"We have not met before, Mr Cole; otherwise, I would have recognized you," she lied with a straight face.
Louise asked, "So why did you stare at me that day like you saw a ghost?"
Sonya bit her tongue to avoid saying anything that might reveal her identity.She forgot about that day. Her heart pounded in her chest as she searched desperately for a convincing explanation, but she was at a loss for words.
Louise was staring at her face intensely, she did not notice when she began to fidget and stutter,
"I was not feeling well that day."
Louise noticed her restlessness, which only confirmed his suspicion that she was hiding something.
Sonya looked away in time to notice the waiter approaching them. With their order and squealed, "Look our order is here!"
She tapped Sianna on the shoulder before removing the earphones from her ears.
When the waiter dropped the cake, Sonya quickly cut a slice for Sianna. She fed the girl, acting as though she did not notice Louise staring at her.
A few minutes later, she excused herself and dashed to the restroom because she could not bear his constant stares.
As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she felt like hitting herself.
Where has her calm and collected self gone? What is happening? She became increasingly annoyed as she thought about it.
It did not take her long to realize that Louise was the one person she could not hide from; if she continued to fidget like that, he would soon find out who she was.
Her thoughts drifted back to the past when they first met.
It was the day of the school's sports competition, in which the majority of the seniors competed, and the school was alive with activity.
Louise, like every other senior, took part, and he was the only senior with a large number of fangirls and cheerleaders cheering for his team.
There were posters of him all over the school, including on her locker, which had pissed her. She got into a fight with a group of girls because she tore the posted picture and threw it in the trash.
Louise happened to pass by at the time, and as the showoff that he is, he came to settle the dispute. Sonya was already upset with the girls, and when Louise butted in, she gave him an earful. Fortunately for her, he had dismissed the girls and was standing with her alone in the hallway.
Louise was surprised by her outburst and asked, looking puzzled, "What have I done wrong? I was only trying to help."
"Well, the only thing you can do is ask them not to put your pictures in my locker. Can you do that?" Sonya asked, tilting her head to one side.
Louise frowned and said "I find it strange that you seem to despise me; are you my ex?" Because he couldn't understand why the girl despised him when every other girl adores him, unless she was his ex but he couldn't remember courting her.
Sonya felt a vein pop in her forehead and fought the urge to hit the senior on the head. Instead, she stated, "Not everyone is interested in you; stop dreaming."
"And I am not interested in you either, you are fat and not my type," Louise said, scrutinizing her body, "completely bland and unattractive."
Had she not been aware of his gaze, Sonya would have glanced down at her dress. She mentally tried to remember what she was wearing and bit her cheek when she realized she indeed looked unattractive.
She had dressed in a large gray sweatshirt over a long flare skirt this morning. She did not mind it until this senior brought it up like that.
Despite her thoughts, she defiantly glared at Louise and snorted, "I am way better than those skinny girls in short skirts you flirt with, all bony and without flesh."
Louise's mouth was slightly open at the girl's audacious insult to his fangirls.
"And do not get me wrong." I am not looking for anyone's attention. Now, if you will excuse me," she said, walking away from him.
She turned back a few steps and saw the senior staring at her, stunned.
She could never have predicted that her disagreement with Louise would result in a bounty on her head. The next day, word spread around the school that she was attempting to hit on Louise.
Since then, her life had never been the same as Louise relentlessly stalked her and the other girls tried to bully her.
Back to present, Sonya reprimanded herself for being impulsive. If she had kept a low profile and not expressed her dislike for him, she would not be experiencing this emotional trauma.
After five years, she meets him again, but she does not want history to repeat itself.
Taking deep breaths, she combed her hair with her fingers and applied powder to her face. After giving herself a final look in the mirror, she turned around and returned to meet them.
When she approached the table, her brow furrowed because she could not find Sianna. "Where is she?"
"Knorr took her to feed the fishes in the back," "Fish.. is that allowed?" she asked, concerned, as she sat down.
Louise replied, "She is a regular customer, so they are used to her feeding the fish."
"Really? Did she offer to do that or did someone ask her to do it?" she wondered.
Children with autism were always consistent in their routines. It was always difficult to pick up something along the way.
Louise considered what he wanted to say for a while before saying, "I believe she picked it up this year when she came here with Ms melody."
"I think Melody has done a good job in helping her so far," Sonya said.
"You can say that, but that is nothing in comparison to you, who has brought her out of her shell," he praised.
"No efforts are in vain, Mr Cole," Sonya said, pulling out her notepad.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Louise rubbed the bridge of his nose, which Sonya took as a cue to start asking questions.
"What caused Sianna's autism?"
"Complicated childbirth," Louise replied.
"What led to the complications?"
"That is in her file, right?" Louise questioned with irritation. She questioned him as if they were having an interview. It was awkward for him to respond to her question because it brought back bad memories.
"The next question is what kind of people she communicates with at home. Whether she gets better or not will depend on the people in her immediate vicinity. People who use negative or hurtful language are harmful to her."
"That is not a problem," Louise responded. Sonya looked down at her book and started writing while he watched her. She looked so charming that he was unable to take his eyes off of her as he studied every detail of her face and expression.
Sonya felt the intense gaze and looked up, but when she saw him staring blankly, she scoffed in her heart.
"Mr Cole," she called out louder than usual, causing the man to shift his gaze away from her.
After being discovered, Louise was embarrassed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. Sonya did not miss the reddening of his ears.
"One last question," Sonya said, smiling. Her smile was radiant, but Louise was unable to see the glint beneath it.
"I would like to know about Sianna's mother?"
Louise's expression froze, as did his hand, which had reached out to grab the drink on the table. He looked up, glaring at Sonya as his eyes grew cold.
Sonya, on the other hand, was expecting his reaction, but not the glare; there were no ripples in her eyes, although an internal frown had appeared on her face.
"Why the glare?" She inquired with a puzzled expression.
Louise's glare mellowed and wasn't as threatening as it was and he appeared to realize that he did not need to glare at the doctor.
"She is dead," he said in a dull tone.
"My condolences," Sonya offered. Her voice contained a hint of guilt that Louise did not find genuine.
"Do not bother asking about her cause of death," he warned as if anticipating the woman's next question.
Sonya opened her mouth like a fish out of water, coughed, and sipped her drink. "I have to know.."
Louise cut her statement short, saying, "That is a personal matter that I do not feel like sharing."
What happened five years ago was something he did not want to tell anyone, especially the doctor, whom he was still suspicious of.
The woman appears to be concealing a secret beneath the calm exterior.
He had asked Knorr to look into her background, as well as her relationship and connection to Sonya DeVille from his memories. He could not recall the face from memory, but he would eventually.
Her presence had triggered something from his past, and he planned to force those memories out; only then would he be at peace.
Sonya's lips twitched at his refusal to talk about his child's mother. There was no record of him getting married; did he have a secret wedding?
It is not uncommon for men, particularly their type, to have a secret marriage.