Brian left soon after he brought Mark to his class. He said to Tony as soon as he slipped into the car, "Go to the Empire, Tony."
"Yes, sir."
The car disappeared in the rain. The entrance of the school was filled with people who took children to school. The rain hurried them to go and leave, with water and mud splashing in every direction. Behind the huge pillar of the entrance was a man standing, who was in his sixties. With an umbrella in his hand, he stood upright. He stared at the entrance of the school, but cocked his head from side to side when people blocked him from a good view. This didn't last long before he complained, "Madam, you cannot see Young Master Mark now. He leaves after the class is over."
"I know, I know, of course. I just want to make sure whether he's still in the playground."
Her words surprised the man behind her. "Has Brian's car left?"
Shirley asked and turned to look at Antonio all of a sudden. There had been no change in the manner he spoke over the past years. He was always strict and boring. Shirley curled her lips, and stretched her stiffened back. Then she grumbled, "Brian must have lied to us. I don't think it was Mark's idea that he refused to see Richie and me. It was Brian. He didn't want us to see Mark. His brain is always full of vicious ideas. He is an imp."
"Young Master had the same opinion." Antonio paused before continuing, "By the way, madam, Young Master seems unhappy about your secret visits here."
"Actually," Shirley flashed a smile that was inappropriate with her age, "He is jealous of my visiting here to see the imp's little imp. He just cannot put aside his pride and go with me here."
Antonio held back from bursting into laughter at her funny idea. Then he said after steadying his tone, "Then do we need to... wait here, madam?" asked Antonio calmly as always.
"Wait here? What for?" shouted Shirley with a grimace. "Mark will be taken away by that imp before I could even see him."
"Then..."
Shirley suddenly let out a fit of strange laughter. She produced her cell phone and sent a text. This indeed caught Antonio's attention and his curiosity. He waited in silence, wondering what was going on. About a few seconds later, Shirley's cell phone chimed as it received a message. She read it and burst into hearty laughter. She napped a finger at Antonio, who, at that moment, looked quite confused. In a delightful tone, she said to Antonio, "I'll go to the school to be a teacher. So be my guest, Antonio. You can go back to the hotel now."
Shirley turned back and walked into the rain without hesitation, paying no attention to whether Antonio had understood her or not. Soon she was out of Antonio's sight.
Antonio let out a sigh while watching the lady disappear in the crowd. A helpless smile emerged on his lips. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number, "Young Master, the madam said she is going to be a teacher in Mark's school."
"I know. Frank told me about that," Richie said in a peaceful tone over the phone. "Keep an eye on her. Don't let her go too crazy about this. Brian and Molly should face and solve their problems on their own. If Brian cannot change his bad temper, then Molly won't ever fit in his world. He will be the one to suffer that."
"Yes, I understand," replied Antonio, "Although madam is worried for the relationship between Brian and Molly, she is not rash in making any decisions."
"Yes, I know Shirley very well. She's like that." Richie's voice sounded soft when he mentioned his wife. "I'm just afraid of something unexpected to happen. They're saying that Shawn seems to be planning something recently."
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