Hailey still looked pale, and she nodded at Armond stiffly. She seems scared. Is it because of him?
Nora was a bit of an airhead, so she didn’t notice Hailey’s expression. She turned to Armond. “This is Hailey, my friend. She lives in A City, just like me.”
Armond smiled gently at her. “Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Hailey was trembling slightly as she shook his hand. “Hello,” she whispered almost inaudibly.
Thinking that Hailey was just being shy around strangers, Nora smiled. “She’s a shy one, so socializing’s not her forte. Alright, let’s start the barbecue. We’re starving here.”
Armond smiled and went into the kitchen, followed by Nora.
I grabbed Hailey, then she dragged me out of the kitchen. Her hands were as cold as ice, obviously shocked from the meeting. She then downed a glass of water to calm herself.
Instead of asking her straight off, I waited for her to get a hold of herself. A short while later, she looked at me. “He’s evil.”
I paused for a moment. I knew she was talking about Armond, so I asked, “Do you know him.”
She nodded, then sat on the sofa and looked at the kitchen. “I’ve seen him before, but it has been quite a while since then,” she whispered.
I was going to ask more, but Nora and Armond were already back with the kebabs, while Hannah and Chandler made sure the flames were still roaring. Since everyone was going to dig in, I held my question.
I observed Armond while we were barbecuing, but he didn’t seem to know Hailey. How does Hailey know him and she’s even terrified.
“You’re spacing out again. What’s up with you?” Hannah handed me some food. “You have lost some weight. Here, have some kebab.”
I snapped out of it and nodded at her.
Armond squinted. “Indeed. I heard about your daughter. Tell us if you need any help.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to do everything alone, Scarlett.” Nora nodded
I forced a smile. “Okay.”
Armond had some of his juice and looked at me. “Your daughter needs a bone marrow and kidney transplant, doesn’t she? It won’t be easy to get the ones she needs. How’s it going right now?”
The moment he said that Hailey accidentally smashed the sauce bowl before her. She apologized and quickly cleaned it up, and Nora helped. “It’s fine. I can do this myself.” Hailey wiped the sauce off her clothes.
All the color had drained from her face, as if she was horrified about something. I had a strong feeling she knew something about Armond, much to my surprise.
Everyone sat back down once the mess was cleared up. Nora looked at me. “It won’t be easy to get a kidney transplant for a child, especially a matching one.” She turned to Armond. “Can you help her?”
Armond gave me a cryptic look. “I am sure there is a way.”
“Really?” Nora stared at him with excitement as she waited for his answer, but Armond only arched his eyebrow at me. “Let’s focus on the barbecue for now. We can talk about it after we’re done eating.”
Nora pondered on it. “Yeah, sure.”
I held Hailey’s hand again. Much to my surprise, it was still ice-cold despite the heater in the house. That told me the extent of her fear for Armond.
Hailey threw a look of terror at me, while I nodded at her and patted her hand to give her some courage.
Hannah gave me some greens, but I didn’t dig in. “Snap out of it, Scarlett. You haven’t touched your food. Can’t work up an appetite?”
I looked at the little mountain of food on my plate. “No. I’m digging in right now, okay?”
She beamed. “I’ve never had a barbecue before I met Chandler. It’s really awesome, you know. I can get addicted to it.”
Chandler blushed, then he gave her a piece of meat. “Dig in then. I can barbecue for you anytime you want.”
“You guys are totally gloating. That’s gross,” Nora threw shades at them, but she did the same thing with Armond with a smile on her face.
Nothing bad happened during the barbecue though. Once we cleared the table up, Hannah and Chandler went back to their place. Nora held my hand and told Armond, “Take her home, Armond. I can’t let her hitch a ride alone.”
“She can come with us then.” Hannah turned to Nora. “And her place is on our way home too.”
Before Nora could say anything, Armond interrupted, “Same here. It won’t be too much of a problem for us.”
