CHAPTER THREE : "Waiting!"

"Mon épouse !"

That familiar form of address caused Hailley to pause in her steps, not because she had agreed to that title, but because she knew the owner of the voice. She wasn't the first he had entitled as 'mon épouse', meaning 'my wife' in english translation.

Brian Yong

She knew him, not quite well, but she had interacted with him in rare occasions, both familiar yet unfamiliar.

He had a natural humor that never felt forced. The kind that slipped into conversations effortlessly, catching people off guard and leaving them smiling long after. He wasn’t loud, never exaggerated his gestures, never performed for attention — but somehow, he was always the reason laughter lingered in the air.

Children gravitated toward him instinctively. He spoke to them at eye level, listened to their endless stories as if they were important news, and remembered small details about them — a missing tooth, a new backpack, a fear of loud noises. They trusted him.

With playful affection, he would sometimes call even the tiniest nursery child “mon épouse,” stretching the words dramatically as they giggled and ran away in mock embarrassment. It was never inappropriate, only lighthearted — a harmless joke wrapped in warmth, the kind that made the children feel seen and special.

He carried friendliness like second nature. He greeted everyone — teachers, drivers, cleaners — with the same easy smile. Conversations with him felt relaxed, unpressured. He didn’t try to dominate a room; he simply made it softer.

There was something steady beneath the humor, too. His jokes never crossed lines, never belittled anyone. They were gentle, inclusive, and full of life — like sparks, not fireworks.

He wasn’t a clown.

He was simply someone who understood that a little laughter makes even ordinary days feel lighter.

She was already familiar and accostumed with his address, though at times she felt he was serious, really hoping to legalise that form of adress, but she wasn't sure, but she always took it for a joke. With a joke she rejected his advances when he asked to love her and bring her to his home. She didn't want to explore further if he was joking or seriouse, just interacting with him when needed was enough for her.

"Mon épouse, why are you here, looking for me?" He said, but she vaguely felt his words were laced with expectations, but she couldn't be bothered to discern.

"Just helping my aunt do some clean up in the canteen." Hailley explained briefly, too lazy to add any further explanation.

"Right, I heard you're the new cashier in school, but I wasn't they were referring to you." Brian said with a sudden realisation, she wasn't surprised he knew about it either. Brian Yong is an old employee, he had been driving as the school bus driver from the moment the school opened.

A veteran

Hailley thought to herself, silently agreeing to his words without offering a word.

"I guess we're colleague now."

Yes, they were colleague, well not yet but probably not very long before she steps into the school premises as an official cashier.

"Yes." Hailley replied dryly, she had always been reticent, so Brian didn't seem to be bothered by her nonchalance. After exchanging a few pleasanteries, with him talking and Hailley answering dryly.

"Alright, see you soon."

Soon

Her life would take another turn, sorrounded by colleagues, clients, the spicy fragrance wafting in the air from frying, roasting of food. She hadn't studied in school to find herself behind the counter as a cashier, but had a certificate in marketing. But life at times was all about convenience, as for what the future held for her.

'Let's take one step at a time.'

Hailley thought to herself as she pushed open the gates of the school campus and walked out, leaving behind whatever scene and situation she didn't participate in.

"You're already back." Hailley was welcomed at the door by her junior sister who was cassually sipping her fruit juice. This was the sister that followed her directly, people said they looked alike, but she didn't think so.

Laura William, was four years younger than her, had just graduated from secondary school, preparing to study medecin. She had an hour glass dream figure, slightly shorter than her, sparkling amber hair that ran down to her waist. Dressed in crop top with a pair of shorts, her smooth thighs were exposed to all view, while her amber hair was styled delicately.

Laura had always been very particular about her image, always trying to look beautiful at every occasion. Unlike her cassual self, Laura loved to be pretty, not just in thought, she was very beautiful and curvier than her.

"So how did it go?" Laura tilted her head with an expectant gaze, but Hailley couldn't understand what she was expecting.

"Nothing, it's not like I had to start working today." Hailley said helplessly, looking at her silly sister who had always been smarter than them, despite her young age.

"True, don't mind me, I'm just bored." She waved and walked in the house while slowly sipping her fruit juice, leaving Hailley still standing in front of the door. She had no intention of following her in, so she turned with intention of walking towards her mother's cosmetic shop.

Hailley stepped out of the compound with the quiet familiarity of routine guiding her feet. The morning air was warm, carrying the faint scent of dust and distant cooking fires. She adjusted the strap of her bag and turned toward her mother’s small cosmetic shop beside the house, already thinking about the shelves that needed rearranging.

She didn’t expect anyone directly in her path.

So when she turned the corner of their compound to the street she had thought empty a moment ago, she nearly walked straight into someone, she stopped abruptly.

It was Stephan.

For a brief second, they stood face to face — closer than usual, close enough for her to notice the slight pause in his breathing. His eyes widened, not dramatically, but with a flicker of surprise that softened quickly into recognition.

“Hailley,” he said, her name sounding almost accidental on his lips.

She blinked once, steadying herself. There was no rush of warmth in her chest. No sudden awareness. Just a simple recognition — Oh. It’s him.

“Sorry,” she appologized politely, her voice even, composed, as if making up for her earlier ignorance in the canteen, they hadn't said a word to each other.

To her, the moment felt ordinary. A small coincidence on an open street. She noticed the faint scent of engine oil clinging to him, the way he seemed as though he had been about to say something more. But nothing in her shifted. No spark. No lingering curiosity. Just the natural acknowledgment of someone she had met not long ago.

She gave a small nod and stepped around him with quiet ease.

He, however, remained still for half a heartbeat longer than necessary.

There had been something in the way she looked up — calm, unaware, untouched by the tension he suddenly felt. For him, the closeness had been electric in its surprise. For her, it was simply a passing moment.

By the time she reached the cosmetic shop and pushed the door open, the encounter had already begun to dissolve in her mind.

But for Stephane, it lingered, his eyes flickered with a glimmer, perharps it was curiosity or an unknown familiarity.

"Stephan, why are you here?" Hailley was no longer present, her elder brother who was barely a year older than her just walked out.

"What are you doing beside my house, what were talking about with my kid sister?"

Damian William, Hailley's elder brother walked out, just in time to see Hailley walk away from Stephan after a cassual nod. He had no idea what they talked about, but they was no suspicion in his narrowed eyes, as if sure that his nonchalant sister wouldn't care about Stephan.

Stephan had been mid-sentence when he noticed it — that look on her brother’s face.

It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t even protective hostility.

It was disbelief.

A slow, almost amused narrowing of the eyes, as if the very idea was impossible. As if someone had just suggested the sky might turn green tomorrow. Hailley? Interested in a man? The thought clearly didn’t belong in his understanding of his sister.

Stephan caught it instantly.

For a fleeting second, his expression shifted — not dramatically, but enough. The faint curve at the corner of his lips paused. His jaw tightened ever so slightly. His eyes flickered with something restrained — a quiet sting to his pride, though he would never admit it.

Because he understood what that look meant.

It meant Hailley’s nonchalance had been convincing. It meant her calm distance had built a reputation. It meant people saw her as composed, detached — maybe even cold.

And suddenly, he wondered if he had imagined everything.

His posture straightened subtly, as if bracing himself. He didn’t challenge the brother’s expression. He didn’t defend himself. Instead, he let out a small, controlled smile — polite, unreadable.

But in his eyes, there was a brief shadow of something else.

Not insecurity exactly.

More like realization.

Realization that whatever he felt might be one-sided. Realization that perhaps she truly gave nothing away. Realization that to the world — even to her own family — she did not appear as someone who could be moved easily.

However ,Stephan’s usual easy humor didn't fade.

But inside, something had shifted.

"She's your sister?" Stephan said with uncertainty, he knew about Hailley's existence, but he had no idea she was Damian's sister, perharps because of their different personality or gender, they didn't look much alike.

"Yes, my junior sister, do you know her?"

"Maybe, we met in school today." Stephan replied, adjusting his bag straps while maintaining the flow of conversation between he and Damian.

"That's right, she went there for a clean up." Damian said with a sudden realisation, he wasn't home when their aunty came, but when he realised his sister's absence, he had asked his mother about it and knew she left early to help their aunty do some clean up at the school canteen.

"Why did you seem so guarded a moment ago, are you afraid I'll steal your sister?" Stephan cassually commented, looking at Damian's expression that said 'I don't think it's possible '

Stephan couldn't be bothered.

"Do you want to become my brother in-law." Damian had always spoke jokingly, Stephan also knew he wasn't seriouse, so he replied lazily with a smile.

"Are you inviting me?"

"Don't bother, look elsewhere, don't look at my sister." Damian said without much thought, Stephan didn't insist on his opinion either.

His tone was light, almost teasing, but there was something protective hidden beneath it.

Stephan let out a short laugh, raising both hands slightly in mock surrender. “Relax,” he said easily. “I’m not looking at anyone.”

It sounded like agreement.

But it wasn’t quite it.

His smile lingered a second too long — not challenging, not defensive, just unreadable. There was no denial in his voice, only smooth reassurance. He didn’t promise. He didn’t swear. He simply deflected.

Damian chuckled, satisfied. “Good.”

Stephan nodded once. “Your sister’s safe.”

The words were calm. Measured.

Yet inside, something in him resisted the simplicity of that agreement.

Because he hadn’t said he wouldn’t look.

He had only said he wasn’t.

And those were two very different things.

“Hailley works hard,” Stephan added casually. “She’s quiet though. Doesn’t talk much.”

It was framed as observation, not inquiry.

Damian snorted lightly. “That’s just how she is.”

“Always been like that?” Stephan asked, as if genuinely curious about personality, not probing.

“Yeah. She keeps to herself. Not really… into distractions.”

The word lingered.

Stephan tilted his head slightly. “Focused type.”

“Exactly.”

He nodded again, absorbing it without reacting too much.

“She doesn’t seem like someone who lets people get too close,” Stephan said, tone neutral, almost analytical.

Damian crossed his arms. “She doesn’t, she's more of an introvert.”

There it was.

Not forced. Not extracted. Offered.

Stephan gave a soft laugh, shaking his head as if amused. “Probably a good thing. Less drama.”

Damian agreed quickly. “Yeah. She’s not a headache like me, my mother reminds me everyday.”

Stephan’s smile didn’t change — but something sharpened quietly behind it.

“I can see that,” he replied calmly. “She seems… particular.”

He didn’t ask if she was seeing anyone. He didn’t ask what she liked. He didn’t ask what she felt.

He didn’t need to.

By the time Damian left, the conversation felt ordinary. Two men talking about family, about roads, about personalities. Nothing invasive. Nothing suspicious.

But Stephan had learned exactly what he wanted:

She was reserved. She wasn’t easily swayed. Her family saw her as emotionally distant. She wasn’t known for entertaining men.

And most importantly —

If anything ever happened between them, it wouldn’t be obvious.

Stephan watched Damian walk away, expression composed.

He hadn’t interrogated.

He hadn’t pried.

He had simply let Damian talk.

And Damian never realized he had said more than he intended.

He never meant to probe, but some how, Hailley had stirred something in him that he couldn't ignore. He felt that she was the one, but he couldn't confirm it with just thoughts, but he was glad they were colleagues.

.....

Contrary to Stephan, Hailley had already forgotten about the earlier scenario, she was already helping her mother organise the new products that arrived this morning. She might be spending less time in this shop that kept her company while she was jobless.

On Monday she would start work very early, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervouse, after all she didn't have much an experience in cashier. Everything would be a new found experience for her, but she wasn't about to give up, she had to gather experience and try to communicate more with others. Her greatest difficulty was probably communication, she could interact and communicate easily with her family, but it was different when it came to outsiders.

It made her very nervouse

Taking a deep breath she decided to avoid thinking too much about it, she was going to have to learn how to face the world sooner or later, she couldn't rely on her family for the rest of her life, right.

Certainly not.

"Good morning, isn't your mother here?" Hailley was brought out of her thought by the entery of a customer, she knew this woman, though not quite much.

"Good morning ma'am, no, my mum went out for a while, do you need something, maybe I can help ?" The woman hesitated a little, as if unsure if Hailley would really meet her needs.

"Forget it, I'll come back later, you might not understand."

Hailley nodded at her reply, not intending to convince her either, she might have studied marketing but she had to admit she was bad at communication, but she was really helpless about it.

There were times she really wished she were an extrovert like her friends and class mates, but she couldn't become them, just because she made the wish.

Hailley watched the woman walk away before she sat on the swivel chair behind the counter, she picked up her mother's holy bible and flipped a few pages before she started studying it dilligently. It had been a few months since her baptism, though she was a born again christian, she knew they were still a lot she needed to learn.

As for what would happen on Monday, Hailley was both excited and nervouse, it wasn't easy to adjust her emotions.

......~......~......

Monday seemed to be long, but before she realised it, it was already Monday, Hailley sat behind the counter with sweaty palms, it was still early, apart from the cooks and the a few waitress, there wasn't much activity in the school canteen.

From her position she could see through the floor to ceiling door of the canteen, she looked out with no interest, just waiting.

Waiting for what exactly ?

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