Protection

"That went very well," Olivia whispered to Aiden. "Good." They found themselves occupying a centuries-old building within the deserted city. They arrived in the morning; it was past noon when they arrived. Olivia remarked in a calm manner, "They appear to be happy, and they are in love with their new clothes." They observed the children as they strolled down the hallway, looking at each other, sharing, and showcasing their new clothes.

As soon as they passed through the door of the apartment complex, Aiden was waiting for them. At first, Aiden harbored some doubts about Seth and persistently questioned him about his ideas. He was tenacious in his scrutiny of Seth. As he struggled to understand Olivia's actions with the child, he instructed Seth to accompany them to their lodging. After that, Seth took them to the location where he and the other street children spent most of their time. The discovery of the deserted part of the city completely shocked Olivia and Aiden.

According to Seth, it was the only place where they could act freely without fear of reporting to the authorities or security. Seth had a deep familiarity with the location. He knew the full history of the region and what each structure had been, including its previous owners. To end the trip, he introduced them to the other kids. The room could have held up to fifteen people, four girls and eleven boys. Following Olivia and Aiden's instructions to wait there, they left with Seth to get food and clothes. Every single one of the other youngsters, including Seth, was overjoyed. Olivia was completely unaware that she could bring such happiness to another individual. In her mind, she was certain that she had the ability to save the world.

"I can't believe they live in this place," Aiden responded. "I'm shocked."

Olivia glanced at him briefly before turning her attention back to the youngsters. "Back in the day, street kids in London and other parts of the world lived in the streets, under a bridge, or in public toilets, if they were lucky," Olivia explained with a devoid expression on her face.

"True." Aiden let out a sigh. "There's one thing I don't understand." As he spoke to Seth, he did so with a suspicious expression on his face. Olivia pursued where he was looking. Seth, sitting in a circle, was currently sharing jokes with a few of the children. To walk from here to Fort Lauderdale would take at least two hours. There is a minimum of one hour of travel time between this site and the city. How exactly did Seth manage to reach the town without any help? He wondered. At first, Olivia's gaze was fixed on him, but she quickly shifted her attention to Seth, creating a distinct line in her eyes. Aiden was right; she had never thought about it before, but this site was too far away, and even the ride in the vehicle seemed too demanding. She knew the situation was difficult and urgent, and she knew one had to do everything to survive.

Olivia's phone rang just as she was about to say anything, which brought an abrupt end to her conversation. "Excuse me." Before she left the building, she and Aiden had a conversation in which they mumbled something to each other. She took her phone out of her handbag and answered the incoming call. "Olivia Miller is speaking; hello?" Even though she reacted in a businesslike manner, her facial expression shifted into a scowl. "Rose?" After Olivia made her inquiry, the person who had called her spoke, but Olivia was unable to hear anything that she had to say because of the poor reception. Olivia concluded her sentence by saying, "Rose, the reception is bad; I'll call you back later."

*****

"Noah, calm down; I'm pretty sure she has a good excuse for not being here yet." At this point, Noah was in a state of extreme wrath, and Zara was trying to calm him down.

"Dammit, Zara, don't tell me to calm down!" Zara reacted in a jerky manner because of his anger. It was clear that Zara did not understand what Noah was trying to convey with his fury. Even though April Williams remained at the office all day, Noah relied on her support in case Zara was absent or involved in another productive task. In addition to attending to Noah's calls, attending his meetings with him, accompanying him on business trips, and taking care of anything else that Noah needed at the office, Zara was responsible for all these things. Initially, the plan was to hire April Williams to assist Zara whenever needed, but as time progressed, it became evident that her support was no longer necessary.

"I don't understand what's wrong with you." Should you fire both Williams sisters and continue with this plan? I understand that you are interested in reconciling with one of the Williams sisters. This is my current understanding of the situation. Zara roared out of her wrath toward him for acting in such an abnormal manner.

After ignoring Zara, Noah picked up the phone in his office and continued to talk to his staff. While he was looking at Zara, who was standing with her hand on her waist and a furious expression on her face, he dialed a number on his phone and then brought it up to his ear. The individual finally picked up the phone after it had rung three times. "WHAT?" Someone managed to lose their cool. Throughout this period, Noah maintained his silence and waited for the individual to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Despite the persistent ticking of his muscles, Zara continued to gaze at him with a suspicious expression. "Do you have any sense? Who are you, and what can you possibly be? On the other hand, I am unable to pinpoint the exact time of the interruption. Are you aware of the current time? In today's world, it's not appropriate to abruptly end a phone call without expressing your thoughts or opinions. Instantaneously, April promptly picked up the phone and started speaking in a different language. 

On the other hand, Noah Jones is quoted as saying, "Hello, my name is Noah Jones, and I will soon be your former boss. I am letting you know what time it is. Even though it is one o'clock in the afternoon, your sister has not yet come to the office. If you continue to worry about your work, Miss Williams, I strongly advise you to investigate the reasons for her delay." He responded in a determined tone, peppering his statements with sarcasm.

She had just yelled at her employer, who had threatened to fire her and expressed his anger. He did not need to see April to understand why she had grown pale for apparent reasons. He had talked in another language, which suggested that he was angry. The shocking revelation that Olivia Miller had not made any efforts to secure her employment at Jones's Enterprises took April aback. She could not believe what she was hearing. April knew that Noah was trying to get rid of her, and the fact that he wasn't impressed didn't help the situation. April was aware of both things. Immediately after hanging up the phone, she called Olivia's number and connected the call.

Olivia was about to return to the building when another ring on her phone interrupted her. In response, Olivia sighed and said, "Olivia Miller is speaking; hello?" Her response consisted of rubbing her eyes and then speaking.

"You shouldn't use that line—we don't want anyone to know who you are." Olivia's body stiffened as she heard April's chilly voice on the phone.

"What do you want?" Olivia, unruffled, questioned about it.

"Why are you not at work?" April asked in a heated tone. In a heated manner, April inquired. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"It is one o'clock." Olivia let out a sarcastic gasp signifying her astonishment.

When April was thinking about what she should say next, there was a pause in the conversation. "Listen." As she spoke into the phone, she let out a sigh. "I know I made a mistake, and I understand you despise me, but Noah just called, and he is not impressed at all; he threatened to fire me." She added that Olivia hung up the phone, threw it into her purse, and stepped back into the building before she could proceed any further. She stated that she had returned to the building. She could not proceed because there was no time left. What's going on? Olivia, may I inquire if you are available? April inquired and tried to wait for a response, but she was never fortunate enough to receive one. "Listen to me, you scoundrel who makes a career from it! If you do not make your presence known at Jones's Enterprises, I will reveal your filthy secret to your brother that you have been keeping to yourself! A grunt of annoyance accompanied the sound of her yelling into the phone and then hurling it onto the bed.

"Is everything okay, Olivia?" Olivia responded to Aiden's query when she got to the place where he was. Aiden had asked her a question as soon as she entered the corridor.

"I have to go back to the city as soon as possible." She proceeded to say this while heaving a deep sigh.

As soon as Aiden stood up and said, "Sure, I'll take you," she immediately intervened and prevented him from executing his plan.

"Remain here with these children; please monitor Seth." As she spoke, she glanced suspiciously in the child's direction.

Have you ever had a question? It is possible that I will kidnap you and then come back to you. Olivia demonstrated her disagreement with Aiden's offer by shaking her head. She walked away, and Aiden replied, "Okay, take care," as she did so. Seth was simultaneously staring at Aiden while focusing on her disappearance. On the other hand, when Aiden noticed that Seth was staring at him, he quickly covered his eyes and turned his gaze away. Aiden felt that he needed to find out what it was about this individual because he was having a bizarre experience. It was his responsibility to ensure Olivia's safety, even if it came from a 13-year-old street kid living on the streets. He was responsible for protecting Olivia.