by Rosie Praks
Speaking of Clarice, she’d told him he was in charge of buying toys for her baby. Max was so busy arguing with the husband and wife that he almost forgot to buy the limited Elmo, which would be a perfect toy for his little godson.
When the door opened, all the ladies raced to the many different aisles, collecting as many items as possible. Clarice was one of the numerous mentioned above. She only had her eyes on one site—the nappies.
Fighting to gain traction on the slippery tile floor, she raced to get to the end of the aisle where all the assorted nappies were on display. But there were so many people clamoring in front of her that it was hard for her to grab even one package.
“Oh my heaven!” Clarice yelled when she got squeezed and pushed to the back of the line. “I want my nappies. No one is keeping me away from them.”
With the energy of a rhinoceros, she wedged her way through, on of the benefits of being small. She pulled one package after another when she got to the display stand, tossing them in her trolley.
One more, just one more, she thought. But then an avalanche of nappies came toppling over her.
Clarice closed her eyes and waited for death to come.
Dear heaven, what a pathetic way to die. Crushed by nappies.
It was all her fault. Now she wouldn’t even get to see her baby born or Hunter’s face again. At that moment, images of Hunter flashed before her eyes. His smiling face, his teasing face, his scolding face, all directed at her, all making her knees weak. And now she felt her knees buckling, ready for death to take her.
But did heaven ever feel so warm like this before? She wasn’t sure. She’d never been dead before. But if she knew heaven would feel like this, all soft and cozy, then she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back to Earth at all.
“Are you okay?” someone asked her from far away.
Is it God?
Clarice couldn’t respond. She was still too shocked over the prospect of dying.
“Are you okay?” that voice asked again, a little louder to wake her from her shocked state. “Answer me.”
Slowly, it came back to her. That steel wall that embraced her from behind, those arms encircling her waist, protecting her from the fall, was in fact a man. Her savior.
Clarice shook her head, bracing her soft back against the stranger. Somewhere inside her head, she knew she had heard that voice before.
“I’m… I’m… okay.” She spoke after she’d overcome her shock.
Opening her eyes, she realized her savior was still behind her, holding her amongst the nappy avalanche. She wanted to thank her savior. If he wasn’t here right now, she could have been crushed. And then she wouldn’t get to see her baby. So she flicked her head to him, her smile and expression of gratitude already plastered on her face. Except that expression of gratitude fell flat when she saw her savior, and her heart decided at that moment to thump like crazy.
Oh no! Not again. Why does he have to be my savior?
Chapter 16
“Shit! Where is she?” Hunter growled as he searched the whole house inside out. It was only ten past six in the morning, but Clarice had disappeared. And it was a Saturday, so obviously she wouldn’t be at work. So where the bloody hell is she?
When he suddenly awoke to the sound of a clicking door, he went prowling, searching for her. And now half an hour later, his search was fruitless.
The truth was he didn’t sleep too well last night. Thinking about Clarice’s indifferent behavior had him lying awake the whole night. Maybe she was upset about him breaking his promise that he would be straight home when they parted ways. But because he was so happy, he wanted to surprise her with another bunch of flowers and some cup noodles to show he really cared for her, even if the confession she’d announced in front of Anton and Fern was fake.
Everything was going fine. With a bouquet of roses and the variety of cup noodles in the backseat, he’d thought Clarice would be happy. Except disaster had to strike first. His car decided at that moment to break down in the middle of the road. It was such a great hassle. By then, he’d called AA Road Service. They’d come, but only after some time. And if Murphy were trying to piss him off even more, last night his phone decided to die too. By the time he got all the paperwork sorted out and his car working again, he’d driven home well past midnight.
He thought by presenting the flowers to Clarice, she would forgive him for not showing up as promised. Perhaps she was worried. However, she didn’t even bat an eyelid when he presented the beautiful flowers. The woman was as stubborn as ever. God, she was so hard to break. And now she’d disappeared out of her own house.
Hunter was getting frustrated. But what was really eating at his heart was his worry. He was on the verge of having a breakdown. He realized Clarice meant a lot more to him than anything else he’d ever valued in life. He realized now that he couldn’t live without her. Even if he woke up with a sore neck every day, he would continue to tolerate it so long as he got to see her face every morning.
Hunter slumped down on the white couch, which he now kindly referred to as his best friend after all the neck and body abuse he’d endured. He was restless, rubbing his tired eyes that weren’t fully awake yet.
“Oh God.” He shifted from one position to the next, deep in thoughts of all the possible avenues Clarice might be in.
Could Clarice be going to the dairy to stock up on milk? He wasn’t sure, but at the thought, he jerked up from the couch and stalked to the fridge. There were two cartons of milk, so Clarice going to the dairy was definitely out of the question.
Strange thoughts continued to run through his head. Could she have run away from him because she no longer wanted to live with him? But then again, he’d never heard of anyone running away from their own home. If she was so dissatisfied with their living arrangement, why didn’t she say so?
Hunter prowled from the fridge to her office, searching for any possible clue to her whereabouts. Clarice’s laptop was on sleep mode when Hunter entered her sanctuary.
At first, he neglected the laptop, letting it hum by itself, quietly tiptoeing around the room, looking for any brochures, leaflets, or any handwritten note that might indicate to where she’d disappeared. But sadly, no signs of were visible anywhere in the room.
The humming of the laptop continued and one of the pictures shown in the slideshow caught his attention.
What’s a picture of the florist girl doing on Clarice’s laptop?
He snapped over to the laptop at once.
On closer inspection, he saw the picture consisted of Elise, Clarice, Max, and one other girl he remembered had been in the nightclub with Clarice the night they met.
Hunter stood looking at the picture when an idea struck him.
Oh shit. Could these be her friends and she went to hide herself there to escape from me?
Hunter marched closer to the laptop and moved the mouse, knowing what he was doing was against the laws of privacy, but this counted as an emergency. Clarice had disappeared off the face of the earth, and he needed help.
The laptop came alive again and showed the last webpage she’d viewed.
Hunter stood staring at the screen, a huge heading on BabyLand’s site with a sales pitch of seventy-five percent off all babywear and accessories. He wrinkled his eyebrows, deep in thought. Suddenly, another idea bolted into his head, and he, in turn, bolted to his car, foregoing breakfast, downing only tasteless soymilk to appease his hunger.
Arriving at BabyLand, his jaw almost dropped to the pavement. There was absolutely no car park anywhere. He had to compete against an old Toyota for a space.
“Hey, move it, pal,” he yelled out his car window when the Toyota was trying to reverse into his space. “I got here first, so scram.”
The driver of the old Toyota seemed to understand, so he zoomed away to find another spot. Hunter victoriously parked in the space and hastily disappeared into the store. It was now nearing 7:30 a.m.
Dear God, please don’t let
Clarice be in this crowd, he prayed as he entered the automatic door.
“What the hell is this?” He flapped his mouth open when he was inside. His eyes scanned the crowd. Wait, this isn’t a crowd. This is a god freckin’ war zone. Just like Black Friday in America.
Hunter stood at the entrance, his eyes scanning for Clarice. He knew Clarice’s small form would be swallowed up by this crowd already, so why the hell was he not moving and searching for her?
Hunter knew this store was large, but no matter what, he would find her. Even if his eyes couldn’t see her, his heart believed she was here somewhere.
Hunter stalked from one aisle to the next, dismissing the many women, single and married, who managed to bump into him or run their hot gaze all over his body.
There were a few females standing on one side of the aisle, their eyes lusting after him, not afraid to show their true intention. One of them managed to ignore the resistance of the rest and marched over to him, breaking away from the lustful throng of onlookers.
Oh shit, here it comes. He rubbed his face again, tired of this game already.
Hunter knew he looked hot, even with his unkempt appearance. Shaggy blond hair, tired, bloodshot eyes with bags underneath them, deep azure irises that lacked any shine—his current appearance only served to elevate him to the epitome of a bad boy in every woman’s dream. But even in his better state, he’d always seemed to attract a throng of females. It had always been that way. Now, though, it only served to annoy the hell out of him.
“Hey, you seem in a hurry. Looking for someone?” she asked, automatically linking her arm through his like it was a normal thing to do between two strangers in a babywear store.
“Yeah.” Hunter smirked sarcastically, twisting his torso so the action would detach her arm from his. “My wife, actually. Have you seen her?”
It was a complete shoot down for the woman. On the other hand, Hunter just wanted to laugh when she turned on a sour face and walked away, totally defeated.
Grateful that the bee was now out of the bonnet, Hunter’s eyes scanned the aisle again as a sudden commotion at the nappy display stand some distance away caught his attention. His eyes zoomed in on the site. He noticed there were all sorts of women reaching for the nappies. And one of them… Could it be…?
“Clarice!” he called out, his heart beating faster now that he’d found her.
But Clarice didn’t respond to Hunter’s calling, as she was too busy loading her trolley with nappies, one after another.
“What the hell is she doing?” Hunter stormed toward her. A few times, he got blocked off by some old folks or big burly men that looked to be better suited for a pub than the baby store.
“Hit it, buddy,” he said, shoving one man aside when he stood in his way. As he almost reached her, he called out her name again, but the damn woman was so consumed with her mission that again she didn’t hear his call.
Hunter hissed, gritting his teeth, his face now even darker.
Clarice stood on tiptoes, trying to get one more package nappies, when above her, the stand started to wobble and tilt. Hunter saw this and his heart slammed against his ribcage.
“Oh shit.” His heart was now in his throat. He took action before the avalanche of nappies fell on top of Clarice. His legs were quick as they ran to protect his love.
Cradling her in his arms just in time before the avalanche of nappies fell on top of her, Hunter hugged her close to him, protecting her from the crash. He didn’t care that with this action, packages of nappies fell on top of his head instead, one after another, hitting him like damn basketballs at full force. All he cared about right now was Clarice’s safety.
His heart drummed against his chest when he felt her soft, warm body pressed up against his chest. Hunter was able to breathe easily again, but because his fear of losing Clarice was so great, when he was able to speak, his voice shook.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He turned her to face him.
Hunter almost died at that moment. His Clarice, his beloved avocado, was so pale that she looked like she was in shock. He pulled her forward for a hug, worried to death about her condition. When she didn’t respond to his question but continued to stare up at him like she saw a stranger, he repeated his question, this time a little louder. “Are you okay? Answer me.”
He pulled her back and cradled her face with his palms. His fingers stroked her supple cheeks, feeling her smooth skin against his fingertips. He only wanted to comfort her and also reassure himself, for his own peace of mind, that his beloved Clarice was fine.
Clarice looked up at the person who owned that voice. At first, she couldn’t recognize Hunter, her eyes blinking, seeing him, but not recognizing him. After the second questioning, something hit her and she went into shock for a second time.
“Hu… Hun… Hunter, what are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping,” she asked, blinking her eyes open like a little wee doe, seeing Hunter’s hot, rough, but gorgeous face.
“The question is, Clarice, what are you doing here?” He pulled her in for another hug. Then when he realized people were jostling Clarice and him around to get the packages of nappies on the floor, he gently took her away from the commotion.
Once in a quiet spot, his worry escalated. He started touching Clarice in random places, running his hands up and down her body just to make sure all her bones were intact and she was safe and well.
Clarice went red in the face at the way Hunter was touching her so intimately in public. She kept scanning her eyes around, seeing the many females glaring at her. She ignored their stares and turned back to Hunter when she heard him speak.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Is it sore?” Hunter started firing questions at Clarice, his hands lingering on her forearms, feeling for any broken bones there. “Tell me if it hurts.” He applied a bit more pressure there.
“Hunter.” Clarice grabbed his hand and removed it from her forearm. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”
“Don’t have to worry?” Hunter’s mood turned foul. All of a sudden, he was angry. “How can you tell me not to worry when you’re out here in this goddamn war zone? I cannot believe you would attempt something like this. That was dangerous, Clarice, totally uncalled for. What happens if you got crushed in that avalanche of nappies? What would I do?”
“Hunter, are you angry with me?” Clarice asked, not understanding why Hunter would be mad. She was only preparing for her baby’s arrival, so what was the problem here?
“Of course I’m angry with you?” He fumed, answering her with a stamp of his foot to show he was fully upset about this whole situation. “How could you do something like that? You left the house without telling me. I was searching the whole house for you. Did you even know if I couldn’t find you here, I was considering calling the police to report a missing person?”
Clarice couldn’t even reply. Hunter was really furious with her. And here she thought he was only playacting.
Clarice had never seen Hunter this upset before. He was like a twister, going on and on about how mad and worried he was, to the point of their situation being more amusing than serious. She wanted to bury the smile that was threatening to light up her face, but somehow a trace fell through, followed by a burst of giggles leaking past her lips.
Hunter immediately glared at Clarice, a storm darkener than the southern sea apparent on his face.
“What are you laughing at?” he snapped. “This isn’t fun and games. You can’t go traipsing out for this kind of trip. It’s totally unsafe. Especially for you and our baby.”
“Oh, Hunter.” She couldn’t help laughing when he scolded her. “Stop it. You’re so funny acting like this. It’s so unlike you.”
Hunter was so damn mad that right now his face was red and blue. His lips squeezed tightly together, forming a firm line, as if to show he was serious in this business. His eyebrows knitted together, almost like a rigid dark line had been drawn on his forehead, to show he was mad and was giving he
r a good dose of advice. But the desired outcome only made Clarice laugh even more, because Hunter looked just like a little kid having a tantrum.
Hunter gritted his teeth. Here he was so worried and concerned about her welfare, but she’d only returned the favor by laughing at him. He couldn’t believe Clarice would behave like this. Doesn’t she care for my feelings at all? Is she that oblivious?
He gripped his fist and wanted to manhandle her, to give her a good shake, but then an idea clicked inside his head. He hid his smile, in turn pursing his lips forward, the expression almost like that of a child pouting.
“Uh-oh, are you pouting, Hunter? Is little Hunter so mad that he’s pouting?” Clarice laughed again. This time she had to hold on to the display stand to balance herself.
“That’s it. Do whatever you want. I’m leaving.” He dismissed Clarice, deliberately turning on his heel to leave.
“Wait. Hunter! Hunter!” Clarice called after him when he walked away. Was Hunter really that mad with her? She supposed she did go a bit too far, laughing at him like that. But he was so cute pouting his lips. He was like a little dog sulking at its master.
Clarice shook her head, thinking she needed to apologize to him for her rude behavior. She had hurt Hunter’s feelings, and the feeling just didn’t sit right with her. So she decided to chase after him, hoping to woo him back to the old and affectionate Hunter.
Just as Clarice disappeared after Hunter, a suspicious man emerged from the aisle where he was hiding. He stared at his camera, an image of Hunter and Clarice together in one frame. He chuckled to himself and then started flicking back through the pictures he took of the couple. There was Hunter holding Clarice, Hunter hugging Clarice, and Hunter brushing Clarice’s cheeks.
He patted his camera affectionately, a malicious smile appearing on his face. Then he disappeared, running after the couple he was paid to pursue
Chapter 17