Chapter 4.

"And what do you mean by that?" He asks, his eyes dripping with curiosity.

"By that I mean that I'll take care of the child and she'll just mind her own goddamn business which is all that I'm asking for. She'll return her debt to me and in a few months, we'll be done."

"I would love to meet your girl soon, but I finally got some work to do." He says with exhilaration.

"Jerk off!"

"I already did."

"Your habit of leaving a conversation abruptly is getting kind of old." I reply as he waves and walks out of my office.

Sophia's POV:

*On call*

"Where are you?" Olivia asks me.

"Can you see the building?" I reply.

"The blue and glittery one?"

"Yeah. I'm standing there."

"I can't see you. All I can see is a hot dog stand."

"That's because you don't want to see anything except for hot dogs."

"That's so not true. If you were here, it wouldn't take me more than 1 minute to identify you."

"You see a person sitting on the pavement next to that stand, shivering?"

"Yeah. Who is that?"

"Me."

"Se.. See! I told you that I'd recognise you anywhere. It's just that the sunset shades don't suit you well."

"That's my face getting blue from the cold."

"I'll get the car," She says as she ends the call. I can see her backing up and driving towards me. It's getting late, so I get in the car as she stops in front of me.

"What took you so long?" She asks me.

"Shouldn't it be me asking you the very same thing?"

"Ask." 

"What took you so long?" I drone.

"I got rid of my fear of ghosts."

"That's the spirit!"

"Where?" She yells as I slap my face.

"You can add 'getting over your fear of ghosts' again to your 'To-Do List'."

"You ruined my moment. I was fine until now."

"Enough with the jokes."

"Yeah! Got that part. What would you tell mom?"

"She's not your mom, O!"

"But I do stay at your house all day. What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours, except for my slippers because that's where I draw the line."

"I don't know what I'll do about it."

"You just worry about paying the compensation. I'll help you out with it too, so don't you worry. Also, don't take that guy seriously. I've seen people like him, bluffing about anything just to get what they want."

"Thanks, O! I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Apparently, you'd die before being born!"

"Also, thanks for lightening up my mood."

"Want to get something to eat? It's still not too late. It's just 8:30 pm and as fas as I know mom, I know that she wouldn't say a thing."

"She would be back by 11:00 pm from her shift at the library, so we just have to be back by then. I guess we'll manage to do that."

"Treat's on me. To Sophia for getting her very first job!" She says as she bumps her hips with mine.

"What kind of cheers is that?"

"Bottom cheers! Haven't you heard of it? It's kinda popular!"

"Sure." I say as she holds my hand.

It's not easy for her to see me in misery, it never has been and it will hurt the same even after decades pass by. I know how she feels because I know how I would have feelt if something like this would've happened to her. I can see the concern gleaming in her eyes that always seem to calm me down and tell me that everything will be alright till the time this silly girl right here is with me.

We go inside the WRaps Corner to eat something that would be fulfilling enough that we could last another half and hour drive back to home and also, light enough that my mother doesn't beat the shit out of me for eating outside because just last month, she got explosive diarrhea from eating outside food. I know te name of this place is weird, but it actually fits ell cause they rap about what they serve us to eat.

"Tell me what you want to eat and I'll get the order."

"Could you get me a grilled cheese sandwich?"

"Okay! I'll be right back." I say as I move towards the counter where the orders are supposed to be placed.

"A grilled cheese sandwich and a half plate of shrimp fried rice." I tell the lady standing behind the counter with a tag saying 'Elena', taking down the order.

"Welcome to this place,

Take a seat next to the vase,

I would love getting you some fried rice

I'll put in some shrimps and cook them nice,

You might be standing, feeling pain in your knees,

So, don't you worry, I'll also bring you, your grilled cheese!"

"Um.. Thank you?" I reply as I smile at her and get back to my seat. That was weird, but why did I like it so much that I want to hear it again?

"Listen, I know what would make you feel even better than you already are!"

"What?"

"A joke!"

"No, please don't do that to my ears. I already heard you talk all kinds of nonsense on the way in the car!"

"What did Vincent say when he lost his van in the parking lot?"

"There's still time to stop this natural calamity. You can still make it right, Oliv!"

"Where did my Van Gogh?" She says as she starts laughing.

"Good! Make a joke and the, laugh all by yourself."

"Hahahahahaaaaa...*wipes a tear* Gosh! I am so alone."

"I can see a reason why you're alone 'hint-hint'!"

"Your order." The same lady says as she places our food on the table. I take a spoonful of my shrimp fried rice.

"What are you eating?" Olivia asks me as she take a big munch of her sandwitch.

"Shrimp fried rice."

"Are you saying that a shrimp fried your rice?"

"Okay! Now, that was the worst joke I have ever heard come out of your mouth!" I say as I laugh at her. We both took a bite from each other's dishes and went back to the car to drive our way home after eating.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" I say as I get out of the car and wave her goodbye. Then, I look at my watch, it's 9:30 pm. I have to prepare dinner for mom. She must be tired as hell which is why I walk to the threshold of my house and take out my keys to unlock the door. I enter my home and toss my jacket onto the chair aligned with the table besid ethe kitchen. I walk in the kitchen and look for leftover. There is half-cooked spaghetti and meatballs in the refrigerator. I take them out to cook them well for dinner.

"How could she even think she got diarrhea from the perfectly steamed dumplings at Ching & Lee's Eatery? Didn't it ever occur to her that it might be her spaghett and meatballs which are always cold?" I sigh.

Cooking them took an approximate time of 20 minutes, so I'd like to hange my statement, that is, they were not at all cooked.

"I'm home, Soph!" I hear my mom yell as the door shuts with a bang.

"Mom!" I exclaim with excitement as I rush towards her to hug her.

"How was your day?" She asks me as she drops her bags on the floor itself.

"Um.."

"What is it?"

I don't know what to tell her. From where should I even start? From the part where I destroyed someone's car on my first day of work or from the part where I was asked, not the right word, forced to marry him as compensation?!  She already seems tense about the fact that she isn't getting a raise even after working 5 years at the same place. I just don't think that any time would be the right time to tell such a thing.

"My day went pretty good! I got a job at McQuick-Pick restaurant!"

"That's good! Your dad would have been so proud of you!"

"I would be more than happy if he would be proud of me! Anyway, it's late. You must be tired, you should get some sleep so that you can wake up on time for your job at Pizzarea."

"I should, shouldn't I?" She says as she walks upto her room to sleep.

God! I hate lying to her. I don't think I can go to sleep with all these thoughts running through my head.

*Next Day*

"Good morning, peaches!"

"Mom! Not right now. I am at the last level of Mario Kart!" I groan in my sleep.

"Tell Mario that he's drooling!" She says as she pulls off my blanket.

"Mom!" I whine as get up to take my blanket back.

"Your breakfast is in the kitchen. I have to go in early at Pizzarea. Mr. Geller needs me for some work at this moment. I'll be leaving in a few."

"Okay." I say in a willing tone. However, I am not willing at all. I walk towards the kitchen slab hoping there would be chocolate pancakes.

"Yay! Chocolate pancakes! Your guess is on fire, Sophia!"

"Like them?" My mother asks as she smiles at me.

"Where's the chilli sauce?"

"You're going eat chocolate pancakes with chilli sauce?" She asks as if she thought that I had changed my childhood habit.

"Don't judge me, mother! I'm way too sleep deprived to deal with your criticism right now!" I say as I take a seat with my plate at the table.

"There's the smile! I'll hand the chilli sauce to you."

"Here you go!" She adds as she gives me the jar of chilli sauce.

"Thank you!"

*bell rings*

Mom walks over to the door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Harper!" A man says as she opens the door. That's a familiar voice. I think I might have heard it recently.

"Good morning!" She replies.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She adds.

"I'M ALDRIN DAVIS."

____________________________________

I'm so sorry that this update took such a long time...

I was listening to Heaven - Julia Michaels on repeat and I can't believe that I heard 'but bad boys go hell then take you' instead of 'bad boys bring heaven to you'. However, it kinda shows that I'm not that stupid, I just have a different perspective of looking at things.

I hope you liked this chapter.

If you did, give it a big, fat like and comment what you thought about it!!!

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