Chapter 1 - "The Bench"

I'm June Sawyer, I've been away from home for 2 days, honestly I'm exhausted, I had a fight with my mom, Ammy Sawyer, and I decided to leave the house, and had been sleeping on this bench on the park, for two days.

"Damn it, all the money is gone, and I'm hungry again, and only 2 cents left, what can I eat with this?" muttered June Sawyer, sitting on a public bench trying to count all the money that she had left

"I think I should just sleep to hold back this hunger." muttered June lying down on the bench with her head on her bag, and she covered her eyes with her right hand, which were sunlit by the hot midday sun

It's been two days, but there hasn't been a phone call or a message, no one cares about my whereabouts at all, not even my mother, and brothers. My father, Ronald Sawyer, he left us when I was 5 years old, to marry another rich woman, and had a new family somewhere in here.

"Ken, you better listen to them, or they will get suspicious" said an anonymous man on the phone

"Yes, I know, I'm trying, let me know if you get any information." replied the man, Kenneth Liston

Kenneth passed the bench where June was lying, then held the 100 dollars and put it in June's right hand, which was closing her eyes from the sun.

June, who was holding back her hunger, suddenly found a piece of money in her hand. She immediately got up from the bench and took her bag with her, and chased Kenneth who was passing her.

"Hey, excuse me, wait..." shouted June chasing after Kenneth who is walking towards the crowded center park

"Hey, excuse me!" shouted June pulled Kenneth shirt, and he did turn back to look at her confused

"What's wrong?" ask Kenneth staring confused at June who is carrying her bag, looking very exhausted

"Listen I'm not a street beggar, so take your money back, I don't want it" said June handing the 100 dollar to Kenneth, annoyed

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you're one of them" said Kenneth took back his money

Actually, deep down June needs the money, but she doesn't want to be a street beggar who asks people for money, because this is not the life she wanted.

"It's fine" said June taking her bag and ready to walk forward leaving the park

But all of a sudden Kenneth thought of something, and stopped June to walk away.

"Hey, I'm actually about to going for lunch right now, so how about you joined me, as an apology for these things?" ask Kenneth to June

Because June had been holding back her hunger this morning, she finally agreed to go to lunch with Kenneth at a fancy restaurant.

"Welcome, Mr. Liston." said a waitress smiled, opening the restaurant door for them

"Do they know you?" ask June confused, startled at the fancy restaurant, and it's actually her first time here, growing up she never goes to a fancy restaurant before.

"Actually, I'm a regular here" reply Kenneth to June walk inside

They were both then seated at a dining table and given a menu with food that was quite expensive, according to June this could buy her two to three times cheaper ready-to-eat meals.

"Choose the menu you want to eat, it's all on me" said Kenneth to her handing her the menu book

June was a bit suspicious because they had only known each other for about 10 minutes, and he was already being this nice to her.

"Alright, I'll take this one." said June chose the cheapest one, because she was amazed by the price

"I'm taking the regular" said Kenneth to the waitress handing her the menu book

"Alright, please wait for it" said the waitress walking away

"It was very nice of you actually to treat me on this lunch today, thanks" said June awkwardly smiled to him

"It's alright" reply Kenneth

"Hey, by the way, we haven't now each other name yet, I'm June Sawyer." said June to Kenneth introducing herself

"I'm Kenneth Liston, you can call me Ken" said Kenneth introduced himself to her smiled

"Ken, what's your job?" ask June curiously to him

"I'm an athlete actually" reply Kenneth to her

"How about you, Miss Sawyer?" ask Kenneth to her curious too

"I'm a writer currently" reply June to him a little awkward

"A writer, what a coincidence, I had a friend who is also a writer too, what kind of book do you write?" ask Kenneth to her

"I'm actually still struggling to figuring out some ideas about it, so I'm still exploring about that" replied June to him

"Your look like a writer that's going to have a good potential in the future, I wish you a success" said Kenneth to her

"Thanks, you too, as an athlete it must be hard" said June smiled at him

After talking for a while, their food arrived, and they finished eating, Kenneth went to the restroom for a moment to make a phone call, while June walked around exploring the fancy restaurant for the first time.

"I think I found the right person" said Kenneth on the phone inside the restroom

"Are you sure, what's her name?" ask the anonymous man on the phone

"June Sawyer, could you please do a background check for me?" ask Kenneth on the phone to the anonymous man

"Sure, don't forget your training schedule this afternoon, I'll be there later, see you later" said the anonymous man hung up the phone

After leaving the toilet, Kenneth was shocked because June was not in her seat. He panicked because he thought June had left the restaurant, but it turned out she was staring at the big aquarium alone.

"Hey, you're here?" said Kenneth approaching her

"Yeah, this aquarium really amazed me, it's actually my first time seeing something like this, so it's actually kind of new experience for me" said June smiled happily at him

"Yes, maybe this could be a good idea for your book later." reply Kenneth staring at her happy smile

Countinued...

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