Chapter 44 - Almost
Chapter 44 – Almost
Hearing her name was called had instantly stopped Anne from reaching several fashion magazines in front of her. Her heart beat faster when she managed to recognize the voice that was calling her from behind. However, when she was about to turn around, suddenly there was a sound of crying from a small child, who had also come from behind her, which made her not turn around.
"Hu hwaa hwaaaa …"
"Lili, why are you crying, Honey?" asked a beautiful woman worriedly to a 10 year old girl who was standing right behind Jack.
"My sketchbook is stepped on by this uncle, mom, look, it's dirty," replied the little girl named Lili loudly, pointing to the drawing book under Jack's feet.
"Excuse me, sir, can you please lift your feet. You have stepped on my daughter's drawing book," said the mother of the small child named Lili, in a rising voice.
Hearing the lady's words asking Jack to lift his foot suddenly made him immediately lift his leg spontaneously. His face reddened when he saw the marks of his shoes on Lili's picture book.
"Sorry I accidentally stepped on it and …"
"Hwaaa hwaa Mommy, look at my drawing book. It's so dirty, mom," Lily cried even louder when she saw that the drawing book was dirty.
Seeing an opportunity, Anne instantly left the place as quickly as possible. She was now even more convinced that the man who previously called her name was Jack, the barista who had worked with her a few months ago. Anne tried to forget the pain by staying away from the people who had hurt her, as she didn't want to remember their evil deeds to her.
While people crowded the aisle in the bookstore because of Lili's loud crying, Anne had managed to get out of the bookstore without buying anything. She decided to look for another bookstore, even though in fact the bookstore she had just visited was the biggest bookstore in London. She drove her car and left the bookstore.
"I hope we don't have to meet again, Jack. I don't want to remember your mean words back then again," said Anne quietly, as she drove her car to the highway.
Just when Anne's car came out of the bookstore parking area, Aaron entered the bookstore in a hurry. He was curious why Jack did not come out of the bookstore. When entering the shop, Aaron was surprised by several people who were interrogating Jack harshly. Because Aaron felt sorry for Jack, who was being cornered, he finally intervened. He tried to explain what had happened to the other visitors after seeing the CCTV footage. In fact, Jack had said from the start that he accidentally stepped on the picture book of the little girl.
However, due to the large number of people in the shop, some of the other visitors became emotional, including Lily's father, who didn't know anything because he had just come to the bookstore and was surprised to see his daughter crying while blaming Jack. He even wanted to take the law into his own hands with Jack, until finally Aaron came with CCTV evidence which showed the truth that Jack accidentally stepped on Lili's picture book on the floor.
After seeing the CCTV footage, Lily's father and the other visitors who tried to judge Jack finally apologized to him one by one. Even the bookstore manager also personally apologized for making him uncomfortable.
"We're sorry sir, we're really careless for not checking the CCTV footage first," said the bookstore manager apologetically to Jack.
"It's ok, I don't mind it, it's just that I hope you can educate the parents of every child who comes to this bookstore to look after their children properly. They shouldn't be busy on their own cell phones, and leave their children and their belongings unattended, until other people were harmed because of their carelessness," Jack replied quickly while glancing sharply at the mother of the child named Lili, who did not pay attention to Lili from the start because she was busy playing on her cellphone.
"Sorry, sir, I'm really guilty for not taking good care of Lili, that she had to trouble you like this," said Kimmy, who was Lili's mother regretfully.
"I also apologize, sir, for speaking harshly to you before. I promise to pay attention to my wife and children again in a public place like this," added Felix, who was Kimmy's husband, hoarsely.
Jack was silent at the apologies of the parents of the little girl who was crying because her picture book was accidentally stepped on by him. Slowly Jack knelt in front of Lili, who was sitting in a small chair, looking at him with fear, after hearing the screams of people who blamed their two careless parents.
"Your name is Lili?" Jack asked softly to Lili.
"Yes, Uncle, sorry, Uncle, forgive Mommy and Daddy, Uncle. Don't bring Mommy and Daddy to the police station, Uncle hikss …" Lily burst into tears when Jack began to speak.
"Hey beautiful girl, why do you cry? I'm not angry with your parents. I'm only giving advice to them to be better at taking care of you. No one is taking them to the police station. So you just calm down and don't cry anymore, okay?," Jack said slowly as he grabbed Lili and carried her to calm her.
"Is it true that Uncle will not bring Mommy and Daddy to the police station?" asked Lili again.
"Of course not, so what book do you want to buy? Uncle will buy it for you," Jack replied with a smile.
Hearing Jack's words made Lili laugh out loud. She was very happy when she was allowed to buy whatever books she wanted. Shortly afterwards, Jack and Lili were seen circling the children's section. Lili pointed at many coloring books and drawing equipments. Because Lili no longer wanted to choose anything else, Jack finally went to the cashier and paid for the items chosen by Lili with pleasure. Both of Lili's parents felt very embarrassed and uncomfortable with Jack, because they had scolded Jack for no reason before. And now the man was buying their child lots of coloring books and drawing equipment.
When he bought things for Lili, Jek finally realized that the girl he was looking for was no longer in the bookstore. Not long after, he finally left the shop a little disappointed because he couldn't find Anne, even though he was very sure that the girl must be Anne.
"You deserve to be a father, Jack," Aaron said softly teasing Jack as they both walked out of the bookstore.
"Don't be crazy, I really don't like children, Aaron. I acted like that because I wanted to give his parents a subtle insinuation," Jack replied quickly.
Aaron laughed at the words of the businessman from Switzerland. He actually knew that Jackson Patrick Muller was a man who didn't like marriage as much as himself. But he deliberately said that just to tease him. The two of them finally decided to move to another cafe that was quieter to continue their conversation.
"Sooner or later I will definitely find your hiding place, Anne," Jack said to himself, as he drove his car following Aaron's car to the cafe they were going to.
To be continued.