Hidden Gem

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I stared at Seth, waiting for his story to continue. He looked me in the eye, and held my arms tight. I just realized the situation we were in. “Hey. How about your stall? You’re working after all, right?” I asked, scared that he might get into trouble.

“Ah yeah. That’s right,” he realized.

“That’s..surprising. I can’t believe you’re actually working. I mean, the guy who actually motivated me to steal is now working,” I giggled. I realized how girly I sounded and immediately composed myself.

Seth saw my actions and smirked. “I’ll be back. I’ll just close it. And anyway, it wont be long. I’m not planning on working forever. That’s way too boring.”

I tried to suppress my smile but failed. “Wait. Close it? Wont your boss get angry?” I asked.

“Nope!” he chirped. I took a few steps back, surprised at how lively he replied. “I actually own it!”

My mouth fell open at his words. “Is this a joke?”

He pouted at me and crossed his arms on his chest. “So mean! I really do own it. I only sell eggs though.”

“B-but how? Did you mug someone?” I asked in horror. He laughed through his nose.  

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” he rolled his eyes at me.  “Well, as expected from my girl! You’re partially right,” he grinned.

“You..You really did mug someone?!” I almost screamed. He covered my mouth with his hand, resulting my words to be muffled.

“Erin, relax. You know me. I wouldn’t hurt a fly,” he said. He removed his hand from my face. “Besides, I just robbed one chicken,” he grinned. My eyes widened at how big of a deal this is. A chicken?! Seriously?

“That’s..so cool! I cant believe you got away with it! Haha!” I laughed, slapping his arm gently.

He grinned even wider. “I know! I’ve leveled up big time!” I couldn’t help but smile. He’s still the same as before.

“Ah. Wait here. I’ll just close the stall,” he told me.

“W..Wait! I have a reason why I’m here you know!”  

He stood there in silence, observing me for a second.“..Its to see me, right?” he guessed.

I shook my head. “I’m here on an errand. I need at least 30 eggs.”

To my surprise, he lightened up at this. “Well, you’re in the right place then!”

He lead me back to his stall and went under the table. He later emerged with a crate full of eggs. “How many did you need?” he asked.

“About 30.”

He went under his table again and emerged with about 3 egg cartons. He placed 10 eggs in each carton and placed them in a plastic bag. “Here ya go, Erin! That’ll be about 15 Amis!”

“Ah. Here,” I gave him the 20 Amis Manny had given me earlier. He grabbed his tiny safety deposit box and gave me the 5 Amis change.

“It really is weird seeing you do a job,” I smirked.

We exchanged swiftly. He suddenly looked at me with suspicion. “Speaking of jobs, you’ve got one too, huh? I mean, 20 Amis is huge,” he observed.

I flinched at his sudden observation. This isn’t good. I should make my words small and simple. “Ah yeah. Just a small job, nothing major. Haha,” I laughed, trying to act and look natural.

Seth continued to look at me with suspicion. He narrowed his eyes at me. “Though I’m curiou—”

“Anyway, hurry up. Aren’t you supposed to tell me the story?” I cutted him off, steering the topic somewhere else. He blinked. “Oh yeah..”

“Ahaha. I’ll just wait for you over there,” I pointed at the tree that was about 5 meters from his stall. If I stay any longer, he might start small talk. He nodded his head in agreement. I strided to the tree and waited for him, holding the plastic bag with the 3 egg cartons inside.

He walked over to me in a flash. “Done. Let’s go,” he exclaimed.

I gave him a questioning look. “Go? Go where?”

“I think we should talk about my story somewhere else,” he suggested.

I nodded in agreement. A market really is a weird place to sit down and talk about something really important. After all, it was pretty noisy. I mean, I don’t think you’d want to hear goats, people, or even poultry disturbing your conversation. It would just be awkward.

 He held my hand, pulling me away from the crowd. I followed behind him, trying to catch up to his speed. We arrived at the park. It was getting a bit cloudy. I saw a couple that strolled around the park. Kids were running around as well. As I scan my surroundings, I realized that it was getting quite hot under this robe.

I swallowed hard at the situation I’m in. I’m dead if Seth finds out I’m actually working for the Royal Household. He should really hurry up with his explanation. Manny will kill me for being this late!