Luca was sitting alone at a table in the school's cafeteria. The students had spent hours learning in class and it was time for their lunch break.

There was enough food on the table, but Luca didn't seem to be in the mood to eat. He kept looking at the other tables which were occupied by other students, they were eating and talking over each other happily. He wished he could join them, or rather, he wished they would let him join them.

He was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to look at the person and saw a girl smiling at him.

"Hello! Can I please share the table with you?"

Luca kept looking at her in surprise till he realized she had asked him a question. "Oh... sure, you can."

The girl sat and said, "I just started here today. My name is Rose, nice to meet you." then she extended her hand for an handshake.

Luca shook hands with her, amused at the way she spoke freely with him, a person she was meeting for the first time. "I'm Luca and it's also nice to meet you."

Rose picked up a fork, stabbed a pork and ate it. "I notice you were sitting alone and you weren't eating. What's wrong?"

Luca was silent for a while before saying, "The other students don't like me. I don't know what I did wrong, but anytime I ask, they always make mockery of my not having a father."

"I can be your friend. Want to be friends?"

A smile formed on Luca's face when he heard that question. He had already given up hopes of making a friend in the school. "Yes." He replied.

After the lunch break, the students returned to their classes. It turned out that Luca and Rose were in the same class, so they became seat mates.

Time went by so fast that day, and it was soon time for the school to close for the day. It was time for the students to be picked up from school, but for the parents, it was also time for oppression and showing off of cars.

The parents made sure to bring their most expensive rides to pick up their children, showing off their wealth and oppressing those that were below them. But of course, there were some parents who saw this act as childishness  and didn't care the least about the cars of the other parents.

Actually, most parents that fell into the category of the show offs, were the public figures like the actors and artists. They felt the need to showcase their wealth for others to know that they weren't just popular, but also had affluence to back it up.

While all these were happening, Luca and Rose were sitting at the schools front yard, discussing anything two seven years old children could think of. It was at that time that a sport car drove into the school's compound.

The sport car was one of the most expensive cars in the world and when the people set their eyes on it, most of them immediately knew the owner.

When the car was properly parked, a young lady came out of it. She wore a black pencil suit and her hair was tied to a ponytail, making her look professional, but in a sexy way. Her glowing, smooth and almost jade white skin could make anyone want to hide themselves, feeling inferior.

As the others saw the lady, they had different thoughts running through their heads. Some who were not in the entertainment industry, but knew who she was, looked at her in admiration, restraining themselves from running over to her to request an autograph or a picture with her.

Not all, but most of those that were in the entertainment industry, especially the actors, looked at her with disdain as they wondered why she decided to come pick up her child in person as she always left that to her servants. They saw her as a rival and a show off, but unfortunately for them, the lady didn't even rate them at all, not sparing them even a glance. Not that she was being proud or anything of sort, but she just didn't know them, talk more of acknowledging their presence.

When Luca saw the lady, his eyes widened in surprise and a bright smile formed on his face. He monumentally forgot about his newly made friend as he stood up, running towards the lady while yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Celine heard Luca's voice and wanted to look at the direction of the sound, but Luca had already reached her, hugging her waist. She smiled at him while patting his head.

"I'm so happy to see you, Mommy. It's been so long since you picked me up from school." Said Luca who couldn't contain his happiness.

"I'm happy to see you too. Are you set to go?" She said in a hurry, as she started to feel the gazes of the others on her.

Luca suddenly remembered Rose and said, "Wait. I want you to meet someone." and without giving her a chance to reject, he started pulling her towards where he had been sitting with Rose earlier on.

Rose who had thought Luca had forgotten about her and was going to leave without saying goodbye, smiled when she saw them approaching.

"Mommy, meet my new friend and classmate, Rose. Rose, this is my mom." Luca excitedly did the introductions.

"Hey there, Rose!" Celine waved at Rose with a smile on her face.

Rose looked stunned like she couldn't believe her eyes, and then she said, "Good afternoon, Miss Celine Payne. You are even more beautiful in person than on Tv. I love your movies and you are my Idol." Rose bowed her head a little in respect.

Looking at her, one could see how hard Rose was trying to remain calm and collected, and that surprised Celine to the core. She knew she had an effect on grown ups who were her fans, and teenagers also, but she had never come across a little child that knew her to the extent of seeing her as an idol.

She found Rose to be so cute. A smart and outspoken cute girl. "Hello, Rose. It's always my pleasure meeting a fan, especially one that is friends with my son and not only cute, but also smart."

Rose found herself blushing at the complement she received from the queen of entertainment. "Can I get an autograph?" She asked as she got a book and a pen from her bag.

Celine found herself unable to stop smiling and said, "Sure, anything for a fan." before collecting the book and the pen to sign.

After collecting back her book and pen, Rose looked at the signature like it was a treasure and a satisfied smile appeared on her face, but she wasn't done yet. "And a hug?"

Celine chuckled. "I don't see why not?" And with that, Rose went over and hugged her.

Rose inhaled Celine's scent and said, "You smell just like I thought you would."

Celine didn't know how to respond to that and ended up laughing, "I'm glad."

Luca who was already feeling left out, decided to chip in a question. "How do you know my Mom?"

"I love fantasy movies, especially ones about mermaids. I watched the mermaid movie your mom acted and I fell in love with her. I've watched it like ten times, but I don't get tired of it." Rose explained.

Luca nodded, feeling proud of his mom. "My mom is really talented."

Celine looked at her wrist watch and said, "I'm sorry, but we would have to leave now. I hope to see you next time, Rose."

"You can come with us. My mom would drop you off at your home." Said Luca without seeking permission from his mom.

Celine was about to explain to them that she had to be somewhere and couldn't afford to give Rose a ride home, but Rose beat her to it. "No need to bother, someone would be here to pick me up anytime soon."

Luca was about to say something else to convince Rose, but Celine didn't give him the chance. "Alright, Rose. It's been nice chatting with you. See you some other time, dear." She blew a kiss to Rose as she held Luca's hand, walking hurriedly towards her car.

Rose waved at them. "Bye Miss Celine! Bye Luca!" Luca waved back at her before he was put to sit at the backseat of the car.

Celine started the car and drove out of the school's compound, while Luca couldn't stop smiling at the backseat, thinking of the fun things he and his mom could do at the house.

Celine noticed her son from the rear view mirror and asked teasingly, "Mind sharing what's making you smile like you just won a million bucks?"

Luca's smile widened all the more as he remembered the events of that day, and the ones he was looking forward to. Then he said, "I was just thinking about how today turned out to be my lucky day. I was sad this morning when you didn't fulfill your promise, but I got better when I met Rose and then you came to pick me up which means that you are free for the rest of the day, so we can have fun together."

Celine immediately regretted coming to get him. She had unknowingly made him think that they were going to spend the rest of the day together, which was a thing of joy to him, but sadly, she was going to have to snatch his joy from him.

"Luca baby, I'm really sorry, but... I still have a tight schedule and planned to just drop you at home and head back to work." She spoke in an apologetic tone, but didn't get a response from Luca.

She looked at the mirror and saw him looking disheartened, so she tried soothing him by saying, "I'm really sorry, okay? I promise to make out time later." but that didn't work on him as his mood worsened.

With his face slightly reddening, he hid his face from her view, fiddling with his fingers to distract himself or else he would have burst into tears. He had so many questions for her, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to make a sound without breaking into tears.

He didn't want to cry in front of her, not because he was afraid she might scold him, but because he didn't want her to pity him. He wanted her to spend time with him because she wanted to, not because she felt sorry for him.

The ride home was silent and immediately Celine parked the car in the large parking space, Luca got off and ran all the way to his room.

Nanny Pam happened to be outside at the time, so she witnessed the scene. She walked up to Celine who was standing beside her car, looking conflicted. "What happened, Miss Celine? I expected him to be overjoyed that you were the one that picked him up from school. I didn't see this happening."

"He thought I was going to spend the rest of the day hanging out with him." Celine explained. 

Nanny Pam's face crunched in puzzlement as she asked, "And you are not?"

Celine nodded. "I've a commercial to shoot in an hour's time. Please do take care of him, okay? And tuck him in early for bedtime." She hurriedly said as she got back in the car and drove off.

Nanny Pam shook her head before turning around to enter the house. She headed upstairs to Luca's room, but found out he had locked the door.

"Master Luca! Please open the door. Your mom just has a really important commercial to shoot. She might be back soon." She said while knocking, but got no response.

She was about to say something else, but was stopped by a sobbing sound coming from Luca's room. The sound slowly became louder till it could no longer be called sobbing. She heaved a deep sigh and said, "Don't cry for too long, dear. You might get a headache over a person who isn't worth it." She stayed at the door for a little while longer before leaving.