Rosie flung Leonardo’s hand away and ran toward Summer. Hugging Summer’s thigh, she looked up. “You stay here too?”
“Yes, I’m staying right opposite here.” While Summer spoke, she squatted down to lift Rosie in her arms and pointed at the unit behind her.
She had just prepared dinner. While she waited for Stanley to come home, she thought she would go down to the convenience store. The moment she opened the door, there she saw Leonardo and the others.
Leonardo looked past Summer at the unit behind her. When she came out and saw them, she had not closed the door back. Looking through the ajar door, he could see the cozy atmosphere inside and smell the aroma of warm rice and dishes. His expression dipped involuntarily, eyes landing on Rosie as he warned her. “Rosie.”
Rosie carefully glanced back at him, then reluctantly got down from Summer’s arms and crawled herself back to him. As Rosie came to him and tried to please him, she held one of his fingers because his hand was too large for her hand to hold.
She was closest to Leonardo and could sense when he was angry. Although she had no idea why her dad got upset, she knew the wisest thing to do now was to behave herself. Her dad had never spanked her, but he looked scary when he got angry.
Summer took pity on Rosie when she saw her expression, thinking Leonardo was overly fierce toward Rosie. He should have patiently guided her instead of pulling his face. But she did not know Leonardo well, so she kept her thoughts to herself.
Leonardo glanced at Summer, his face expressionless. He then held Rosie and turned around and told Tim to open the door. Tim did what he was told and first let Leonardo and Summer enter with him following from behind. Before he went in, he nodded at Summer.
Summer recognized him; he was the man who came up asking her about houses for sale. “It’s you. You were helping Mr. Emerson find a house?”
“Yeah.” Tim looked down and handed her a business card. “Nice to meet you. My name is Tim.”
Summer took it and politely looked at it for a couple of seconds. “Nice to meet you, too. My name is Summer.”
“Ms. Jarrett and my young master will be neighbors from now on. It’s my honor.”
“My honor, too.”
After Tim went in, Summer turned around, closed the door, and walked toward the elevator with questions filling her mind. Leonardo and his daughter moved to this neighborhood? This place might be considered an affluent area, but should wealthy people like Leonardo not live in the mansion served by a dozen maids? Why did they come and stay in a place like this?
The question kept baffling her. After making a trip to the convenience store and coming back, only then she suddenly forgot about her key and mobile phone. Since she did not know what time Stanley would be back, she had no choice but to wait outside the door.
Just then, the door to the opposite unit opened. Tim had done his job, settling down the father and the daughter. It was time to leave.
“Hi, Mr. Tim.” Summer politely called him.
Before Tim could respond, a little head poked around the door. “Pretty lady?”
Rosie was standing at the doorway, excitedly looking at Summer with her big black eyes.
“Hi, Rosie.” Summer smiled at her.
“Why are you sitting outside the door?” Rosie asked curiously.
“Ahh, I forgot my key. So here I am.”
Rosie had not figured that one out. So she looked up at Tim, who patted her on the head, saying, “She can’t open the door and go home without the key.”
“Ahh, I see.” Rosie nodded in acknowledgment. Letting the door wide open, she ran up to Summer, held her hand. “Pretty lady, why not you come into my house?”
“It’s all right. Someone will open the door for me soon.”
But Rosie was adamant. “Come on.” She insisted on inviting Summer to her house. The moment she stepped inside, she called out, “Leonardo, Pretty Lady becomes our guest now!”
She then rummaged inside the shoe cabinet on the side, trying to find a pair of flip-flops for Summer. But they were only for her and Leonardo. She ran some calculations in her mind and decided to hand Leonardo’s slippers to Summer. “You can wear this.”
After that, she thought she had not placed the pair of flip-flops right, so she adjusted their position. She then looked up at Summer expectantly.
Summer could not help but touch her face with a smile. “Thank you very much.”
“You are welcome.” Rosie ran away as she felt a little embarrassed.
Summer stood in the hallway and looked inside. The interior layout was the same as Stanley’s unit, which was a duplex. This one was designed with Mediterranean-style decorations and warmth. All the furniture was new.
She was hesitating whether she wanted to change her shoes and entered. It was Rosie who invited her in, but then again, Leonardo did not seem to like her.
She looked down at the slippers that Rosie took out for her. Placing her foot side-by-side with the slippers, they were a lot bigger than her feet. It might not be polite to wear men’s slippers. So she decided to put them back into the cabinet and entered barefooted.
By now, Rosie was coming toward with a glass of water in her hand, appearing excited. “Pretty lady. Have some water.”
She was half-running and water was splashing out of the glass. Summer quickly ran up and took the glass from her hands, and the glass was only a quarter full by now. So she drank it all as Rosie looked at her expectantly.
“Does it taste good?” Rosie looked happy.
Although the water tasted weird, Summer still nodded her head. “It’s good.”
“Then let me pour Leonardo a glass.” Rosie took the glass from her and then ran into the toilet. Summer tilted her head. Looking around the door, she saw Rosie standing on a chair as she filled the glass with water under the faucet. There was no wonder about the smell.
“Rosie, what did you just say?”
The voice of Leonardo came from behind her. The aloofness was unique to the voice of this man. Summer looked back and saw Leonardo coming down the stairs with only a bathrobe on him. He had seen her as soon as she saw him. He slightly halted in his steps, his expressionless face undergoing some subtle changes when he saw Summer.
They were eye-to-eye. His stare was too penetrating. Summer looked away and greeted him.
He was in front of her now, and his voice was still cold. “Where is Rosie?”
She thought he would have asked why she was here.
“Rosie is…” Before she could say anything, Rosie called out.
“Leonardo, I’m getting you some water.”
They looked back and saw Rosie running toward them in her slippers. Rosie handed him the glass. “Here.”