Larissa left work early to honor her promise. Her initial plan was to take Aster somewhere nearby for dinner, but he seemed to have his eye on a specific restaurant and insisted on going to Starhill shopping mall.
The shopping mall was always crowded, so she wasn't particularly thrilled about going there. However, her son had made up his mind; she had no choice but to go along with it. The pizza place he chose was quite popular, but luckily they arrived early and didn't have to wait in line. The server seated them by the window and promptly disappeared after handing them the menu.
It didn't take long for the waiting area outside to start filling up with people.
Aster pointed outside out of the blue and exclaimed, "Mommy! Look! It's Uncle Kevan!"
She turned and spotted Kevan in the waiting area. He appeared to be alone, sitting behind a group of young girls. He looked absorbed in his phone. His slender frame and cool, confident aura made him the center of attention, even though he was in a simple black suit. Passing women couldn't help but cast admiring glances at him, and the girls seated in front of him whispered and occasionally stole glances in his direction.
Finally, one girl mustered up the courage to strike up a conversation with him and even handed him her phone. However, he didn't even bother to look up, and it was unclear what he had or had not said. Within a few seconds, the girl returned, looking disheartened. Shortly after, the group of girls got up and left. As they walked by, Larissa could see the girl's frustrated expression.
"It seems like Uncle Kevan is waiting in line!" Aster jumped off the couch seat and dashed outside without waiting for his mom's response. "I'll go get him and ask him to join us!"
"Hey—" Larissa called after him, but he was already out of sight.
She saw him leave the restaurant and ran toward Kevan. He appeared excited, gesturing at Kevan and pointing in her direction. Kevan looked up, his gaze piercing through the crowd and the transparent glass directly fixated on her. Then, he smiled subtly as if to greet her.
She immediately forced a smile in response.
Aster held Kevan's hand and pulled him into the restaurant. Soon, the two of them made their way to her table.
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