161 Countdown

The next morning, Abi woke up with Alex in her embrace.

She slowly unclasped her tight grip on him as she sat up, blinking at him.

"You're awake," Alex said. It seemed like he had been awake for a while now.

"G-good morning, Alex," she greeted as she rubbed her eyes. This was it, the start of the countdown...

The man rose and he examined her face closely as if he was looking for something.

"Are you alright?" he asked and Abi nodded.

"Mm. I didn't know you were going to sleep here for the night."

Alex creased his brows. She didn't remember?

"Ahh ~" Abi yawned and stretched her arms up high. She smiled at him brightly and climbed out of the bed. "Get up, Alex. We have to get ready now," she grinned excitedly and Alex just lazily got up into a sitting position.

He rested his gorgeous face on his knuckles as he watched her energetically open her closet to look for clothes. Alex wanted to ask about her nightmare last night but he didn't want to make her remember something that terrified her to that extent. He was also thinking about why Abigail did not ask him about the things that happened to her; about why she was being targeted. Not a single question was asked about it since she woke up in the hospital.

"Alex!" She called out when the man just sat there, silently looking out the window. She kind of wanted to admire his morning look and that messy hair for a while longer but they might be late if she didn't make the man move now. She moved closer to him and blocked his view. "My first request is for you to come with me to the orphanage today."

Alex's lips parted. "And what am I going to do there?" he asked, intrigued, but Abi just held his hands and pulled him to get up.

"Stop asking. You will know once we're there," she told him, smiling widely, and Alex could only give in.

They left the mansion together and arrived at the orphanage at the right time.

Abi asked Alex to dress casually and even chose the color of his coat. She chose a beige coat that was matched her beige cardigan because she wanted him to look less intimidating.

However, the moment everyone saw Alex, they just gaped at him, seemingly feeling unable to approach him. Some of the elders spoke to him but it seemed that Alex's presence was too imposing, even for them.

Abi wanted the two of them to volunteer to work at the orphanage as a couple just like her father and mother did when her mother was still alive. She remembered her mother telling her that one of the happiest experiences she ever had since she met her husband was when they were volunteering and helping others.

Abi thought the same. She always felt better every time she helped others in any way she could.

Working for a good cause relieved her stress and broke the rut of ruminating about her own problems and most importantly, it helped her see life through the eyes of others. This was something she wanted Alex to experience. She wanted to spend the day with him as they both did some volunteer work because she was sure that this memory would be something she would treasure for as long as she lived.

"Alex, here." Abi tiptoed and put a pair of glasses on him. The dark glasses were huge but it was cute and of course, it still looked good on him. Abi noticed that people were intimidated whenever they looked into his eyes so she decided to cover them up. Of course, she asked for his permission and the man didn't seem to mind it at all.

The orphanage had a special event every year. It was another fundraiser wherein they would set up a few booths inside the nearby school during the school's festival. They would sell delicious cakes to raise funds and Abi and Alex were assigned to one of the booths as volunteers.

"Is this okay with you, Alex?" Abi asked him and the man raised a brow.

"Well, this is far better than being a prop man," he answered and Abi chuckled. Now that she thought about it, Abi wasn't hesitant anymore in asking Alex to do simple ordinary tasks since that day.

"So? What am I going to do? Be a watcher?" Alex was leaning forward right next to Abi while the girl was busy arranging the cakes.

"Hmm… do you know how to sell? Okay, watch me… it's like this…" As Abi showed him the polite way of selling and treating the beloved costumers, all Alex did was crease his brow. It was obvious that he wasn't that keen to learn her expert selling technique.

"I'll just be a watcher," he said decisively and he sat behind her like a boss.

Abi pressed her lips tightly. She had been doing this for years now and she knew that it wasn't easy to sell goods. She looked around and most of the booths had cute girls and handsome boys standing outside to lure in the customers. She looked at Alex and thought, 'what if they will get intimidated instead?'

"What?" Alex glanced at her as he sat comfortably with his long legs crossed.

Abi moved closer to him, took off her frog headband and put it on him, causing the man to crease his brows together.

"Alex, look! Can you go outside and try to lure in the costumers? I'm sure with that face of yours, all the girls will definitely come and buy from here."

"Are you sure they won't run away instead?"

"I don't think so. You're handsomer than any celebrity, why would they want to run away?"

Alex raised his brow. Did she just praise him? He seemed pleased with that thought. He looked at those other young people standing in front of the booths and saw what they were doing to try and get customers to buy from them and he just scowled. There was no way he would do that.

"Nope," he said but Abi was persistent. She took a cardboard sign and wrote something on it and gave it to him.

"Here, you don't need to say anything. Just hold this in front of the booth so people can read it." She smiled before she pulled him up and dragged him outside.

And thus, the godly, handsome booth mascot was born.

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