A black metallic gate whose paint was peeling away exposing the rusted metal was what greeted George's eyes when he arrived at Good Hope Orphanage. He dressed down, wearing jeans and simple shirt with sneakers. Yet his good looks made him stand out especially now that he was not wearing his glasses.
As the gate was left open, he walked in. The sound of kids playing greeted his ears. Seeing as they were nowhere in sight, it meant they were at the back of the building he was facing. Someone walked out of the building, a young woman adorned in a black and white habit.
"Hello, welcome to Good Hope orphanage", she gave him a polite smile.
"Thank you. My name is George Stewart", he introduced himself, offering her his hand which she shook.
"Yes, Mr. Stewart. What can I do for you?" She asked letting go of his hand.
"I was looking for Sister Joanne Harper", he said while looking around before refocusing his gaze on her.
She frowned at the mention of this. "Sister Harper has never mentioned any 'George Stewart' to me?"
"Of course. She may not know me but she surely knows Amy Harper", he said with a smile.
And that name was all it took to lead him to the library. The woman who apparently had cancer and a few days to live was sitting behind her desk looking through some information on her desktop. She was an elderly woman, probably in her late sixties going to her seventies. She also wore the habit. The sister who was with George rushed to her side with worry.
"I told you to stay in bed", she protested as she helped her up from the seat.
"Ugh! That's for the weak. Besides there's so much to do here", Joanne responded before she coughed into her handkerchief. She caught sight of the unfamiliar figure and pointed at him while coughing.
"Oh! That's George Stewart. He must be a friend of Amy."
Joanne's face paled more than it already was when she heard that name. She quickly recovered and pretended as if she didn't hear anything nor the fact that he was standing there.
She released herself from the young sister and pushed herself to walk away. The sister gave George an apologetic look and he shook his head before following the older woman. The young sister only sighed before leaving the library.
"Sister Harper", George called after her as he followed.
The woman stubbornly refused to answer as she walked to the storage room. George was hot on her heels and was soon beside her.
"Sister Harper, I'm George Stewart. I can say..... I'm now of family to Amy. You know her, I'm sure."
She remained mum as she glanced up at the books. She started pushing some books together, creating space on the shelves. George quickly took over this task.
"I'm helping her look into her background. She believes that you might know something. Please help us. This is really important to her."
"Hm."
She went to sit down as George continued with the task. She drew in breath and started to cough again into her handkerchief. George could tell that she was in a lot of pain. He kept quiet as he continued making space. When she had recovered, he continued to speak.
"Amy values you so much and she knows you've been protecting her all this while. She just wants to know the truth. Please."
"Sister Harperrrrrrrr!" A woman shouted and the sound of her footsteps approaching was heard.
George found the sound to be irritating and Joanne sighed too. That trouble maker was back again. They both looked to the door and there appeared a woman with short black hair, she had piercings on her nose, lip and more on her ears. She was dressed in a shirt and jeans, not so different from George but her busty chest and figure easily showed.
"Oh!" She stopped at the door. She had been wheeling in boxes of books when she saw Joanne with George. "I didn't realize you were with someone."
"Put them up", Joanne grumbled.
She nodded and said to George, "Hello."
George nodded in acknowledgement. He wasn't too impressed with the girl's outward appearance. He felt it was a waste of her good looks. But he reminded himself not to judge; everyone was entitled to look as they pleased. He can't judge appearances, his own appearance could be appalling to someone else.
The girl started getting the books from the cart and loading them onto the shelves. Since George had been helping earlier, he felt to continue with the help as he felt awkward just standing there.
As the girl placed a few books at a time on the shelf, she caught sight of him moving his hands and knew he was about to help.
"You don-" she lost balance in the midst of turning to speak to him and placing the books at the same time and was about to fall when- "Argh!"
Time froze. There she was about to fall ok him with her hands up still holding the books and George, he had broken her fall by grabbing... her boobs....
Everyone: "..."
Silence.... No one moved. They were all too shocked to react. She quickly recovered and stood up straight, releasing herself from him.
"You should watch where you're touching!" She shrieked as her face turned red.
George rfelt like his hands were burning from remembering how soft and squishy her boobs felt in his hands.
'Pervert..' a voice echoed in his head. He cleared his throat and used his middle finger to swipe it up the bridge of his nose only to remember he was not wearing glasses. He cleared his throat again and decided to stuff his hands into his pocket.
"Who is this weirdo?" She questioned Joanne.
"Excuse me?" His brows furrowed in annoyance.
"Nora!" Joanne scolded in a hoarse voice.
"He just... Grabbed my.... Yeish!" She eyed him up and down in disgust. "Pervert!"
"Excuse me!" His expression was growing uglier at the accusations. The very truthful accusations.
"Nora, just put the books up and leave", Joanne said in a tired voice.
"I'll leave him to do the rest. I can't be in the same space as him. Who knows? He might grab my ass next!"
George subconsciously looked at the body part mentioned and she shrieked in horror.
"He actually looked! Oh my God! I'm out of here!" She run out before he could say another word.
George felt wronged as he looked at Joanne and waved his hands signing 'no'. "I'm not a pervert. I promise!"
"Just put the books up", Joanne said tiredly as she started to cough again.
George quietly did as told. His heart was heavy hearing her cough so painfully. It did not sit well with him that she still forced herself to work despite the pain. Time passed slowly as he stacked up the books. She would cough and recover, and let out heavy sighs. When he was unloading the last box, she finally spoke.
"Why is she looking into her past again?"
George was momentarily shocked that she started to speak and quickly recomposed himself. "There are certain people she believes she might be related to."
"Bad people?" She asked, making him stop to turn around and face her.
"Yes. Why? Do you know something?"
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