“There’s no chance mommy would listen to you.”
The blow Mike received from the verbal judo was so great that he wasn’t able to stand up. Instead, he ate with his head down.
“Uncle Mike, when is mormy coming back?” Layla couldn’t wait for her mother’s return. She wished she could hang out withed her.
“Your mother has to come back a wee bit later today. Your little brother is down with a cold, and she has to make sure that he recovers before coming back.” Mike explained.
“Didn’t you say brother’s fever has subsided?”
“Yup, you’re right. While the fever is gone, he might still have complications such as coughing! There is no other way than to wait for his full recovery.”
“Are you sure my little brother’s coughing? I haven’t ever heard him cough. Ever!” the curious Layla asked, with one big blink. As babies don’t walk nor talk, she was always under the impression that babies were a different species from them.
“Now does my little brother fart?” Before Mike could answer, Layla went on, “My brother smells nice, could his fart have the same fragrance?”
Across the table, there was a thud. Hayden dropped his knife and fork and he left the dining table.
Chad walked past Mike. While resting his hands on Mike’s back, he roared into laughter. Mike sighed, “Layla, your little brother drinks milk all day every day. Even if he farts, how smelly would it be? Anyway, are you able to shift your focus to something more meaningful? Say, where are we heading this weekend?” “Well, I did ask a while ago. You ignored me.” Layla cut a small bit of meat with her knife and hooked some into her tiny mouth.
“What do we do with Hayden if he goes hungry later tonight? He doesn’t even take snacks.” “Well, if he is hungry then, I’ll prep some food for him,” Chad promised while whipping out a poster. It was the promotional poster for Dream City. After seeing the poster, Layla’s eye glittered and she put down her knife.
“What a glorious castle! Uncle Mike, are we going to play here this weekend?” Layla put her hands on the poster and she studied the myriad of pictures printed on it. Mike replied, “If you are up for it, we are up for it.” “I wanna go! I wanna go! This place looks breathtaking! I wonder why I haven’t been there at least once.”
Chad introduced, ” It was only open for business near the end of last year.” After pausing for a moment, he went on, “This is the theme park your father has built. At any time you want, you may enjoy your time there.”
With an air of indifference, she tossed the poster. “The last thing I would do is step on daddy’s theme park. I haven’t forgiven him!”
“Layla, your dad won’t know if you went to his amusement park! I won’t tell him.” Chad explained, “Let’s check it out this weekend and if it’s not fun, we shall leave immediately, okay?”
Layla struggled for a few seconds before nodding with a smile.
“Remember dear, when you’re on the video call with your mom later, don’t spill this secret, okay? Otherwise , she won’t let you go.” Chad remembered , “That amusement park is full of fun yo! I took my niece there once. She had a blast.” By now, Layla’s heart had flown to the castle in the poster. Whatever Chad said, she nodded. In the blink of an eye, it was the weekend.
A crowd of people was squeezing through Dream City’s entrance.
When Chad brought his niece here the other day, the weather wasn’t as kind and there weren’t that many tourists then. He had completely misjudged the situation. “Well, it’s a good thing that Hayden hasn’t joined us.” Mike sighed as he looked at the stream of moving heads.
If Hayden had been amongst this crowd of tourists, he would certainly have turned around and left.
Hayden didn’t fancy this sort of crowded place. Chad was a little apologetic when he said, “It’s taking forever to wait in line. I’ll go and talk to the manager. Let’s go in through the staff hallway.” Mike asked, “Go in through the staff hallway, and then what? There are more people inside, and there must be a long queue for each ride…” Chad countered, “Then what should we do? We haven’t come all this way to give up on playing, have we?”
The reason why Chad had wanted to bring Hayden and Layla over was to tell them which architecture and rides were designed by Elyette Foster. He wanted the children to adore their father, and to forgive the man. Layla frowned and pursed her lips. “I don’t wanna go back. But there are a lot of people here, and I don’t like ited either…”
After understanding Layla’s demand, Chad was discreet in discussing it with Mike. “How about I call Mr. Foster? If he comes over, he will be able to clear the entire park and let Layla play alone.”
“If Averie finds out that I brought Layla to see their father, do you think she would sparele me?
Mike rejected his proposal. “Let’s go in and have a look first!”
Chad used his credentials to quickly enter the park from the staff hallway with Mike and Layla
Once Layla was in, she knew what she wanted to play first.
They had been using VIP cards, but even the VIP lines were full of people. In the end, they still had to queue up like exemplary parkı8 guests. “Layla, I’m sorry. I didn’t know there would be this many people here today.” Chad apologized.
“Isn’t this project managed by your company?” Mike asked. “There is a designated person who manages it directly with my boss. I have only heard that this is more profitable, and it should be able to pay back the cost in a short time, but I didn’t expect it to be so popular.” Chad said, “After all, this is not the city center. I don’t usually come here.”
“It’s cool. We just won’t come again next time.” Mike hated queueing.
Layla looked up at them. “I think it’s beautiful and fun here. I like it here.” “Okey-dokey. Then let’s pick a good time with fewer people to play next time.” He went on,” Or come back after your parents have reconciled.” Mike wasn’t letting a chance to tease her go to waste.
Layla held onto his big palm tightly and began to look anxiously at the group ahead. Suddenly, a middle-aged lady dressed in jewels brought two people along with her to the front of the line. They were cutting the line.
After someone protested, the lady hollered back at the top of her lungs: “Do you know who my husband is?! He is in charge of this whole stretch of land! If I want to cut the line, I will cut it! All of you had better zip it!” The orderly environment turned into pandemonium. The little girl in front of Layla was startled by the ruckus and cried.
Layla patted the little girl on the shoulder and comforted her softly: “Hey little buddy, don’t cry. I’ll teach that bad lady a lesson!”
Layla took Mike’s hand and marched forward.
Chad saw that the staff in front seemed fearful of the woman. To avoid blowing things up, he took out his phone and called the person in charge of the park.
Layla walked up to the haughty woman and exclaimed, “Ma’am! It’s not right to cut the queue! You are in the wrong and yet you act so condescendingly. Haven’t you learned some manners from school?”
Taken aback by Layla’s lecture, Mike pursed his lips. The little girl had really improved after enrolling in primary school. Her skill in speaking was discernibly different from when she was three or four.
Layla’s words silenced the commotion for two seconds. The middle-aged lady glared at Layla and scolded, “You pipsqueak! How dare you lecture me?! Which stinky onion were you grown from?”
Keeping her cool demeanor, Layla corrected the lady, “Are you blind? Can’t tell the difference between a person and an onion? An onion is green and it’s a plant. You haven’t even learned the proper way of arguing. What a dummy.” The crowd burst into laughter!
The lady’s face turned red. She was about to hit someone as she rolled her hand into a fist.
Instinctively, Mike went in front of Layla to keep her safe. At the same time, the brawny man beside the lady had Mike in his sight. The tense atmosphere flared up as if a battle was about to erupt at any time!
Chad lumbered to the battlefront to smooth things over. “Aren’t you Miss Harper? Hello! I’m the assistant to the president of the Sterling Group. Here’s my business card. The little girl is with me. Please pardon her language as she’s still a kid. Please don’t mind what she has said.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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