Chapter 12
Katherine was reviewing the afternoon's guest reports when her phone buzzed. She grunted, rubbing her tired eyes as she rested her back, slouched down the seat head, and swiped to the right.
She had been trying to haggle price with a new supply for the management and absentmindedly picked up the call, expecting it to be the vendor. She thought the supply had agreed on the price, but she raised her brow when she heard the voice, then looked at her phone screen and saw it was from the reception.
Katherine blinked, wondering why the receptionist lady was calling her—she wasn't expecting any visitor nor a parcel. "Hello," she returned the greeting, putting the end of her pen in her parted lips.
"Miss Prescott?" the receptionist's voice came. "You might want to come to the front desk. Um... the children are here and they are asking for you."
"Children?" Katherine asked, unsure. She had already informed the receptionist, even the security guards and other staff, that her twins wouldn't be coming for some time. But why were there children asking for her? Tightness tugged her heart as she stood from her seat.
"Yes, the twins—"
The twins?
Katherine didn't wait to hear anything else. She hung up and slipped her phone into her pocket as she dashed from her office, heels clacking against the tiled floor.
What were they doing here? Why? How? What happened? How did they get here? Who brought them here?
Series of unanswered questions were blaring in her head as her heart pounded by the time she reached the front lobby.
And there they were.
Jasmine and Hanith, in their crumpled school uniforms, swinging their legs innocently from the plush waiting bench. Jasmine was chattering animatedly to her brother, who sat quiet as usual, his mismatched eyes scanning the lobby. Hanith looked out of place while Jasmine looked so comfortable.
Katherine's steps slowed, her chest tightening as she walked to them.
"What… What are you doing here?" she asked, crouching to their level, trying to keep her voice calm even though she felt like screaming, panic lacing her voice.
Jasmine grinned, her face lighting up. "Mommy! When we got home, the nanny wasn't around!"
Katherine blinked in confusion. Where did the nanny go and she didn't inform her or give her a heads-up? "What?" she took out her phone to call only to see a message from the nanny some hours ago.
Hello Ms. Prescott,
I don't want to trouble you with a call but I won't be able to stay with the kids today. I'm so sorry for the short notice—my daddy was rushed to the hospital and I need to be there. You can cut it out of my wages for today's inconvenience.
Have a great day ahead.
Thank you.
Fuc—Katherine swallowed the curse word in her mouth. Her phone was on vibration—that was why she didn't notice when the message came in. She wanted to face-palm herself.
"What about Nana Popo?" she asked about the grandma living a floor below her apartment.
"We checked, but she's not around."
Katherine sighed softly, rubbing their hands adoringly. "But how did you get here?" she looked at both of them to see there were no signs of injuries or wounds. They were perfectly okay.
"We took a cab!" Jasmine responded proudly, her nose high as if she'd done something incredible.
"You what?!" Katherine's voice rose before she cautioned herself and quickly looked around worriedly, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "You took a cab? Alone?!" she repeated to confirm if she heard right as her chest thumped at their adventure.
Jasmine nodded happily, oblivious to the storm brewing in her mother's head. "Uh-huh. We used the card you put in our safety bag for emergencies!" her voice lowered toward the end.
Hanith mumbled softly. "We waited but no one came."
Katherine closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her temple. "I'm going to have a headache," she muttered. "A really big one."
"We wanted to see you, Uncle Mathew, and Uncle Piano," Jasmine pouted.
"But taking a cab—"
Jasmine interrupted her, "Mummy, we are big now. We can—"
"No!" Katherine disagreed in a firm voice which shocked her children.
"I told you we shouldn't come," Hanith said in a small voice. "Mommy will be angry."
"You wanted to see Mommy too," Jasmine said.
"We are bad kids," Hanith mumbled, guilt lacing his small voice.
"You're not bad," Jasmine frowned at her brother. "You wanted to see Mommy too!"
Katherine softened, her heart squeezing at the sight of his lowered head. She reached out and pulled both of them close, wrapping them in a gentle hug.
"Hey, hey," she whispered. "You're not bad kids. Okay?" she asked softly. "You can never be bad, you are blessings and miracles from God. And all miracles and blessings are good." She kissed their foreheads.
"I'm just… I'm just surprised. You two could have gotten hurt."
"But Mummy, we didn't." Jasmine smiled, flexing her hand to show Katherine they were fine.
"Yes, that's a relief."
Katherine smiled at both of them, ruffled Hanith's hair while pinching Jasmine's cheeky cheek a little.
"Ouch, Mummy!" Jasmine whined loudly, and Katherine felt her heart want to leap from her ribcage as she instinctively used her hands to cover Jasmine's mouth in panic, her eyes darting around the lobby, and—her stomach dropped when she saw him.
Aaron.
He was passing through the lobby on the far end.
Katherine's entire body tensed. Her throat tightened as her heart hammered so loudly she was sure it echoed through the entire lobby.
Did he hear what Jasmine just said?
No. No, no, no.
He possibly couldn't have heard that, right?
She only prayed he didn't.
With her hand still gently over Jasmine's lips, Katherine forced a wobbly smile on her face as Jasmine watched her innocently.
"You miss your mommy, right?" she said, a little louder—enough for Aaron to catch on. "Your mom misses you too, buds. I'll take you to her as soon as I can. I promise."
Her kids blinked innocently at her strange actions yet didn't say anything to disagree.
Katherine glanced back to see Aaron wasn't minding her and the children anymore—he was just walking to the corner—and she exhaled shakily, nearly falling on her butt from weak knees.
She waited until he was gone, her heart still clogged in her throat, then slowly removed her hand from Jasmine's mouth, breathed shakily, and her shoulders sagged in relief.
"Come on," she said, grabbing both of their hands gently. "Let's go to my office."