Chapter 117


    Before Jack could sort out his feelings for Rachel, life brought him and her together once more.


    It seemed that there was no need to avoid her anymore.


    While he was away, he couldn''t figure out his feelings. So when he was being given an opportunity


    to stay with her, he would go with the flow.


    It was better to let things happen than to interfere.


    After rush hour, the heavy traffic in the city grew lighter, and they were able to return without much


    trouble.


    They got home in less than fifteen minutes. When Jack got out of the car, he felt slightly


    embarrassed.


    Not long ago, he had promised himself that he wouldn''te here unless he sorted out his feelings.


    At this moment, he was shooting himself in the foot.


    Mendes had grown grumpy when he learned that he couldn''t y with Jonathan. He frowned until


    Rachel exined things to him.


    The biggest change that they had seen in this kid was that he had be more sensible.


    Rachel wondered if this change was brought ■d


    upon by growing up without his parents''pany.


    If that had been the case, she felt sorry for the boy. In a ce where a child did not feel a sense of


    security, he had to have carefully observed others and yed smart at his young age to have turned


    out the way that he had.


    She felt a mixture of anger and pity. His parents should have been more responsible.


    She liked the kid and was willing to take care of him, not only out of adoration but also out of


    sympathy.


    As soon as they got home, the kid''s mood changed.


    Upon entering the house, he took a few steps forward and asked, "Can I go get something


    upstairs?"


    ''Get something upstairs?'' Rachel thought. What did he want to look for?


    She didn''t ask. She simply nodded her consent. When Jack finally came in, he saw the little boy


    hurrying up the stairs.


    He was stunned. "Where is he going? Why is he running so fast?"


    "He''s going upstairs to find something."


    Had Mendes left some of his valuables here?


    He had, indeed, unknown to both Rachel and Jack.


    Rachel watched as Mendes dashed up and down the stairs. He ran down to bring all sorts of toys—


    a model airne, a tank, race cars—and then ■d


    ran back up to get more. He ran tirelessly until he was finished.


    "When did he ce these things upstairs?" Jack asked.


    Rachel shook her head. "I don''t know."


    Curious, Jack followed the boy upstairs to take a look for himself. Following the sound, he found the


    boy digging things out of a cab.


    Jack stood quietly by the door and studied the child. He had no idea as to when the boy had kept all


    these toys here.


    The boy took out a toy gun and was running out of the room, beaming with joy, when Jack gently


    stopped him and put a hand on his shoulder.


    "Boy, how many things are you hiding in there?"


    Mendes was startled. He hadn''t noticed Jack. He turned around in surprise, still holding the gun. He


    said sheepishly, "This is thest one."


    The boy continued on his way down to the living room, where he ced the toys on the carpet. The


    world seemed to disappear as he now sat in a sea of toys.


    Jack and Rachel thought for a while. They both realized that these were the exact same toys that


    Jonathan had brought the boyst time.


    However, they didn''t know why the toys were left here. Why hadn''t Mendes taken them with him?


    "Grandpa Jonathan told me that I could continue to y with them the next time I came here," ■d


    Mendes exined. ''This was all nned out. Had he thought that the child woulde to be here


    again?1


    Since Mendes was now busy with his toys, he no longer paid attention to the two adults in the


    house. Rachel walked over to open the living room window and let some air in.


    Jack turned around and headed to his room.


    Until he was inside his room, he didn''t notice that everything was in the same ce. Even the quilt


    looked the way that it had when he left.


    Rachel had not touched a single thing in this room. She hadn''t cleaned or put away his things.


    Pleased, Jack walked around in the room, studying it. When he was satisfied, he went back


    downstairs.


    Momentster, Rachel was walking out of the kitchen with a teful of fruit. She handed Mendes a


    fork.


    Upon noticing Jack, she asked casually, "Fruit?"


    "Okay." He strode over and picked up a slice of mango with a toothpick.


    The boy approached, pressed his little body up against Jack, and opened his mouth. "Ahh..."


    Jack popped the piece into Mendes'' mouth. The boy epted the fruit with joy.


    Jack then rolled up his sleeves and then, turning to Rachel, he said, "I''m going upstairs to work. Call


    me if you need anything."


    She nodded and watched him go up the stairs. ■d


    The vi was filled with life again.


    Jack still had some work he had to finish. His n was to finish all his tasks as early as he could


    and have a video conference with several project managers afterward.


    A few minutester, Mendes came in with his


    tank.


    Jack was studying the documents in front of him when suddenly, he heard a child''s attempt at bomb


    and gunshot sounds.


    He looked to the side and saw that Mendes hade in.


    The boy made more noises, ying around Jack''s feet for a while. Then he silently exited the room.


    Jack tried his best to ignore the noises and focus once more on hisptop.


    He had felt relieved when Mendes first went out, but now the boy was back.


    He dawdled in the room for a while, making small but audible noises.


    Unable to control his anger, Jack stood up and took Mendes out of the room. "I''m working. Don''t


    bother me, okay?"


    The child blinked and look at Jack with sad eyes. "Why can''t you y with me?"


    Jack raised his hand to his forehead as he tried tofort the boy. "I have some work to do. Can


    you go downstairs for a moment? We can y after I''m done."


    Mendes asked, "When will you finish?" ■d


    "It will take a while."


    "How long is that?"


    Jack had seen a lot of brazen and obsessed people, but none of them were as difficult or as


    unreasonable as this child was.


    However, he couldn''t keep a straight face as he talked to the boy. Patiently, he said, "Go and find


    Rachel, okay? I wille down once I''m done."


    To his surprise, Mendes was not that easily convinced. He raised his hand and started quietly


    counting on his fingers. "Is ten minutes enough?"


    Jack was speechless.


    He didn''t know that such a young kid was capable of this.


    Exactly ten minutester, the boy entered the room once more and proceeded to make y noises


    near him. Jack immediately stood up and threw him out of the room.


    Another five minutester, Mendes returned. Again, Jack threw him out without a word.


    Mendes returned five more minutester.


    Jack couldn''t stand it anymore. After throwing the boy out thest time, he locked the door. Mendes


    pitifully rapped on it. "Jack... when can youe out and y with me?"


    Jack massaged his temples. This was shaping up to be more difficult than anything he had ever


    encountered at work.


    After a while, Mendes stopped. Jack breathed a sigh of relief. ■d


    Momentster, the sound of typing filled the room once more. If everything went well, he could finish


    this in ten minutes.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    The sound of his keyboard stopped. He clenched his fists and stood up with a dark expression on


    his face.


    Rachel was about to knock again when the door opened unexpectedly.


    Jack appeared at the door, frowning, and not expecting to be standing face-to-face with her.


    He was speechless for a moment, but then, he quickly recovered. "What''s wrong?" he asked.


    Rachel recognized the unhappy look on his face, so she hesitated for a moment. Then she showed


    him the toy car that she was holding. "It''s broken. Get on with your work. When you''re done, can


    you pleasee downstairs and fix it?"


    Noticing the displeasure on Jack''s face, she stopped talking.


    He nodded his agreement and sat back down at hisputer, but he couldn''t do anything.


    He waspletely distracted. Finally, he went downstairs and apanied the boy. He sat beside


    him, still with a gloomy look on his face. He poured all his energy into fixing the toy car.


    He hadn''t expected to be using his talents on this. He was a grown man who could repair an actual


    racing car. Yet, here he was now, fixing a toy. ■d


    After fiddling with it, he put the toy car back on the floor and flicked the switch. The little car slowly


    but steadily moved forward.


    Mendes cheered and ran to catch his car.


    The warm light in the living room softened the atmosphere. Rachel sat cross-legged on the floor,


    her soft hair falling loosely on her shoulders and a faint smile on her lips. She bent down slightly


    and whispered something to Mendes, and her ck hair parted to expose her white neck.


    The jade- like skin of her neck, which had beckoned Jack a thousand times in his dreams, now


    appeared right in front of him. He blinked rapidly and then looked away, embarrassed.


    What a sweet scene it was! He studied her graceful profile out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, he


    found himself thinking about how she would look like as a mother.


    She let her guard down, tore down her walls, and smiled gently.


    She had never shown this kind of tenderness to him before. With this thought in mind, he couldn''t


    help but feel a little jealous of the boy.


    She took the child home, yed with him, and even bathed him.


    After Rachel took the boy to the bathroom, Jack went back to work. He thought the boy wouldn''t


    bug him anymore. But again, someone knocked on the door.


    N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.


    Jack had no choice but to suppress his anger yet again. He had been interrupted so many times,


    and he was beginning to lose his temper.