Chapter 2 Meeting The Stranger

After Cindy walked out of the female boutique, she was carrying her white polythene bag that contained all she had bought.

She struggled to walk with the few loads in the white bag, as she wasn't used to carrying loads.

Cindy was sweating, and she used her left hand to clutch her red purse, while she carried the white polythene bag in her right hand.

She walked under the scorching sun, cursing under her breath. As there were a lot of people on the road, blocking her view and preventing her from reaching the parking lot.

Cindy was unable to walk faster. She walked along the road, bumping into some passersby too. As the crowd at the shopping mall was large because it was the weekend.

Her phone rang in her purse, but she was unable to answer it because she pushed her way through the crowd of people and walked up to the road.

As Cindy struggled to move again and turn towards the parking lot area far ahead of the mall, a light-skinned handsome man, who had just finished helping an elderly woman carry all she had bought to her Jeep, spotted Cindy.

He walked up to help her with her small polythene bag that she was struggling with.

Cindy looked so funny in this man's eyes, and he could see her frustration as she struggled with the small load.

"Hello, young lady, excuse me. May I help you carry your load? Helping people with their loads is my job," Peter Richard said.

Cindy paused and stared up at the tall man's face, who had blocked her view.

She was shocked to meet his handsome gaze, as she felt her breath etched in her throat and her jaw drop in shock.

The man was very handsomeness. But he looked so dirty, and it confirmed to her that it was really his job.

"Really, how much do you charge for helping people carry their loads?" Cindy nervously asked Peter, blushing unknowingly.

She was astonished to see a handsome man doing such a labourer's job.

All the men she had dated were not close to his handsomeness.

Cindy stared at Peter, waiting for his response, but his sweaty body and dirty clothes stung her nostrils.

She subtly frowned as she inhaled his sweaty, manly scent and heard him respond, "20 cents, madam."

Peter was excited to help Cindy carry her load. And seeing that he was sweating too much, he used his right palm to wipe his sweaty forehead. As he didn't have a handkerchief, which annoyed Cindy.

"Gross! Please stop doing that, as it's very irritating. How much is a handkerchief that you can't afford one? Or is it with this smelly hand of yours that you want to use to touch my bag and carry it for me?" Cindy asked with a beautiful glare on her face.

Peter gulped as she embarrassed him. He couldn't reply directly, but said, "No madam. Let me use my top to wipe it."

Peter quickly turned his brown, sweaty top inside out to wipe his sweaty hand too.

However, Cindy's frown deepened as she yelled, "Phew! That's so gross of you. Here's a 100-dollar bill; use it to buy new clothes for yourself, as you stink so badly. And please get out of my way. I can manage to carry my bag by myself before you give me a disease."

Peter gulped hard in shock as Cindy threw the 100-dollar note at him. Though it landed on the floor.

A money he hadn't seen before or touched, no matter how hard he had worked for it.

Peter quickly bent and picked up the money from the ground before the breeze could blow it away or another passerby could grab it.

He stood up and looked in the direction Cindy had gone, but he didn't see her again.

Peter clutched tightly to the money that Cindy had given him and said, "Wow! She's so pretty."

He didn't take Cindy's insult to heart, as he said, "I just hope to see her again."

Peter smiled and decided to close for the day and quit going on errands or helping anyone else carry their loads.

He decided to go shopping and save part of the money in his account. As he went to the nearest bank to deposit the money.

In the bank, most of the female bank staff, who were familiar with Peter, kept staring at him as he walked into the bank.

Peter approached the lady who normally helped him save the little cents he gathered each day.

The banker collected the money from Peter and stared at him as if he had stolen it.

Peter wanted to save half of the money and use the rest to buy food and new clothes for himself. His sweaty clothes had torn too.

"What's the problem, miss? Is the money torn or is it a fake note?" Peter asked the female bank staff, who was staring at him suspiciously.

He was still overjoyed that Cindy had given him such a big amount without any work.

"Where did you get this money from? Did you steal it or what?" The female accountant could not hide her suspicion, as she knew Peter was poor.

She asked him aloud, and Peter replied, "No! How can you accuse me of such? I come here every day before you people close, to deposit all my money, and you're accusing me of theft?"

Peter glared at the female staff, and she quickly gulped and looked down, noticing the eyes of her colleagues and manager on her.

She muttered to Peter, "I'm only just asking to be sure, Mr. Peter... Here is half of the money you requested, as the other half has been deposited into your account."

"Are you sure? Or are you just lying to me? Let me see the receipt that you've sent it," Peter asked her, as he knew the female bank staff was interested in him but he wasn't agreeing to that.

The light-skinned female bank staff bit her lower lip, then cut out the receipt and slowly handed it over to Peter.

However, Peter snatched the receipt as she said, "Here it is."

Peter stared at the receipt, and seeing that the money had truly been deposited into his account.

He smiled in satisfaction and finally muttered to the female staff, "Thank you."

Peter turned and left the bank with the remaining half of the cash and walked out to meet a wheelbarrow pusher selling men's clothing along the roadside.

Peter purchased some new menswear and shorts he would need and bought a new top and black trousers too.

Peter finally went to the public bathroom to bathe as he didn't have a home, and changed into the new clothes he had bought. As he was squatting with his friends under a bridge.

"I just pray to meet more pretty young ladies like her again. This is the first time that I offered to help a young lady carry her load, and she dashed me money without sexualizing me first." Peter continued to gush over Cindy's kindness. Even though he didn't know her name, only that she had given him money without him even helping her.

He said, "I don't even know her name. I just pray we meet again."

Peter sighed, then went to a nearby restaurant to order a delicious meal, to refill his almost empty stomach. As night approached and he had not eaten since morning.

"Peter, is this you?" Peter heard a familiar voice call to him. He looked to see his colleague who stayed under the bridge with him.

They slept under the bridge at night, and he moved away from his dark-skinned friend who wanted to touch him after he arrived from the restaurant.

"It's me, Tom," Peter said, as he avoided Tom from touching him. "No hugging."

Tom stood smiling and asked, "Tell me the secret, Peter. Where did you get the money to purchase these beautiful clothes you're wearing? Or have you finally agreed to service a woman in her bed, and she paid you heavily for it?"

"I know you're a handsome man and every woman wants you. So how much per night did she pay you? Let me know if I should quit carrying loads and join you in this handsome sugar-boy business."

Peter stared at his friend Tom Elliot with narrowed eyes and walked away to sit on a bench in an empty shop whose owner wasn't around.

Tom gulped as he moved closer to stand in front of Peter and asked, "What did I ask you wrongly now, Peter? I was only assuming..."

"I know, Tom. But I didn't sleep with any woman to get paid," Peter replied, bluntly.