And so, after searching seven or eight private rooms in the restaurant, they still had not found any woman who seemed to be 'Tristan’s' mother.
Lea started to think that 'Tristan' might have hallucinated the whole thing because he missed his mother so much.
The young waiter was becoming frustrated. "Little miss, do you remember which way the window in your mom's room was facing?"
If he knew whether her mother's room was facing north or south, he could knock on fewer doors and disturb fewer patrons.
Not every patron was easygoing, and some got annoyed when he entered without food, only to look for someone. He was worried about complaints.
Lea shook her head. "I... I can't remember..."
The waiter sighed. "Alright. Then we'll just keep going room by room."
With that, he knocked on another door. This time, there was no response from inside. Instead, someone came to open the door.
It was a child.
The waiter politely asked, "Little fella, is this young lady with you? Do you know her?"
The child who opened the door didn’t reply because he was stunned.
It was none other than the real Tristan.
Tristan had just finished going to the bathroom in the private room, and when he came out, he heard someone knocking on the door. He opened it, only to find Lea, his aunt.
Lea was stunned too. She was first shocked, then joy washed over her.
She found him.
However, his relief didn't last long. An adult came over from inside the room to see what was going on. "What's up, Adrian? Who are you talking to?"
The man was Byran.
'Adrian' didn't answer his uncle. He was still in shock and unsure how to react. He didn't know how Lea had found him or if she was going to take him back to his father's.
The waiter politely responded to the man's question. "Good evening, sir. This little lady got lost, and I've brought her back."
A little girl got lost?
Byran instinctively thought of Layla. But Layla was inside the room, quietly eating her meal. She hadn't gone anywhere.
He looked at Lea, who was standing next to the waiter. "There must be some mistake. This girl isn't with us."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Kiss that Sparked it All