Chapter 4 Ours, Against All Odds

Chapter 4

Chris has been working at the company for almost a month, he seems very busy and gets busier every day, but Chris always makes time for Tris, it's just that there is something that Chris never told Tris and this might be a problem later.

Chris had just come home from his office, he told Tris that he would be working overtime and asked Tris not to wait for him, the girl never made a problem about trivial things like that so she went home and rested hoping Chris would do the same.

The time showed 10.30 pm when Chris arrived home, he went into his room when he found his house quiet, maybe his parents were asleep because the room was dark.

Chris decided to lie down first before cleaning his body, he wanted to call Tris and tell his girlfriend that he had arrived home but Chris found his phone off and he immediately charged it.

Not long after a knock on the door was heard and Chris asked whoever it was to come in, it was John. He went into his son's room without hesitation.

"Oh Dad, what's wrong?" Chris said.

"Did you meet that girl again?" John said.

"Dad, she's my girlfriend, but no, I didn't meet her because I had to work overtime, what's wrong?" Chris said.

"I've said it many times, I don't like it when you're with that girl, we don't know what her family background is like, even after all this time you've been with her, she still hasn't introduced you to her parents, that girl is weird, I'm sure she's hiding something, maybe her father is a thief or a murderer? Or maybe she's just an adopted child," John said.

"Dad, you're talking about my girlfriend, and I'm sure she has her reasons why she didn't introduce me to her parents," Chris said.

"Why don't you find another girl? Chris, open your eyes, you're handsome and you have a decent job now, you also need a girl who's worthy of you, she's just a librarian, you can get better than that," John said.

"What do you mean? Tris is the one who got me here now, if it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have gotten this job," Chris said.

"Come on Chris, it's all thanks to your efforts and talents not because of that girl, and you have to remember, I'm out of work and our family's debts are huge, if you don't pay it off soon this house might be confiscated," John said.

"I'm working on it Dad, and this is also because of you, if you didn't gamble at that time we wouldn't be in debt like this," Chris said.

"How dare you blame me! I gambled because your mother always scolded me, if you want to know what it feels like to be me, marry your favorite girl, she's just like your mother! And don't blame me if your life will suffer," John said and he left his son's room.

Chris was silent at that time, it wasn't the first time Chris found his parents fighting fiercely just because of a trivial matter. It was not uncommon for John to use violence on Maureen and little Chris couldn't help his mother, but now that he was growing up, Chris was faced with another problem, namely his father's debt.

The man had to pay off all the debts his father had agreed to or the house would be confiscated and they would live on the streets because they had nothing left.

***

The next day Tris came to the library early, she had to come early because Anne had to take care of something first.

Tris tidied up the books that had just been returned, she arranged the books in the trolley according to the alphabet and put them back on the shelf.

Her job was very simple, according to her income there, not too much but enough for her and Gwen.

Even though her father still sent her money every month, Tris never used it and only gave the money to the orphanage. She didn't feel like she needed help from her father.

The condition of the library that morning was very quiet, not many visitors had come, only a few people until a man approached Tris who was arranging books on the shelf.

"Excuse me," the man said, making Tris turn to him.

"Oh yeah, can I help you?" Tris said.

"I found a phone on the table over there, I think someone accidentally left it, here," The man gave the phone to Tris and how surprised Tris was when she found out that the phone was hers that was lost a month ago.

"This is my phone, where did you find it? Was there someone sitting there before you?" Tris said.

"I don't know, I just came and I found this phone on the table," The man said and left Tris with the phone in her hand.

Feeling quite strange because Tris thought the phone might have been sold by the thief and would not be able to return it to her hands again but that day someone found it in her workplace.

And Tris was sure she checked all the tables before closing the library every night, and found nothing there, even that morning not many people had come, although Tris did not recognize their faces one by one but Tris was sure only a few had come that morning.

Tris returned to her place and saw Anne was already there and seemed to be serving the visitors who came. Tris just smiled at her before joining Anne.

After the visitor left with the book she had borrowed, Anne turned to Tris and saw the girl staring at the phone in her hand.

"Whose phone is that?" Anne said.

"This is my lost phone," Tris said.

"What? Your lost phone? Did you find it? Or?" Anne said.

"A visitor gave it to me, he said, he found this phone on the corner table there, it's so strange, who put it there and it doesn't seem like the thief messed with it, just look, the phone is still locked and the wallpaper is still my face," Tris said while showing it to Anne.

"Strange, do you know who gave it to you? Is he a regular visitor?" Anne said.

"I don't know I just saw his face today, but I don't know maybe I just forgot because he was wearing a hat, so I didn't see his face clearly," Tris said.

"Forget it, the important thing is your phone is back again, there's nothing strange about your phone, it seems like the thief was confused about unlocking this phone, or... I don't know, no need to think about it," Anne said and Tris just nodded.

Even so, Tris was still curious about who stole her phone, whoever he was, that person must have followed Tris so they knew where Tris worked.

To be continued...