Take Two

11. Noah

11 years ago

I came running into the house, slamming the door behind me. There stood Mrs Jones with a baby wrapped in a white towel in her hand. The baby was crying nonstop while she was trying to shush it.

How is this possible?

"That note was there along with her." She pointed at the table, and I immediately grabbed it.

"Dear Noah

I am sorry I haven't been in touch. I became a mom. But I can't take care of her at this moment. I leave it up to you to look after her or drop her in an orphanage. I am sorry to put this on you. I hope you understand.

Yours ..."

Present Day

The place was unusually crowded again. I wasn't sure what happened in the last two weeks to make it this popular.

"Noah, two more slices of blueberry cheesecake," Brandon announced as soon as he entered the kitchen. "It's really crowded these days. Perhaps I'll ask Hailey for some help."

I shot him a glare as I handed him the plates. "Don't you dare! No work for Hailey."

"So I can use Christian but not Hailey?" He asked, playfully wagging his eyebrows at me. "Someone is getting special treatment."

It felt like just yesterday when I heard her speak about her brain tumour. I didn't know exactly how to feel about it. We were not related, we weren't lovers, we were barely even friends anymore. Yet, to me, it felt like a hole had been carved inside of my body. I felt guilty for some reason.

They say love never dies. Wrong. Once you get sick of someone, it starts fading away, and once you spend enough time away from that someone, it disappears altogether. I learned it the hard way when my father decided to abandon us.

I had thought the same would happen with my love for Hailey. It sure died down in bits and pieces, but the day I moved into her neighbourhood, I knew the flame was still preserved in some hidden corner of my heart.

We were closed for the day, and I was wiping the breakfast island.

"Noah!" I heard her voice and spun around to be greeted by her smile. She had her phone in her hand, and I guess she was recording a video with the way she was holding it. Even if it was for a short while, I wanted to protect her smile.

"Noah! Give us something entertaining for the viewers!"

Something entertaining?

"We have something!" I heard Landon speak as he kept a hand around my shoulder.

Oh god no, not them.

"Which vegetable did Noah leave off his ark?" Brandon asked, staring right at her camera phone.

Seriously? I rolled my eyes.

Hailey looked at us confused; her eyebrows joined together.

"The leek." Both of them answered in unison and snapped their fingers at the camera, and I facepalmed.

Every one of us stood there frozen for a minute, the twins in their pose, Hailey with her jaw dropped to the floor and I with my hand to my face.

"Ba dum tss.." August sang as he passed by us, and that was when Hailey picked up the mop that was kept beside her, and the twins took their stance to run away.

"You guys are going to get my channel shut!" She squealed as she ran after them.

"What the hell peeps! My clients just witnessed you three running around like kids in my background!" Christian yelled as he took off his headphones.