After I had taken Zoe to her bedroom, I spoke to my mom to be very conscious of Zoe's whereabouts. She thought I was overreacting, besides, there was no way to prove anything to her except from the picture I had. So, I just ensured she knew I was very serious about Zoe's safety. Zoe mostly spent a lot of time with Julia since I was mostly absent because of my job.
That night went by in a flash.
On my way to work, I dropped Zoe at her school and gave her teacher her lunch box. We hugged before I left and took a cab to Mr Lawson's residence. I spent most of that day with Sheila in the kitchen. Mr. Lawson had locked himself in his bedroom and hadn't requested my presence until in the afternoon.
I adjusted on my chair for the tenth time that afternoon, feeling Mr Lawson's watchful eyes spearing my skin. Wasn't he supposed to be reading his book so why was he looking at me?
He had called me to his study room to get a book from his shelf and had told me to stay with him in case he needed to get another book from the shelves. I leaned on my chair and tried to focus my attention on the floor, staring at the fabulous decorative patterns of the rug.
"Annie!"
I looked up. "Yes?"
His sexy gray eyes met mine. "Stop making noise with your feet," he grumbled. He flipped his book and continued reading in tedious and dreadful silence.
I held my legs, I had a habit of tapping my legs when I was uncomfortable or bored. I tried my best to stop moving my legs.
"Sorry."
Still reading his book, he snorted. "Don't say that when you don't even mean it."
Fortunately, he closed his book. I stood up, feeling glad that I wouldn't have to endure the boredom anymore. But my excitement drained when he moved to the stereo and played very slow music. I sighed as I plopped down on my chair, this would be a very long boring day!
"Annie!"
"Yes?"
"Quit sighing," he complained, "it's irritating."
I sighed. "Okay."
He glared at me and I immediately slapped my mouth, stopping another sigh from surfacing.
"I promise, I will stop," I said.
After a while, I started liking the music he was playing. I nodded my head to the song and stared at the roof.
"Annie!"
Oh my fish! What have I done this time?!
"Yes?!"
He narrowed his brows as he looked at me, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Stop humming," he drawled. "Your voice is so horrible that I can't even concentrate." After speaking his mind, he increased the volume of his music and continued reading his book.
I glared and threw a distant punch at him. How can he describe my drop-dead amazing voice as horrible? In case he didn't know I was one of the best vocalists in my church!
I quickly dropped my raised hands when he looked up. I gave him a tight smile. "I will stop humming," I said sweetly.
He shook his head and continued reading. "I saw what you did."
I tilted my head and pouted, acting not guilty. "I did something? What did I do?"
Instantly, he dropped the book aggressively on his desk. "Annie, are you trying to distract me?"
I sat up straight and waved my two hands. "No! Um… I will try to be more quiet!"
He sighed. "Yes, try and learn how to do that."
He picked up the closed book and continued reading from where he stopped. He was so concentrated on the book that I wondered what he was reading.
Could it be a business magazine? Or motivational books?
Well he didn't look like someone who needed any sort of motivation. I stretched my neck trying to peep at the book cover. I only saw black ink and a feather painted on the cover of the book. He dropped the book just when I was about to read its title. I met his gray eyes looking at me. Immediately, I sat up and looked elsewhere, acting like I was looking around.
My eyes caught an orange electronic hand fan on a stand beside a bookshelf. I pointed at the hand fan. "Is that a new model?"
"I'm sure that isn't what you want to ask me," he stated.
"Yes you are right. Em… can I...um mm…don't worry," I hesitated "Never mind, I'm okay just sitting here doing absolutely nothing." That was a huge lie, I wasn't okay just sitting there with a nagging boss. I wanted to go and hang out with Sheila or maybe also read a book like he was doing.
He lowered his book and chuckled. "You are really bad at lying, what do you want?"
"Um… can I read a book from your shelves?"
"Oh my!" He breathed. "After all my curiosity, that's what you wanted to ask me?"
Immediately, my smile dropped. "Does that mean I can't?"
"You can."
Yes!
Excited, I stood up and almost ran to the shelves. I brushed my hand along the multiple books searching for any one that caught my attention. My hands froze when I touched a book. I paused not because of the fact that the title sounded too interesting or because the cover was attractive, but because of the writer's name that was at the side of the book.
I blinked twice, my heart beating very fast as I took it out of the shelf. The Law. Why does that pen name sound familiar? It was written by Mr Lawson? I studied it in my hand.
I checked the title, Awaken.
Suddenly, I remembered, I've read this book before. Rick had given me to read. The thought of Rick made my heart sink. Even after all these years, I still missed him.
I flipped through it and walked to Mr Lawson's desk. I showed it to him. "Mr. Lawson, is this your first pen
name?"
He looked at him, his facial expression revealing nothing. He sighed and took the book from my hand.
He looked at it like he hadn't seen it for a long time. He finally dropped it and rapped his fingers on it. "Yes, I was once a writer."
"Why did you stop writing?" I inquired. "I've read this book before. I can't deny it, it's incredible and your writing style is just out of this world!"
He smiled. "I'm flattered."
"Seriously, why do you stop writing?"
He dropped the book he was reading and stared at the window, looking deep in thought. "It's a long story."
He didn't want to tell me anything about his writing career so I didn't persuade him any further.
Instead, I asked, "can I read your other books?"
He shrugged. "You might have a chance If you stick around for long."
I pouted.
I really wanted to read the sequel to Awaken, I had been searching the bookstores for it.
"Pinky please?"
"No!" He groaned. "Now leave me alone." With that being said, he picked up his book once again and continued reading.