Imperfect Desires

326 Turn Your Back On Me

The next moment when Ah-Si looked over towards Yan Ying, he couldn't find his entourage in sight. Only Yan Ying was the one walking towards him with her gentle smile as always.

"Ying Jie, where did everyone go?" asked Ah-Si baffled at the thought that he had been trying to get rid of those bodyguards for so long, and yet Ying didn't even take five minutes before succeeding.

"They are around, they just won't disturb you anymore," replied Ying as she stood before him.

"Thank goodness..."

Ying was poking the sides of the little baby girl in his arms as if trying to tickle her as she asked, "What brought you to the mall?"

"I wanted to buy some stuff for Ava... Clothes, toys, necessities.."

Ying bobbed her head up and down as she opened her arms as if inviting the little girl and to Ah-Si's surprise, Ava actually reciprocated her action and jumped into Ying's arms without any hesitation.

He knew how much his daughter avoided strangers. Just how could she so easily leave his side now?

However, while he was busy trying to wrap his mind around this new development, both the women before him were busy playing with the little girl who giggled and babbled in reply.

"How old is she?" asked Cali.

"Three," answered Ah-Si.

Cali frowned a little, "And she still didn't start talking?"

Ah-Si shook his head as his eyes dulled a bit. Seeing that Cali didn't look for any further answer as she suggested, "Let's do this little one's shopping first."

"Even if you didn't say it, I was gonna do exactly that," replied Ying as she kissed the little girl's head and cooed in a baby voice, "We're gonna buy Princess Ava's new clothes. Let's buy lots of toys as well. Okay? Baby like the idea?"

Little Ava in her arms only giggled adorably making her heart swell. Gosh! Would it be wrong if she said that she wanted to steal this baby girl?! She was so cute just how was she supposed to let her go?!

....

Fiery, juicy, greasy, and deliciously moist.

That was the only way Nora could describe the burger in her hands. To Jackie, she looked sloppy with juice dripping down her chin and even her hands were stained. To even his surprise, this was actually her second large burger since he didn't want to eat it, she went on to take his as well.

As he took a sip of his soda, he narrowed his eyes at his elder sister. "Nono, what's on your mind?"

Nora looked up at him and shook her head back and forth.

"I know my sister very well. You're neither a shopaholic nor are you a junk food lover." Nora lifted her eyes again to stare into his eyes in surprise as he went on, "You only insist on shopping when you're stressed. And you only crave this junk food when you're thoughts are all over the place."

Nora placed her half-eaten burger in the tray and took a napkin to wipe her mouth and hands. "How do you know this?"

Jackie showed her phone which he had taken while she was focused on eating to her saying, "I just asked Xiu about your weird behavior. She said something is bothering you and that's why you brought me out to distract yourself."

Nora chuckled slightly, "My best friend is selling me out now."

"Nono, can't you share it with me?"

"You're too young, little brother."

"Maybe I am young and won't be of much help but you should know that your brother is always by your side."

Nora couldn't help but smile at him in gratitude. Those words really meant a lot to her. But could she really share everything with him? He was too young to get involved in her mess of a life.

"Forget it, Jackie. It's nothing much."

"Nono, is it about a guy?" Nora raised her brow at him as he continued, "Xiu always complain that you settle for only dirtbags as if you're punishing yourself for something. It's like you don't even believe that you deserve a better chance at love. None of your relationships in the past had been simple. In fact, each one was worse than the previous one." He reached out his hand to touch hers. "Are you again settling for another dirtbag?"

Nora ruffled his hair. "No. I'm not. Lose that scowl of yours, if you kept looking so concernedly as me how will I tease you for being the adopted one next time?"

"You're trying to change the topic which means you're definitely hiding something from me," spoke Jackie with certainty.

"Even if I tell you everything, you won't understand it."

"Why don't you try first? I'm smarter than you think. Don't just look at my size."

Nora smiled at him and replied, "I know you're smart but I don't want you to get involved in my life's mess. I have created it myself. I can't blame others."

"It's never too late to fix your life," said Jackie thoughtfully. "It's never too late to start living again as well. Instead of suffering alone, I hope you let someone in. The number of times that you hide your tears behind this silly behavior of yours is really unhealthy."

"That's something Xiu'er would say."

"Xiu is the one saying it," he again showed the chatbox to his sister who frowned. Even sitting miles away from her, this best friend of hers really knew what was going on with her. It was terrifying how Xiu could read her so well.

Nora finally stood up and said, "Okay. Tell me what you want to buy and I'll get it for you. I lost my interest in shopping for today."

Jackie grinned at her as he hopped off the chair and held her hand. "Follow me..."

Nora raised her brow at this little brother of hers who looked excited all of a sudden but followed him silently. When she finally looked at his destination, her face twitched. "Book store?" She looked down at her little brother, "What are we doing at a book store again?"

"I need to buy some books about marine life," answered Jackie as his eyes sparkled looking at the heaven filled with books.

"Just a month ago, you were interested in astronomy. And now, you want to learn about marine life? What exactly is wrong with you?"

"Knowledge is power. And it's never too much. A man's knowledge can be too little but never too much."

Nora sighed out before crouching down before him and holding his arms. "Jackie, why don't you try acting your age? Eh? I'll buy you those big remote control cars."

"Even if you buy me those remote control cars, I'm most definitely going to open them to study them in detail. There is no way I'd be playing."

"Urgh! I just want you to stop being cooped up in your room to study all the time. It's unhealthy as well!"

"Nono, you promised to buy me anything," reminded Jackie in a stern tone.

Nora could only give up as she nodded and said, "Fine, let's look for your books."

Even though Nora followed him inside, she wasn't paying attention to which books caught his eye. She aimlessly started wandering around the aisles to look for something that could catch her interest. She wasn't a fan of reading books but thinking that it might be a good distraction, she decided to look through the novel's section.

A book with red cover caught her eye and she lifted her hand to take it when another hand raised towards the same book. As Nora's fingers brushed slightly with the other hand, she felt electrocuted as she flinched back. She looked up to the person and her eyes widened to see him standing there with the same look of surprise and disbelief.

"Ah-Si..."

She softly called out his name and the latter just stared at her without a word. It was the last place he would expect to see Nora at. Her dislike for bookstores was known to everyone. Hearing his name from her mouth did things to his heart that he couldn't say in words.

He knew she had the ability to make him forget everything. The pain, the betrayal, or anything he felt because of her. But he wasn't willing to give her the chance. He had to hold his ground for his daughter. There was no way he was gonna fall into this trap again.

With this thought, Ah-Si turned around to leave but Nora's hand went on instinct to hold his as she pleaded, "Can you please not turn your back on me?"