Second Chance

Chapter 3

Tyson tapped his fingers on the table. He felt so out of place. He had just landed a few hours ago and now dia duduk di Secret Recipe with his ex-girlfriend and her daughter. His daughter. He had a daughter for goodness sake.

Si Eva lap tu mulut anak dia and stilled herself. She didn't know where to start. One thing for sure, she now understood makna mimpi dia semalam. It was a sign. A sign telling her Tyson was back.

"Mungkin kita bole tetapkan some kind of arrangement while you're here?", she managed to say. Dia tau yang Ty won't be here long. He had a busy rugby career.

Keci suda si Ty nampak muka si Eva. So dia mau atur some kind of arrangement terus? Apa dia fikir dia bole get away without explaining anything to him first?
Like why she kept Sugar Belle's existence from him? What kind of man did she think he was. Man he was a brat six years ago. He was an arrogant and selfish bast*rd, but he wouldn't abandon his own flesh and blood.

Bila si Ty tida membalas, Eva looked at him. He was looking at Sugar Belle. His expression blank. She sighed and looked at her daughter devouring the second piece of cake. This was the moment that she feared all these years. The moment Tyson found out about his daughter.

There were a lot of reasons why she kept Sugar Belle's existence dari si Ty. But they were all motivated by her fear that Ty would abandon her at some point. And that Sugar Belle akan grow up knowing she had a dad tapi bapa dia tu selalu kasi tinggal dia.

She knew Tyson well. She practically grew up seeing him for he was Jane's older brother. He was the famous guy in school, captain of the school rugby team. While she was the timid geek girl with a broken family. Things changed one day when she had enough of her father's abuse. Dia lari dari ruma. Jane was kind enough to help out.

She remembered the day first time dia di rumah dorang. Her whole body was covered with bruises. Her eyes were swollen and her mouth was bleeding. She was sitting on the couch in the living room when Tyson saw her. The embarrasment she felt was unimaginable. She broke into sobs, feeling sorry for herself. Embarrassed that Tyson would see her at the worst point of her life. Embarrassed that she had to resort to seeking help from Jane sebab dia betul betul tida tau mau minta tolong sama siapa lagi. She had nobody and she thought she was dying.

She shook her head. Getting a little nostalgic there. She looked at him again. He was still watching at Sugar Belle munching her cake. His expression had soften a little. She still couldn't read him but he didn't look as blank as he was a minute ago. Kalau fikir betul betul, she couldn't blame him for his reaction. Siapa la tida terkejut kan bila tau dia ada anak tiba tiba. Dia tida tau macamana benda ni akan end up, tapi Ty ada di sini sekarang. And he knew about Sugar Belle's existence. Mau tida mau, they had to come up with something untuk settle perkara ni.

"So macam ni l-", she was cut mid-sentence when he suddenly said,

"Can I come and visit her?",he was looking at her now. Dorang bertentang mata for a second or two sebelum Eva alihkan pandangan dia to Sugar Belle who was now sitting menyandar di belakang kerusi sambil usap usap belly dia. Looking into his eyes felt weird now.

"Well, I was about to suggest that actually", she said truthfully. Memang itu yang dia fikir.
"So how long are you staying?"

That wasn't hard. Eva was being easy. Was it because of guilt that she was being nice?

"Saya stay sini sebulan", Ty answered. He watched the mom and daughter together.

"Mommy I am full", Sugar Belle said, masi lagi tunduk. For a talkative girl sebelum ni, she had become a bit shy. Not shy tapi withdrawn.

"Enough cake for today kio", si Eva lap mulut anak dia. Palan palan si Sugar Belle angkat kepala dia and looked at Ty.

"Why are you mad at mommy?", she said.

Eva and Ty looked at each other. Now he felt bad. He must have had left a bad impression of himself because of the parking lot incident.

"Sugar Honey-", belum lagi si Eva habis becakap, Sugar Belle menyampuk. "I want him to answer mommy"

Wow the ball in this little lady. Eva was dumbfounded. Tyson coudn't help but let a little laugh seeing Eva's shocked and a little hurt face. He was being interrogated by a little girl with pink cheeks and cake icing on her hair.

"Sugar Belle-", he tried to say.

"It's Annabelle", Sugar Belle menyampuk. Eva let a weak sigh. Mula suda ni anak dengan perangai bossy dia.

"Annabelle", he tried again, "I think we might have started off on a wrong foot"

Sugar Belle crossed her arms. Refusing to feel intimidated walaupun dia tida faham apa tu wrong foot. She had the right foot pun. Her mom geleng kepala saja.

"I am not mad at your mom", he lied but if that was what it takes to win his daughter, he would lie and lie until she trusted him. Which was ironic, but what else could he do in this situation?

"Look..Annabelle. Me and your mom..", dia tengok si Eva, "We hadn't seen each other for a long time. To be honest with you kid, I didn't know how to react when I found out about...", Ty stopped. Dia tida tau macamana mau cakap yang he was her dad, walaupun dia rasa Sugarbelle understood a little about the situation.

Sugar Belle looked into his eyes. Earnestly trying to understand what he was saying. She knew this person was her father. Walaupun mommy tida pernah cakap pasal her dad, dia tau it takes two tango. Whatever that means. She knew that babies weren't brought by storks to their mommies like her friends were saying.

"I don't want you to talk to her like that again", she said and looked down again. Main main sama dia punya ruffle skirt.

For a little girl, Ty terkejut Sugar Belle could express herself this way. He didn't know a lot about small children, but he was sure most children her age would only keep quiet in this kind of situation. Dia sangat impressed even. His daughter was really expressive.

"I promise I won't honey", he managed a little smile.

Eva looked at Ty. She knew there were things they should only discuss by themselves tapi nanti dulu la. Yang penting Sugar Belle tenang suda.

"He can some to the party mommy", si Sugar Belle tugged at her hand. Ty tengok dia with a questioning look.

"Arr...", Eva terkedu sekejap. Sugar Belle was talking pasal dia punya birthday party this weekend, " ..sure he can"

"Umm you can come to the party Ty," she said.

"What party?", dia tanya.

Suddenly Sugar Belle punya muka berseri, " You're gonna love it!"

Eva just smiled weakly while Ty was still with his questioning look.