Chapter 3: A glimpse
1408 Words
Seraphine, being paranoid about Seraphina’s appearance, headed towards the direction she had seen her go to but she found nothing. She was left feeling unsettled but decided to turn back. As she walked back, she spotted someone with silver hair.
Her breath hitched and she rushed forward. She shoved past people in her path ignoring their protests. She lunged forward and yanked the woman by the elbow, certain it was Seraphina.
To her utmost surprise, when the person turned, it was not Seraphina. It was someone else.
“I’m sorry can I help you?” The woman asked irritated.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she wasn’t who she was expecting. “I mistook you for someone else”.
The woman glared at her. “So you just go about grabbing people because you think they look familiar to you?”
“Didn’t you hear what I said just now? I said I—”
“What I expected you to do was apologize!”, the woman snapped.
“And if I don’t?”, she sneered.
“You’ve got some nerves. You are so rude, you know that”.
Soon, a man walked over to where they were, and slipped an arm around the woman’s waist. “Hey, honey what’s the problem? Come on, let's go”.
“Darling, this brat here grabbed me roughly and she has refused to apologize”.
Seraphine’s jaw dropped. “How dare you call me a brat? Do you know who I am?!”
The man who was calm decided to quell the exchange. “Honey, I’m sorry you got grabbed by this stranger with an ugly attitude. I’ve apologized on her behalf, can we go now?”
“Mmm…okay”, the woman replied.
“Did you just say I have an ugly attitude?”, Seraphine questioned the man.
But the man took his wife’s hand and walked out on her.
“You’re lucky I don’t know your names!”, she yelled behind them. “I’d have made sure you got banned from ever flying”.
Other passengers who didn’t know what had transpired earlier looked at her like she had gone bunkers. She got the hint of what their eyes were saying and quickly sat down to avoid being embarrassed further.
She felt relieved that the person she saw was not Seraphina. She couldn’t risk her cousin being in the same city with her.
Meanwhile, in another terminal, Anthony was walking towards the exit when he collided with someone and coffee poured on his crisp shirt.
“Don’t you look at where you are going?”, Colwill asked, glaring at the man holding the empty cup.
“I’m so sorry…it wasn’t deliberate”, he stammered.
Anthony clenched his jaws, clearly upset, but still asked his assistant to let it be. While he went to the washroom, Colwill hurriedly bought him a change of clothes at one of the airport’s boutiques and handed it to Anthony.
As they left the washroom, they saw a little girl up ahead in a bucket hat crying with her hamster backpack that bopped with each trembling step.
Anthony frowned. “What kind of irresponsible parents let their child wander alone in an airport?”
They approached the child. “Hey, kid”, Anthony called, squatting down to her level. “Why are you alone?”, he asked.
“I’m looking for my mommy and uncle. I can’t find them anymore”, the child replied through sobs.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them for you okay?” Then he lifted her up and carried her but Colwill quickly jumped in.
“Don’t worry, sir, let me handle it”, he said, prying the child from his arms. “I know you’re not good with children”.
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Um…n-no offense sir. You know you’re always working with computers so I…I just thought maybe…kids wouldn’t be your thing”.
Anthony shot him a glare. “Shut up, Colwill”.
“Yes, sir”. Then tuned his attention to the child. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Maternae”, she said sniffing.
“Ok, Maternae…let’s go find your mommy and daddy”.
“I don’t have a daddy, I only have my mommy”, she responded.
Colwill slapped his forehead. “Oh…right…let’s go look for mommy okay?”
She nodded. “Okay”.
Something inside Anthony twisted when the child mentioned she had no father. He grew up without a father too. He stayed quiet and walked behind them as Colwill made small talk with the child.
Suddenly, Maternae pointed ahead. “Look! There’s my mommy!”
While Colwill hurried towards the direction she pointed at, Anthony’s phone buzzed and he stopped to take the call. The caller at the other end was his secretary—calling to remind him of the meeting with the investors.
“I’ll be there soon. Keep them entertained”, he instructed.
When he looked up, he saw Colwill returning alone.
“Where’s the child?”, he asked.
“The child is now with the mother, sir”, Colwill responded.
“Good”.
“I would have giving her a piece of my mind for letting her child wander about without adult supervision. That was irresponsible of her”.
Colwill scratched the back of his head. “Well, sir…the woman didn’t seem to be irresponsible though.”
Anthony scoffed. “If she left her daughter to wander then she is”.
“Well, sir…she also told me to thank you for looking after her daughter”.
He brushed it off. “She should do better next time and not let the child wander off again. Come on…we’re already running late”.
“Yes sir. Let me go get the car”.
He nodded and stood, waiting for him to go get the car.
After Colwill had dropped Maternae with her mother, she scolded her.
Seraphina knelt in front of her crying. “Why did you run off, Maternae? Did you want to give me a heart attack?”
“I’m sorry, mommy I didn’t mean to”.
Seraphina’s chest tightened. She had been too harsh on her daughter just now so she pulled her close.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you just now. Mommy was just scared you might have gotten hurt. Do you forgive me?”
Maternae nodded and hugged her tight. “It’s okay, mommy, I won’t scare you like that again”.
“That’s my girl”.
Maternae looked at Mark. “I’m sorry for scaring you too, uncle”.
“No, don’t be sorry. It’s uncle’s fault for not looking after you properly. Come on”, he said, picking her up, “let’s get you and mommy both settled”.
Together, they wheeled their luggage out with the help of an airport staff.
When they reached the curb, Mark set Maternae down so he could offload their luggage into his trunk.
Suddenly, Maternae tugged at her mother’s skirt. “Mommy, look! That’s the other Uncle who helped me earlier”.
Seraphina followed her finger but only caught a fleeting glimpse of a man’s profile as he quickly slipped into a tinted SUV.
“He’s leaving, mommy!”, Maternae cried. “That’s him!”
Her hopes heightened when the car rolled forward in their direction “He’s driving towards us, mommy. I think he’s seen us”, she beamed.
The SUV slowed, but instead of stopping, it glided past. Seraphina waved her hand frantically at the moving car hoping it would stop so she could thank the other man properly.
Colwill saw someone waving. He squinted and saw it was Maternae’s mother. “Oh, Mr. Anthony, that’s the child’s mother behind. I think she’s waving at us to thank us again. Do you think I should stop?”
“We’re running late. Keep driving”, Anthony said curtly.
“You should really meet her, sir. She seemed so homely and polite”, Colwill pressed.
Out of curiosity though, Anthony glanced back and did see a woman waving—and she was silver-haired.
In that instant, something within him stirred.
- Writer
