Heartbeat by Iem_Aivlis

Today is Christmas Eve. Usually there will be a show that is displayed in the middle of the mall. It is no wonder that many people come to the mall even just to watch the show, or even just to take pictures at the Christmas tree with Santarina.

"Mom!" Emily heard a girl's voice calling her.

Suddenly Emily was surprised to see Abigail who was standing not far from where she was. Her daughter came with a plastic bag in her hand. Abigail was not alone, there was an adult man standing behind her. Emily tries to recognize the man. Wasn't he the pervert she met this morning?

"Abigail? What are you doing here?" Emily couldn't hide her surprise at the arrival of her only daughter.

Emily was surprised not because Abigail never came to her workplace In fact, his daughter often came to this mall sometimes when she wanted to pick the woman up to go home. And usually Abigail comes to the mall with Aunt Jane's daughter. Abigail knows that her mother works in a clothing store, not as a santarina. Earlier Emily told her daughter that she had to work at the boutique until late at night before Christmas. Seeing the look on Abigail's face when she saw her wearing this costume, her daughter must have been angry. Because Emily believes that her daughter would be embarrassed if she saw her mother wearing a Santarina costume in the mall. What if her daughter's friends saw her wearing this costume? Emily is worried that Abigail will become the object of her friends' ridicule again. Stupid! Emily cursed to herself. Why didn't she think something like that would happen? Emily didn't think that far ahead. Just for the sake of earning some extra money to buy a present for her daughter, Emily didn't think about how her daughter would feel. Because Abigail did not come to her, Emily took the initiative to approach her daughter.

"Why did you come here, Baby?" Emily asked as she started walking.

Emily didn't think that her daughter would actually step back to get away from her. Without answering her mother's question, Abigail immediately ran away from the woman. Christ saw the woman who the little girl called Mom start to look panicked.

"Abigail!" The woman exclaimed.

Emily wanted to chase her daughter, but suddenly some customers came to exchange their gifts. Some of the visitors even started looking for their own gifts to match the numbers on their coupons. Emily is in a dilemma. She couldn't possibly leave his job just like that. Christ, who had been watching, immediately walked towards where Emily was standing.

"You finish your work first. I'll look for Abigail." Christ said to Emily.

Emily began to get confused, who was this man, she thought. She saw this man come with Abigail earlier. But because many visitors started coming to his place, she agreed. Christ started walking towards the direction Abigail ran to. The man searches for Abigail in the crowd of people in the mall. And finally the man found the little girl. The man saw Abigail sitting in the corner of the mall. The little girl sat on a chair that was available in every corner of the mall. The chairs are provided for visitors who want to sit and rest. Abigail was sitting alone because currently everyone was gathered in the middle of the mall to watch the show. Christ saw the girl sitting in thought looking at the plastic package that she had bought with him earlier. The girl put the plastic package containing the cake on the table which was also available there. Christ walked towards the girl and sat next to her.

"Why did you run away, Abigail? Weren't you so excited to eat cake with your mother?" Staring at the plastic package lying on the table in front of him, Christ asked.

Abigail remained silent, then she started to take out the cake box that was in the plastic. After that she started to open the cover of the cake box. This is the most beautiful cake Abigail has ever seen. The cake was decorated so beautifully. The white color is the base color of the cake, it looks like a pile of snow melting on top of the cake. With green cream forming leaves located on the edge of the cake. Then the white chocolate is shaped like a snowman, then propped up on a small stick that is skewered on top of the cake. The eyes, nose, and mouth of the snowman are formed using chocolate granules or often called rice chocolate. Red cream was wrapped around the snowman's neck. And some shapes resembling Christmas ornaments decorate the cake, with colorful cream on top.

"Why are you silent? Are you ashamed that your mother works as a Santarina, Hmm?" Maybe that's why Abigail ran away from her mother, Christ thought.

Abigail suddenly turned to look at Christ. The girl's face looked sad.

"I'm not ashamed, but I feel like a burden to mom." Abigail finally spoke up.

"Burden? Is it because your mother has a side job like that that you call yourself a burden to her? You are wrong, that means your mother loves you because she wants to do anything to fulfill your needs." Christ was sure that it was the woman's side job, because he knew that the woman was one of the employees at LOU's Boutique.

"Mom always works hard to earn money. Mom also always gives me whatever I need. But, mom never enjoyed the fruits of her labor for herself. And I know, mom works like that until late at night, she must want to buy something for me. I really want to see Mom happy." Abigail spoke in a sad voice.

"You being a good girl has made your mother happy." Christ tried to comfort her.

Again that strange feeling appeared. Christ felt a deep sense of sadness when he heard about the life of this mother and child. It's not like he usually interferes in other people's business. Usually he would never care about the lives of the people around him.

"Actually, tonight at exactly 12 midnight is my birthday, I want to celebrate with Mom." Abigail started talking again.

"Today is the twenty-fourth of December. So, you mean your birthday is on Christmas?" Christ asked, it is very rare to find someone whose birthday falls on Christmas Day.

Abigail looked for the candle which was still in the plastic. Earlier, she asked the cake shop keeper for a ten-numbered candle without Christ's knowledge. The girl started to stick the candles on the cake. She reached into her trouser pocket to take out the lighter she had brought from home earlier. Actually, the candle she brought was just an ordinary candle. The little girl's money was not enough to buy a candle in the shape of a number. Abigail began to light the candle.

"What's your name? Are you married, sir?" Abigail asked Christ.

Unperturbed, Christ answered by shaking his head. "My name is Christopher Louise. And not yet. I'm still single."

Abigail started asking again. "What about a girlfriend or do you have a crush on someone?"

"There isn't any at the moment. Why do you ask that?" The man asked, starting to get surprised.

"Good. Since today is my birthday, would you grant me one request, Mr. Louise? I wish someone would give me a birthday present." Abigail looked at the man's face with hope.

"Okay, I will grant your request." Christ immediately agreed without thinking twice.

He thought he could give anything to this little girl. Because he would buy her anything she wanted. Money is not a problem for him. If he had difficulty fulfilling it, then he would ask Antonio to get whatever the little girl asked for. Suddenly he remembered that Antonio must have been waiting for him to come out of this mall. Surely now Antonio has started to get busy looking for his whereabouts. Christ started looking for his phone.

"So, whatever I ask you will definitely grant it, right, Mr. Louise?" Abigail looked at Mr. Louise who was busy looking for something in both of his trouser pockets.

"Of course. Whatever it is." Christ replied after getting his phone.

It turns out the phone had died due to running out of power. Antonio must have been trying to contact him since earlier. Christ tries to turn his phone back on. The man hoped that maybe he could still try to send a text message to his secretary.

"Mr. Louise, you know that a real man can't break his promise, right?" Abigail asked the man who was still busy with his activities.

"Of course, my father said that a real man should be able to keep his word. So if we have made a promise, how can we break it?" Christ turned to Abigail.

The little girl had already clasped her hands together and close her eyes. The little girl's lips moved without making a sound. This little girl was making a wish, Christ thought.

"Amen." After a while the little girl started blowing out the candles on the cake until they went out.

"When you're done, let's go back to see your mother." Christ spoke after seeing Abigail had extinguished the candle that was shaped like the number ten.

He had to return this little girl to her mother. Earlier he had promised his mother that he would find Abigail. But why was this little girl still staring at him without saying a word. Then he started to remember that he promised to grant her request as her birthday present.

"Okay, tell me what you want from me as your birthday present." Christ said while waiting for the little girl's request.

"Earlier I prayed that Mom would be given a life partner who could protect her, care for her, and love her for the rest of her life." Abigail looked at the face of the man sitting with her.

"Amen. I hope God can hear your prayers and grant your prayers. Then what gift do you want from me?" Christ asked Abigail.

"Because you are the kindest person I have ever met, I want to ask you to be Mom's life partner. Will you be my father?" Abigail asked hopefully.

Instantly Christ's eyes widened. Was this little girl joking with him? How could this little girl ask him to be her mother's companion? Even though he doesn't know his mother, he doesn't! Should he accept the strange request of the little girl he just met a few hours ago?

*Continued*