Four Years Ago

XXI : Wish

Saturday, 18th February 2023

"... He always does the nicest things for me- sweet surprises, gifts, dates, you name it. I just want to do this one nice thing for him. I want him to feel appreciated."

   Christine stood up from her desk and arranged her blouse. She then grabbed her handbag and walked out of her office.

   "I'm sure he's going to be so excited!" Ruby squealed through the phone. "I bet he will love it."

   "I hope he does. Anyways, I'll call you later. I'm leaving work now."

    "Bye. Talk to you later."

   Christine walked up to her receptionist. "I'll be leaving now. I trust you to do a good job with closing up."

   The girl behind the desk smiled. "Of course, Miss Pace."

   Christine walked out of the shop, Amy on her heels. Before getting into her car, she told her, "Take the rest of the day off. I'll be going home now."

   "That's a little unusual for you. It's still mid-afternoon. Are you feeling alright? Do I need to call the doctor? Mr. Cage made me promise to take good care of you." Amy ranted on.

   Christine responded with a strained smile. "I'm fine. I just have something to attend to at home. You need not worry."

   "If you say so," Amy said, still a little skeptical.

   "I'm fine, trust me." Christine got into the backseat of her car after waving at her.

   Thanks to the note she received a few days prior, she was now entitled to a personal bodyguard and a driver, who occupied the front seats of her car. She was still getting used to it, but she had to admit it had its perks. She now felt like one of those influential Asian women she usually saw on TV who were being followed around by a team of their own. Granted, she had just two people following her around (minus Amy, occasionally) but it still counted right?

   When the car pulled up in the driveway of her home, Christine hurriedly got out in excitement. She was greeted at the door by Sophie, whose eyes were twinkling with the secret they shared.

   She removed her coat and handed to Sophie. "Please tell me Scott isn't home yet."

   "No, he isn't. But he will be in like thirty minutes."

   "That should be enough time to round up. What about Summer?"

   "She's in the backyard having a tea date with Belle."

   "Okay, I'll just go say hi to them then I'll be with you in a sec."

   Christine went to the backyard and sure enough, Summer and Belle were seated at one of the tables, sipping tea from china cups. It was a very silly tradition of Summer's which she had started with her dolls, and Christine hoped she'd soon outgrow it. She didn't want to imagine what it'd look like if an eight year old Summer still insisted on having these silly tea dates.

   She hung out with the girls for a while, before going back to assist Sophie. They hung up balloons, decorated the living room with streamers and confetti and brought out the cake.

   As soon as they finished up, Christine checked her watch and realised that they had less than five minutes before Scott arrived. She hurried to the room to change her outfit.

   Already pulling her blouse over her head, she switched on the light in her closet and walked it. She paused in her steps at the sight before her. Her usually well organised and colour coded closet was a mess. Very few of her outfits were still on hangers, the rest strewn on the floor. So were her shoes and bags. What the...?