A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

"Umm? Who were you going to call?" Beryl stared at the mobile phone screen and asked curiously.

Emily was afraid that Jacob would answer the phone call and hear Beryl's voice, so she reached for her phone quickly, hoping to cut the call as soon as she could. "Beryl, stop it! Give the phone back to mommy. Do you hear me? Come on, don't be so naughty!" Emily scolded anxiously.

"Nope," Beryl disobeyed her order jauntily. Having noticed the cared look on Emily's face, Beryl began to giggle. She hid the cell phone behind her back and made fun of Emily, "Mommy, why are you so nervous?

Who are you calling?"

Tiny beads of sweat appeared on Emily's forehead as the thought of Jacob answering the call loomed over her head. Emily's stomach knotted up, and she urged, "Beryl!"

Afraid of her mother's anger, Beryl made a face to Emily and gave her the phone back. "You're such a snowflake, mommy," Beryl groaned.

"I'm not angry because you took my cell phone, but because you are being impolite. You see?" Emily scolded. Just when Emily was about to cut the call, she was surprised by the familiar sound of a man's voice from the cell phone. That low and pleasing voice. She was so familiar with it!

"Who is being impolite?" asked the man on the phone.

Unfortunately, Emily was too late to cut the call and Jacob was already on the line. Flustered, almost immediately Emily felt her mind went blank for a second.

Jacob... Did he hear Beryl?

Beryl didn't notice Emily's anxiety. Her eyes lit up as she heard a man's voice on the phone. She opened her mouth wide and was just about to say something for fun, when Emily reached out and covered her mouth tightly with her hands. "Umm..."

Who was her mother calling? Why didn't she let her talk?

"Shh...Be quiet, Beryl, okay?" Emily pleaded in a very low voice, almost under her breath. Emily didn't loosen her hands until Beryl nodded her head firmly to promise. Relieved, Emily cleared her throat and responded to the man on the phone, "Nothing."

"Did you miss me?" Jacob asked with an expectant smile on his face.

Beryl, however, wasn't going to let Emily end her fun so quickly and easily. As if an idea had sparked light in her eyes, she looked at Emily guilefully and cried out, "Woof, woof."

Beryl barked like a dog deliberately to attract the man's attention. Emily tensed up immediately as she wasn't prepared for such a surprise. "A dog?" Jacob's curious voice resonated from the phone.

"Woof, woof!" Beryl was thoroughly amused by the frightened look on Emily's face, so she barked a couple of times again. Suddenly, the puppy rushed to Beryl excitedly as it heard Beryl's barking. The puppy ran around them and barked to respond, "Woof woof!" All at once, the house echoed with the barking of the dog and Beryl.

with Beryl's disobedience, so while talking to Jacob perfunctorily, she

Beryl unwillingly quit the game and took the dog to

it the dog Jack gave you?" Jacob asked inquisitively. Although Jacob knew that it wasn't his place to feel

to notice it. Instead, she asked, "How did you know? Did you send some people

them to protect you, not spy on you,"

for that. Send them back," Emily rejected his request. Emily wasn't comfortable with the idea of someone hanging around her, especially to keep

"Take it easy, I

worry about yourself, not me," Emily retorted as she thought of the perilous

Jacob asked, exulted at

face rise, as she blushed at Jacob's words. Therefore, hoping to discourage Jacob, she denied his

was too intelligent a person to be deceived by such feeble reasoning. He laughed with satisfaction and asked further, hoping to force Emily to confess

to the point and raised her tone for emphasis, "Send your people back. I'm quite safe here. Besides,

Jacob, who was in a war torn place, would have better use of people he could trust around

Jacob exposed her lie flatly as he realized that Emily was too

to him because those men had most likely reported everything to Jacob already. She swallowed, trying to find a way to ease the tension. Her heart was racing so fast that it felt like it would pop out of her chest at any

Both of them simply listened to each other's breathing on the phone and

to hang up," Emily calmed herself down

was pulled back to the reality by Emily's words. "Oh," he paused for a moment and continued, "alright, wait for me

she waited silently for Jacob to hang up the

Jacob realized Emily was still

to her chagrin, when Emily realized that Jacob had succeeded in proving her concern for him, she jabbed at the phone screen and

phone in her hands, embarrassed by her foolishness. When she drew her mind back to reality and turned around, she saw Beryl standing behind her and staring at her, with

I tell you

"Who were you talking to? Was it

couldn't figure out why her little girl would think about so many things that were beyond her age. She wanted to know where Beryl had been learning these new things.

to her beloved "future boyfriend", so she was in no mood to talk to Emily. Her tiny little eye-brows furrowed, and then she

sensed Beryl's sadness, but she didn't know what to say to Beryl as she didn't understand why such a little girl would have feelings of love

face. However, the silver, pearl-like moon hanging from the calm

my boyfriend! What can I do?' Beryl

future boyfriend, but her actual boyfriend, Beryl was