Chapter 3

"I can't believe he did that again." She gasped.  Ana and Emilyn are having lunch near her office. Ana begged Emilyn to tell her what happen yesterday again.

"Ana, I told you last night on the phone. So why are you still asking me?" Emilyn groans and mentally facepalm.

"I know, but you didn't give me the whole detail." She sipped on her drink. "So, how's the shirt cleaning going on?" She raises her eyebrow and smirk.

"I got most of the stain out; I need a little more scrub and rinse. After that is shipped back to the owner and never will be seen ever again." Emilyn dust away from the non-existent dust on her hand.

"Wait!" Ana suddenly pulls Emilyn's arm towards her. "Where's the number?" Pulling up her sleepers, she twists her right arm to the back.

"Is this arm." Emilyn showed her left arm. "Thank god the ink is washing out. I can't keep hiding it under my long sleeve. Is too hot to wear long sleeves."

"Are you crazy?!" Ana smacked Emilyn's arm. Emilyn winced and quickly pulled her arm back, rubbing the spot where she hit it. "How are you going to call him?" She asked

"I'm not stupid. I've already saved it on my phone." Emilyn answer. "Even though I don't want to," She mumbles. "Why are you so worried?" Emilyn tilted her head and scrunched her eyebrow. "You are not cleaning his shirts."

"Don't look at it in such a bad thing." She said. "He could be your future soul mate." She teases and wiggles her eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me? That rude jerk." Emilyn scoffed, playing with the straw hanging from her drink. "No way, even if he is the last guy on earth. I would never date him."

"Come on, you didn't want to go with us to the arena that night. But luckily you went, and he was there on that day too. So is fate. Plus, didn't you meet him at your office too." She smirks. "Fated." She clapped her hands and smiled.

"Ana, you are ridiculous." Emilyn shakes her head."This is not a storybook or a fairy tale. Where a rich, CEO, bad boy vibe jerk guy will be interested in a commoner like me." Emilyn said. "But if one day it happens, I'll give you a hundred dollars."

"Deal." She replies quickly.

Emilyn scrunch my eyebrow in confusion, "What?"

"You said it yourself; if it happens, you'll give me a hundred dollars."

"I say if, and it will definitely not happen. So what if it didn't happen?" Emilyn asked.  "Which I have a feeling that it will not happen. So I'm already winning." She smirks. "Would you like to pay a deposit first?" Emilyn put out her hand with her palm upwards, ready to receive her payment.

Ana rolled her eyes at Emilyn, "To tell you the truth, even if you don't want to accept it, I know I'm winning." Ana pointed her thumb at herself. "If you don't believe, I can see the future." Emilyn rolled her eyes at Ana; she doesn't believe that Ana could have such powers.

"So if you win, then I'll buy whatever you want to eat for a whole month," Ana said.

Emilyn's eyes lits up when she heard her favorite word, 'food'. "Deal." She immediately agrees. "But some rules have to be implemented," Emilyn told her.

"Seriously? Rules?" Ana whined. "You are no fun." She huff.

"If I don't make the rules, I don't what cunning business you are going to do behind my back." Emilyn narrowed her eyes at Ana. "I know you Anastasia Conner."

"Fine, bring on the rules." Ana sighed in defeat.

Emilyn smiles, "Number 1, you can't force it. Number 2, no stealing his phone number to set us up. And finally, do not stalk him or slide into his DMs."

She sulked, "Fine. "But, wait, how long should we bet on?"

"Hmm, how about within two months?"

"Okay." Ana agreed.

"If I found you broke the rules, there will be consequences," Emilyn warned. Ana nods her head. "Great, it will be the easiest bet ever." Emilyn knew she is going to win this bet easily."Prepare to have your money wasted on me. I better start making my list now."

"Careful what you say now; we won't know if one day something happen." Ana gave Emilyn an evil look, but what Emilyn don't know is that Ana is formatting a plan to get Emilyn and Christopher together.

***

"Emilyn, there's an upcoming project I want you to handle," Taylor said in the meeting. Emilyn eyes lit up when she heard. "Here are all the details." Taylor passes Emilyn a folder. "I'll need to be updated every week." Emilyn took the folder and nodded her head. "Alright, that's all for today,  meeting adjourned." Taylor got up from her seat and left the meeting room.

Everyone starts to get out of the room. "Congrats, Emilyn. You finally did it." Savannah turned her chair and patted Emilyn on the shoulder. "You always wanted to have your project for like a year," Savannah said with a smile. "Hey, if you need any help, just come and find me."

"Thanks, Sav," Emilyn said, collecting her stuff. She hugged the folder close to her chest and smiled. They both then head out of the room.

Back at Emilyn's desk, she opens the file to see what's her project about; before she can even open the flap of the file, her phone rang. "Hello,"

"Emilyn, I need you to pick up something for me." Grandma Lou said. "I'll send you the list."

"Sure," She answered and then hung up the phone. Immediately, a message was sent; she scrolled through the message and saw what her grandma needed. It is a long list of food. "Grandma." She sighs softly; I guess it is a trip to the grocery store.

After work, she took a taxi to the nearest grocery store. "I need 12 packs of pasta, sausages...." She read through the list as she walks down each grocery aisle. "Now, I need the tomato sauce in a can." Emilyn scanned the shelves and spotted the can is on the fifth tier of the shelf.

Emilyn isn't tall; she is only 5'3. The only way to get the can is to stand on her toes. While she is trying to grab the can, tiptoe, Emilyn felt tiny hands on her leg. She was shocked at that feeling and quickly looked down to find a little girl.

"Hey, sweetie." She crouches down to the little girl's height. "What are you doing here? Where are your parents?" She asked gently.

"I don't know." The little said with a teary eye.

"Did you run from them? How did you get here?" Emilyn kept asking, hoping that she could get some information from her to help.

"I-i was looking at the candy and saw a huge gummy bear, so I ran towards it." She explains. "It was so big." She said, getting sidetracked. "It is so huge that I want to hug it." She smiles brightly.

"Hey, you are not telling me where you saw your parents last?" Emilyn asked again.

"Uhmm...I saw mummy and daddy." She cocked her head to the side to think. "I think they were in the snacks area."

"Come on, let's go and find your parents." Emilyn stood up and held out a hand for her to take.

They walk out of the aisle to the snacks aisle, "Stop!" The little girl shouted; she let go of Emilyn's hand; Emilyn found that the little girl ran across to a shelf and picked up something. "This is the bear I want." She pulls it out from the shelf, and the bear hits the floor.

"Hey, don't run off like that," Emilyn ran towards the little girl. "You have to tell me first if you want to go somewhere. What if you got lost again." Emilyn said softly, hoping that the little girl did not think she is scolding her.

"I'm sorry." She looked down at the floor.

"Is okay." Emilyn gave her a soft smile. "I forgot to ask you what do your parents look like?" Emilyn crouches down to her height again to hear better.

"Erm..." She puts her finger on her chin and pout, thinking. "My daddy is tall and has blue eyes like me. My mummy is blonde and has brown eyes." She said." This is not helping at all. Not much description; there are a lot of people who look like that.

Like a light bulb, turn on in Emilyn's brains. She still doesn't know what this little girl's name is. How forgetful can she be? She can't keep calling her- Hey or little girl. "Can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Lucy, and I am 3." She gave a toothy smile and showed Emilyn two fingers. Emilyn laughed when she showed her two fingers instead of three. "Lady, may I know what's your name?"

"I'm Emilyn."

"Em..lee?" Lucy tries to pronounce Emilyn's name.

"You can call me Em," Emilyn suggest.

"Em." She tested out. "Em, you are pretty."

"Thanks, Come on, let's find your parents." Emilyn stood up and picked up the bear. "Can I carry it?" Lucy asked.

"Can you carry it? Is a little heavy." Emilyn asked, but with no hesitation, Lucy nods her head

"Okay." Emilyn passes the giant gummy bear in her hand, and she can hug it with one hand, very impressive. Emilyn gave her hands out for Lucy to hold. They walk to the snacks aisle, but no parents. So, then they decide to try a different aisle to check for her parents.

"Mummy!" She suddenly shouted and let go of Emilyn's hand.

"Lucy. Thank god we found you." Her mum said, and Lucy fell into her. Emilyn walks towards them; Lucy's mum looks up and saw Emilyn standing in front of them. "Thank you for bringing her back to us."

Emilyn gave a small smile, "you're welcome."

"Daddy." She shouted as her dad hugged her.

"Thank you." He said to Emilyn before putting his attention towards his daughter. "Where did you go?" Lucy's dad scolds her.

Lucy tears up, "I just saw this giant gummy bear, and I want it." Then, she hiccup, trying to hold up the gummy bear to show her dad.

"I told you so many times. Do not run off without letting us know." Lucy's dad scolds her scolds, tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry that she cause so much trouble." Her dad apologises to Emilyn.

"Is fine. She just got excited."

"Em," Lucy tucked on Emilyn's jeans. Emilyn crouches down to hear what she's going to tell her. "Tell daddy that I'm sorry." She cried.

"Lucy, come here." He said. Lucy shakes her head, places her head on Emilyn's chest, and Lucy's small arms wrap around her neck. Her dad sighed.

"Lucy." Emilyn pulls her out of her chest. "Your daddy knows you are sorry. Just promise me that you'll never wander off by yourself again." Emilyn lightly wipes her tears with the pad of her thumb. Lucy nods her head. "Now go to your daddy." Emilyn lightly pushes Lucy towards her dad; once Lucy is near her dad, she ran into his arms.

"Thank you for doing this, Ms...?" Lucy's dad asked, carrying Lucy in his arms.

"Is Emilyn,"

"Thank you, Emilyn." He said again for the final time before he left with his wife and daughter in his arms. Emilyn watches as Lucy's dad carries her and, with his wife right next to him, walk into the distance.

This makes her think about what could happen if her parents were alive. Would her dad carry her as Lucy's dad did? Will they have fun together? Emilyn always wonders what it is like to have parents. A small tear escapes and trickles down her cheeks; she quickly wipes the tear away and keeps shopping for her grandma.

Authors Note:

Hey, hey, I'm back. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Please vote and comment on anything. I would read or reply if needed. Any feedback will be much appreciated. But if things like mean comments, please post them somewhere else. Thank you.😊❤💖