Since her request was going to make things difficult for others, Roxanne could not insist on it. She smiled in resignation and said, “In that case, don’t worry about it. We’ll leave it as it is.”
Almost immediately, Jeffrey replied, “Thank you for your understanding, Ms. Jarvis. If there’s nothing else, I’ll end this call with you. Other parents are trying to reach me as well, so I’ll have to get back to them.”
He was in a hurry to hang up, seemingly worried that Roxanne would change her mind.
After ending the call with Jeffrey, Roxanne stared blankly at the crumpled piece of paper with the words Sleeping Beauty on it.
The two boys noticed her reaction and gingerly called out, “Mommy.”
Roxanne looked at them with downcast eyes. Seeing that their mom seemed disheartened, the boys anxiously asked, “Mommy, you don’t like that play?”
She nodded, which aroused the curiosity in the boys.
“Why? Is it a terrible story? Can you tell us that story?” they asked.
Roxanne frowned slightly and bit her lips, feeling a little awkward. “I… I will tell you the story another day,” she finally replied.
She highly suspected she and Lucian would be given the lead roles for the play. Horrified by the idea of her being Sleeping Beauty with Lucian as her prince, she became despondent and was not in the mood for storytelling.
She prayed hard that the kindergarten would modify the story to cater to the audience of young kids.
Roxanne’s reaction triggered the interest of Archie and Benny in Sleeping Beauty. Aware that Roxanne was not keen to tell them, they decided not to pursue further. They merely asked, “Mommy, you’re still going to participate, right?”
Roxanne nodded with a heavy heart. She kept checking her phone to see if Pippa would provide more updates with regard to the script of the play.
After a few minutes, a notification came in. It was a message from Pippa in the group chat for parents.
Roxanne pursed her lips nervously and read the message.
Pippa had sent an attachment. It was the file that listed the participants in each group and their respective plays.
Ms. Raranne Jarvis and Mr. Lucian Farwell will be doing Sleeping Beauty.
The other plays were also fairy tales, such as The Little Match Girl and Little Red Riding Hood. It was obvious the kindergarten had made conscious efforts to choose stories with varied themes.
li was just unfortunate for Roxanne that she got a love story.
Roxanne was troubled. She stole a look at her boys and secretly bemoaned her bad luck for having gotten Sleeping Beauty as their play.
Another message from Pippa came in: Dear parents, please join us for a meeting at the kindergarten tomorrow to discuss the script for the plays.
The other parents started replying to Pippa’s message to confirm their attendance.
Although she was feeling dispirited, Roxanne obligingly replied: Noted. I’ll be there. Noted.
The next message that came in immediately after Roxanne’s reply was Lucian’s short one-word reply. Although his reply was curt, it attracted lots of attention as he almost never responded to messages in the group chat previously.
A curious parent wrote: Are you joining us in the anniversary celebration activities this year, Mr. Farwell? Which play are you in, and who is your partner?
That parent even tagged Lucian in the message.
