Earlier that day...….
Raymond went to Hannah's apartment as he wanted to see if she was alright after losing her annunciator. When he reached her apartment, he knocked but no one answered. He reached into his pocket and brought out the spare key he had to Hannah's apartment. He has been with it since when she got the apartment and this was the first time he was going to make use of it.
Penelope was inside Hannah's room, scribbling incoherent things on a piece of paper she had found when she heard the door click. Her first thought was that Hannah had come back home, so she ran out to the living room. Instead of Hannah, she saw a man's leg coming into the apartment and she got scared. Her body began trembling slightly and when the man entered fully, she screamed and bolted into the room. Raymond was stunned when he heard a child's scream. He didn't feel Hannah's presence in the house and wondered whose child that was. Did Hannah start a babysitting job? No, that is not possible. He dismissed the thought and went to Hannah's room. He saw the child curled up in a corner of the room. He wondered what made her scared. First, she screamed and now here she was, curled up in a corner. When he got close to her, she tried to move backwards but she couldn't because she was already over the wall. Raymond squatted in front of her and spoke, "Hi, what's your name?" He asked in a gentle voice. Penelope raised her head slightly and looked at Raymond, he had a sweet and gentle smile on his face and it made Penelope comfortable in his presence. "My name is Penelope". She spoke up then raised her head fully and started looking at his side, " where is aunt?" She asked. When Raymond saw her face, he was lost for a couple of seconds, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "She will be here anytime soon, let's wait for her. By the way, why are you here with her?" Raymond asked. It seems Hannah also noticed the same thing he noticed. That was the only plausible reason he could think of. Hannah doesn't allow just anyone into her apartment, the only reason he was able to enter her apartment was that he had left her with no choice. Now that this child was with her, he could obtain information from her.
"She said she would help me look for mommy and take me back to her". Oh….that makes sense. Raymond thought. " Do you stay here all alone anytime she goes out?" Raymond asked to see the girl nodded. "Don't you get bored of staying alone? How about we do something together. Then we can play some games and watch cartoons till she comes back". He said and Penelope smiled widely. It has been so long since she played and watched cartoons so she was happy.
Both of them played together, watched cartoons and even cleaned Hannah's kitchen which was messed up. Raymond smiled at the thought of Hannah cooking. He would give up one of his arms if that meant seeing Hannah cook.
Some hours later, they heard footsteps coming toward the room and both of them turned their heads to see Hannah standing by the door with a surprised look on her face.
Present...….
Both of them came down from the bed
" Aunt!"
"Hannah!"
Both of them called her at the same time. "What brings you here Raymond?" She asked. "I told you I will be coming to visit, don't you remember? But when I came, you were not home, so I just helped myself into your apartment and this sweet child was here to keep me company". Raymond said and gestured to Penelope who was still smiling widely by his side. Hannah noticed that she was very happy, happier than how she was before and she knew it was because of Raymond. She ignored Raymond and turned to Penelope "How are you, Penelope?" She asked and the girl's smile widened even more. "I am fine aunt, thanks for asking". Penelope answered. Hannah was surprised by the way she responded. Penelope has never answered her like that. She only responds by saying, 'I'm fine aunt', or 'I'm okay aunt', but this time she responded differently. It seems like many things had changed in her absence. She turned to look at Raymond, who had a proud expression on his face as he looked at Penelope. When he felt her gaze on him, he turned to her and said, " I was teaching Penelope a few things, she told me that she couldn't read so I volunteered to be her teacher, and for that, I will be coming over every day to teach her".
Raymond had a smug smile on his face as he spoke and Hannah knew why. He has always wanted to visit her at any time but he couldn't because Hannah would not agree, so he had to use clever ways before he could get into her apartment.
This was not only about visiting Hannah and teaching the child, he wanted to get more information from the child so that he could have a lead to finding what he was looking for.
Hannah knew what Raymond was up to. He wants to get close to Penelope and make her warm up to him so that he could gather information from her. She left the room and went to the kitchen, knowing fully well that Raymond would follow after her, and he did. "Continue what you are doing Penelope, I will be back very soon, okay?" He said, but the girl didn't respond as she was so engrossed in what she was doing on the tablet. He left the room and went to the kitchen.
When he got there, he saw Hannah gulping down a glass of water with her back facing him. When she dropped the glass, he started speaking, gone was the gentle and sweet expression he had on his face as it had been replaced by extreme seriousness. "About Penelope…" He was interrupted by the sound of water as Hannah turned on the tap. "Don't think about hurting the child Raymond". She spoke out and downed another glass of water. " But she looks just like…." Raymond spoke but was interrupted by Hannah, again. "I know Raymond, that's why I'm keeping her here. When I get more information, I will let you know. You can leave now, I have to prepare dinner for Penelope". When he heard that Hannah was about to cook, he switched back to his playful self and said " You want to prepare dinner for Penelope? When did you learn how to cook? You have never touched a spatula since I have known you and now you want to prepare dinner?" Raymond had a foolish smile on his face as he kept on teasing her, but when he saw no change in her expression, he stopped. "Let me help you with that". He said and started helping her.
Hannah didn't object and just allowed him. Raymond was a good cook and she knew that. He had cooked for her on several occasions since they were teenagers.
After some time, the dinner was finished and Hannah left the kitchen to freshen up. But before she left, she remembered that Penelope didn't have any clothes and told Raymond. He made a call and clothes were brought to the apartment along with slippers, toys and many other things that a child would like. Hannah thanked Raymond and the items to the room to get Penelope ready for dinner