"Why cry, mom?" Its voice came from behind my back.
I turned my body towards the sound. A little girl in her flower-print pajamas and holding a flashlight. Not long from behind this little girl seemed like a middle-aged woman. Their presence scared me. Luckily I didn't end up beating them both up.
"Aunt, Jane! What are you guys doing? And you, little girl, mom is not crying." With a sigh, I said.
I didn't really cry. I'm just scared. Because I've never come home late at night before. I was instantly amazed by Katty. How could she walk home alone in the middle of the night?
Has she never felt what I'm feeling now? Because at this time of the night, if it wasn't for criminals roaming around, she would definitely meet ghosts. I shudder at the thought of it.
"Mom, why are you always dodging me when I ask about the reasons for your crying?" My little daughter's words interrupted my reverie.
Well, Abigail is my real daughter. She several caught me crying every time I thought of my late husband. I always deny it whenever my daughter realizes that I'm crying. She thought I was crying because of his naughtiness at school. Actually, Abigail is not a naughty child, it's just that her friends always bother her because she doesn't have a father. So every time her friend bothers her, Abigail will hit her friend. And on Christmas day this year he left us for ten years on the day Abigail was born.
"Really, baby, mom didn't cry! Mom was just a little surprised that someone was following me. You think mom's a crybaby who should cry more, HMM?" I was squatting and I said to her.
"Abigail tells me you're afraid of the dark. And you cried a lot in the dark. That's why she asked me to accompany her to pick you up." Aunt Jane explained it to me.
Aunt Jane is a wonderful woman. I met her ten years ago at the hospital where I gave birth to my daughter.
*FLASHBACK*
Aunt Jane is working in the hospital as a cleaning house. During recovery at the hospital we often talked. One time she asked me.
"Hey, how come I never see your family coming to visit you?" Aunt Jane is making my bed and talking to me.
"I'm just an orphan. I was raised in an orphanage. As an adult, I began to leave the orphanage and work to earn money to support myself." I answered while holding my baby in my arms.
"So where's your baby daddy? Why can't he even keep you company for one day? You will only be here just for four or five days, right?" As she spoke, aunt Jane was wrapping a clean coverlet on my bed.
I started standing from my seat, then I put my deep asleep baby into the crib. Then I walked toward the window in the corner of the room.
"My husband had an accident on his way to this hospital. The hospital informed me that my husband was in a coma. It happened when I was struggling to give birth to our daughter. While I was risking my life to give birth to our child, my husband was trying to survive the accident. After I gave birth to my daughter, I also got the news that my husband passed away a few days later. Even though my husband died when I was giving birth. And that day was on Christmas Eve. And this year it's become the gloomy Christmas of my life." I worded my way near the window and looked out. Without knowing it, my tears started rolling.
Aunt Jane walked up to me and hugged me. The crying that I have been trying to bear shatters instantly. After that, she offered to help me take care of my daughter. She felt sorry for me, because I reminded her of having a daughter and being a single parent.
*FLASHBACK OFF*
"Mom, I'm sleepy." Abigail's voice came to my senses.
"Let's go home! You're up so late anyway." I started to stand and hold my daughter's hand as I walked toward our house.
After arriving at our place, aunt Jane said goodbye to us and she walked into her house. Aunt Jane's house is right next door to mine. I rented a house near aunt Jane who happened to be uninhabited. It makes it easier for me to look after my daughter while I'm working. After work, I picked up Abigail at aunt Jane's house. How lucky I am that this house is next to aunt Jane's place. It's near Abigail's school and the mall I work at, plus I get a pretty cheap rent every year.
"Good night, mom." Said my daughter as she pulled my hand to bring my head a little lower to kiss my cheek.
"Nite, baby." I kissed her on the cheek, too.
Abigail walked toward our room, so I began to lock our doors. Immediately I took a shower to wash myself of the smell of sweat sticking to my body. When I'm finished, I start up to my bed and I sleep next to my daughter.
***
Macaroni sprinkled with grated cheese is my lunch menu today. I am currently in the cafeteria. I wasn't eating alone, there were two girls sitting with me. They are both employees at this mall. But they don't work with me in the boutique section.
Girl wearing glasses working in a cosmetics shop. Meanwhile, the girl sitting next to me works in a cake shop. I'm not that familiar with them. But I have sat at the table with them several times. I rarely chat with the two of them, but I just listen to whatever they talk about.Like now, they are talking about our CEO. Actually, usually the leader in this mall is the General Manager. Mrs. Matthew is a woman who is a leader where we work. But she temporarily can't handle her work at this mall because Mrs. Matthew is on maternity leave.
"I just heard from my friend. How about you, Em?" The girl sitting in front of me asked me.
I chewed and swallowed the macaroni that was still in my mouth before speaking. "About, what?" I asked because I didn't listen to their conversation earlier.
"Earlier we were talking about our CEO. His name is Mr. Louise. This morning Mr. Louise visited several shops in this mall. Have you met him?" The girl sitting next to me explained in detail.
I looked at them both in turn. With a heavy heart I shook my head to say no. I saw that they both felt disappointed with my answer.
"So poor. None of the three of us have met Mr. Louise." The bespectacled girl took a sip of her drink after speaking.
Maybe when Mr. Louise visited the boutique, I was serving customers. Recently many customers have come to our boutique. Of course, because Christmas and New Year celebrations are coming soon. Customers will want to wear nice clothes for the celebration.
"Hey look!" Suddenly the girl sitting in front of me pointed towards the entrance of the cafeteria.
"What?" The girl sitting next to me asked.
Simultaneously, we both turned towards the entrance behind us. There were three men who entered this cafeteria. I know one of them. The man walking at the very front was Mr. Weasley. He is Mrs. Matthew's secretary. Meanwhile I couldn't see the faces of the two men, because now their backs were to us.
"Between the two men who are with Mr. Matthew, which one do you think is Mr. Louise?" The girl next to me started asking questions.
"I don't know. If you both have found the answer, don't forget to tell me." I immediately took my empty plate to the sink.
"Have you finished eating?" The girl with glasses looked at me as I stood up.
I confirmed her question by showing her my empty plate. After putting down the empty plate, I rushed towards the exit of the cafeteria. As I walked, I caught a glimpse of the face of one of the two men. When our eyes met, the man immediately turned his face away. The man's face looked very familiar. I think I've seen that man before. But I can't remember where I ever met him. Who's he?
*Continued*