her to hug him. She knew she wasn't in her right state of mind but hugging him? And she couldn't shake this feeling in her she found his body comforting. She took off her shoes and went straight to the bathroom but before that, she grabbed her towel from her room. Water from her clothes dripped from the sitting room, and the stairs to her room before stopping in the bathroom.

She was already shivering when she walked into the bathroom. She took off her wet clothes and climbed into the tub, running herself a hot bath.