The next week came soon, and Harlan went with Christian to a mall in order to inspect the new store, he was pretty satisfied with the décor and other things in the store.
He talked with the manager for a while and while he was talking, he suddenly saw someone, a little child walking alone in the mall.
He looked scared and timid and Harlan recognized the child. He looked around but didn't find Adrian anywhere, the child must have separated from him, Harlan sighed as he went to the child and gently said, "What are you doing here Kiddo?"
Harlan never really had an interaction with such a small child, so he was rather awkward, however when he saw the child, he saw some resemblance with Adrian.
The kid recognized Harlan and said, "I can't find my uncle."
Harlan sighed as he said, "yeah, I can't see your uncle around as well."
Hayden started to cry silently and Harlan spoke, "Don't cry, I will call your uncle." Harlan said as he took out his phone and called Adrian, while grumbling, "what a careless person."
Harlan suddenly felt someone holding his hand and he looked down and saw Hayden holding his hand while crying.
Harlan didn't push him away and called Adrian, once Adrian answered he could hear the panic in Adrian's voice and Harlan replied, "Your nephew is with me; come to the 'new' store; I am standing in front of it."
"Alright, please stay there. I will be there soon."
The call was soon disconnected, and Harlan looked back at Hayden. The two stood there awkwardly. Harlan had really no idea how to talk to kids, but he cleared his throat and said, "So... how old are you?"
"Four."
"I see. How many people are there in your family?"
"my uncle and my mother."
"I see. What about dad?"
"I don't have a dad."
"Oh. Do you love your uncle?"
"A lot."
"More than mummy?"
Hayden thought for a while and did not reply. "I love both of them, but my mother does not stay with me anymore."
"I see. Was your mother pretty?"
Hayden nodded before he grabbed the tiny little bag on his shoulder and opened it, he took out something from his bag and Harlan realized that it was a photo, "she is pretty."
Harlan smiled as he took the photo from his hand and once, he saw the photo, his eyes widened, "she is your mother?"
"Yes!"
Harlan became silent as he seemed to be in deep thought; he was reminiscing about a distant memory. He then looked at Hayden and said, "How old are you again?"
"Four."
Harlan stared at the child for a while; he was staring so hard that Hayden asked, "What happened?"
"Nothing."
~~
"Hayden!" Adrian ran to the child and hugged him tightly. "Gosh, I was so scared! Where the hell did you go? How many times have I told you not to leave my side when we are out?"
He scolded Hayden before hugging him again, "Sorry, uncle." Hayden said as he hugged Adrian back.
Adrian took a deep breath and finally calmed and once he was calm, he looked at Harlan, who was looking at the person with Adrian; it was none other than Sarah.
She was looking back at him.
Adrian looked back and forth between them and spoke, "You two know each other?"
Sarah spoke, "Of course, I know this monster."
"Sarah!" Adrian spoke as he stood before her, "You can't talk to him like that, apologize."
"Why do you care? And why should I? If you knew what he did, then you would hate him as well!"
Harlan scoffed as he looked at Adrian, "Nice people you surround yourself with, who is she? Your girlfriend?"
Before Adrian could say anything, Sarah grabbed his hand and leaned against Adrian, "Yes I am any problem?!"
Harlan saw their entangled hands and felt angry. He looked at Adrian and then at Sarah and said, "Then why are you crying after my brother, huh? Seriously, Adrian, you should have found a better girl not someone like her."
"It's not like that I..."
"Save it," Harlan said as he walked away from there.
~~
Flashback
Harlan was given a choice to either spend time with his family or go to the party with Zach and Harlan chose the latter.
His grandfather was admitted to the hospital, and Harlan wanted to spend some time with him, but he was advised against it as his grandfather needed some rest.
And there was no way he was going to spend time with his parents or Zane, so when Zach offered him to come to the party with him, he agreed.
And he was not enjoying this party as well. He hated every second of it, but it was still better than spending time with his family.
He went to the bar and drank some alcohol, and that's all he did; he drank. If he got drunk, then that would be better; everything would be much more tolerable. He thought that he drank glass after glass and finally, when his vision became blurry, he decided to stop.
He gently got up from his seat and walked into a more quiet and secluded area, his head was spinning and his body felt hot. He really drank too much. He leaned against the wall and just stood there until someone approached him.
"Are you okay?"
He gently opened his eyes, but since the vision was blurry and the light was dim, he wasn't able to clearly see who the person was. He squeezed his eyes and tried to make out who stood before him, and he suddenly saw a face that resembled Adrian.
Adrian
He thought as he kept his hand over the person's shoulder and leaned in for a kiss, and the next thing he knew was that he woke up on a bed with a naked woman beside him.
Harlan sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
Great, that was his first party and he managed to get himself drunk and have sex with some stranger. He needed to get checked for STDs that was his first thought.
He didn't even bother to look at who the person was and just wore his clothes. He heard the woman on the bed move; she slowly sat on the bed, and that was when Harlan saw her face.
She looked like Adrian. Harlan shook his head and said, "Forget what happened; here is some money. Get home safely." That was all he said before he left the room. However, he never really forgot that face.
"Sir, you called me?" Christian said.
Harlan immediately came near him, and Christian could see that Harlan looked restless, "What happened, sir."
Harlan gave him two small plastic bags and said, "These are two DNA samples. I want tests done on them to make sure that no one finds out."
Christian took the samples, and he himself guessed something: "Is one sample yours?"
"Yes, it is now. Hurry up and leave."