When Roxanne was having lunch the next day, she saw Pippa’s text in the group chat. It was about the kids’ activity grouping: Upon clicking the link, she caught her name at the top of the list right away. It was followed by Lucian’s name.
Roxanne was flabbergasted. She checked it once more and even queried the teacher: Ms. Ward, am I supposed to read the name list horizontally or vertically?Oh no, it’s Murphy’s law! If it was arranged horizontally, I’ll be in the same group as Lucian. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Pippa replied in a jiffy: Hi, Ms. Jarvis, please read it horizontally.
Roxanne’s expression froze at the sight of the message. Refusing to give up, she asked once more to try her luck: May I switch to another team?
Meanwhile, Pippa was helping other parents to regroup the other kids. When she read Roxanne’s text, she felt bad for not doing her a favor. She responded: I’m sorry, Ms. Jarvis. The groups have been fixed, and we can’t change them anymore. In addition, it has been submitted to Mr. Bauer. If there’s any reason to amend the list, we’ll need to seek Mr. Bauer’s advice.
Pippa figured that since Jeffrey had given her a specific instruction, it was better for her to bring up Jeffrey’s name when the scenario did not quite go as planned.
A trace of strong resistance appeared in Roxanne’s eyes. She frowned at Pippa’s reply.
Shortly after, Pippa sent her another text. It read: We’ve considered various aspects before grouping the kids together. Among all the classmates, Essie is the closest to Archie and Benny. If we let Essie work with other families, I’m afraid she won’t participate in the stage play. Thank you for your understanding.
At the mention of Estella, Roxanne’s heart softened.
As much as she rejected the idea of being grouped with Lucian and Estella, she agreed with Pippa’s rationale. She could not imagine how the little girl could feel comfortable around other families.
After much hesitating, she thanked Pippa and ended the conversation despite feeling very troubled by it.
She had prepared herself to bump into Lucian and Estella at the anniversary celebration
However, she did not expect to be in the same team as them,
Suddenly, she lost all of her appetite.
She took a few mouthfuls, switched off her phone, and left.
There was still a strand of hope in her, thinking that there would not be much intimate interaction with the father-daughter duo since it was a kindergarten play. It’s probably jusi a fairy tale or a fable.
By the time she returned home in the evening, the boys were already back.
At the sight of Archie and Benny, Roxanne’s smile became stiff. She could not help but be reminded of the upcoming collaboration with Lucian on the school play.
On the contrary, the boys who were aware of the groupings were over the moon and anxious at the same time.
On the one hand, they were looking forward to performing with Estella. On the other hand, they were reluctant to face Lucian, knowing that Roxanne had no intention of crossing paths with him.
Yet, there was only one way they could perform with Estella, which was to be on the same team as Lucian!
They were scared that Roxanne would change her mind and not show up at the anniversary celebration the moment she found out about the arrangement.
At that thought, the boys fell very silent and did not mention a word about the event.
Roxanne found their reactions strange and took a wild guess. “Have you guys heard about the grouping?”
Her question made their hearts skip a beat. The kids stared at each other nervously. No one uttered anything in response.
Moments later, Benny posed a question cautiously, “Did you find out about it, Mommy?”
Roxanne nodded firmly. “Ms. Ward sent the list this afternoon.”
After hearing Roxanne’s reply, Archie and Benny became concerned. “So, are you still going, Mommy?” they asked. Roxanne read their minds, and shook her head passively.
The two boys thought she meant she was not going, so they anxiously tugged at her and whined, “Mommy, you gave us your promise, so you can’t take back your word! If you don’t want to talk to Mr. Farwell, we will keep him from you!”
Roxanne was amused by their reactions. She ruffled their hair affectionately and assured them, “Don’t worry. Since I gave you my word, I will definitely honor it. Moreover, Ms. Ward has already finalized the groupings, so mommy can’t possibly trouble her to make changes now, can I?”
The boys heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing her assurance.
However, Roxanne’s heart sank as she thought about the one she had to partner with. “Do you know which play we are doing?” she probed.
She heard from Pippa that the children drew lots to see which play they would be involved in, so she was positive Archie and Benny knew the answer.
Upon hearing her question, Benny ran to his bag and dug into it for a while. Then he came back with a piece of crumpled paper, likely the piece they got from the draw earlier that day.
Roxanne froze on the spot after she took a look at that piece of paper.
Neatly written on the paper were the words Sleeping Beauty. For the benefit of the children, their teacher even added phonetic alphabets under the words.
“Mommy, do you know this story?” Benny looked up at Roxanne and curiously asked.
Roxanne did not have the habit of reading bedtime stories to the boys. On the rare occasions when she did, she also would not pick fairy tales about princes and princesses for the boys. As such, the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty was alien to Archie and Benny
Roxanne was at a loss for words, not knowing how to answer Benny’s question about the storyline.
Her mind was on the play. She could imagine the roles of Sleeping Beauty and the prince would likely fall on her and Lucian. Knowing how the storyline was, she became anxious.
If she had known earlier that their play was Sleeping Beauty, Roxanne would never have agreed to participate. Alas, it was too late for her to back out.
After contemplating for a while, Roxanne looked at the kids and said, “Mommy’s going to make a phone call, so you boys should stay quiet and don’t make too much noise, okay?”
The kids obediently nodded their heads.
Roxanne took out her phone and called Jeffrey Bauer, the head of the kids’ kindergarten.
Pippa had told her in the afternoon that only Jeffrey could make changes to the groupings for the plays. Roxanne desperately wanted to switch to another group. If that was not possible, she would request a change in the play.
She frowned and disappointedly hung up after receiving a busy tone. After a short wait, she was about to call again when Jeffrey returned her call.
“Hi, Ms. Jarvis. Sorry I missed your call. How can I help you?” Jeffrey asked.
Roxanne apologetically replied, “I’m so sorry for calling you at this hour, Mr. Bauer. May I know if it’s still possible to make changes to the groupings for the anniversary celebration performances?”
At the other end of the phone, a conscience-stricken expression appeared on Jeffrey’s face when he heard Roxanne’s request. He was quick to compose himself and patiently explained, “As you know, our kindergarten is a little different from the usual ones in that all the parents are busy professionals.
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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