Hollywood Zenith

Hannah is feeling bored sitting alone at the back of the counter at the kitchen table. She always liked to help in the kitchen and sometimes also served customers.

Customers often cheer her on from the side when she tries her hardest to serve side dishes on small plates. She is a fan favorite, and many regulars often request her whenever available. Seeing a cute girl trying her best at something is the best feeling, and recently they wanted to engage more with the little girl to support her as they know what happened with Elise.

Elise was a role model for her sister; they often banded together and helped in the kitchen wherever possible. Everyone was familiar with both of them and called them the official mascot for \'Little Red Clock.\'

Today traffic inside the restaurant is small, and there is not much to do for Hannah. Suddenly the little bell rang from the front door signaling the arrival of another customer. Everyone looked toward the entrance to see several people entering.

Hannah also focused on the group with lazy eyes, which immediately lit up after she recognized several of them. She hurriedly ran toward the group and hugged the boy leading the group inside.

Samuel bent down slightly to lift the little girl off the ground and hold her firmly in his arms. Hannah started sobbing, hiding her face inside his arms.

" I am here. I am here. Don\'t cry, pumpkin." Samuel said softly, trying to console the little girl, but it somehow worsened the situation. She started crying loudly.

" Brother, brother,--" She went on and on calling his name, which honestly broke Samuel\'s heart. He blamed himself for leaving the little girl alone for so long. He was mad for ignoring her for so long.

" I am here; I am sorry. I am so sorry I left you alone." Samuel apologized, which seemed to work this time, but she still sobbed.

She lifted her head, looked at his face, and smiled a little with tears in her eyes.

" I am a good girl and patiently waited for you. I am a good girl right?" Hannah said proudly.

" Yeah, yeah, Hannah is a good girl. She is the best." Samuel also smiled, but he felt pathetic inside for hurting her sister. He promised to do better in the future and focus more on family than his career.

" See, who I brought with me." Samuel pointed toward Adele.

Hannah jumped down and hugged Adele and welcomed her.

" Big sister, you are also here." Hannah said.

" Yes, I was hungry and wanted to see my little fairy agian." Adele said while patting her head.

She then looked toward the other people; she recognized one of them but others she never saw before. Adele took it on to introduce everyone.

" This is my friend, Iblis and her friend, Karoline. You already know Uncle Oscar."

" It is nice to meet you, big sisters. My name is Hannah, and I am seven years old." Hannah said, following a cute small bow. She looked toward Oscar and said--

" Old man, You are also here. Welcome. Father will be happy to see you." Hannah said as she saw her father and Oscar sharing a few drinks previously.

" Old man?" Karolina laughed out loud, hearing Hannah saying it so innocently. She had a cute laugh which was completely different from her usual vibe.

Oscar tensed up and started explaining it to Hannah.

" Hannah, I have already told you many times. Call me Uncle or anything else except for old man."

" But, Uncle is different. You are more like grandpa. He also likes to drink. grandpa is old man, no?" She gave a simple explanation which made everyone laugh.

" Your father also drinks right. Father is not old man right?" Oscar tried to simplify his answer to fit Hannah\'s understanding.

" But the father is father. The old man is Old man." Hannah said innocently. Somehow, it felt like she was intentionally playing with Oscar. Oscar tried to salvage his image while Karoline was on the floor laughing her ass off.

" S-so cute. How can she be so cute?" Iblis thought, looking at Hannah from the side.

Iblis approaches the little girl and tries touching her head, but Hannah slips away, still wary of her. You can clearly see Iblis\' sad face when that happened, but she composed herself. Seeing this, Samuel and Adele looked at each other and smiled.

Soon, they moved to a private room. After all the fuss at the entrance, they can\'t possibly sit out in the open beside Samuel and Iblis; identity is special, and it is best to stay out of the public eye. Hannah skillfully guided the group to the room, after which her mother, Carol, personally appeared to take out orders. She is like a second mother to Samuel, and they would often talk, but he knew she would definitely give him a hard time today.

" Well, well, my son finally decided to visit after so long. Whats the special occasion?" Carol asked as soon as she entered the room.

" Just wanted to see my beautiful mother and a cute sister. Nothing special." Samuel replied smoothly. He wanted to avoid another confrontation, and women like a compliment. He doesn\'t want to see Carol crying again.

" Wow, you really changed in a month. You look more healthy too." Carol started inspecting me with her eyes. She hugged me briefly and asked about others.

Samuel introduced others to her with obvious glee in her eyes.

" I guess Adele was not really enough for you. You even brought your other girlfriend!" She teased Iblis. Iblis stood up abruptly.

" N-no, what are you saying? I am not his girlfriend, and Adele is not his girlfriend too!" She rebelled against whatever Carol implied, which only made the situation worse.

There was a couple of back and forth between Samuel and Iblis, as usual, while Adele fantasized about the notion. Oscar and Karolina smiled, seeing them fight, but Hannah dealt the final blow.

" You both look just like Mom and Dad when they fight. Mom always told me when someone fight, they love each other." Hannah said.

The room went silent before Oscar, Karoline, and Carol started laughing. Iblis became silent all of a sudden and looked toward Adele. She didn\'t want to be misunderstood by her best friend; she respected her friend and would never come willingly to sabotage her love life.

Adele also felt conflicted seeing both of them getting along well. There is jealousy brewing inside her heart, which she tries to suppress but spills throughout her body. She and Samuel are not together, but seeing her friend with him makes her visibly upset.

Thankfully, the conversation stirred in a different direction, easing the tension in the air. Carol announced something out of the blue.

" Now, That I have delayed your stay. I will announce it that we will be having a party right now. I missed Samuel\'s birthday few days ago and wanted to compensate for missing out." Carol proclaimed with a loud tone which was the signal for Aaron to enter the room.

He held a cake, and his helper held different dishes specially made for this occasion. This almost looked like a planned party.

Samuel looked toward Oscar, to which he simply nodded, confirming Samuel\'s suspicion.

" Oscar must have informed them earlier about my arrival." Samuel thought.

Everyone heartily celebrated Samuel\'s \'after-party\' and enjoyed it a lot. Especially Iblis, who has never celebrated a birthday like this before. Usually, everything has to be fancy; expensive clothes, pricy food with proper etiquette. She had never seen such a crude celebration before, but somehow she never felt out of place.

" I never knew, it will be fun to eat and talk." Iblis thought. She also able to touch Hannah\'s toward the end of the party.

She had never seen such a vibrant atmosphere where everyone comes together for a simple celebration. No lavish gifts, just pure mingling of friends and family with one person at the center.

" Samuel--" Iblis thought.

A small seed has already been sown, and only the future will tell whether It will grow into a tall tree or wither under pressure.