Chapter 44 – Rushing to Save the Day

Bella rushed home, and she saw that Bess stood outside the door waiting.

“Mum, you weren’t going to wait for me?” Bella was almost out of breath.

“Oh, Bella, don’t you trust me? Your mother said you had a job; wouldn’t your pay be deducted if you asked for leave.” A woman sputtered beside them.

Bella had just noticed that a tall and slim woman stood beside her mother, she gave her a smile, “Susanna you’re going with my Mum? If I knew I wouldn’t have come.”

The smile on Susanna’s face was a bit rigid, she looked at Bess, “Well Bella is here, so then I won’t go with you. I will go home and be with my child.” Then she left without hesitation.

Bella wondered why Susanna hurried off, so she asked her mother, “Why was she in such a hurry?”

Bess replied with a thankful look, “She asked her neighbour to take care of her child so that she could go with me.”

“She is so kind, but I prefer to go with you myself.” Bella held Bess’s arm, “Let’s go, Mum.”

The kind Susanna went back home and called Len at once, “Mr. Sanders, something has changed, her daughter came home and wanted to accompany her to the interview.”

Len’s voice came through the phone after a moment, “That’s OK, I will take care of it. You just go on as usual. Your money has been transferred into your account. No more contact with me from now on.”

“But, I did not do as you asked…”

A dial tone came from the other side of the phone that interrupted her. He had hung up the phone. Several minutes later, her phone received a message from the bank saying that her money had been deposited. Her lips curled into a smile. She was excited, and she called out to her son. “Put your shoes on, we are going shopping.”

Bella was surprised, Bess had gotten the part-time job at Hale’s Hotel, and would get paid double for the night shift.

Bess accepted it without hesitation.

“Mum, how could you accept it, this place is too far away from home, and there are no buses that late at night,” Bella disagreed, “I am worried about you, how can you take a late night bus by yourself.”

“Don’t worry, the manager said the night shift would be slow.” Bess assured her, “I can take the train here at night, and it will be morning when I get off work. So, you don’t have to worry about me, I will be safe.”

“Well, I can’t oppose you as you have accepted the job.” Bella puckered her lips to show her disapproval and said, “You must give me a call whenever you go to work and get off at night, OK? Whenever you leave home, arrive at the hotel, and leave the hotel, and arrive at home, just give me a call OK?”

“OK, OK, I will.” Bess replied to her with a content smile, “I am so happy to have this job, you know, I am not really qualified to work here.”

They walked home. As Bella and Bess walked and laughed they passed a bookstore, Bella suddenly got the urge to go in, “I would like to buy some books.”

As Charles tormented her every day, it was necessary for her to encourage herself with something, and a book seemed better than anything else.

“Well, I will go get some drinks, we can celebrate my new job.” Bess was enthusiastic, she never had this feeling before.

Bella was also happy, then they parted at the door.

Bella picked up some books like “Breakthrough the Hardship,” “Rainbow after the Storm,” “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” Her fingers crossed the books as she read the backs to find out which book would be the best.

“You may like this one.” Someone whispered behind her, and a book appeared before her.

Bella turned around, the man smiled warmly to her, she was surprised, “That is you?”

The same handsome man from earlier stood before her with that delightful air of sunshine, that had rescued her from the motorcycle and crossed the road with her.

She was amazed for they had met twice within one day, “What a surprise.”

“Yes, it is.” The man laughed and his bright eyes slightly curved, gracefully, and gently.

“The Little Prince?” Bella read the name of the book that he gave her and smiled, “This is a tale for children, I am twenty.”

“Sure, it still would be suitable for a young lady of twenty like you.” The man’s eyes sparkled, and he reached out his hand, “Nice to meet you. My name is Edwin Beck.”

Bella laughed, “Nice to meet you. I’m Bella Brook.”

Her smile was bright and genuine.

Sometimes things turned out so amazingly, you might have been with someone for almost one month and saw each other every day, but he was so distant and isolated like a stranger. In contrast, someone you met for the first time had brought you the feeling of having encountered an old friend that you’ve known for many years.

They talked to each other and had a few laughs, suddenly a strange sound burst out over their heads. Bella looked up and found that the large shelf beside them started to topple down.

She was terrified, and she dropped the book that she held in her hand.

Edwin Beck shouted, “Watch out!.” And dragged her to his side and shielded over her.

The shelf leaned on the other row of shelves finally, but the books on the fallen shelf poured down like rain onto Edwin’s back.

Bella hid her head under him, and she could feel his body shake each time the books hit his body, and she was frightened.

“Leave me, just go, go!” Bella shouted to him and tried hard to push him away.

“No, you will be hit by the books.” Edwin’s voice sounded calm, he seemed like he wasn’t getting hurt at all and he joked, “Let me be the hero.”

“No, please go, you will be hurt by so many books striking you.” Bella kept pushing him.

Edwin held her tightly, and lowered his voice, “Don’t push me, I am losing my strength. Wait one more minute, OK?”

His breath heavily blew over her head, and he sounded like he was weakening, Bella stopped moving.

The books had stopped falling, and Edwin loosened his grip and said, “There we are safe.”

Bella held onto his arms and moved to the reading area, placed him on a coach, she asked anxiously, “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the doctor?”

“I am not as weak as you think, let me rest for a minute.” Beck gave her a soft smile. He looked down at the girl crouched down beside him as she looked up to him, his heartbeat sped up.

“Goodness, boss, what happened here?” A girl screamed at the door and looked at Edwin, “I just went out to buy lunch, how could the store get in a mess like that so quickly?”

“It was just an accident.” He replied mildly, “Close the door, you can do the cleaning with Quentin later.”

“Do you own this bookstore?” Bella was surprised with his words. Her bright eyes were dreamy, like a loving little cat.

Edwin touched her head and laughed, “Yes, so that is why I had to rescue the beauty in my store.”