Chapter 79
"Okay." A staff member brought over a baby panda and taught Theodore how to interact with it.
Pandas always looked tame and harmless, but their scratches or bites could always spell disaster.
The public was not often allowed to openly take photos with them as behind their innocent looks, all
pandas shared a horrifyingbination of sharp teeth and a strong bite force that should be taken
seriously.
While Theodore was ying with the panda, the two children were squatting next to each other as
they watched the interaction excitedly. stair, who had always had a cold attitude towards
everything, also disyed an unprecedented interest in what was happening.
Adrienne squatted and stair pulled her back a little to maintain a safe distance.
Blinking her eyes, she held her chin with both hands and asked the employee beside her, "Does it
have a name?"
"Yes. We call her Poppy," the employee answered with a smile.
"Does she only eat bamboo?"
"No, of course not. Like children, she has to eat fruits and some meat or she will be
malnourished."
"Oh, I see!"
Adrienne looked enlightened, as if she had just learned something new.
"Okay, it''s time for the photos!"
As the staff did not notice any conflict between Theodore and the panda, he signaled for the
cameraman to get ready for the photography session.
"Daddy, please sit closer to Mommy. You can use the tools nearby to y with Poppy and the
photographer will capture the scene. It''ll look more natural that way."
"Come on, Mommy! Closer please!"
Good- looking people were always weed everywhere they went. A usual photography session
would usually take five minutes, but the one with Everleigh and her family had been going on for
almost 10 minutes now. In the beginning, Everleigh was a little awkward. Then she became
somehow affected by the atmosphere as she happily fed the panda with her children. Gradually, she
even forgot that the photographer was even there.
When the photo was ready, the only copy was given to Everleigh, who carefully stowed it inside her
bag.
She knew that once she left the zoo, she would never see it again. She felt lucky to at least have a
photo of the memories of that afternoon.
Everleigh''s mood improved when she left Panda World. In fact, she had stopped worrying too much
about the day. Looking at her children''s happy faces, she decided that the past seven years did not
exist. That afternoon would be a gift from fate for her and her children.
More and more dark clouds gathered in the sky, until thest rays of light were finally covered by
them.
Soon, the sky was taken over by lightning, followed up by a heavy downpour. Thedore and
Everleigh brought the children out from the Hippo House, each of them holding one child. They
reached the entrance of Dolphin Auditorium just as the rain became heavier.
Sheltered inside Theodore''s arms and covered by his coat, Adrienne poked her head out and
sighed, "What heavy rain!"
Everleigh quickly took some tissue paper out from her bag and passed it to Theodore. "Use it.
You''re all wet."
Rain had drenched Theodore''s once clean and neat hair. He casually brushed off the raindrops off
his chin with his own handkerchief and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Everleigh shook her head. "No, it''s nothing. I mean, it''s a good thing that I had an umbre with me.
stair and I didn''t get too wet."
The umbre she''d brought with her was only big enough to cover her and stair.
Adrienne hid her neck in Theodore''s suit, revealing a small hand holding the edge of the suit. She
smiled and said, "Mommy, I have an umbre too. I''m not wet!"
Everleigh red at her and said, "It''s all because of you. If you didn''t insist oning here,
Theodore wouldn''t get wet like he is now."
"It''s just a little rain." Adrienne stuck out her tongue, as if she was not afraid of anything.
"Let''s go." Theodore''s voice came from beside Everleigh.
Everleigh felt she heard something uncanny from Theodore''s voice. Was he upset?
Or was it because he got wet from the rain?
Dolphin Auditorium was the biggest indoor auditorium at the zoo. Due to the rain, the ce was
crowded with visitors. They had stopped at the ce to watch the show while waiting for the rain to
stop.
However, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Everleigh, Theodore and the children would not be
able to leave anytime soon. Adrienne stayed inside Theodore''s arms tightly and refused to let him
go; she ended up falling asleep halfway through the show.
"Let me carry her. You''ve been carrying her the whole day." Everleigh felt a stab of guilt as she
looked at Adrienne scooped up in Theodore''s embrace.
Theodore''s expression was indifferent. "It''s fine. This rain isn''t going away anytime soon."
Adrienne''s sleep was peaceful and her featherlike eyshes moved slightly. She looked like she
was having a beautiful dream, as evident from her pouting lips. She even mumbled the word
"Daddy" while holding tightly at Theodore''s cor.
Theodore held up his suit to cover Adrienne so that she was not exposed to the wind.
Summer storms were quick to arrive and leave, but that day, the rain just refused to stop. The dark
clouds above Ocpeace City were not showing any signs of leaving.
It was almost evening. A white Porsche was dashing through the street, its wipers working hard to
clear the windshield from the rainwater, but to no avail. The storm was just too ferocious. The car
gradually slowed down in order to avoid any undesirable consequences.
Reflected in the rearview mirror was a woman''s face. It looked somehow gloomier than the sky.
A "ding" sound informed the passenger sitting in the passenger seat that she had just received a
message.
Josephine swiped the screen of her phone. Her fingers tightened around the phone the moment she
lay her eyes on the pictures disyed on the screen. Her grip was so tight that she looked like she
was plunging her fingers into the screen. Her eyes no longer looked calm and gentle like they
usually would.
"Miss, it''s raining very heavily. I think the ce will be closed by the time we arrive, so are we still
going there?"
The driver''s nervous voice came from the driver seat.
Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.
Josephine pursed her lips and said after a while, "No."
The driver breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I''ll send you home."
"No," Josephine held her cell phone tightly and said, "Bring me to Godfrey Mansion at Woond
Street."
The driver was stunned for a moment but didn''t dare to probe further. "Yes."
Droplets of the heavy rain made loud noise as they came crashing against the car windows. No
matter how good the car was at filtering out the noise, it was still very audible. It had been too quiet
inside the car.
After giving orders to the driver, Josephine made a call. Her voice changed into an enthusiastic
tone, the one she would use whenever she talked to people, and said, "Mrs. Andrews, it''s me,
Josephine."
"How are you doing? We haven''t contacted each other for so long, have we? I recall you mentioning
something about coffee thest time we met and my cousin just so happened to bring back some
excellent coffee beans. Perhaps I could ask you out for evening tea?"
"No, I''m not busy. What is there to be busy with? It''s a wedding! Everyone else is busy with it except
me."
"By the way, how is Mr. Andrews doingtely? I''m sure the Ministry of Education must be bustling
with work right now! I know I haven''t thanked you for your helpst time, but I need to ask for a
favor again." "Not, not me. I have a friend who''s just returned from studying abroad. She has two
children who are in the midst of transferring to schools in Ocpeace City. I just want to know how
complicated the procedure is."
"Okay, let''s talk about it when we meet. Oh, it''s not an urgent matter. I''ll make sure to brew up two
cups of quality coffee for you and your husband. Consider them apensation."
When the call ended, the screen quickly changed its disy to show a picture depicting a happy
family of four.
Inside the picture, the man of the family looked happy, as evident from his expression. However,
Josephine''s impression turned gloomy just as soon as she noticed him.