Filed to story: Loving You In My Final Days
Abi skipped towards the large doors to his room like the happiest little kid in town. She was about to knock on his door but she hesitated.
What if he was still sleeping?
Maybe I shouldn’t disturb him…
But the sun was already out!
Abi’s head was tilted slightly in contemplation until she decided against knocking on the door, thinking that Alex might already be downstairs anyway. Besides, she really didn’t want to get punished this early in the morning for waking him up.
She descended the large staircase and looked around but the majestic living room was empty. She walked towards the dining hall and the people who welcomed her were only the butler and the maids. They all greeted her good morning and she greeted them back.
Her eyes looked at the large, long table and her spirit became a little gloomy. It looked like she was going to eat alone again this time.
The butler was quick to notice that she was looking for someone so he immediately told her that the master had left the house early this morning with their guest, Ezekiel Qin.
As Abi ate her breakfast, her mind was full of questions about Alexander Qin. She wondered if Alexander had a job and if he did, what that was. Was he like Ezekiel Qin? Was he really an underground king like Kelly’s theory?
Curious, Abi decided to ask the butler for information once she finished her meal, which she devoured quickly.
“Mr- Uhm, Charles… Does Alex work? If so, do you know what he does?” she asked him once the maids left the dining hall, but as expected, the butler didn’t give anything away and simply apologized to her.
“He does work, Miss, but I’m sorry, I am not in a position to talk about the master’s work.” He even bowed apologetically which made Abi feel a little uncomfortable. She quickly forced a smile and stopped the old man from apologizing.
“No need to apologize. I understand, truly,” she said and thankfully, the old man’s expression went back to normal.
“Did Alex leave a message?” she asked again to divert the topic to something else.
Surprisingly, the butler nodded.
“Miss Chen, the master only asked me to remind you about your curfew. He said you should be back no later than twilight,” he told her and Abi thanked him. This was still bugging her. Why did he give her such an early curfew? Did he think that she was a little child who was not meant to be roaming around anymore during that time?
“Miss Chen, are you going out today?”
“Yes. I have work to do, too,” she smiled and the butler told her that he would get a chauffeur to bring her to her destination.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll just call a taxi,” she politely insisted and gladly, the butler agreed.
As the old man excused himself, Abi watched his retreating back. Abi didn’t know why but she found it safer to ask and talk to older people, maybe because she was used to it with her grandparents. As she thought about her grandparents, Abi’s eyes widened in shock! That’s right… her grandparents! Her father! How could she forget about them?!
Abi suddenly missed them. She couldn’t believe that the first person she thought about and looked for the very moment she woke up was not her family, but Alexander Qin! This was totally out of character for her. Usually, she would wake up and think about what to make for breakfast for her dad and grandparents but this morning, those thoughts weren’t there at all!
Her hand slowly moved to her chest when she realized that Alexander Qin had started to occupy her thoughts… a lot! For a moment, at the thought of Alex, she felt her heart skip a beat. What was that? Was she nervous? What was this feeling?
Abigail’s eyes widened as a thought passed through her head. W-was she already starting to fall for him? T-this soon? T-that fast? It was only the second day!
Suddenly, Abi felt torn and a little confused, but in the end, she shook her head and decided that that couldn’t be right. She thought that she was probably quite infatuated but surely she wasn’t in love yet. She still had time to figure everything out and she didn’t want to assume so early, even though this made her feel really excited.
She couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by this foreign feeling but she didn’t want to overthink this. She would just focus on doing the things on her wishlist, for now.
…
Abi left the mansion when the taxi got there and she headed to the orphanage. She was happily greeted by the children at the school as always and she enjoyed spending the day with them.
She also called her dad and grandparents during lunch and told them she was doing fine. Her family was, as always, supportive of her and she was very thankful that she had such a caring and loving family.
When the classes were over, Abi headed to Kelly’s place and she called Kelly to let her know that they were on the way over. Abi was accompanied by all the children from the orphanage on a school bus.
The two talked for a while but the conversation was mainly Kelly trying to make Abi tell her everything. The two were like they were participating in some talk show, with Kelly as the annoying interviewer and Abi as the shy and soft spoken interviewee.
By the time the bus arrived outside Kelly’s apartment, Kelly was already outside so she jumped into the bus straightaway. They were headed towards the venue where the fundraising event they had organised would be held in three weeks’ time. This fundraising event was something they had done every year for the last 3 years to raise funds for the orphanage.
They arrived outside a music theater. This was their venue as their target audience were the older individuals. They planned to put on a show of classic plays, to revive the old times. The aim was to entertain the older individuals and take them back to the old days; for them to reminisce about their younger days. The plays were loved by many grandmas and grandpas and they looked forward to it every year. Lately, some of the younger generation, especially couples, also started to get attracted by the concept of the plays, saying that they felt that it was nice to see the things people did in the olden times that the new generation had never seen.
What made her plays special was that all the children from the orphanage would be performing in them. She acted as the play director, as well as the soothing piano accompaniment for the whole show. She practised with the children every day leading up to the event, working long and hard with them. Abi was happy to do all this, knowing that she wasn’t only helping to raise money for the orphanage but also putting a smile on other people’s faces. Abi and Kelly spent a couple of hours planning and practising with the kids, telling them where to stand, what to do and what their next cues would be. When they were finished, they all packed inside the school bus again and went on their way to drop Kelly off at her apartment.
During the ride back, Kelly insisted on being the one to send her back to Alexander’s house. Abi was a bit worried. She knew when her friend became curious, nothing would stop her from barging in and satisfying that curiosity so she was understandably a bit reluctant to have Kelly drive her back. Gladly, one of the other teachers asked for her help at the orphanage when they got back and Abi was relieved to have an excuse. In the end, Kelly relented but she looked like she wasn’t going to take no for an answer the next time.
It looked like she would have to remember to ask Alexander if he was ok with her bringing Kelly to his house to see the place.
…
On her way back to Alexander’s house, Abi brought out her little notebook. She skimmed the list and she smiled when she saw that one of them was finally marked with a tick.
