ir stole a nce at Wesley''s face as she took her phone from him. Somehow she felt that he didn''t want her to move out. But since he hadn''t said anything otherwise to make her stay yet, she was afraid that she might be wrong. "I might never need it. After I move out, most probably, I won''t have a reason to trouble you anymore," she reminded him in a sad, low voice.


    It wasn''t impossible that such would be the case. She had been out of touch with Wesley for a long time after she had moved out of the Hillside Apartments, just like she had been out of touch with him after she had gone abroad.


    Silence fell inside the car. She was waiting for him to say something.


    But Wesley didn''t. He started the engine, and the car ran through the exit of the apartmentplex with only its engine to break the silence. Even that hum felt like silence in the awkwardness of the situation.


    Sadness took hold of ir, as if something was clutching at her heart. She couldn''t look at him, nor did she want him to see her sad, so she turned to look out the window. For the first time, she really didn''t feel like talking even though she was around him.


    They arrived at the supermarket pretty soon. It wasn''t that far through car. ir unbuckled the seat belt and was about to get out of the car when Wesley grabbed her arm and stopped her. "There''s an umbre in the trunk. Wait here. I''ll get it."


    He got out and brought the umbre from the trunk. Then he opened the passenger door and carried ir out of the car.


    "Are youing with me?" ir asked, looking at him longingly. She wanted him to.


    "Yeah. I can help you choose. I know her likes and dislikes," Wesley answered.


    That made sense. As Cecelia''s son, he sure knew her better than ir did.


    They walked towards the supermarket with him holding the umbre for the both of them. There was one second when ir was one step behind. Only then did she find out that most of the umbre was over her. Wesley''s left shoulder was all wet. What was this man doing!


    ir was moved. But since he had already made it clear that he didn''t like her, she thought that he was doing this only because he was a gentleman.


    She looked up at the umbre and moved closer to him so that it could shield both of them.


    Distracted, she didn''t notice the puddle on the ground. "Be care


    felt embarrassed. But then Wesley added, "You know what? You can ask Mom to take it with her. She will love it." His father spoiled his mom. So, despite her age, Cecelia was still childlike in more ways than a few.


    ''He said "Mom" instead of "my mom."'' ir was happy. Women were sensitive. The checkout assistant heard everything Wesley said. When she heard him say "Mom" to ir, she cast one more look at ir.


    Then she saw that it was a beautiful woman standing beside Wesley. They didn''t look alike at all. They couldn''t be siblings, so she assumed that they were a couple.


    The checkout assistant felt her heart shatter into pieces. She continued working with her head lowered.


    ir felt great when she saw how a potential rival to her love had been crushed. To be honest, she wasn''t much of a rival! After all, it was only an assistant''s crush on Wesley and not the other way round. She volunteered to carry one of the bags and made her way to the exit.


    Wesley was carrying a bigger carrier bag. But even so, he tucked the change into his pants pocket hastily, caught up with ir, and offered to take the bag from her.


    But ir declined. "Mine is not heavy. The one you''re carrying is full of beverages. It''s already heavy enough."


    Wesley looked at her and retorted, "Maybe! But you''re so frail. What if it triggers your fever?" Before she could refuse, he had taken the bag from her.


    ir didn''t know what to say. ''I''m not as fragile as he thinks.'' She was a bit defensive. ''I was sick only once when I was in Ennd, '' she thought.