Chapter 201: Chapter 201: Tantrums.
Elara tucked her blouse neatly into her pants. After the job was done, she gave a small sigh, picked up her phone from the vanity table and walked toward the door. The instant she opened it, a little figure appeared in her sight.
"Where are you going to Elara?" Zia asked, blinking innocently.
"I have something to do," Elara replied and walked past her calmly.
"Where?"
"Outside."
"Outside where?" Zia pouted as she followed after her, but Elara acted as if she didn’t hear all her ramblings.
"Are you meeting scary suit uncle?" she asked again, but Elara still ignored her.
She only walked into the kitchen and started making tea. Zia stared at her for a long time, then she nodded dramatically.
"Okay," she mummured and walked out of the kitchen.
Seeing that the little girl is finally gone, Elara heaved a sigh of relief. She quickly made a simple cup of tea and drank it all in a few gulps.
"Leaving already?" Ziva’s voice suddenly came from behind her. She was leaning against the door frame, her hands wrapped under her chest.
"Yeah" Elara nodded in reply, walking past her toward the living room. Before she could even reach the entrance, her phone nearly slipped from her hand as something caught her eye. Her eyes instantly went cold.
Zia was standing calmly in the middle of the sitting room. She was now wearing a black jacket that obviously belonged to Elara, the sleeves completely swallowing her hands. She had on bright yellow rain boots, oversized sunglasses that kept sliding down her nose, and a little backpack Elara remembered buying for her just a week ago.
"Ready?" she asked proudly when she saw Elara and Ziva staring at her. Then she spread her arms, a large grin planted on her face. "I even dressed myself so you won’t waste time waiting for me."
"Zia!" Elara forced out through gritted teeth.
Zia went quiet, her smile stiffening. Then she blinked repeatedly. "What’s wrong?" she asked innocently. "I just went to dress up so I wouldn’t delay you."
Elara’s breathing became hurried.
"Who said you’re coming with me?" she snarled. "I’m not taking you anywhere. Now go back to your room and peel those things off your body."
Zia’s expression changed instantly. "No, you must be joking," she said, her eyes already turning red. "You’re just joking, right?"
Elara shook her head tiredly. Then she sighed and made to walk toward the front door. Before she could even reach it, Zia suddenly dropped to the floor with a small thud.
Elara turned back at once and glanced at her.
She was lying face down on the ground, her four limbs spread out around her. For some reason she looked exactly like a giant starfish.
Ziva’s face had already gone ugly as she stared down at the little girl. Then she pointed angrily at her and turned to Elara. "See? This is why I don’t like children."
Elara only stood quietly by the door, her eyes fixed on Zia who was still rolling around, kicking her legs and hitting the floor angrily.
Suddenly she looked up. Her eyes had gone red and tears were now streaming down her face. "Nobody loves Zia anymore!" she cried loudly. "Everybody thinks Zia is bad!"
The crying only made Elara more irritated instead of softening her heart. Ziva on the other hand, looked like she had finally lost the last piece of patience she possessed. She started pacing around the room.
"Elara, just take her back to Crelou. She’s obviously shaving years off our life expectancy." She pointed accusingly at Zia. "Three days ago she hid your phone in the freezer and said she only did it because the phone looked hot."
Zia kept crying.
"And last week she convinced the delivery man that I was a wanted criminal hiding from the police. That fool actually believed her. He refused to hand me the package and kept looking around for backup. I almost got arrested over fried chicken."
Ziva threw her hands into the air tiredly. "We can’t even eat peacefully in this house anymore. "She continued, growing more agitated with every word. "Yesterday I bought a bag of chips. I sat down, opened it, reached inside and..." She paused dramatically and pointed at Zia again. "Dragon toys. Seven dragon toys."
Zia immediately stopped crying. "Eight." She corrected through her tears, " you forgot the blue one."
"You see. Ah," Ziva sighed. "What else can this little imp not do? Why is she still here anyway? Wasn’t the holiday over?"
Zia immediately looked up again, a sad frown appearing on her face. "My mommy said I can stay here forever." She mummured.
Seeing that she seemed distracted, Elara quietly took a step toward the door. But before she could take another step, her leg suddenly stopped moving.
Elara looked down.
Zia had somehow wrapped herself around her leg like a koala. "Elara, please! I’m coming too!" she cried.
Her face looked so miserable that even a villain might have felt sorry for her. Unfortunately, Elara wasn’t that easy to be fooled by her anymore.
"Leave me alone," she warned but Zia shook her head violently.
"No! If you leave me here, Ziva will throw me out the window."
Not listening to any of her nonsense, Elara took a heavy step. Then another. But Zia remained attached to her leg. At this point Elara was practically dragging her across the floor.
Ziva snorted loudly and marched over to them, grabbing Zia by the waist. After several failed attempts, she finally managed to peel her off Elara. "See?" she muttered while carrying the struggling child. "Behind every troublesome child is a parent somewhere enjoying peace and quiet."
Zia screamed immediately. Her hands shot forward and grabbed the bottom of Elara’s pants.
Ziva, who had clearly reached the end of her patience, simply started dragging her backward. Zia slid across the floor while screaming loudly. "Nooo! Nooo!"
Elara pursed her lips tightly as she stared at her.
Of course she couldn’t let Zia come along. She was going to check on Grandpa... But the little girl still believed he had traveled somewhere.
Elara wasn’t ready for the questions she would ask if she saw him lying unconscious in the bed. She wasn’t ready to explain what a coma meant. And she definitely wasn’t ready to watch Zia start crying over him.
Just as Elara finally reached the door, Zia suddenly stopped struggling and pointed at her. "If you don’t take me with you, I swear I’ll run away! I’ll go live with Scary Suit Uncle, and everyday, I’ll tell him embarrassing stories about both of you."
