Miss Ordinary: I Was Reborn To Love You!

"Big sister, I'm really sorry…uwahhhh...I've made you worry…wahhhh… but he tore the book you gifted, uwahhh…"

Bella Lim sighed as she looked at her little pumpkin. His chubby cheek bounced every time he went 'uwahhh'.

She knew he would cry this loud. That was also the reason why she decided to leave as soon as possible. It was to avoid her little pumpkin to hold onto his feeling for long. It could be detrimental to his growth if he kept on restraining his real emotions. 

He needed an outlet to release his frustration.

"My dear little pumpkin is crying, here comes your sister to cheer you up. My dear little pumpkin still crying, here is a shoulder for you to lean on…" she sang the modified nursery rhyme 'I'm a little teapot' and pulled her little brother to an embrace. She patted his back gently until the cry subsided.

"Is my little pumpkin okay now?" Bella Lim asked softly. Her sapphire blue eyes fell onto little pumpkin's wet face. She kissed his forehead and hugged him again to provide as much comfort as she could.

"Big sister, I'm okay now," the little pumpkin gave a bright smile to his sister to assure her that he was feeling better. He held her hand and they walked toward Bella Lim's bike which she parked right outside the administration office.

"Little pumpkin, how about we go shop ingredients for a hotpot tonight?" Bella Lim suggested the idea as she passed a small helmet to her little brother. The little boy was excited as his mouth was agape. There were twinkles of joy and anticipation in his eyes.

"Big sister, can we buy dim sim as well?" he asked while at the same time wearing the helmet given by his big sister. Then, he sat in front of Bella Lim who was about to start the bike's engine. 

"Sure!" Bella Lim shouted as the engine roared. The noise was louder than her voice. A small smile appeared on her face when she noticed the glee that was emitted from her little pumpkin's body. It seemed he had forgotten the incident earlier. She rejoiced!

The two continued to ride the bike towards a secluded neighborhood called the 'Countryside'. It was named as such because this was the only place that had the least development. The government believed that it was a waste to develop the area. 

That was the main reason why this area offered the cheapest rental houses in the city. Most of the residents were from the lower class.

To both the siblings, this was their 'hometown' after the death of their parents. Bella had squeezed out all her savings to pay the down payment to one of the cheapest houses in the area. 

They stopped at one of the small supermarkets to buy the ingredients for a hotpot meal. After buying everything, they went to a famous dumpling stall in the neighborhood. There were already a few people lining up.

"Little pumpkin, please wait here. Big sister will line up to buy our dim sim!" Bella Lim said as both her hands held little pumpkin's round cheeks and made them bounce. The little boy giggled as he shook his head in agreement.

Bella Lim made sure that she had parked the bike securely before lining up to buy the dim sim she and little pumpkin enjoyed. Her body was positioned to an angel that allowed her to see both her little brother and the queue at the same time.

As she stood there waiting, two women approached the queue and lined up behind her. She felt unlucky for all these women knew was to gossip. Their voices were loud enough that it almost succeeded in tempting her to give them a word or two. But she didn't want to create troubles, so she forcefully listened to their gibberish.

"Hey, do you know that the most anticipated wedding of the year is being pushed forward?"

"The mighty Eric Wu and the gorgeous Karen Yang? Really? Why the rush?"

"Why? What do you think? That's because they are madly in love!"

"Aww, sugar! Is it confirmed? So, when is the wedding?"

"Read the news. It's everywhere!" 

Bella Lim didn't notice that it was her turn now to make an order of dumplings. She was too carried away with the things she heard that she failed to notice the message her expression was giving. It was almost like she was loathing over something.

"Miss, do you want my dumpling or not?" the stall owner asked coldly. He saw the disdain in her face and thought that she disliked his dumpling.

Bella Lim was startled. She stared at the stall owner and said: "Good evening! four packets of dim sim please!" she ordered joyfully. She was completely ignorant about how the stall owner perceived her. However, her instant change of behavior made the stall owner flip his earlier suspicion to a 180 degree and happily wrapped up her order.

"Thank you!" Bella Lim once again said in a joyful manner. She paid for the dim sim and left the area.

Then, the pair of siblings continued their journey. It took them only ten minutes on the bike to reach their home.

At home, Bella Lim asked her little brother to take a shower first. Since there was only one bathroom, she went to prepare the ingredients for their hotpot and put them on the sink to be washed while waiting for her little brother to finish showering. 

She finished the task faster than she thought, therefore, she decided to check on her phone. There were a few missed calls from her boss. She frowned and dialed his number.

"Good evening, boss," she greeted while wondering if her absence today had angered the man. Well, she did feel guilty for not returning to the café. However, she needed to be with her little pumpkin now for no one else could take care of him in this world. She had no other family. Little pumpkin was the only one. They needed to be there for each other no matter what.

"Where were you today? You do know we're lacking people at the cafe?" a voice full of irritation entered Bella Lim's ear. Her brows met at the center. So, her boss was really angry?

"I'm really sorry boss. I was called to Ryan's school today. I've made sure that before leaving, everything was in place. I believed Carla and the rest were capable of handling the cafe," she tried to reason with her boss.

"Really? Carla told me that you suddenly leave without telling them. This wasn't something a manager would do!" the man spoke louder. Clearly, he wasn't pacified with Bella Lim's explanation earlier.

Meanwhile, Bella Lim was shocked. She remembered that she had informed Carla about her leaving. Why was the story suddenly flipped to the exact opposite? Didn't Carla hear what she said?

"Boss, I told Carla-"

"Stop making excuse. I've decided to cut your salary to half this month. If this happens again, I'll take your position," the man warned and then hang up. 

Bella Lim stared at her phone, unable to believe what she just heard. She knew the temperament of her boss. This man was fast to anger without properly investigating the problem. However, it was rare for him to get this angry over this kind of issue. Besides, he should've understood about her work ethic. Although she needed to leave because of an emergency, she took care of all the important things beforehand. The rest could be covered by the other workers.

Why was it today, he was angered to the point of taking half of her salary? It seemed that something was amiss.

She sighed again and decided to forget about it for now. Tomorrow, she would settle it.