“YOU looked familiar…” the woman said with furrowed brows. Her red, painted lips were slightly opened as she stared at him in mixed curiosity and confusion. “Are you a celebrity?”

Carlson took a step back. “Celebrity?” he asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But, the woman seemed not convinced. She rubbed her eyes and studied his face even if he had put on his fabric face mask, and the only visible was his eyes. “I think I have seen you somewhere.”

Carlson looked away from the woman. “Maybe you’ve mistaken me from someone else,” he said and turned away.

“Wait!” Skye looked back at the woman and tried to break from his arm. “Wait!”

Carlson put down the child. “Skye, what do you want? We have to go home.”

Skye ran back to the woman and hugged her thighs. “Don’t… Cry,” he stuttered. “Don’t—Cry—”

Carlson tried to pull him away from the woman, but he wouldn’t let go. “Skye, we have to go now, baby.”

“Wait.” The woman stopped his hand from getting Skye from her. “I’ll handle him,” she said and crouched in front of Skye. “Hi, Skye.”

Skye calmed down and suddenly got fixated to the woman. Carlson was impressed, no one has tamed him that quick. Even the nuns from the orphanage are having a hard time telling him to stay still. And, this woman, she did it with just one look.

Carlson studied the woman’s face as she spoke softly to Skye. Her makeup was simple yet elegant. She has rounded eyes with thick lashes framed by well-defined bushy brows. Her looks are far from the female celebrities that she often encountered at work. The red lipstick doesn’t give her innocent-looking face a fierce aura. Instead, it just added to her simple but elegant style. She’s wearing a white uniform that looked like a nurse’s uniform, but nurses’ aren’t allowed to wear red lipsticks. So what is she? A doctor? A plastic surgeon?

“I promised, I won’t cry again,” she told Skye and smiled at him.

Carlson can also say that she’s gorgeous, a 9/10 over-all ratings. Because of so many beautiful women that he’s encountering in his everyday life of being a singer idol, he developed a habit of rating women by their physical appearance. So far, this woman got the highest ratings.

When the woman looked at him, Carlson looked away—in which he wondered why he did. Usually, if he’s mentally rating a woman and she noticed it, he’s not breaking his gaze. That’s how confident he is that it'll be them who’ll feel embarrassed and not him. But, with this woman, it seemed that it’s a different case.

“You may take your son now, sir,” she said, still studying his face. “Are you sure that you’re not really a celebrity?”

Carlson arched his brow. “If I am a celebrity, do you think I will risk my privacy in going to a public place like this?”

The woman’s bright expression suddenly became dull. Carlson waited for her to speak, but she didn’t. When she remained silent, he took Skye again to his arm and turned away without excusing himself to her.

“Wait, I think, I remember you now,” she called to him again.

Carlson didn’t look back, he kept walking until he reached the escalator. But, she heard again the woman calling him.

“Hey! Are you the singer that hid for almost two years to get away from the issues about him?” she asked, her voice was loud enough to be heard by the other around the mall. “Am I right?”

Carlson turned to face her before she could mention his screen name. He walked back towards her. “What’s your name?”

The woman knotted her forehead. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because If you won’t shut your mouth, I will sue you for causing me a public scandal,” he said in a low voice.

The woman’s expression suddenly changed. She now looked bothered by his threat of suing her. She looked around, and when she noticed that they’re starting to get attention from others, she suddenly hooked her arm around him.

“Oh, honey! I’m really sorry!” she shouted as she pressed her cheeks to his shoulder. “I promise, I won’t make you mad again.”

“What?” Carlson tried to pull his arm away from him, but she won’t let him go. “Stop this act or else—”

“I thought he’s Carlson,” the woman from their side commented. “But, it’s impossible to be him. He's a bachelor, right? And, look at the woman, she’s familiar.”

“Yeah, she’s the beauty consultant at the Sakura Skin Care Clinic,” the other girl said. “Maybe that’s her husband and son. I thought too that he's Carlson, I was about to take some photos and post it on social media.”

“If you are really the Carlson guy that they’re talking about then you know that if you refuse to participate in my act, the world will get to know about your secret son,” the woman whispered to his ear.

The hair at the back of Carlson’s head raised by what she did. The warmth of her breath stayed on his skin as if it marked there. He clenched his jaw and looked at the woman.

“Let’s go home, honey,” he said, stressing the last word.

The woman smiled at him. “Let’s go home—”

“Mama!” Skye excitedly addressed the woman and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Mama!”

To make their act more convincing, the woman took Skye from him and started walking towards the elevator. When he didn’t follow them, she looked back at him.

“Honey, let’s go!” she called to him. “Baby, tell papa to walk faster.”

Skye laughed. “Papa!” he said and waved his hand instead because he couldn’t speak longer words. “Papa!”

It’s the first time that Carlson saw Skye laughed since he took him from the orphanage to spend some time with him at the mall. It wasn’t him that brought a smile to his face again, it was this stranger woman that threatened to reveal his identity towards the public.

Carlson shook his head as he walked towards them. Sister Imelda was right of saying that going out is not a good idea. Yes, people doesn’t see him on TV for almost two years, and he successfully avoided the reporter’s spotlight during those time, but it doesn’t mean that the people have forgotten about him.

Moreover, his comeback to showbiz has been released, and the feedback from the people is impressive. It means that the public never forget him, and they’re waiting for his comeback. And, this kind of scandal doesn’t have a place in his career right now.

“Come on, we gotta hurry,” the woman told him. “Where did you park your car?”

“Why would I tell you?” he asked with an arched brow. They’re now going down the escalator. “I don’t know who you are—”

“Oh, yeah. And, I bet you also don’t know who those people that are starting to recognize you now,” she said and cocked her head to the side.

Carlson saw a group of teenagers gathering on the opposite escalator. Based on their shocked expression, it looked like that they’re starting to realize who he was.

“See?” the woman started to step down the escalator. She caught his arm and dragged him down. “Come on, honey,” she said with haste.

As they stepped out of the escalator, Carlson heard his name being screamed by the group of students.

***