บท 71: Olivia's request
"Bella~" a prolonged brittle voice rang the moment the line was connected. Bella Lim stared at her phone screen, wondering if the one who called was the sophisticated woman she knew.
"Madam Olivia?" she called to confirm. However, all she heard was a complaint about someone she was certain was Eric Wu.
"Aye… that child. I've called him many times, but to no avail. Bella, you must tell him that if he doesn't adhere to my request, then what we've promised will come to effect,"
"Madam Olivia…"
"Oh, please Bella… don't be so formal with me. Just call me Olivia. Mama Olivia is good too," the woman on the other side of the phone spoke with slight irritation. However, it caused a huge shock to Bella Lim who thought that it was preposterous of her to call Madam Olivia with the name she suggested. She took a deep breath, taking note of Madam Olivia's current situation.
"Mama Olivia, ermm...that sounded… Olivia, what happened to you and Eric?" she asked after expressing the inner turmoil inside her head out loud. At this time, without an ounce of doubt, she was confident that the subject which caused the woman to get angry was none other than Eric Wu and she didn't want to add to that anger. That was the reason why she conceded to her request.
Madam Olivia laughed as soon as she heard Bella Lim changed the way she called her. She continued to rant, confirming the fact that Eric Wu got to her nerve. "Bella, do you know? I've called him ten times today, none were answered. I've sent him a thousand messages. All read, but there is not even a reply. Ahh, how irritating!" the voice of Madam Olivia made Bella Lim imagine someone with a sullen face. Her exaggerated words spoken through gritted teeth told her that Eric Wu wasn't going to be spared.
But, why did the godmother of this mighty man call her? They met only once, for sure, she wasn't someone close enough for the woman to complain about her godchild.
"Erm… is there something that I can help with?" might as well asked, Bella Lim thought to herself.
"Of course, my dear… here is what you need to do. Call him and tell him that Olivia is waiting at Sinby Haven with the harvest of the year. If he and the people Olivia has requested for him to bring doesn't come before Wednesday, his grandpa will be informed," Bella Lim flinched, she felt like a colony of ant was crawling on her skin upon listening to the woman's low but devilish voice. She wondered if Eric Wu's intimidating aura was inherited from his godmother?
"Is it okay to tell him this once he is home? I don't want to disturb him at work," she negotiated. If Eric Wu didn't even respond to Madam Olivia's phone calls, how would she able to make him pick his phone up?
"Oh, Bella…" Madam Olivia chuckled as if she knew what Bella Lim was thinking.
"You never know until you try," she said. Her tone indicated the underlying meaning that wasn't understood by Bella Lim.
"Try calling him now,"
"Now?" Bella Lim was stunned. Now?! She thought again.
"Yes, now. I'll call you again in five minutes. Make sure to tell him exactly what I told you, okay?" a giggled that sounded mischievous rang before the phone call was disconnected. Bella Lim blinked several times before she came back to herself again. She stared at little pumpkin who was eagerly staring back at her.
"Big sis, what does Mama Olivia wants?" little pumpkin was quick to catch the gists of their conversation earlier. He heard Bella Lim deliberated to either call Madam Olivia as Mama Olivia or Olivia, so he made his own choice as well.
Bella Lim let out a short laugh before she explained what Madam Olivia instructed her to do.
"Then, big sis should call big brother Eric now. Mama Olivia will call in five minutes, remember?" little pumpkin spoke, making it impossible for Bella Lim to ditch the task that was given to her. She stared at the phone on her hand while thinking that this would be the first time she called Eric Wu at work. Would he answer her call? She wondered. With an indefinite sigh, she dialed Eric Wu's number.
'Olivia, you'll only get disappointed,' she thought while placing the phone's speaker near her left ear.
"Bella, something wrong?"
See… Eric Wu didn't… scratched that… he answered?!
Bella Lim was stupefied. She froze like someone had cast magic on her for she couldn't really think properly at this moment.
"Bella? Something must've happened. Wait for me. I'll return home now,"
His pleasant voice sounded so worried at the moment…
'Ahh! He answered my call!' the thought shot her brain like a hunter's arrow, waking her up to the reality she was facing.
"E-Eric, everything is alright," she voiced out. She heard distant murmurs. At one point, she heard a few voices talking about investments and sales graphs. That was when she realized that she screwed up.
Eric Wu was in a meeting!
"Eric, I'm really sorry to disturb you. I'll hang up now," she felt her heartbeat getting louder and the demon inside her brain started to make her feel overwhelming guilt.
"Wait! Don't hang up," Eric Wu shouted in panic. And then, his commanding voice echoed, bringing the murmurs Bella Lim heard at the background to end.
"Tell me what bothers you?"
Strange. Bella Lim couldn't discern what was happening at the moment. Why did he answer her phone call when he was in a meeting? Was he worried about her?
"Bella..."
The gentle voice made Bella Lim sat straight. She held little pumpkin's hand to calm herself down.
"Ermm... Madam Olivia called me to tell you this. If you don't bring the people she asked you to bring to Sinby Haven by Wednesday, she'll inform your grandfather about... I'm not sure about what," she finally told him. She could feel her palm getting sweaty since the guilt was yet to leave her.
"My mo... hmm, Madam Olivia told you that?" Eric Wu sounded amused. Bella Lim could imagine him smiling. A handsome sight to look at.
"Yes," she replied.
"Hmm, so that's the reason for her miscalls," this time Eric Wu chuckled. "Is that her exact words?" he added.
"Yeah, by the way, she sounded angry," Bella Lim recalled the situation earlier, stimulating the funny bone of Eric Wu.
"I see. Tell her, we'll come to Sinby Haven tomorrow," Bella Lim frowned. We? Who was he referring to? She pondered for a while but it only made her curious even more. Nope, she had done her task, prying wasn't a good habit. So, she killed her desire to know the 'we' Eric Wu had mentioned.
"Sure," she responded. That was when a beep sound rang. She looked at the screen again and noticed that a call from Madam Olivia was trying to get through. She marveled if the five minutes she referred to was already up.
"Eric, I need to hang up," she informed the man who was still on the line.
"Sure. I'll see you at home. Send my regard to little pumpkin," Eric Wu said before disconnecting their phone call.
Bella Lim took a deep breath and slide the green icon to answer Madam Olivia's call.
"What did he say?" that was the first thing she heard which made her suspicious if Madam Olivia had the ability to foresee the future. How was she so confident that Eric Wu would answer her call?
"He said that he'll come tomorrow," Bella Lim combed her hair with her fingers. A bit annoyed with all the mysteries in their conversations.
"What is his exact sentence?" Madam Olivia asked.
Bella Lim almost wanted to laugh out loud. This godmother and godchild sure were attuned for they were asking the exact same question.
"He said 'we'll come to Sinby Haven tomorrow'," Bella Lim relayed the sentence exactly as Eric Wu told her. Seriously, why must she become the middle person just to relay their messages when they could use Tao? He was more reliable since he was Eric Wu's assistant.
"Good! Hehe, see he responded to your call," Madam Olivia teased Bella Lim, making her felt jumbled emotions. She was happy that Eric Wu indeed responded to her call, but for someone to say it out loud was kind of embarrassing. Moreover, she disturbed the man at his work, that was no good and unprofessional of her.
"He is in a meeting..." Bella Lim thought out loud. Madam Olivia heard what she said and laughed.
"No worries. He could just ignore the phone call like mine, but he didn't. So, all is good. I've got my answer and you've got a tiny bit of sweetness. Bella, I'll hang up now. Send my regard to little Ryan and see you two tomorrow!" Madam Olivia ended the phone call in a high-spirit.
Yet, Bella Lim felt her spirit left her body. What did she meant by 'sweetness' and 'see you tomorrow'? Really, how she wished the people around Eric Wu wasn't so complicated to understand. Alas, it was just her wishful thinking.
Bella Lim decided to ask Eric Wu later when he comes home. Besides, she needed to properly apologize for calling him during his meeting. The guilt was making her depressed.
"Little pumpkin, do we still have chocolate chips?" she asked. Little pumpkin nodded and held the plate with half chocolate chips left. Bella Lim brightened up as she joined little pumpkin's joy in binge eating. The delightful crispy texture on her first bite of the chocolate chips made her forgot about her remorse.
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