Heartbeat by Iem_Aivlis

Christ's POV

Is that true? You also work at LOU Mall.

Yes, I am.

If that's the case, let's meet in the mall lobby.

Okay, wait for me.

"What are you doing, Mr. Louise?" I didn't realize that my secretary was already in this room.

"Don't you have any manners? Can't you knock first before coming in?" I put my phone on the table.

"That's because I'm worried about you. Why did you go to the office alone? You sent me a message after you had already left for work. You purposely told me that you would drive your own car to work after you were ready to leave, right?" It seems like this guy is getting annoyed with me.

I did it on purpose. He would have immediately banned me from driving if I had told him first since we live in the same building with different apartment units. Today after work I wanted to go out with someone, no I thought maybe the three of us would go.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to dress up so neatly today. Does this have anything to do with you driving your own car? So this morning you met someone before coming here? If you had told me earlier I wouldn't have been this worried." Antonio started to sit on the chair.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I just wanted to quickly finish my pending work, so I came early." I'm not lying, I want to finish my work so I can go with them soon.

It all started on Christmas Eve. I have to keep my promise to the little girl I met at the mall. I had promised her to play the role of her father and her mother's partner. And this agreement will last for three months. I agreed to this deal because the little girl asked for this as her birthday present. I don't know whether this decision I made is right or not. But I've made sure that his mother is still single. Well, even though the woman lied to me about her husband, I feel that Mother Abigail is a good woman. Emily is different from other women out there. Usually single women will be busy flirting with the men they meet, but Emily is different. She is an honorable woman who maintains her dignity. But until now I still can't find the reason why my heart beats faster when I'm with Emily.

"Antonio I want to ask you something." Maybe Antonio can find the answer.

"What's wrong Mr. Louise?" Antonio walked towards my desk.

"Have I ever had an accident that gave me amnesia?" I asked after Antonio was in front of me.

This is the only reason I can think of.

It's possible that I'll forget about that woman, even though we might have had a relationship in the past.

"Hmm....I think it's never. Why do you ask like that? Do you have something wrong in your brain now? Let me know!" Antonio started to approach me.

It turns out my guess was wrong. I will try to talk about this with Dr. Drey on my next visit to the hospital.

"No. I was just asking casually. Now you may continue your work." I answered while pushing Antonio's body.

I went back to my work. I opened some files on my desk.

 ***

After the elevator doors opened I stepped out. I didn't find the truth about Abigail and Emily. Previously, Bie and I had promised to meet around the lobby of this mall. Could it be that Abigail hasn't come to this mall yet? It must be because I came too early. I immediately went down to the lobby before Antonio realized that I was no longer in my room. Now I also can't contact Abigail because I intentionally left my cell phone on my desk. I did that because I didn't want Antonio to track my whereabouts while I was with Abigail and Emily. But before that, I had sent a short message to my secretary that I would be going out for a while and would go home by myself in my car. From the direction of the mall entrance, I saw Abigail walking together with a woman. I didn't recognize the woman who was with Abigail because she wasn't the little girl's mother. I saw Abigail playing with her phone as she stood in front of the closed elevator. Could it be that the little girl sent me a text message? I don't know either because my cell phone wasn't with me. When the elevator door opened, Abigail hugged the waist of a woman who had just gotten out of the elevator. And the woman Abigail was hugging was Emily, the woman who had messed up my heartbeat.

"Have you guys been waiting long?" I asked after Abigail noticed my presence.

I was walking when I saw Abigail looking for me. I also can't possibly say that I had been waiting for them to realize that. So I can only pretend that I'm late.

"Uncle, Christ!" Bie shouted.

"Let's go now." Invite me to the two of them even though I don't look at Emily's face.

"Let's go!" Bie shouted happily.

"Wait for me, I'm coming too!" Emily said suddenly.

Of course she had to come with us, because it was actually her daughter who arranged our meeting now. Abigail wanted me to get to know her mother better. I started to look towards Emily and I just realized that this woman was still wearing her LOU's Boutique uniform.

"How can you come with us in a uniform like that? How about you go home first to change your clothes." I tried to find a solution so that she wouldn't wear clothes like that when she was walking with me.

Since most of the employees in this mall already knew me, I didn't want Emily to become the topic of conversation because she was seen walking with me. I'm worried that they will recognize Emily and make things difficult for her in the future. But Emily didn't seem to agree with what I said. Emily seemed to be considering something.

"Okay, Bie, you promised Mom. Wait here, Mom will be back soon." Emily talks to her daughter. 

After seeing her daughter agree to her request, Emily walked away leaving the two of us. I saw him walking into a clothing store.

"I think Mom has found out about our agreement." Bie started a conversation with me.

I was surprised by the words of this little girl who was still staring at her mother leaving.

"So, how did your mom react?" I asked curiously.

"Mom was just mistaken about our agreement, she thought I would accompany you until our agreement ended. And because of that mistake, mom asked me to always go with her if you want to ask for my time to accompany you." Bie smiled faintly as she looked at me.

"I don't understand. Okay your mom is not angry about this. But why are you smiling?" I started to frown.

"Of course it's because I'm happy. So I don't need to find an excuse when I ask Mom to meet you." This little girl raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're right." My reply to this girl.

My agreement with Abigail was that I had to try to have a relationship with Emily. If in three months Emily and I have feelings then the two of us will be a real couple. But if not then I will leave Emily. You could say that our agreement was like a blind date. And Emily's daughter played matchmaker for us.

"Sorry, for keeping you guys waiting." Emily greeted us.

This woman was carrying a paper bag which I assumed was probably the uniform she had been wearing earlier. Now she is wearing a casual dress. I don't know why my heart beats faster when I look at her face. The color of her clothes radiates her beautiful aura. And again my heart was beating like a teenager who was fascinated by a girl. Have I really fallen in love with Emily? Wait, why can I interpret that my heart is beating fast because I am fascinated by seeing Emily. Because I am a normal man who has an interest in the opposite sex. I have also experienced falling in love because when I was a teenager I experienced something like this when I saw the girl I had a crush on.

"Why do you look at me like that? Is there something wrong with my dress? I know I'm beautiful and it's not my fault so stop looking at me like I did something wrong." Emily's words broke my reverie.

I felt embarrassed because I was caught staring at her face for too long. I immediately looked away from Emily's face.

"It's not that you look beautiful, it's just that why did you choose the same color as I'm wearing? You didn't mean to make it look like we were wearing couple outfits, did you?" That was the sentence that crossed my mind to hide my awkwardness.

I smiled at Abigail and was greeted by her with a giggle.

"If that's the case, why? Isn't that okay? Would it be nice if people thought we were a happy family?" Emily's statement took me by surprise.

If this continues then it won't be good for my heart. I urged them both to leave immediately. Once we arrived at our destination, I followed Emily wherever she went. Emily was seen choosing some books. I know she didn't bring her wallet because she left it in my car. It seems she didn't notice. Emily is not like other women who will ask to be paid. She played a trick on me by telling other people that I was her husband from an arranged marriage. Emily's face looked like she was holding back a smile at what she said. I'm not angry, in fact I'm happy because she acknowledged me as her husband. Emily didn't realize that I was carrying the books she had chosen earlier. I think she was interested in all the books she saw earlier and maybe because she didn't want to waste money she put the books back. So I decided to take the books and would pay for them anyway money was not a problem for me.

*Continued*