"Look, Mummy, look!" Andy laughed at the tickle from the flock of birds swarming to the breadcrumbs in his outstretched hand.
Ariel steadied her phone to take a picture of the amusing pose and giggled at his demise when some of the birds began to pick on his hair to find crumbs. She breathed in the fresh open air as the leaves wafted down onto the ground. The sight of trees and the lake in the park was a welcoming getaway from the cramp and miserable flat.
"I wish every day is like this, with all the nature and the bright sky and happy birds. I hate the miserable house that we live in," said Andy as he dusted himself after all the birds flew away from his body.
"Just for a while Andy, just for a while," she neatened his hair with her fingers and stroked his hair. "Once I save enough, I'll find a better place for us to stay, alright?"
Passing them was a happy family of a mother and father swinging their infant son hand in hand, giggling and kissing their son in a warm embrace.
Andy's eyes never left that family as they continued walking, "Mummy, who's my daddy? What's his name and where is he?"
Ariel sucked in her breath deeply. It was not the first time he asked such questions. She prayed hard that he would never ask again. But at this age, Andy was beginning to question even deeper and it was clearly affecting him in complicated ways as he got older.
"Andy, as I've always told you, I'll explain when you're much older," Ariel said slowly.
"But I'm older now and I can understand. Why not just tell me now?"
The look of despair in her son's eyes tore Ariel inside.
"Oh, Andy," Ariel placed her hands on his shoulders, "I promise I'll tell you everything when the right time comes and -"
"Then when is the right time?" he got impatient and frustrated.
Ariel looked at him in the eye and stroked his head. She cleared her throat with a cough and continued, "Well, the right time will be when -"
The ringing of her phone cut off their conversation. Ariel answered the call, relieved that the interruption came at the right time.
"Hey Camil, what's up?"
"Miss Beautiful! We need you back in the flat RIGHT THIS MINUTE! Something super important just cropped up at your place!" Camila sounded urgent.
"And what's that?" Ariel furrowed her brows with deep concern. "Is everything fine?" She began to worry, imagining possibilities that their landlady was unhappy or if the house was on fire.
"No time to explain! You better return now, and yes it's very urgent!"
"Alright, on my way now!" Ariel hung up and rushed with Andy to their bicycles.
"What's going on, Mummy? We've only been in the park for half an hour."
"I do not know, darling. But all I know it's that it's something urgent, very urgent!" Ariel sounded anxious, praying hard that it would not be another catastrophe.
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"That's it? So I rushed back here, all for NOTHING?" Ariel seethed after hearing the explanation from Camila.
"Relax, Miss Beautiful," Camila gave a cheeky smile as Ariel tried to retain her anger.
"Ariel, she's right. This is a chance of a lifetime. Better to try than not to try at all," said Rita.
"Oh my word! You guys know I can never win this. Besides, who's this Leon Waltz anyway? How come I've never heard of him? Have you guys?" Ariel threw her hands up, flashing killer eyes at her friends.
YOU ARE READING
365 Days with the Celebrity
RomanceAriel Lee has been stuck for years in a dead-end job as an assistant chef. Struggling to meet ends meet in a life of poverty while raising her young son whose father left them for another woman, their lives would soon change when she narrowly won a...
