Chapter 3：Caught Offguard

Her reverie was put to a halt when her phone rang. It was Anthon again.

"Can I give you the details personally? I already have the list with me."

She asked him a day before to gather contact information about their unheard classmates. She had not enough time to do that, so she welcomed his offer to lighten up her load.

The time had not ripened yet to present her case to him. She wanted to develop their friendship again first, to dispel their awkwardness. Perhaps, through constant communication with him, she would succeed.

"Don't waste your time, Anthon. You may send it to me through a private message."

"If you won't allow me into your house, I'll wait for you at Gee's Coffee Shop. On my way there."

"Okay, then."

She could trust herself this time, she thought. Her emotional strength had hardened through time and constant mighty storms.

She looked at her watch. It's time to pick up her five-year-old boy at school. So, she decided to pick him up first and bring him along to meet Anthon. Anyway, he could not care less about the child, and there was no way he would find out.

He was already there when she arrived and had also prepared themselves a table beside a window that opened up to a mini garden outside. The whole place was quiet, and even the smiles of the attendants were wordless. Her gaze was captivated by the serenity of the scene and the lush leaves outside. Beautiful flowers were perfectly arranged with expertise that the garden appeared like a romantic paradise. There was a tinge of pain welling up inside her. Such a stunning place like this would always bring back the sense of sadness that she thought she had successfully thrown away.

Anthon, on the other hand, stared at her intensely. He noticed that her looks had not matured according to her age. She had the type of beauty which intensified as one would look at her intensely. It was not stunning but captivating. She was still as calm as she was 15 years ago. Her brilliance naturally emanated from the sharpness of the way she looks at anything. Her soft and graceful ways of carrying herself were still dominant about her — the same attributes he had loved about this girl before.

Absorbed by her melancholy as she used to be, he got the perfect chance to study her features generously. Across her, was the woman of her dreams before.

Until this moment, he was still wondering why she took her distance from all of them and disappeared without a trace.

"Coffee or tea? " He smiled shyly as if he was guilty in disturbing her.

"House blend, please. Sorry, Ton. I got lost with my thoughts."

" It's alright, but I am jealous of that person who just took your mind away in front of me," Anthon joked, a big grin broke on his face.

"You never changed. You're always good at flatteries. Good that I had never fallen into your trap," Jia chuckled in her lie, thinking Anthon would not understand.

A smile curved into his lips. "How's my beautiful friend throughout these years?"

Though she came out lately from her shell, she never told anyone about herself. Somehow, she allowed to be added to their batch's group chat and surprisingly agreed to help in their plan for a reunion.

"I have a very blessed life like you do and a precious son. "

" Where is your husband? You never mentioned him in our GC."

"He's somewhere out there," she laughed.

Anthon understood that she was not ready yet to disclose anything about herself. He was very good at respecting other's privacy ever since their high school years.

It was the reason why he succeeded in walking into her heart. His listening skills and his very considerate trait broke down the walls that Jia placed between them before.

Suddenly, a boy burst out from the entrance and yelled as he ran towards them, "Mommy, I want cheesecake. "

She waved a hand to the woman who accompanied his son, and she quickly understood and left.

" No hug and kiss for me? " She said as he cuddled the boy.

He was strikingly handsome, and the features of his eyes were similar to someone. Then Jia glanced over Anthon and said,

" Baby, say hi to Uncle Anthon."

Her son suddenly sprang up from his feet, stared into his eyes for a long time, then suddenly, hugged Anthon tightly. Anthon quickly hugged the cute bundle back.

That was so sudden that they were both caught by surprise!

After a while, he loosened from his tight embrace and blurted out something that caught Jia off-guard.

"Mom, tell me, is he my dad?"

***