My Heart's Tie

Lisa looked toward the seat by the window. A man was sitting there, wearing casual clothes. He had been there for two hours and wasn't getting up. After a while, she decided to walk up to him.

"Sir, you've been here for over two hours now. Is there a problem?" she asked cautiously.

"No, it's just that... It's like this, I don't have any money to pay for the bill," he answered honestly.

"You don't have money for the bill?" I looked at him incredulously. "Then why did you come to dine here since you don't have any money?" I queried.

"It's..." He looked embarrassed. "I'm so hungry, and I might starve to death. I decided to find something to eat first, but now that I'm done, I'm too ashamed to leave," he replied.

Lisa felt sorry for him; it isn't easy to be poor, she thought.

"I will cover your bill then; you don't have to worry. You can go now."

The man looked at her, his eyes clearly showing surprise.

"Are you really going to pay my bill?" he wanted to confirm to make sure he didn't hear wrong.

"Yes, you heard me," she confirmed.

He stood up; if anything stood out about him, it should be his tall height and his very masculine body.

His face was only slightly above average and looked ordinary.

"I will remember this favor today," he said before leaving.

Lisa smiled; she didn't want anything in return anyway. She had helped lots of people in her life with the little she had, something she learned from her mom.

On her way home, she bought lots of food items and vegetables for her mother.

"Mum, I'm back," she announced when she arrived home, but no one answered her. She went in and saw her mother on the bed unconscious. She immediately started checking her pulse, and when she saw she was still breathing, she went out and called their neighbor, Mr. Kendrick.

Mr. Kendrick came and helped her carry her mother to his car before they drove off to the hospital.

"Miss Lisa, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do now except to initiate the surgery. I already said last time that surgery must be carried out as soon as possible."

"I know, doctor, but the money for the surgery is too much. None of our relatives are ready to help. Where can I get such a huge amount of money from?"

"I don't know, my dear. I'm only doing my job," the doctor replied. "She has less than a month for the surgery." Lisa left the hospital with low spirits. It's not that she didn't want her mom to have the surgery; after all, it was her last chance for life. It's just that the money is too much. Seven hundred thousand dollars, that's the amount needed for the surgery.

According to the doctor, if she was able to come up with three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the surgery would commence. But where was she going to get it from? She didn't even have up to fifty thousand dollars, so how is she going to come up with the money?

She called her best friend, Anna, and told her what happened. Anna immediately asked her where she was and told her she was coming. She gave the address of the closest restaurant in her vicinity.

Soon, Anna arrived.

"Hope you are alright, girlfriend?" she asked worriedly.

"Hmm," she nodded.

"I know it's a huge blow for you, but you gotta be strong, girl. Maybe we can still figure out a way to make the money," she suggested.

"What way? How are we ever going to make the money? I don't know what to do anymore; I just feel like committing suicide," her voice was breaking as if she wanted to cry.

"What about Mr. Kendrick?" Anna suggested.

"What about him?" she frowned.

"Why don't you consider his offer?"

Lisa became angry. "How can you suggest such a thing? You want me to be the mistress of a married man who is old enough to be my father? How daring! I can't believe you would ever suggest such a thing," she stood up angrily.

"Look, Lisa, maybe it's time you dropped your pride and morals. We want to save a life here. I don't believe your morals are bigger than your mother's life," Anna continued.

"Enough, I don't want to hear anything else from you," Lisa said stubbornly and stood up to leave.

Anna chased after her, "I'm really sorry, Lisa. Even I wouldn't want you to do such a thing; after all, I was against it too, don't you remember? It's just that if I'm in the same situation, I'm going to do it if it means saving my mom."

Lisa ignored her and walked faster, but deep in her heart, she was thinking, "Am I really heartless? If I have no choice, am I going to do this?

No matter how I think of it, I had no choice but to think what Anna said was right. Am I really that selfish?" She started hating herself.

The next day, the poor guy came, but he had his money this time. They had a little conversation before he left.

"Are you okay?" he asked in the middle of the conversation. Lisa nodded with a forced smile.

"If you have any problem, you can tell me. If it's anything I can help resolve, I will do my best," the guy said sincerely.

Lisa laughed in her heart, "I'm sorry if I ever tell you of my problem, you are going to run faster than you ever have," she thought in her heart.

But still, she was really happy that someone offered to help. From their interaction, she could tell that Williams is a good man. Williams is the name of the poor man. He seems very intelligent and educated, which surprised Lisa. She wondered why an educated person like him appeared so poor that he cannot even afford to pay for his meal.

She looked at his clothes. They looked very ordinary and clean. If only she knew that the clothes she thought were only ordinary were from a world-renowned brand and few people can afford it.