Love Business

"Sorry. I couldn't make it today..." Zee scoffs a bit. He is talking to someone over a call.

"I'm sorry. I'll try my best next time..." he slowly apologizes to the caller. When he cuts the call and turns around, Pan is standing straight in front of him.

"You can leave if you want. I can make Shu understand..."

"Nope! I'm gonna stay. I won't turn my back against her," Zee leans against the car.

"Even if you need to wear... That?" Pan points her finger at Zee's t-shirt.

It's pink. Like a pink milk. It states ' THE PINK MILK SQUAD'.

"What's wrong with it?"

Pan sighs. She is lost for words, so she just brushes him aside and opens the boot.

"We're outside now, are we?" asks Zee.

"Are you blind or what? Of course we are, it's in the middle of a school," Pan replies. She pulls out something from the boot and shuts it close.

"So, who is Shu?"

Zee faces up to Pan and directly asks her. She looks flustered, with a slight panic revealed on her face.

"She calls me mama. What do you think?" Pan asks him back.

"So, you are an adopted mother or...?" asks Zee.

Pan comes closer to him, staring at his eyes in ferocious mode.

"It's none of your business..." Pan finally replies to him with the exact words that she wanna throw at him the first time he asked the question to her.

"You said, I can't ask anything if we're in your house. Now that we are outside, I believe I can ask as many questions as I want." 

"Shia! Just like two peas in a pod..." Pan gushes by herself whilst realize the obvious resemblance between Zee and Shu. They both love pastering her with loads of questions. And keep pastering until they find the answer that satisfy them.

"What did you say?" Zee leans even closer to Pan.

"Fuck off..." Pan pushes him away, slamming a small bag onto his abdomen.

Zee grunts in pain. He glances at Pan who is already ahead of him.

Don't you ever think of running away from me, Pan!

Zee gushes a bit before entering the field towards the Sports Day venue.

***

"Good morning, sir..." a lady, perhaps the one who is in charge of the registration greets Zee at the registration table. There is a group of ladies who are chatting around the area. Perhaps the mothers.

"Good morning..."

"Come to register?" the lady asks him again.

"I... Er..."

The lady glares at the t-shirt that he wears. Then, she slowly grins.

"Oh, you're the Pink Milk Squad!"

"Oh? Ah, yeah!" Zee grins like a fool.

"Oh... Who are you with Shu? Uncle? Brother?" the lady asks Zee. He frowns a bit and tries to find a suitable role for himself.

"Oh my God, what a fine man!" suddenly, he hears the group of ladies shriek. He looks around and notices that he is the only man in the area.

"He's from The Pink Milk Squad..."

"He's young! Must be the boyfriend!"

"There is no way he's the husband!"

"I heard, she is unmarried! Yet, she has a child. Shameless woman!"

"How can a handsome man like him fall in love with a single mom like her? What a shame!" hush and gush can be heard from the group.

Zee grunts a bit. He grips his fist tight. How can they simply downgrade a person? Just because she has a kid without a husband, they just accused her of being a shameless person!

"I'm Shu's father," Zee quickly replies to the lady.

"Oh? But..."

"Ah, I was working abroad when we got Shu. We had some disputes, so she decided to raise her alone. Now, we are on good terms. So, yeah!" says Zee.

"Oh... Pan never told anyone about Shu's father. So, we thought..."

"Yeah, about that... Technically, we are married but before we could register the marriage, we had some problems..."

"I hope everything is okay now!" the lady cheers him. Zee smiles and nods.

"Yeah. To be truth, it's hard to find a wife like Pan. She's a devoted mother, a hardworking woman, very independent and... She doesn't like wasting time, hangout and gossiping about other people. That's the part of her that I love the most," Zee glares at the group of ladies who badmouthing Pan.

They stare at Zee, looking flustered.

"Zee?"

A woman, in a white shirt and jeans, greets him. She looks confused.

"Hi, Mei..."

"I thought Sofia was joking..." she rolls her eyes up. Sofia did tell her about the sudden arrival of Zee at Pan's house. She too, was in deep shock when she saw him walking out from the guest room at Pan's house.

"Wow... It's like dropping a bomb, huh?" Zee sarcastically replies to her. Mei nods in tiny.

"So, you came for Shu?"

"Yes! Where is she?"

"She's at The Green Camper. Come, let me bring you there," says Mei. She ushers Zee towards the green canopy at the side of the field. When they arrive, Zee quickly goes inside and finds Shu

"Pst! Mei!" a lady calls Mei. She comes to her.

"Yes?"

"Who is that? My God, he's fine! Daddy's vibe!" Mei snickers when she hears that.

"Ah, he is Miss Pan's friend..."

"So, you must be close to him, too! Introduce me to him..." the lady whines. Mei rolls her eyes up. She keeps wondering why women nowadays are shameless!

"Sorry but he's gay," Mei replies to the lady with a wide grin. The lady looks frustrated and immediately leaves the scene.

Think you wanna hook up that easily? Not in my watch! Mei snickers and laughs in tiny.

***

Zee stretches his neck, looking around the camper. He feels amazed in silence.

"So, this is how they organize a sports day in the kindergarten these days!" he talks to himself.

The camper is quite huge, almost looking like a camper in the 4th movie of the Harry Potter franchise, where people can roam around freely.

"Are you lost?"

Zee turns around. Pan is standing in front of him with a drinking bottle in her hand.

"Where is Shu?" he asks.

"She's ready for her event with her friends. Here..." Pan gives him the drinking bottle. Zee grabs it from her, squints his eyes, and smiles.

"Don't get dehydrated. The medical team is quite far from our dome..." Pan talks snarkily.

"Come on... This is just a kindergarten sports day! There's nothing like the Olympics, right?" Zee chuckles as he sips his drink little by little.

Pan pats his shoulder while giving him a dark shady look.

"You never know, bro... You never know..."

"Looks like you underestimate me... If I can manage a whole 80 asses in Auditorium 3, compared to this, this is nothing..." Zee leans closer, placing his lips near Pan's ear. "And one more thing. Don't call me bro. We both know what we are, right?" he smirks at her.

Pan pushes Zee away from her and glares at him.

"Time to go," she leaves him standing there, grinning like a fool and celebrating his mini-achievement.

***

Sports Day.

In any kind of sports day; whether it's in the university, or even a kindergarten. It's exhausted. Full of drama. Sometimes unfair.

Zee is watching Shu and her friends from afar. Right now, they are in standby mode at the field for their event.

"I saw a kid crying just now..." he whispers to Pan. The girl smirks.

"That's normal..."

"Kids nowadays... They are too competitive!"

"Parents. They pressure them since they were born. Put too much expectation. Still, we can't blame anyone! That's how the world works now..."  Pan replies to Zee.

He goes silent. Discreetly agrees with the claim. His life is probably the best example of how the parent's expectation takes a toll on the kids' lives.

"I think the world has worked like that ever since our time. Even before that, too!" says Zee. Pan glares at him. She feels bitter. Too bad, she had to agree with that.

"When I had Shu, I was lost a bit. But then, I realize. If I can't change the world, at least I wanna be a role model for her..." Pan grits her teeth. "I wanna be a mom, with my style. No public pressure can change me," she smiles proudly.

"Yet, you force her to wear green this morning..."

They exchange glares.

"That's a disciplinary act for her..."

"And yet you claimed that you wanna raise her the way you are. You deny her human rights, and she even recognized it as well..."

"Excuse me sir, but you have no right to critic my parenting. And talking about discipline... I don't think you should bring up the topic when you despise it so much..." like a sharp knife, those words pierce deep into Zee's heart.

From where they stand, they can see Shu is waving at them. Pan waves at her back with a smile. Zee, too! Somehow, he feels at ease whenever he looks at that cutie face. A feeling that he can't describe.

It's like coming home.

"Pan... The food is here..." Mei whispers to Pan. She quickly leaves the field. Now, Zee is alone. Watching Shu from afar makes him feel nervous. He feels the urge to get closer, so he slowly walks toward the area where the parents stand in line to give their kids moral support.

Or perhaps, a scary element so the kids can work twice as hard!

"Okay, let's work harder this time! We'll not lose to The Red!" says one of the kids.

"But how to? They have two 6 years old! We only got one!" another kids whine.

Shu slowly gathers her friends.

"You know what... A cute uncle did tell me this..." Shu looks at Zee and smiles. "It does not matter who is first or last. What matters the most is we enjoy the moment with our friends! It's not like every day we can play like this!" her voice sounds convincing.

"What if we lose?" one of her friends asks.

"We'll work harder next year!" Shu replies, in confidence.

"What if we win?" this time, another friend asks her.

Shu, again watches Zee from her spot. He nods at her, giving her a fighting gesture.

"It's a bonus!" Shu cheers in happiness.

It's true.

A child can bring happiness and chaos all together. A child can change someone's life, someone's perspective, and life goals. They are the remedy but a poison at the same time. They are everything.

That's now how Zee feels.

It's like a new world is opening the door for him. Because of Shu, now he feels his life is more meaningful.

A miracle of love from a child.