General p.o.v.
She hadn't eaten at all as the unease filled her stomach, leaving her
mother quite anxious but mostly sad.
Honestly, Louisa couldn't ignore the jabs of hurt and pain from
advertising on her face when she saw Mr Hunter prepare and leave for
work early this morning.
At some point of trying to eat breakfast, her eyes pricked with tears on
the embarrassment she would face when she goes to school with Edward
driving her once again.
Immediately, her food was discarded because Cheryn noticed it wasn't
going to be touched.
Her mother sat across her and slowly yet sadly ate her cereal while
she watched Louisa with fear in her eyes.
To be truthful, she had never seen her active and brave daughter so
downcast and broken to the point of seeing it clearly through her
glistening eyeballs.
She couldn't help but think of worst scenario cases which could have
led up to that.
Louisa too observed her mother but had unusually nothing to say to
her.
Even if she wanted to speak her mind was only going to ask one
question.
Why did my daddy leave me?
And that's why she never asked, because she felt the answer she would
receive would be far worse than anything she was about to face in
school.
Not long after, she was hurdled up in the passenger seat of a red Audi
with Edward taking position to drive.
" Baby please talk to me soon okay?" Her mother cooed into her ear
through the opened car window and kissed her softly on her forehead.
Louisa only responded with a nod and braced herself for one of the worst
days of her life.
Edward revved the car engine and bade a hearty goodbye to Iris then
ensured to get Louisa to school safely, like he normally did before they
took off.
Before today, Edwards gesture made her feel special. It made her feel
like she was loved and her safety mattered to everyone.
But now that she looks at it from another perspective, it's a biting
fact that her father had never for once called to know if she was safe.
At a point in her life she assumed he was dead and her mother didn't
want to tell her but she could remember a night months ago when her
mother assumed her to be asleep and said a few words that gave her a
second thought about his whereabouts.
I can't believe your father's pretending like he's the best person to
ever exist.
Her mother had been playing with her hair and she felt her mother's
gaze on her the night she said those words.
They were watching the news that night and then a party came up.
Louisa was actually interested from the beginning but the fact that
she had no idea about who was who and there was no splash of color, only
purple in every corner detached the little girls interest.
As she laid her head on her mother's lap and tried falling asleep was
when her mother whispered those words.
She wasn't supposed to hear them.
But she did.
Louisa only knew then that her daddy was alive and was at the party and
probably their parents weren't on best of terms.
But she never knew who he was.
Even if her parents had had a disagreement, she has known her mother
to be a lady of forgiving nature so she couldn't have held anger for so
long.
The car ride to the school suddenly became longer than usual and
Louisa turned to look out the window.
" Sweetheart you look so down. Are you okay?" Edwards concerned voice
reached her ears.
She wanted to reply with a yes, but her voice failed her so she opted
for a nod instead.
She didn't care if he saw her response or not as she was still
regarding the outside world but it seems like he got the message that
she wasn't willing to engage in a conversation.
She willed herself to stay strong when she gets to school and no
matter what was said, she would carry her shoulder high.
But her words of encouragement to herself did nothing because she found
herself crying once more.
Meanwhile...
Hunter was on the highway to the four seasons and he had never felt
so bothered in his life.
Surprisingly it wasn't anticipation for the meeting that was killing
him but rather something so little.
A little girl who needed his help and he let her down.
It wasn't his fault. If he was told earlier he might have been able to
solve both issues easier but he wasn't informed on time.
Hunter was a very calculated man and he makes his plans strategically
so he could accomplish all he had, so when Louisa piped up something
that hadn't been in his schedule, he couldn't just see himself fitting
it in.
He ran his hand through his hair and immediately regretted it because
gel stained his five fingers and palm.
He groaned out loud in frustration and tried using his left hand to
control his steering while his stained hand went for the pigeonhole to
search for any stray serviettes.
To his luck, there were and he wiped his fingers clean.
That only served as a distraction for a few seconds before his
thoughts drifted back to Louisa.
Louisa.
The look of defeat in her eyes when she saw him leave this morning was
haunting him to this moment.
He didn't intend to hurt the girl or leave her stranded.
He only hoped she would understand and forgive him.
Infact he hoped he could forgive himself.
He had gotten fond of the little girl and seeing her cry was a sight he
never wanted to see again.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed a car so
dangerously close to him but he swerved away quite quickly and just in
time to save his head.
He sighed and blinked twice before glancing at the clock.
6:49am
He still had time to make it for the meeting. His conscience wasting no
time in judging him.
You could have dropped her off then come for the meeting.
It wasn't possible. Time wasn't on his side and he wasn't a fan of late
coming either.
He tried to brush every thought of guilt in his head with excuses but
with each excuse came up another reason.
He started to imagine Louisa getting laughed at in school because she
lied about who her father was when she had never set eyes on him.
He imagined the fingers pointing, all sixteen sets of teeth from
children bared, all those who might go to the extent of shoving her and
calling her name's because of her falsification.
And Louisa would be crying.
He couldn't take his mind anymore.
Within the next couple of seconds he picked up his phone and knew
exactly who he wanted to call.