Get Back To You

"I would like to invite Ms. Lillian to my school festival," Lia repeated in an undertone.

Anna and Jake overheard the difference in Lia"s voice, thinking if she is whispering. But the context drew them with interest.

"That"s a great idea!" - Jake whispered.

Anna agreed.

"But- I don"t know where she lives, and I can"t ask mother. I- I wanted it to be a surprise!" Lia said.

Anna liked the way Giselle"s kid is thinking, and she smelled an exciting turn of events for her dear friend, Lillian Grey. She let Lia speak to verify if her plan had any scope, worthy of following.

"I already told you, I want to meet Ms. Lillian Grey- to give my invitation-" Lia repeated, enunciating every word.

"Lia made invitations herself?" Jake exclaimed innocently.

Anna had to whisper to her husband about Lia"s handmade invitations, filing him with the missing details.

"Lia made one for us?" Jake inquired with additional interest.

Anna sighed from his constant enthusiasm.

Lia admitted to having made an invitation for the couple as well. Jake smiled from the tender sentiment of Lia"s kind gesture to his wife"s eye-rolling. He then realizes their purpose and quickly signals his wife to come closer, for he can reveal his strategy, which is driving Lia to Lillian"s place tomorrow after school. Anna considered the probability of the idea, all while little Lia remained inside her blanket.

Anna remembered Jake mentioning about having a meeting tomorrow.

"I have it in the morning, I can drive Lia to Lillian"s place after school and return her home safely- all without Giselle spotting!" he bragged.

"Are you sure? You do know that Lia suggests that we do this behind Giselle"s knowledge, so if things go wrong-"

"Ann it won"t!" Jake rea.s.sured.

The idea seems to work well, and it can bring Lillian and Giselle closer together. So far, Anna appeared convinced, and she let Lia know about the plan to discuss its safety precautions, especially hiding the entire plot from Giselle.

Lia pledged to cooperate.

***

Giselle waited long enough to see her daughter finally emerging out of the room.

"What happened?" she called immediately.

Lia pa.s.sed on the information of inviting the couple and that Aunt Anna told her about considering the request, soon to give her a proper response. Giselle agonized what took so long for such a short exchange of words. Lia sweats from hiding significant parts of the conversation, yet remained tough for her mother"s sake.

Giselle studied to find the child act differently. She ignored it to her negligence and urged Lia about her thoughts. Since the child made those invitations with love and care, she could visit her grandparent"s house to invite them personally. It would make the old couple happy along with Aunt Gigi.

"How about we visit your grandparents tomorrow after school?" Giselle asked.

Lia declined, almost instantly to throw off her mother. Startled from the abrupt response, Giselle again sensed the strangeness in her child"s behavior.

"Can we stop by later?" Lia appealed to avoid having any engagement tomorrow.

"Why?"

It was tiresome to come up with a reason on the spot to convince her mother, thus stammering her way, Lia replied, " ah- Uhm, Andy"s m- mother is taking the four of us out for i- ice cream tomorrow-"

"What? And you"re telling me that now?" Giselle raided.

"I forgot!" Lia mumbled pitifully.

Giselle suspected, but she did observe the child"s face cringe to a loss of memory. Plus, it wasn"t an unusual event to get agitated.

Giselle believed in Lia"s words.

"So, you don"t want me to pick you up after school tomorrow?"

Lia insisted.

"Alright-"

The doubtful mother still hesitated from the strange witness. She saw Lia and questioned her reserved nature when the little girl would usually express her joy in eating ice cream with her best friends explicitly. It then reminds Giselle that Andy"s mother never texted about the case. Lia persuaded by mentioning that it was a casual hangout, nothing extraordinary to announce.

Nevertheless, Giselle warned Lia not to relish the cold dessert too much during the winter season. Little Lia promised to satisfy herself with just one serving. That night, the child arranged her school bag with her handmade invitation for Lillian Grey, hoping that her risky adventure would reach its goal.

***

The next day at school, Lia stayed the perfect student like she was and listened to all the cla.s.ses diligently. Even at lunch, she entertained her exhausted friends, along with Andy. Having already told her friends to cover for her in case if her mother interrogates them. Lia exhibited a composed att.i.tude under all that pressure of going behind her mother for the first time in her life, also in another country where she never spent her life enough to handle the weight. The little girl only had hopes that her plan would work eventually without any lapse.

The school ended with Andy swearing to their friendship to help Lia, and then the lucky treats gang dispersed rejoicefully, all cheering for Lia"s secret plan to invite someone special to her school festival.

Jake, who knew the plan, reached Lia"s school early enough to wait near the entrance. He watched little Lia exit the gate in search of her escort. Upon spotting the child, Jake left his car to meet up with her.

"Lia?" he called.

The little girl turned to his voice and found him. She happily beamed amidst the tension, enjoying her first step into successfully executing the trip so far.

The two left the school in Jake"s car as he escorted Lia to her destination.

"So, how was school today?" Jake inquired, feeling natural under the child"s presence.

Lia anxiously smiled to shivering. It was another day for her but filled with added pressure.

Jake tried to distract by chatting about their plan and aware of Lia"s fear in doing something without her mother"s knowledge, he made sure that the child didn"t suffer to an isolated mind. He kept Lia occupied with random subjects, which led to questioning if Lia"s father would join her for the holidays.

The child imparted a back story about begging her father to visit early for the event and how she still hadn"t heard from her mother. Sharing made Lia sulk suddenly to the thought.

"You do know that your father is trying his best for your sake, right?" Jake said to watch Lia"s face shift to his comment. She had never thought it as such and was only expecting to hear the good news. Now that Lia learned the purpose behind her father"s silence, her faith restored better than before. She resumed waiting for the response. Jake returned the conversation on celebrating Christmas and the presents Lia would like to get. To his awe, he received a surprise in learning that Lia loves superhero stories. It only made their conversation more interesting as the two battled with their favorite picks.

Along with Jake"s skillful driving, they reached the location as per the estimated time. It was a grand structure with many floors, much fancier to admire. Lia struck in awe from studying the place to her fascination. She also noticed people loitering outside the building, a few carried cameras along with them.

"Who are they?" Lia inquired as she got down.

"They are- they look like those people who take pictures of others."

"Why are they here?"

"I"m guessing to take a picture of a famous person living here!"

"Who is living here?" Lia wondered curiously.

"The very person you came to meet here, now," Jake replied to reveal.

Lia"s face transformed into a shocking surprise.

"They are here for Ms. Lillian?" she called in her shrill tone.

Jake nodded to confirm.

"Why?" Lia inquired from being temporarily speechless.

"Ms. Lillian Grey is a famous author," Jake exclaimed with a brag of their a.s.sociation.

Judging from Lia standing speechless again, Jake took a hard guess.

"You don"t know? Your mother never told you?"

"I was aware of Ms. Lillian being a writer, but never knew that she is a famous person,"

"Hmm, I"d say she just turned famous."

"What?"

"Yes! Ms. Lillian has published several books, but never under her birth name. She hid her ident.i.ty from everyone until now and just lately revealed it to the whole world."

"So, Ms. Lillian never used her real name?"

Jake confirmed.

"What did she call herself then?"

"Gill! That was her pen name- an alias name she used to write her novels and sell,"

Now that Lia freaks, she did recall seeing such a name in her mother"s personal library. Lia recognized because she thought it was a funny name to remember.

"So, no one knew Gill was Ms. Lillian?"

"Exactly! And now, everyone knows! That is why you see those people are waiting here to get some pictures of Gill, the famous author."

Jake went on to remind Lia that only a few close friends of Lillian knew this about her and agreed to keep it a secret. Even Lia"s mother, Giselle, heard the truth recently, just before the rest of the world discovered.

Afeared from listening, Lia worried if Lillian Grey would even consider her invitation. Since the person is already famous, it would be a tough call to make an appearance in public. Lia"s hopes fell to fill her trouble. And committing this activity behind her mother added more stress than the little girl could bear. She staggered in her steps to lag.

Jake saw the hesitation in the child"s pace and understood what went inside her head. He grabbed the little palm to a firm grip and walked ahead.

"You made a decision. If it is wrong, then we would have disagreed, but it wasn"t. Your surprise will make your mother happy- and Ms. Lillian, which is what we are hoping for too so, don"t you dare feel down now and hurry up. We can"t spend too much time here. Your mother would soon start to suspect about your long absence."

Jake and Lia hurried to take the elevator for a ride. Reaching the twelfth floor, the two stepped out to give a sweet shocking surprise to the famous author.