Carlos heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Piggy say that. Piggy added, "I'm a kid. I can sleep with Uncle Carlos. Stay?"
Debbie chipped in, "Piggy, Uncle Carlos needs to go home now."
"Sure, Evelyn. You're so adorable. How am I supposed to even say no? How about this? Let your mommy bathe you first. I have to go home and shower. I'll come back to keep you company after that. Okay?"
Debbie rolled her eyes and wondered, 'Come on! I'm the mom. Don't I get a say in this? He can't spoil Piggy like this!'
Piggy was thrilled, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Then she ran towards Debbie and held her hand saying, "Give me a bath."
"Okay." Debbie had no other choice than to do as Piggy said.
Carlos looked at the dumbfounded woman and said with a meaningful expression, "You should probably grab a shower too. Get ready."
"What?" She didn't get his point.
Ignoring her confusion, he said goodbye to Piggy and left the apartment.
As soon as he was out of sight, Piggy practically dragged Debbie to the bathroom pulling her by the wrist. Debbie almost lost her balance. "Mommy, hurry up!"
Sighing in defeat, Debbie felt like she should talk with Piggy, because she didn't want to lose her one day. While drawing water into the bathtub, she told Piggy, "Honey, listen. We used to sleep in the same bedroom. If you and Uncle Carlos sleep together, where do I sleep? I'm a woman, and I can't sleep together with a man, right?"
Sitting on a small chair in the bathroom, Piggy tilted her head to look at her mom and said, "The other bedroom." She even consoled Debbie, "We'll be close. If you're scared..." She thought for a while and offered, "Uncle Carlos can sleep with you after."
Debbie was rendered speechless. 'Piggy, you know what? That just gave me a great idea.'
In the apartment on the sixth floor
When Carlos entered, Stephanie had just come back. She took his suit jacket from him and asked with concern, "Did you eat, Carlos?"
"Mmm hmm," he simply answered.
Stephanie hung the jacket on the hanger. Then she saw something on it. She hadn't remembered the jacket having any adornment.
She took a closer look and found it was a sticker of Peppa Pig. She pulled it from the jacket and asked Carlos, "Where did this come from?"
'Why would a sticker of Peppa Pig be on Carlos' jacket?' she thought.
Carlos was still drinking the glass of water he poured, and cast a casual glance at the sticker in her hand. "I played with a little girl today, and maybe she stuck it on my jacket."
'A little girl? Since when has he been interested in kids, much less playing with them?' Stephanie thought in confusion.
She didn't press him any more on this. Instead, she threw the sticker into the trash bin and said, "I've got overtime. I'll head to the study. Go to bed early."
"Mmm hmm."
Stephanie was used to his aloofness. He wasn't interested in a conversation, and he didn't have time. Saying nothing more, she went to the study with her phone and a glass of water.
After Debbie bathed Piggy and took her out of the bathroom, Carlos was already waiting in the bedroom in pajamas. Debbie was taken aback when she saw him.
She heaved a sigh and went to the bathroom to take a bath herself, leaving father and daughter alone. While she was splashing in the bath, she could hear their happy laughter from time to time.
She even heard Piggy ask Carlos, "Uncle Carlos, I love you. Why? You are handsome."
Debbie was dumbstruck.
She didn't hear Carlos' reply. All she could think about was that Piggy seemed to love Carlos more than her.
When she finished bathing and walked into the bedroom, Piggy was singing and dancing on the bed. Carlos leaned against the headboard and watched her, eyes full of tenderness.
But Debbie couldn't understand the lyrics at all. "Yo um da jo lo ha sa lon da su ha go na go ki da ya jun ku te nu..."
Debbie asked in confusion, "Piggy, what are you singing?"
Piggy completely ignored her mom and continued singing and dancing. Carlos turned to look at Debbie, taking in her absolutely confused expression. He decided to interpret the lyrics for her. "It's a Korean song. We open our eyes in the morning and then drink a glass of milk. Milk is good for our health."
'A Korean song? I don't even know how to speak Korean, ' Debbie thought. And of course, neither did Piggy. But she fell in love with the song, and memorized all the syllables.
After Piggy finished, she said, "Milk Song. From TV. Like it?"
"I love it! Evelyn, nice job!" Debbie pouted her mouth, feeling kind of jealous. 'He never praised me like that.'
It was already past 11 p.m. when Piggy finally fell asleep. If Debbie hadn't insisted Piggy go to bed, the little girl would still be playing with Carlos.
Lying next to Piggy, Debbie looked at her sleeping daughter and grumbled, "You spoil her a lot. If there's a son in the cards, you'll probably spoil him more."
"What?" Carlos, who was lying on the other side of the bed, asked in confusion.
"Nothing. Thanks for keeping Piggy company, old man. It's late. You should be in bed yourself."
"Mmm hmm." Carlos kissed Piggy softly on the forehead, got out of the bed and left the bedroom quietly.
Debbie watched as he walked off. 'He left. Just like that!' Somehow, she was suddenly struck with a deep sense of loss.
'I thought he'd stay the night, at least.'
Feeling bored, she unlocked her phone. She still wasn't in the mood to read her fans' messages. So she rolled over and opened up Speed QQ. It was a racing game. It didn't require a lot of commitment to play, and it could just be played casually. After owning a couple tracks, she locked the phone again and put it aside.
She got out of the bed, turned off the lights in the room and only left a bedside lamp on. It was on the lowest setting, the dim light casting odd shadows in the room. She planned to drink some water before going to bed.
The moment she left the bedroom, someone grabbed her wrist. "Argh!" She was startled at first. Then, she used her free hand to fight back.
There was no light in the living room. By the light of the bedroom, she recognized the person—it was none other than Carlos. But by the time she figured it out, he had grabbed both her hands and pressed her against the wall.
Debbie's heart raced. She rolled her eyes and snapped in a low voice, "Carlos Huo, are you nuts? You scared the shit out of me!"
'I thought he left. Did he stay here just to scare me?' she thought.
Carlos gathered both her hands with his left one, and closed the door to the bedroom with the other.
He had decided to do this before he had left for his apartment to take a bath. He had been trying hard to deny his desires the whole time he was playing with Piggy. Now that he and Debbie were alone and Piggy was asleep, it was time for him to stalk his prey.
With intense passion, he kissed her, while his free hand ran over her clothes, hurriedly pulling them from her. Although she wanted to resist his advances, she couldn't. She bit her lips so that she could hold back her moans.
After what seemed like an eternity, she got up from the couch, got dressed and picked up her purse.
She took out a bill from it, threw it on him and complained, "Thanks for your service, but honestly, not that impressed. A hundred dollars is all you get. Take it and leave."