EPISODE 9
"Thanks for the ride" Arya closed the door and left without looking back.
"Look at her rushing..who is she meeting,huh" Harris
" Sir, Welcome sir. The new chefs have been waiting for your arrival. Please come this way" A young woman bowed her head and led the way for Harris to go in the restaurant.
"Let's go through the staff door, there's someone in there that would prefer not seeing me" Harris told the woman and she nodded respectfully.
Arya went into the restaurant, this was her first time there and by the interior designs she knew their food was going to be very expensive, she was poor at the moment, she couldn't afford to spend hefty sums on meals. She looked around and someone waved, she smiled nervously and walked towards the man.
"Arya... How are you? As expected, you look so much like your mother, beautiful. Sit down" Robert said. He looked older than Arya expected, he looked like he was in his mid fifties, she didn't feel any connection to him at all and had a weird feeling but she waved it off, he wasn't her real father anyway.
Arya was nervous, this was her first time seeing her mother's husband and she felt a little guilty towards him.
"I didn't know my mother was married to someone before having me, I would've looked for you earlier. I'm sorry" Arya said solemnly.
" What's there to be sorry for? It's not your fault, Let's order something and eat first" At the sound of that, Arya's heart skipped a beat, she knew she would have to pay for the meal out of respect.
"Come on, check the menu" Robert said and passed her the other menu.
Robert smiled as he read it and hastily ordered food. "Aren't you ordering?"
"No, I'm not hungry. You can enjoy your food alone"
" I'd feel guilty but if you say so.....Bring those three meals quickly" Robert said and rubbed his hand against each other.
"Okay, so what are you up to now?" Robert asked, while looking at the direction where the employee left.
"Huh... Nothing much. I just want to find out about Mum. I didn't have enough time with her, so I thought if someone knows her, it'll be you since you both were married"
" Right... Your mother was such a cheerful woman. She was nice and kind. We loved each other dearly but things weren't too good for us, it's understandable that she slept with another man and had you"
Arya's expression changed, that wasn't was she was expecting to hear. "I.. uhm..
"Ah, the food's here. Aren't they so quick in their service? This is why Empire Foods is number one. I love this branch of their seafood restaurant" Robert smiled as he began eating immediately the food got to him.
"Did Katherine fool me? She has no reason to, right? Besides it's understandable that he's like this. He must be angry that his wife had a child outside their marriage" Arya thought and nodded.
" Hmm, this is delicious, are you sure you don't want a bite? " Robert asked as he stuffed himself with food.
"No, I'm really okay" Arya insisted.
After a while of waiting and watching him eat and of course, wishing the delicious looking food was going into her mouth instead, a woman approached them.
"Hello sir and ma'am. I hope you're enjoying our services. We have an event today where you can get an additional plate of food after ordering one. And here it is" The woman that escorted Harris in said politely with a smile. She motioned for the servers to put the food in front of Arya.
"Really? Thank you" Arya thought it weird but shook it off, after all she was hungry too. She was about to pick the spoon up when Robert moved the plate closer to himself.
"Huh... Excuse me! Can you pack this one to go? I'll just have it at home, right Arya?"
" Uh? Ah.. yes. Go ahead"
" Okay then. Take the food for me while I go to the bathroom" Robert smiled and left. Arya touched her stomach and groaned as she watched the staffer carry the plate away.
"Alright. Let's talk now. I really miss your mum. It's all my fault that she went to the Hills house." Robert sat down after he returned from the bathroom and spoke sadly.
"I heard she worked there.."
"Yes, I was sick and she wanted to help with the hospital bills so she went to work. I had no idea she'd leave me and sleep with a rich man. If I was rich, you would have been my daughter, right?" Robert said, looking at Arya.
Arya was silent. She didn't believe her mum left her husband because he wasn't rich. It didn't sound like what her mum would do. Thoughts ran through Arya's head, was her mum a good person or a bad person.
"Of course... I'm not trying to paint your mum as a bad person..we should speak bad about the dead. Also, I don't like to remember the past. I'm just glad she had you before she died, she always wanted a daughter. I guess she did it because she wanted her child to have a good life. Look at you now, you're a daughter of the rich Hills. Everything must be going well for you"
Arya was speechless, she wanted to hear of her mum's good life and all but she got the opposite. She just wanted to leave his sight." Uhm...But, you didn't get married again after she died?"
" I didn't. I couldn't muster up the courage to love another woman. My heart will always belong to Jenny" Robert said sadly.
" Jenny... That was her name? I wish I knew more about her, also I'm sorry that I came to you when I'm not your daughter, it must be lonely and painful for you to see me"
" Of course not. Whether you're my blood or not. You came from Jenny's womb.. I'll accept you with all my heart. Sincerely, I was bent on the fact that you were my daughter,I wanted you to be a result of My love and Jenny's but I guess you were fated to be born into that rich family. Also I'm not angry because of what she did, any woman would have done that, so no matter what happens, I'll never stop loving her" Robert sniffled and wiped his nose with his hands.
"I have a question, why did you leave Mum alone at the Hills mansion? If you had taken her with you, maybe she'd still be alive" Arya thought but couldn't say it out .
"Ah, right. Let's visit her grave tomorrow and talk to her, it's been a long time, I'm glad I found you" Robert smiled and touched Arya's hand. She smiled nervously and withdrew her hand.
"Alright. It's late. I should get going. My place is quite far, let's meet in front of the cemetery tomorrow, okay? Sleep tight" Robert stood up and took the food that the staffer brought earlier and left.
"Excuse ma'am. Will you pay with cash or card?"
"Card, here"Arya gave her credit card to the staffer who left and came back with it.
"Here ma'am. Your food has been paid for so I didn't use it at all. Do visit our restaurant again" The staffer said and left.
First, the event free food and now someone paid for her, she knew it was Harris so she looked around and caught him staring at her at one corner. He quickly looked away when their eyes met.
"Why do you like poking your nose into my business? Are you stalking me? You're like a loan shark...I won't run away, so don't follow me around adding to my debt" She said and turned to leave.
" Let me take you home then, I saved your life this morning, so you can repay me with that "
" Why are you acting so good to me? You were the same person that sent me to prison, did you forget that? What do you get from doing all this? I'll pay you back,I promise... I'll sign the contract so please just leave me alone for now, I want to be alone"
"Again about the money, you think if I needed it urgently I would have paid for you? I'm only like this to you... I'll respect that you want to be alone and leave you just be careful and think straight, don't walk into a moving car again" Harris said and left first.
Arya sighed, she was having problems with her mum an Harris was giving her more problems. Why was he helping her? Why is he acting so good to her? Why does he care about her? Was it all for show? What is his plan?
TBC