Homeless?
Luo Ruolan, who was just as shocked to hear the innocently carved words from the little angel, had sparkles in her eyes, a mix of sadness and something unwritten. She found it unable to dismiss and kept staring at particularly nothing, as if dazed. However, she was still sprawled onto the ground and as drenched as possible, with the man still holding out his umbrella.
Seeing how the strange woman wasn't even moving from the place, the man sighed and bent down. "You should get going too. It's getting late." However, he refrained from adding, What on Earth did you do to make Little Cherry call you her mother!?
And just with that, Luo Ruolan was brought back to reality as she kept her gaze fixed on the man who had seemingly bent down to meet her eye level. "Ah, yes, sorry...!" she quickly apologized and panicked. She didn't need random people worrying over her for God's sake!
Swiftly, she got to her feet and fixed the fabric of her outfit. She had been wearing an ivory white shirt, tucked inside a pair of beige colored trousers, which was now entirely covered in mud and soil. That was a playground after all, and not to mention the heavy rain. And oh, her shirt! The quality was definitely good, but the she had been in the rain for too long, that the front part of her shirt too had gotten transparent.
Good thing I'm not wearing anything weird inside... she thought, he memory shifting back to pair of sexy laced-underwear she had purchased under the pressure of constant nagging from one of her very few friends.
But anyways, she looked up at the man; she mustered up a small smile, the best she could after having a series of bad incidences, and uttered a soft, "thank you... I'll be off..." but it was only then when it stuck her... But wait!!! Where the hell am I supposed to go!!?
Obviously, she wasn't gonna go back to her husband's, since the divorce was finally dealt with, and going back to her parents place? No way! And a look of horror immediately made its way to her face as she started looking for alternatives in her head.
The man, however, let his gaze wander a little over the woman's soaked shirt and the transparency brought a frown to his face. "Are you going to go like that..." he asked, making it evident what he meant but not directly looking at her shirt.
A huge blush rose to Luo Ruolan's cheek as she quickly hugged her torso tight, could the day get any worse! "Ah...this...it's not big deal! I'll manage! I just need to find a hotel and then I..."
"A hotel?" the man interrupted, raising a brow.
Ah, shit.
"Ah, well, I mean..." internally she panicked. In fact, she didn't even understand why she was revealing all that to the stranger. But his daughter had already called her mommy so what's a few more revelations gonna do! "... I don't think I have a place to go to... like for the time being... " And not to mention, I still need to clear out my belongings from Liang Fang's place. But I can't do that before I get a house... but buying a house with my current financial status doesn't seem likely, not to mention my father isn't planning on leaving anything for me from the company's shares. Liang Fang doesn't give a shit! So, renting an apartment would be great... although -
"...cuse me...Excuse me, Miss...!"
Suddenly breaking out of her thoughts, she gasped and looked at the man again, "S-Sorry.., what were you saying? I kinda... er...dazed out..."
"Well yeah, you have been doing that since we met... " the man hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck, "...so since you didn't hear me right now, and well... I mean, since you don't have a place to go and I am currently looking for an ayah for Little Cherry, since the guards are very incompetent in looking after her... maybe you could consider working for me. And just like you said, you don't have a place to go... honestly, I won't pry into your business and ask you about things you wouldn't want to disclose or put you in an uncomfortable situation, but should you accept my offer, you would be provided with free accommodation and food. And we can even discuss the salary later –"
"I ACCEPT!" Luo Ruolan had yelled out before the man had even finished his sentence. "I'LL TAKE THE JOB!" I'm absolutely sure Liang Fang will scheme something up with that bitch Lifen and conspire against me to drive me out of the company. And looking at how my dad seemingly favors Liang Fang, he's not gonna object either. I'll be jobless very soon. But if I were to have another job, then I'd be perfectly confident in handing over my resignation. Will save myself from any further humiliation. For that I'll put my trust on this man. Not to mention, I'll get to spend time with the daughter and be able to protect her from him if things were to turn sour. Besides, if this man kills me, well... it's not like I'm on cloud nine right now.
"Won't you even hear me out first...?"
"I don't have a place to go, you heard me right the first time. I could always go to a hotel, but drenched like this? Not to mention, I'm not carrying my ID. I don't think I'll be allowed anywhere... And very soon, I might be out of my current job as well" she pauses, takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a brief moment, "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. Maybe it's my way of showing you that I can be trusted and I'm not some random women with loose morals, so if you're being serious about the live-in-nanny thing, I'd gladly accept."
She stood elegantly, with her face carrying the kind of sincerity that becomes very hard to ignore, her exterior as calm as ever. But on the inside, she was freaking out! I don't have a place to go! Of fucking course I'll accept a job like this! But I also need to maintain a little bit of professionalism if this guy is going to be my employer.
"Well, if you're okay with it, then it's settled! We'll discuss your salary later. And as for the work itself... well, usually I'd ask people to start from the next day, but seeing that you're homeless, I guess you could start from today...?"
Hey! I'm not homeless... well, at least... okay, maybe for the time being... but....ahh! Never mind! For your dignity!
"Thank you so much!" she yelled out, once again, her voice coated with obedience and loyalty, whether real or not, not understandable.
"You don't have to yell out every time you talk to me, you know... and you don't have to be so formal either." He sighed. Then looking at the direction of where his car was parked, a soft smile grazed his lips, even if I can't bring you an actual mother, this is the least I can do, my little cherry...
The smile didn't go unnoticed by Luo Ruolan, and for a moment, she froze in her tracks. Had her own child not died, would Liang Fang have carried the same expression towards him? Would he have loved him...? Ah, who was she kidding; Liang Fang had completely refused to even acknowledge the existence of the child... and besides, no matter how much she had loved him as a woman, that love can't at all be compared to the love of a mother that she was carrying for her unborn child. And Liang Fang had taken that away. So whatever she did, she was absolutely never going back to that monster.
She nodded to the previous remark made to her by the stranger and her own gaze shifted towards where the car was parked. "She's a great kid, by the way..." unconsciously, she mumbles out.
The man, shocked to hear a complete stranger speak about his daughter with such profound affection and care, steals a side-glance of her face, which didn't have a single hint of deception.
He simply nodded. "We should be going now. Oh, and you're still standing under my umbrella while yours is still... " he points towards the ground, a little away from where they were standing, "...taking a nap, there."
Another blush quickly takes over her cheeks as she immediately looks up, only to find the big grey umbrella shielding the both of them from the roaring rain. She immediately walked out of it and turned back to pick her own yellow, fluorescent umbrella up and unfurling it. "Ah, s-sorry about that... I forgot...!"
He sighed again. I really hope I'm not making any mistakes here...
"A-Although..." Luo Ruolan carries on, "...I'm all soaked and muddy, will it be alright if I travel with you guys in that fancy car...? What if I get the seat dirty..." she hesitated.
"Don't worry about that, I can always donate the car to charity. Besides, that's not that fancy, it's an old model after all; I'll get a new one, if need be."
"Er...Old model? How old exactly...?"Because that does not seem like an old model to me!!
"It's from the last spring! But don't worry, I'll get a new one if you don't want to be seen in that old thing while you drop little cherry to her school and stuff."
HOLY SHIT!! You're rich!! "No no no no no, I don't mind at all! In fact, I'll wash the seats myself to get all the mud out! No need to go through all the trouble to buying a new one!!" she panicked.
The man, completely taken aback by this weird woman, broke out into a fit of laughter, "You are definitely something, woman. Anyways, let's get going already."
What did I even do!? But oh well. She smiled, finally after an entire day of worst-possible-scenarios, she actually smiled a real smile. Not too much, not too little, just part of a fleeting moment, as she started making her way towards the car. Well, at least I'll get a place to stay... and besides, I'll need to sort my life out from now on! That is something I must do!