Chapter 16: Late

Meanwhile, Daniella was walking to the plaza, even though it was only eight in the morning, and she knew she wasn't late because she and William talked about going to the plaza at 10:00 a.m. On Saturday.

Daniella sat down, and her sweat from her neck continued to flow because of the weather. "Who's a fool who didn't bring an umbrella, Daniella?" I said to myself. I forgot to bring an umbrella, so I walked under the sun. I also didn't want to go back to my house because I was already half a block away from my mother's house when I remembered that I didn't have an umbrella.

I was already at the plaza, and I'm sure that I wasn't late. "I'm sure William won't be upset when he arrives. I'm ahead of him now." I grab the time to scroll on my cellphone while waiting for William.

While William and Charice are already at the mall, "Here we go. I'll just play for an hour, then we'll eat, and after that we'll go home," said Charice, and William just nodded. Charice pulled him into the Time Zone, where there are many machines that can be played using the token.
Charice started playing, but William was on one side of that place. In the end, he changed his money into tokens, and he also played with a machine that could shoot a ball in the ring. And to William's great amusement, he no longer noticed the time.

Meanwhile, Daniella is impatiently waiting for William. "He should be here because it's already 10 a.m. Why is he not still here?" I really wondered why he wasn't here yet.

While busy looking at the entrance of the plaza where people enter, someone suddenly sat in a chair on the other side of Daniella's table.
I looked and frowned at the man sitting in front of me that I did not know. "Good morning!" The man smiled.

I was surprised by the way he greeted me, as if they already knew each other. "Do you need anything?" I asked.
Suddenly, the man smiled at me. "I noticed that you are alone. Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yes," I replied shortly.
"Looks like you've been waiting for that person for too long."

In my mind, "This man is feeling close, not because he's so handsome that I'll be complacent that he might later take out a handkerchief and cover my nose." While frowning and not paying attention to what the man said, I seemed to be thinking of something.

The man noticed Daniella's look, and that made him smile. "Don't worry, I'm not like that."

I looked at him quickly. "Can you read what I'm thinking?"

"No, it's obvious on your face."

I just fixed my hair and asked the man again. "Why are you sitting there with so many chairs here?"

He just smiled at me and stared. "You two are indeed so different."

I looked at him curiously. "Who?"

Suddenly, the man shook his head. "It's nothing. Whom are you waiting for?"
I sighed sadly and looked at my cellphone to see what time it was. "I don't think he's coming any longer." I smiled at the man. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, and William must have been there before ten o'clock; for the first time, he was late at this time.
The man noticed the sadness in Daniella's eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

I faked a smile. "Of course."

William, meanwhile, had just noticed that he was late for his conversation with Daniella when his gaze turned to his wrist watch. He lowered the ball, immediately looked for Charice, and suddenly pulled it.

Charice was startled by William's sudden motion. "What's the matter?"

William was in a hurry to walk even though Charice was stumbling. "I'm late for my meeting, so don't ask because it's your fault." And he was blaming Charice.

Charice frowned. "Why is it my fault? You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

William's face was serious when he turned to her, but his eyes could not hide a little anger toward Charice. "Take me to the plaza," was the answer she got from William, and when they reached the parking lot, William got inside the car immediately. Charice just shook her head and got into the car.
It was obvious on William's face that he was restless in his seat. "Where are you going, and are you in a hurry?" Charice asked, even though she knew where William was going.

William didn't answer, and as soon as the car stopped at the entrance of the plaza, he got out immediately. "Wait! William!" Charice shouted and got out of the car as well.

William stopped where he and Daniella always sat in that part of the plaza, but only a man was there and not Daniella. "Looks like you're late," the man said and looked at William and the woman behind him, Charice.

"Where is she now?" William asked breathlessly.

The man looked at where Daniella had been sitting a while ago. "Did you see anyone? She was bored, so she left."

William rolled his eyes at the plaza, but Daniella was not there, so he was ready to run and he might catch up, but the man spoke again. "Don't plan to follow her because she left earlier, and I think at this time she is already at home." and looked at Charice. "And you seem to enjoy hanging out with the lady behind you."

"Did you talk to her while I wasn't here?" William asked.

The man stood up. "I only talked to her for a moment because she didn't seem comfortable talking to me."

"Who is he, William?" Charice asked.

The man smiled at Charice and said, "Hi!" But Charice just tried to smile at him.

The man walked closer to William and whispered softly in his ear. "If you knew you had an appointment to meet, you should have informed her that you still had a date with the woman behind you. Did you know that she waited for you for three hours? Then, while she was doing that, she thought that maybe you were late, but she didn't know that you had another date, and you seemed to be enjoying it, so you forgot about her. " William closed his eyes several times for what he said. "When you meet again, I don't know if there's anything new, so maybe just prepare yourself." He patted William's shoulder and walked away without looking back. But what William didn't know was that the man walking away had suddenly grinned.

When they couldn't see the man, Charice pulled William away from the plaza, even though he did not want to go home.