"Hello."

"Hello, mister."

"How are you, little cutie?" He was immediately interested in this child.

His glistening gaze came to rest on the little fellow as though it was one he had not seen for a long time. The child looked at him and began to speak. Her chubby face grew pink and she babbled out a sound that might have been a series of sounds as wordless as possible.

"Are you alright, darling?" He asked.

The little girl sniffed her nose and wrinkled her face as though she had a cold. He took a real good look at her tear stained face. He could imagine she had been crying for hours. The round eyes looked like she had huge dark circles under them. She blew her nose at him with loud and very sharp sniffles.

"I'm better than last night, but-"

The child fell silent and looked at the stranger's face. The man's gaze moved from the child to the windows as if they would change what he saw in the brief moment of his gaze.

"What is it, little girl? Is your mummy in here?" He asked, almost whispering, looking around the mall.

As the little girl moved around the many different items displayed, carrying a childlike cart, he scanned her small frame for any signs of abuse or scarring. He saw none. Were they hidden? He wondered. Her pink and purple dress fitted her like it was designed to hug her body. The material was slick as if it had been washed too many times in the warm sunlight. His imagination was over working and he simply assumed she was a child who had never known any real clothes. The little girl stopped and fell to the floor with a soft squish sound as she hit the floor. Then he noticed how the girl looked at him and waited to see if he had noticed, a smile breaking his face as he looked down, she lifted her arms so the man could help her up.

"Did you hurt yourself, sweetheart?" He said, taking his hand to help her stand.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and shook her head. The big blue eyes filled with tears and he stroked her cheek. She was beautiful but tired and hurting.

"Is your mother around, sweetheart? Where is your mummy?" He spoke to her quietly but urgently as he saw the tears welling up in the eyes.

She turned and looked at the door, then at him, nodding her head. The grief in her eyes tore at his heart as he helped her to her feet. She couldn't stop staring at him at that moment. He reached out to pull her close and she fumbled with his hand. She looked him in the eye and blinked a few times. Fresh tears were sliding down her cheeks.

"Is something wrong, darling? You okay?" He touched her hair and said as gently as he could, his soft voice held a hint of worry.

"Mummy--" She wiped her nose on her sleeve as she looked at him with a round, hopeful face. Sniffling deeply, she added. "Mummy isn't-"

She broke down, burying her face in his chest, spilling more words into the next breath. The worst was the weeping she suddenly started to release. He held her close, rocking her gently back and forth, feeling her shaking body tremble against him. People moved around them, leaving them their privacy.

"Shh, darling. It'll be alright. Don't cry. Please don't cry anymore."

He smoothed her hair as she buried her face deeper into his chest. She pressed his hand against her cheek as she took a few deep breaths. She was still shuddering with sobs, though.

"It's alright, sweetheart."

His words calmed her and she pulled away slowly and blinked at him a few more times. He had such an attractive face and he didn't look like a bad man, she decided.

"Could you carry me on your lap, please? You aren't hurt, are you?" She sniffled as her eyes fixed on his wheelchair more than his face.

Her eyes were red, puffy, and heavy from crying, but her lips were pink and flawless. The man brushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear and laughed softly. She watched him run his fingers through his dark hair as if he was looking for something.

"Of course, I'll carry you, darling. And I'm perfectly fine. You need not to worry." He chuckled, he took a firm hold of her hands and lifted her up to his lap and tickled her with his long fingers.

His strong arms around her made her feel protected and the tears stopped. He had a gentle, powerful jawline and his full lips were soft and looked slightly swollen.

"Mummy is sad, mister. She's always sad." Fiddling with his eyelashes, she said in her small voice, trying not to cry.

"Oh. Why is mummy sad?" He gave her a tender smile.

Her eyes then widened as tears again spilled over and she bit down on her bottom lip and swallowed hard. She lowered her head onto his shoulder as he pulled her tighter to his chest.

"It's... it's...um…" she muttered weakly and could barely manage a whisper.

Just then...there came a deep, thunderous boom.

"Lily!"

Her head snapped up at the sound.

"Mummy…" She croaked, her eyes popping wide in shock and she clutched at his arms for a moment.

A ponytailed young woman wearing a faded black t-shirt that did not match her clothes stood in front of them. The colour had gone from her face, and her eyes were sunken and colourless.

"What are you doing with a stranger, Lily? What did I tell you about strangers?" The young woman's jaw was clenched, and a vein pulsed in her thin neck. Her appearance was enough to confirm that she was preoccupied.

"I'm sorry, mummy. He is a nice stranger-"

Her words were cut off as she cried, and she bent over, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Lily? He's still a stranger you just met. Please get down, it's getting dark out. Your daddy will be home soon and will worry sick if he doesn't see you. So, come on now, baby."

The woman drew a ragged breath and started to softly pull Lily to her feet, but Lily was clinging to him in desperation, gripping him tightly, shaking her head violently and pleading silently with the young woman.

"Daddy won't worry about Lily. Lily wants to go with this nice new stranger. You should come too, mummy. Please, mummy." A weak sob issued from the girl's throat, and it pierced her mother's heart like a dagger.

"Hello. Please calm down. I think the child needs a minute to gather herself. I fully understand you being protective. I would do the same in a cruel world like ours." He turned to look at the woman, noticing that her eyes were red and swollen, like the eyes of a woman in a terrible accident.

"A minute is what we don't have." Her voice was choked and her lips were quivering as she swallowed hard.

Her fresh scars still showed through her clothing, plasters and bandages scattered across her body, smudges of blue bruises and deep purple marks across her skin. Her eyes were haunted and pale with worry. It was like looking into the centre of hell. The man felt like he was swallowing fire and he clenched his fist to contain the deep burn of terror that filled his body. He couldn't stop thinking about the pain she must have been experiencing. He realised the woman was trying to look away from him, her green eyes fixed on Lily, but he forced himself to keep looking.

"Please, Lily, come to mummy now, hm? We need to go home now. Daddy won't like-"

"Emilia!"

"An-andrew?" The woman glanced over her shoulder, her face filled with fear. Her voice was hoarse and filled with barely controlled panic, her words almost lost in the wind.

Lily jumped at the sound of the voice and saw Andrew rushing down the path to them, pushing people out of the way as he continued to approach them. The shriek of his voice caused the crowd to scurry away, while Lily and her mother stood motionless in the path of his advance.

"Mummy? Lily is scared now?"

She held out her arms to grab her baby girl. Lily rushed into her mother's arms, away from the stranger.

People stopped and stared at them from all directions She looked up at Lily, seeing the terror on her daughter's face, then down at the man in the stranger, his face twisted with pain and confusion.

"Are we back at this, Emilia?! And what the hell is Lily doing out here? Teaching her your promiscuous ways? Damn you Emilia, you turned her into a little slut now?"

Andrew continued to rant, beating his fist against the sturdy wood of the shelf beside him a few times in frustration. His voice threatened to burst from his twisted throat. Emilia stepped back from his growing fury, and then turned to Lily in her arms, her lips pursed, her body trembling.

"Please stop embarrassing me, Andrew."

"Embarrass? Did I hear you correctly?" He spat the word out to emphasise his outrage. "You only embarrass yourself by being a cheap whore, you wretched little harlot! Whoring yourself out on a goddamn fool for coin is the lowest form of human depravity!"

"Are you whoring yourself, mummy? Is it nice, mummy? Daddy doesn't seem happy about it though." She snuggled against her mother's warm body as Emilia stood leaning on the tall shelf.