Chapter 36: I Will Give Him A Present
It was past 3 pm by the time she arrived at Cloudy Town. She knew that her father would be working, so she went straight to the factory where he worked.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
The textile factory had run for over 30 years, having been set up back when her grandparents were still alive. Strangely enough, the building had never been expanded and was still the same size. There were a dozen people who had worked there back when she was a child, and now it was still the same. Even the machines had not been upgraded.
In its golden years, the factory was very profitable, bringing in millions of dollars in profits. Now, however, after paying for workers and maintenance, Mr. Morris was left with hardly anything in his pocket.
After Selene got her own job and moved out, she repeatedly advised her father just to shut down the factory and enjoy life. Harry had promised her that he would retire, but that never happened.
She walked into the factory, and the noise of the machines made her frown. Harry was standing in front of a particularly important-looking piece of machinery as he gestured to the workers with his hands.
She stood at the entrance and shouted. “Dad!”
Harry did not hear it, but a worker nearby heard her and pointed his finger in her direction. Harry looked over and saw her daughter. He immediately burst into a bright smile and ran to her, then motioned her to the exit of the factory.
When they got outside, Harry looked his daughter over with a proud expression. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would’ve waited for you at home. It’s too noisy here, and the air is bad.” Harry said loudly.
Due to working in the textile factory all year round, Harry had quite a noticeable case of hearing loss, so he would raise his voice unconsciously when speaking.
“It’s noisy, and the air is terrible. Why are you still here? Haven’t you earned enough money? If you need financial help, I’m here for you.” Selene said, smiling.
Harry smiled back sadly. “The workers here depend on the work at the factory to support their families! Besides, I want to have my own career. I don’t want people to look down on you just because your mother left us years ago.”
Selene froze. “Don’t worry about that. I don’t care what these people think of me.”
Her dad would probably never know that she had been married and divorced.
He patted her. “What do you want to eat? Let’s go to the market to buy some ingredients; then I will cook for you.”
Under Harry’s insistence, they brought lots of food home from the market.
Harry was the chef, and Selene acted as his assistant. Selene looked at the food they were preparing and sighed. “Dad. There are only two of us. Look at all this food! It’s a waste of time to cook this much, and there’s no point in getting yourself tired.”
“It’s hardly tiring. Besides, you rarely visit. Might as well go all out!”
Someone rang the gate just as they finished preparing the dinner.
Selene walked out of the front door and saw a woman standing at the gate of the front yard. Selene recognized the woman and walked there, smiling. “Hello, Mrs. Dora. I was planning on visiting you tomorrow.”
“Someone told me that you were back. I brought you some crab that I’ve cooked.”
“I love the way you cook crab. Please come in and join us for dinner.” Selene said as she opened the gate for the older woman.
Right then, Selene’s father came out and also invited Dora in.
Dora was Morris’s neighbor, and their families had lived in close proximity to each other for a long time. Dora was also one of the workers at the factory.
Dora was a widow, as her husband had died early on. She was very beautiful when young, so many people wondered why Dora did not remarry but chose to live by herself and her only child, Austin.
Selene suspected the real reason as to why Dora had chosen to remain single.
Dora was very nice to Selene, and she always left her with delicious food gifts. When they had dinner together, they chatted.
“I heard that your boyfriend graduated and got his master’s degree. When will you get married? I’ll prepare a big gift for your wedding. ”
Selene froze a little, remembering that she had not told her father that she had broken up with Joseph. But, seeing her father’s hopeful eyes, Selene couldn’t help but smile. “He just got back, and we still need to sort everything out. It’s too early for us to talk about marriage. Besides, we may not even get married.”
“Why? You should get married as soon as possible, if not to him, then to someone else. Don’t leave it until it’s too late.”
Selene didn’t like the topic of discussion and wanted to change it. “How is Austin? I haven’t heard from him for a long time. Every time I tried calling him, he told me that he was too busy to talk. Has he got a girlfriend?’ If he gets married, please let me know, and I will give him a present.”
Dora smiled at the mention of her son. “Austin doesn’t have a girlfriend yet. He quit his job in New York and started a new business in Houston. Has he not told you?”
“Austin went to Houston without telling me? I’ll call him and ask him why.”
“He told me that he was very busy and he hadn’t been back home for nearly half a year. He told me recently that he will visit soon.”
“It’s great that Austin is working in the field in which he graduated. You must be very proud of him.” Then Selene glanced at her father and continued. “Mrs. Dora. Maybe you could find a man for yourself now that your son has grown up and has moved out.”
Dora glanced at Harry with a little unease. The older man wore no expression on his face. “I’ll find someone when the time is right.”