Miss Otaku

Never Mind Bad People

Mall? I frowned. Why would we go to the mall? 

"Come on, let's go!" Mr. Truman said and waved his hand. 

I obediently entered in. I cannot do anything anyway. Silently, I sat down on the back seat and stared at Mr. Truman's face on the mirror. He is focused on driving and he looks so happy he is even whistling. 

"Lily, have you ever been to the biggest mall in City S?" he asked in a jolly tone. 

I lifted up my head and shook it.

"No, sir," I answered. 

"Oh..." he answered. "Okay, I will tour you around the mall today so buy whatever you want, okay? Don't worry, everything is on me."

"But..." I protested but unable to continue what I wanted to say. 

"Lily, don't worry. I already promised your mom that I will take care of everything you need in your studies. This is on my personal account so don't be worried too much about the expenses. I will make good what I promised ever since."

I frowned. Promise? Why did he promise such good things to my mom? She is just a mere employee. Also, how good is she to deserve this kind of treatment from a rich man? In all these years of growing up with her, I have not seen anything special in her. She may be my mom but objectively speaking, she is not that talented to be given this kind of privilege. 

"Lily?" Mr. Truman said when I did not respond. 

I flinched. It's a good thing that my bangs are long or else he could have seen my expression just now. 

"Y-yes sir," I answered.

"I was saying that you shouldn't be worried..."

"Ah...yeah..."

With that, I remained silent. After my short response, Mr. Truman didn't say anything anymore. He just remained silent and continued driving, checking on me from time to time through the mirror. 

I just sat still. My eyes are focused on the road. I miss my mom so much and no amount of luxury can ever exchange with her presence. If given the choice, I would rather go back to our simple life as long as we are together unlike this time where I can have things that I never had before but without my mom on my side. 

My eyes moistened at that thought. For fifteen years of being together, this is the longest time that my mom left me. I have not been on her side for many days now and my heart is missing her a lot. A tear fell down my cheek the moment I thought of that. I just let it roll until my bangs sipped the liquid. I swallowed hard. 

"Lily, we're here..."

Mr. Truman's voice cut my thoughts. I immediately looked around and realized that we are already in a parking lot. I prepared to take my bag with me but Mr. Truman said that I can leave it on the car. I followed his words and went down the car. I followed Mr. Truman who ushered me the way inside the mall. 

I bowed my head as I stared at his feet. His feet has been my guide. I don't want to raise my head and see all these busy people talking about many things and laughing out loudly in this public place while doing their own thing. 

Just then, a boy who is running so fast bumped on me, knocking me on the cold floor.

I fell silently. I grimaced as I felt the impact of the fall on my butt. It's painful.

"Hahahaha!" the boy who bumped me laughed loudly. "Look at that stupid girl, mom!"

The lady holding her son's hand just looked at me with a poker face. She didn't even scold her son for being disrespectful.

"Lily, are you okay?" Mr. Truman said after looking back and deciphering what happened. He rushed to my side the moment he saw me sitting on the cold floor. 

I nodded without saying anything. 

He helped me stand up and tidy my clothes. After that, he looked at the boy's mother who is just looking at us.

"Are you not going to ask your son to apologize?" he asked in a stern tone.

The lady just looked at him coldly. 

He smiled and shook his head. Suddenly, he held my wrist and pulled me slowly. He led me out of the situation and proceeded to the shop near us. The people who saw what happened sneered at the boy and his mom. Some even whispered to each other as they stared at them sharply. This pair of mother and son are just disrespectful.

"Lily, don't bother people like them," Mr. Truman said when we are inside. "They just exist to destroy other people's happiness. Anyway, it's not worth fighting with those kind of unreasonable creatures."

I nodded. I have been used to this kind of life at school anyway. I don't really care about the boy's behavior. After all, I have experienced acts that are far more degrading and humiliating that this. 

Mr. Truman pulled my wrist again and took me out of the store. It appears that he wanted to take me away from the situation now. Some people are still staring at me and whispering. He may not hear what they are whispering about me but I guess he is still bothered. From his acts, I can see that he doesn't want me to be placed under this kind of situation. 

"Lily, let's go to my favorite dining area. We can eat food first before shopping. Anyway, it's already fifteen minutes to six in the evening. We can eat early. We can even eat desert after," he said in an attempt to divert my mind to another thing. He looks hurt upon looking at how I kept my mouth shut after being bullied. However, he didn't want to entangle himself in any worthless battles as well. The best way is to ignore. 

As usual, I nodded and followed obediently. I didn't say anything until we reached the dining area on top of the mall. I just followed his lead. In the entrance, a waiter already met us and greeted Mr. Truman then led us to a table in a corner.