Adopt her

Hannah and Penelope came out of the room after freshening up. Penelope was wearing cute pink pyjamas and a pair of bunny slippers. She looked so happy and cute.

When they reached the kitchen, the three of them, Raymond, Hannah and Penelope sat at the table and ate their dinner. When they were done, Raymond volunteered to do the dishes and Hannah took Penelope to the room and tucked her to sleep. Penelope went to sleep quickly because she had tired herself out during the day.

After putting Penelope to sleep, Hannah came back to see Raymond resting his back against the wall in the kitchen. It was clear that he still wanted an explanation from her about Penelope. "What do you plan to do with the child Hannah?" He asked her. "I plan to adopt her and take her as my own". She spoke without hesitating and a look of surprise was evident on Raymond's face. He couldn't believe that Hannah was planning to keep the child. " Are you searching for her?" He asked again. Though he was against Hannah's decision, he has never been the type to oppose her. He just instructs her to be careful and he was sure she would listen to him. "I have been wanting to search for her but I was caught up in some work. I will do that when I'm free. As long as Penelope is with me, I will find her as soon as possible," Hannah spoke and Raymond just listened to her while nodding his head at the end of every sentence she makes.

"Don't worry Raymond, I won't get involved with her and put the entire gang at risk again. When I find her, she will be all yours to take care of". Raymond pushed himself from the wall and turned to face her, " I trust you, Hannah, do whatever you want. I can help you with the legal procedures to adopt Penelope if you want. Just stay off from trouble and if anything is bothering you, just tell me, and I will fix it, okay?" When Hannah heard his last statement, she suddenly wanted to tell him about the problem with her annunciator. Ugh… she hates this, whenever Raymond tells her kind words like that, she feels like telling him everything that bothers her. But she couldn't do that this time, else all her hard work in getting out of the basement will go down the drain. "Okay Raymond, you may leave now, I have to prepare for tomorrow". Hannah said, in a cold tone that stated that she wanted him out of her apartment. Raymond wondered what caused her mood to swing suddenly. Just now, she was talking to him normally, and now, he feels like she was sending him out of her life. A small sad smile stretched on his lips. His eyes just roamed her face and he left the kitchen. Hannah didn't move from her position until she heard the front door click, letting her know that Raymond had left her apartment. She sighed and walked to her room and lay under the blanket with Penelope.

Raymond walked across the empty and quiet streets. It was already so dark and the streetlights were the only source of light. Suddenly, he smiled. He looked to be in deep thought as he walked. He was smiling, but he felt immense pain in his heart. He saw a bench around the corner and laid down on it, staring at the starless sky as the amber colour of the streetlights fell on him. The atmosphere around him was extremely depressing but he didn't cry. He couldn't cry, not yet.

He laid on the chair for an hour, staring at the sky. He sighed and stood up from the chair. He had lots of things to do tomorrow and he didn't want to waste his time thinking about the uncertainties that surrounded him. He walked to a black car that was parked on the other side of the street where it was dark with no streetlights. Looking from a distance, one wouldn't know there was a car there, as it had camouflaged itself with the darkness. He got into the car and drove off at a slow pace. He didn't want to go back home, where it was only him and it was not like he was going to get any sleep anyway.

—-----------------------

The next day….

Hannah woke up earlier than yesterday and prepared breakfast for Penelope and herself. She rushed through her morning routine and was ready for work in no time. She felt bad and worried about leaving Penelope all alone in the house but when she remembered the toys Raymond had bought yesterday, she relaxed.

She was supposed to be at work by 9 am at the latest and when she got to the company, she was an hour early. She took the elevator and arrived at the last floor. She walked to her cubicle, but before she sat, she looked toward the CEO's office. The door was closed so she thought that he had not arrived yet. She took her seat and looked through her schedule for the day. She nodded. If everything moved the way she had planned, she would get to leave the office earlier than the previous day.

It's been over two hours now and she hasn't gotten a glimpse of the CEO. 'Maybe he won't come today. She thought. It would be a great day for her if that were to happen. Though she was an assassin, she was scared of the way his cold eyes looked at her. It gave her goosebumps, making her feel as though a knife had been placed on her neck. The last person that gave her this feeling was Raymond's father. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts in her head.

************

Inside the office...

Axel was sitting with a grave look on his face. He knew that the assassin had come to work, but why wasn't she coming in. He had told her yesterday to check in and out of the office with him but it seems like she didn't understand. He had considered calling her several times through the intercom but he decided against it each time.

He found himself thinking about what had happened last night and wondered what was so special about the girl.