บท 31: Her Expression Sank Further
"Calix, please help me find a young girl. I only know her given name, not her face."
Sitting alone inside the bedroom, Calix recalled everything Leslie had just told him about. Incredulity flickered in his eyes, expressing his disbelief but, he could tell she was telling the truth.
"I'm looking for a girl aged five named Calliope. She should be in an orphanage somewhere. Sorry... I have no other information aside from her name and age. I can't even... describe how she looks right now."
Leslie looked a bit frightened and doubtful when she started her narration. Instead of the casual smile she often gave him, her countenance manifested her fear of not being believed.
"A young girl? In an orphanage? What's her relationship with you? Why are you looking for her?"
Calix didn't get any form of answers from Leslie, whether a right one, vague or even excuses. Instead, she apologized for holding back the information from him.
"My relationship with that girl... I'm sorry that I can't tell you yet. But, please help me to find her. This is my only request."
Calix was unable to say anything. He couldn't find the right words to reply, to ask Leslie as she continued pleading. She was on the verge of tears.
"Once I find her and... once I wake up, I'll leave if that's what you want. I don't want to keep bothering you either. But... please. Please find her for me."
"When I saw Amelia... I thought of the child. They... they're around the same age... I have to find the child."
Despite sounding utterly strange, Calix didn't have the heart to doubt Leslie. Her words and the little expressions on her face carried her raw honesty.
"Are you really asking me to find a child living in an orphanage somewhere in this country? And... you only know her name and age?"
To Calix's questions, Leslie quickly nodded.
"Please, Calix. I can only rely on you now."
Following her last words, Leslie bowed deeply to Calix, earning his surprise. He didn't expect her to lower herself like that just for the sake of getting his help.
After much pondering, Calix told Leslie to have another discussion tomorrow. Both of them were already tired thus, unable to think more coherently.
Instead of looking relieved, Leslie's expression sank further. Her lips trembled so much that she couldn't speak. She also lowered her head, trying to hold back from crying.
In Calix's eyes, Leslie seemed to be so afraid of him rejecting the request in the end.
"Leslie, let's talk again tomorrow. I just need to wrap my head around it first. Don't be scared, en?"
Under Calix's gentle persuasion, Leslie nodded albeit reluctantly. He told her to sleep on the bed yet, she said she wanted to wander around the courtyard house.
Calix let her, thinking that Leslie needed some time to think after bringing up her request. She also might require some space for herself.
"Haa..."
Calix glanced at the wall clock. In less than thirty minutes, midnight would strike. He didn't realize that he had been sitting on the couch for long since Leslie left.
"To find a child? Calliope?"
Frowning, Calix roughly ran his palm over his face. After exhaling another deep sigh, he pushed himself to stand.
This couldn't be done. He needed a good sleep before thinking about how to answer her request.
But...
Calix had a hunch that Leslie might distance herself from him if he turned her pleas down.
Despite thinking that, Calix couldn't find it in his heart to reject Leslie's request. Something was telling him that he had to help her look for that child no matter what.
Alone in the bedroom, Calix fell asleep on the spacious bed. Leslie never reappeared that night.
The next morning.
"Where is she?"
Calix walked down the jogging trail while keeping a lookout for Leslie. Sweat dripped from his forehead, trickling down to his chin. He had just finished a few laps in the backyard.
Right now, Calix was exploring another part of the garden. He thought to run from one end to the other side of the huge garden.
When Calix woke up at dawn, he found no traces of Leslie. He was not sure whether she had returned but went out again or not.
"Uh, so hot."
Calix took off the damp T-shirt worn over his body, exposing his fit abdomen to the cool morning air. He put the clothes over his right shoulder. His attention was still on looking for Leslie.
"Did she fall asleep somewhere?"
At seven in the morning, the backyard was quiet. Only the sound of leaves rustling and water trickling into the pond could be heard by him.
"Hurm... maybe she has returned to the bedroom."
Following the assumption, Calix dropped the idea of resuming jogging. He could go to the office a bit later today. Edward had been notified of his staying the night at the ancestral home.
"..."
Calix abruptly backtracked. He swore that his eyes caught who he was looking for when he walked past a flower bed just a moment ago.
Turning his head around, Calix dropped his jaw in disbelief. Leslie's figure was reflected in his eyes.
There she was!
Calix immediately ran to where Leslie was. He couldn't believe that she was sleeping on one side, using the ground as her mattress.
Leslie slept right next to the flower bed. A tree nearby provided shade through its long extended branches.
"...haha."
Calix let out a hollow laugh. He didn't forget to look around him before carefully touching Leslie's shoulders. He had to wake her up before someone came to this area.
"Leslie, wake up. It's morning ah," Calix patted Leslie's back a few times, "Hey, how could you sleep here?"
"...en."
"Leslie, it's a brand new morning now."
Being stirred awake by Calix's action, Leslie squinted her eyes before slowly opening them. A low grunt escaped her lips.
"Ca... Calix?"
Leslie rubbed her eyes and blinked them repeatedly. Gradually, her eyesight regained its clarity. She saw Calix crouching next to her, almost hovering over her as he tried to wake her up.
"I looked for you everywhere ah. I thought you..."
"Ahhh!"
Leslie's scream froze Calix.
"..."
What now?
"What..." Calix hunched away from Leslie, "Did I scare you? Sorry."
Leslie sprang up from the lawn. She was surprised to see Calix's bare upper body before she realized that he was in his sportswear.
"N-no... no, I was just shocked. I thought... never mind."
Leslie was too embarrassed to say what she had initially thought. She refrained from looking directly at Calix but, something fished her curiosity.
"Calix..." Leslie blinked, her eyes lowered to CEO Xu's chest, "What... what's that?"
On Calix's broad chest, a thick and jagged scar ran across it.
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