Eve and the Artemis (UNEDITED)

09

M came back home with the cleaned cushion and several pairs of new shirts and pants.

"Brat. here." He threw the plastic back to Ayana. The girl caught it and took everything out.

"Untuk Ayana?"

"Dah tu?"

She put the shirts in front of her body to see if it fits.

"Biasa je baju ni.. Tak cantik."

"Eh siot ada jugak yang kena kerat empat belas malam ni."

"Eh tak tak. Maksud Ayana, biasanya Daddy belikan baju cantik je. Dia suka Ayana pakai dress and blouse. Kalau Ayana pakai buruk-buruk macam ni, dia marah. Apa-apa pun, thank you Abang."

"Taking care of you to that extent and you still hate him?"

Ayana ignored the question and ran to the bathroom to change out from M's shirt.

M on the other hand was lost. Why is he trying so hard to make Ayana realise that his father isn't a bad guy, again? It's not like he can send her off back home. He has to kill her at the end of the day.

Or was it the guilt he had towards his own father? Was he trying to protect Ayana from the very mistake he made? He stopped his train of thought when he saw something peculiar on the table.

"Kid, what is this?"

"Apa dia?" Ayana shouted from inside the bathroom.

"Atas meja ni. Mende kau buat ni?"

Ayana finally came out with her new pair of clothes. She flashed a smile. "Fruit Punch! Untuk abang. Ayana guna barang-barang dalam peti ais abang. Tak apa kan?"

"Budak ni.. Ikut kepala otak dia je." was the only thing M said as he couldn't stand Ayana's puppy eyes. The eyes definitely worked.

"Abang minumlah. Hari-hari air masak je. Tak bosan?"

"Tak nak aku. Mesti ada racun."

Ayana poured the drink into a plastic cup and gulped it down fast. "See?"

M side-eyed Ayana, still wasn't sure. But at the end, he complied to stop the kid from bugging him. He finished the drink in two seconds.

"Manis gila."

"Ish."

M stared at the kid for a moment.

Arm clean. Leg clean. No bruises.

Just a final check.