The Apple of My Eye

Clark could not see his father anywhere. Just when he was about to leave, Isla swooped in and dragged him outside. "Aunt Isla, wait! What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" Isla gestured for Clark to be quiet, taking him with her behind the door of Charles' office to hide. She wanted to find out what the hell was going on, and there was no other way to do it than to spy on David.

Based on experience in a similar workplace for years, she was quite certain that David was hiding something from them. So she was intrigued and wanted to find out what it was.

Hence, they hid behind the door in the hopes of finding out what was really going on.

Back in the office, after sending Isla and Clark off, David wiped the sweat off his forehead and then took out his cellphone to call Charles.

"Sir, Isla just stopped by your office, and she brought Clark with her. They have just left." David reported to Charles over the phone, sounding very anxious. It appeared that the sudden visit made by Isla and Clark to the company had indeed been quite difficult for him to handle.

Isla listened to David's comments from behind the door. She had had a strange feeling that David would call Charles to report what had happened. So she tried to be all ears and listen in on their conversation for fear of missing anything important.

Clark looked up at Isla, looking all confused and curious as to why they were hunkering behind the door.

David's phone conversation with Charles went on, and Isla caught a woman's name and mention of a hospital during this conversation.

Being quick-minded, this chain of events had already provided Isla with enough information to deduce where Charles was currently.

After listening to the long conversation, the only thing that Isla was not sure of was why the woman named Vicky was in a hospital. Had she been in some kind of an accident?

"Okay, sir. I've got it. I will manage the situation," David confirmed, finally hanging up the phone.

As soon as Isla heard that the conversation was over, she felt that it was their cue to leave before David saw her. Holding Clark's hand, she took off without looking back.

After walking out of the Shining Company, Isla had been busy thinking about the connection among all of them, thus forgetting she had a kid with her, who had been calling her name a few times already. "Aunt Isla!" Clark shouted again, this time even louder than before. Seeing that Isla was fully absorbed by her thoughts, he was getting a little bit irritated.

"Ah, what is it, Clark?" Snapping back to reality, Isla turned to look at Clark in a daze.

Pouting his little mouth as a protest, Clark held his head up and looked at Isla.

Immediately understanding Clark's expression, Isla hunkered down and said, "I am sorry, Clark. I got distracted. Can you please repeat what you just said?" "Aunt Isla, Daddy is not around. What do we do now? I really want to see him. Do you think he doesn't love me anymore? Is that why he doesn't want to see me?"

Since he was a baby, Clark remembered that he had always been told that Charles was at the company most of the time. So Clark could not understand how they had failed to find his father twice in a row at the company now.

The thought of not being wanted started to sink in, and Clark's big eyes started to well up with tears.

"Oh, no! Clark, what is happening? Are you okay?" Isla had never seen Clark like this. She almost panicked at seeing him in tears, as she had no idea what to do with him.

"Aunt Isla, does my father not want me anymore? I really miss him. Did I do anything wrong?" Clark was only a kid, and, right now, he was worried sick about not being able to be with his father again. The thought of never seeing his daddy again made him want to cry.

"Come on, Clark. No, that is not true. Your father is just very busy recently. I am sure he will come around and visit you and your mother soon. You really don't have to worry," Isla said, trying to comfort Clark. Now, she began to regret bringing him here looking for Charles. Isla patted the little boy's head.

It took her a long time to make Clark feel better, but he was still low spirited.

Isla decided to take Clark to play for the whole afternoon before taking him back home in order to ease his mood. She felt terrible for getting him involved and putting the kid through such mental torment. Meanwhile, back in the Cloud Advertising Company, Sheryl was already in her office.

"Sheryl, all these documents require your signature," Phoebe advised as she stood before her, holding a brown folder. She had been knocking on the door for quite a while, but Sheryl had failed to respond. So she decided to let herself in, wishing to make sure that Sheryl was still okay.

However, Sheryl did not even seem to have noticed Phoebe's knocking on the door earlier as she had been immersed in her thoughts. Having Phoebe standing in front of her now, Sheryl realized that she needed something.

"Fine, I will sign them later," she answered. "Just leave it on my desk." Sheryl looked at Phoebe indifferently. Instead of taking the document directly from her secretary, she decided to have her leave it on her desk.

"Sheryl, are you all right?" After all this time, Phoebe still felt worried about how Sheryl was holding up, especially since she didn't seem to look better during the entire day.

"I am okay. Why do you ask?" Sheryl answered calmly, looking at Phoebe. Her acting was so natural, anyone who saw her would believe she was doing okay.

"It is nothing. I am sorry. I will leave this here now," Phoebe said, putting the folder onto her table. "Come back after five minutes to collect this signed document." Knowing Sheryl was someone with strong self- esteem, Phoebe knew that she would not share her pain with anyone. She would rather take it on all by herself. Since that was the case, it would be useless to keep asking how she was. Phoebe knew this wel enough to let her be for now.

After Phoebe went out and closed the door, Sheryl turned to take a look at the mirror on her desk. A depressed and haggard woman stared back at her from the mirror.

She had always hated people worrying too much, but at this moment, she couldn't help but feel that was exactly the kind of person that she had become.

"Sheryl, if the thing between you and Charles is really not meant to be, what are you doing here feeling sorry for yourself? It's simply useless." Sheryl started, trying to talk herself out of all of this. She knew that, eventually, everything would pass just like a bad dream, but she was still having a hard time accepting it.

As promised, Phoebe came in five minutes later and was genuinely surprised and confused when she saw Sheryl. She now looked energetic and full of life, which was a complete opposite of how she was five minutes ago.

"Phoebe, here, I just signed it," she said, handing the folder to Phoebe. "Will there be anything else that I need to attend to? If there is none, I will leave early to be with my kids." Sheryl was already on her feet and began packing her stuff without even looking at Phoebe.

"Of course. There's nothing else now. Thank you." Looking at Sheryl incredulously, Phoebe was still unable to believe how fast she had been able to adjust herself.

"Very well then. I am leaving now. Just call me if you need me."

Sheryl took her bag and set out. It was not until Sheryl had left the office that Phoebe came out of a trance.

At the same time, Isla and Clark just got back home.

Clark hurriedly entered the house while Isla followed him. She had no intention to leave as of yet, so she decided to stay and play games with the two kids, hoping to take their minds away from worrying about their parents' situation.

Not long after, Sheryl arrived home and was surprised to see Isla and the kids getting along.

"Hey, I thought you guys went to the amusement park today. Why are you back so early?" Sheryl was actually planning to prepare some food and then meet them at the amusement park. She was surprised to see everyone was already back at this hour.

"There was nothing much to do at the amusement park since we had already been there yesterday. So we decided to come back home early today." Isla explained quickly, feeling worried that the kids would expose her to Sheryl.

"Aunt Isla is lying! We did not go to the amusement park today!" To Isla's dismay, Shirley blew her cover story after feeling unsatisfied with the treatment she had been receiving today.

Isla never thought that Shirley would turn her back on her. Feeling her cheeks turning pink, and she lowered her head, avoiding Sheryl's questioning eyes.

"Isla, I have always known you are a terrible liar. Just tell me what happened?" Sheryl pressed on while staring at Isla. She knew for a fact that Isla would never bring any harm to her children, but she was really intrigued as to why she had to lie about it.

"Well, it is because I only took Clark with me today instead of both of them. We left Shirley here at home." Isla looked at Sheryl, feeling embarrassed. At the same time, she was worried that Clark might slip and give her away.

Sheryl was still unsettled. She felt that something was off, but she couldn't put a finger on it. So she just stared at Isla, as if she could read her mind.

Isla almost panicked under Sheryl's stare. Once again, she lowered her head unconsciously and avoided making any eye contact with Sheryl, fearing that she might find out about her secret excursion. "Why didn't you take Shirley to the amusement park? Is everything all right?" Sheryl interpreted Isla's behavior as simply being guilt for leaving one of the kids behind, so she asked Isla on behalf of Shirley. "Shirley played a lot yesterday, so I was afraid that she might be tired and needed some rest today. That is why I did not take her out to play," Isla explained in an elevated speed.

However, this time, Isla's eyes were filled with sincerity. Making eye contact with Sheryl, and there was no sign of faltering or deceiving in both her expression and her tone.

"I see. Then you must be really tired by now too. Go home and spend some time with Aron and your kids. I can take it from here. Thank you very much for lending me a helping hand!" Sheryl expressed her genuine gratitude as she thanked Isla with loving eyes.