“Oh, really?” Adams looked at her with a faint smile. “I’m going to the gents, too. What a coincidence!”
One corner of Summer’s lips raised up, but there was no smile.
Still smiling, Adams glanced at her, then walked ahead. She walked behind him, eyes searching as she tried to find if there was any strand of hair on his shoulders. But she found none. Adams was very particular about cleanliness.
She was still hell-bent on getting his hair. Finding out if Adams and Michael had any blood relationship could be the clue of finding Emerson Nu. So she must not give up this opportunity.
However, Adams was a careful person. Since he had done the DNA test, he surely knew the result. If she came up and plucked his hair now, it would surely arouse his suspicion. So Summer sulkily retracted her hand.
Seeing that Adams had disappeared into the gents, she became anxious. Just then, a kid who looked about seven or eight years old walked past with a mobile phone in his hand.
Summer called out at him, “Hey, kid, could you do me a favor?”
The kid gave her a surprised, cautious look. “Normally adults won’t ask children for help. What are you up to?”
For a moment, Summer could not find a word to respond. Kids were so smart nowadays.
The kid studied her with his head tilted to one side. “But since you are so pretty and not looking like a human trafficker, tell me what I can do for you.”
“It’s so nice of you.” Summer’s lips twitched as he bent down to whisper into his ear, “I bet with someone earlier and I lost. Now they ask to pluck a hair from this man’s head.” While speaking, she took her mobile phone and showed Adams’s photo to him.
The kid saw it and his eyes brightened up. “He is an actor, isn’t he? I have watched his movies, so I know who he is. Is he in the gents? I will go in now.”
Without waiting for Summer to speak, he scurried into the gents at once. Summer turned around and went into the ladies’ room. When she came back out again, she saw the kid and Adams standing outside the gents.
“May I have a photograph with you? I like your movies.”
“Sure.”
The kid took out his mobile phone and had a wifie with Adams. Because of his age, the kid was short. So Adams squatted down beside him as they took photographs. After they were done, and before Adams stood up, the kid suddenly reached to pluck a hair from Adams’s head.
“You have gray hair?”
He then tossed the hair to the ground. When he saw Summer from the corner of his eye, he winked at her. The kid was an eye-opener for Summer. Were kids so clever nowadays?
Adams did not see her. He left as he spoke with the kid.
Summer went up, picked up the strand of hair from the floor, carefully wrapped it in a paper napkin and tucked it in her pants pocket. Glancing in the direction where Adams and the kid had gone, she then returned to the dining hall.
By the time she was in the dining hall, the kid was no longer with Adams. So she paid and left the restaurant. After she left, Adams came out of the private dining room and took a glance at the spot where Summer had sat before with a mysterious look.
…
After getting her hand on Adams’s hair specimen, Summer called Leonardo right away. The call went through quickly, but it was not Leonardo but Tim answering.
“Young Master is in a meeting. I am now passing the mobile phone to him.”
Summer was startled for a second before she said, “Thank you.”
She heard footsteps, the opening of the door before Tim was heard saying, “Young Master, it’s your telephone call.”
A few seconds later, the familiar low voice said, “What is it?”
Summer could not wait to tell him. “I’ve got Adams’s hair specimen.” She could not believe how easy it was to get Adams’s hair.
Another few seconds of silence, only then Leonardo asked, “How did you get it?”
She told him how, and after another few seconds of silence, Leonardo said, “If you are free in the afternoon, wait for me at my apartment. I will be home early today.”
Summer thought for a moment, then asked, “Are you coming home for dinner?”
“Yeah.”
…
Summer drove to Leonardo’s apartment. She had even made a trip to the hypermarket on her way there. Besides veggies and meat, she had also bought some yogurt, bread, and stuff.
She figured if Leonardo had no time for a proper meal or if he was hungry after coming home, these things would come in handy as a quick meal.
She arrived downstairs in the apartment. It took her a few trips to carry all the stuff she brought up to his apartment unit. After putting everything neatly into the fridge, she was preparing to make dinner.
She was not sure what time Leonardo would come home. But he said he would be home for dinner, so she figured eight o’clock should be just about right. So she started cooking at six.
Feeling sorry for Leonardo, she was going to make him soup and his favorite dishes. Before she finished cooking, the doorbell rang.
Summer put down the spoon and checked the time. It was only seven. Was Leonardo coming home this early? She went to the door and looked through the spyhole. When she saw the person outside the door, her mind instantly went blank. The person was none other than Michael.
Michael pressed the doorbell again. Summer focused her mind, thought for a moment, and sorted out her expression, only then she opened the door.
“Uncle Emerson?”
Summer let out a surprised look. The same went for Michael. She opened the door and stepped aside to let Michael come in. She kept her head low as she spoke.
“Are you looking for Leonardo? He hasn’t come home yet.”
“I’m surprised to see you here.” Michael’s eyes darted around the house before looking back at her.
The soup was boiling in the kitchen with the aroma drifting out into the living space. Michael went into the kitchen in curiosity.
“You are cooking?”
“Yeah, I secretly made a copy of his house’s key. He used to like my cooking. So I figured if I could cook for him, and find favor with him, he might let me see my child…”
She bowed her head lower and lower as she spoke. She was not sure if Michael would believe in her crappy excuse. She might be stretching it a bit, but it was also logical. She kept her head low, not bothering to check Michael’s expression. Her fingers nervously dug into her palms.
After a long while, she heard Michael say, “I must be tough for you.”