I completely forgot about that. “Yeah, sure. Do we go now? Or do we go later?” I nodded while answering.
“Let’s go in the evening. Then we can stay there for the night. I am not really up yet. I will need some time to get prepared. I’ll come to get you when I’m done.”
I nodded and said, “Okay, just call me by that time.”
Last night’s events suddenly replayed in my mind. I asked, “Were you okay last night? Why are you up so early today?” She did drink quite a lot last night.
She sighed, “Don’t talk about it. I was almost beaten up. If it weren’t because I wanted to pry Linda for information, I wouldn’t drink that much alcohol. Seriously, my head is still hurting!”
“Armond is not around?”
“Yeah, he seems to have something on. He went out early in the morning. My grandpa’s call woke me up, and I called you right away since I’m awake. I plan to sleep for a while more. Let’s go over later.” Her words were slurring. She must be getting sleepy.
“Alright, you get some sleep. I’ll read at home in the meantime. Do you want to come over for lunch since Armond is not around?”
“No thank you,” she rejected. “I don’t think I will be awake by that time. Besides, isn’t that expressionless guy at home right now? I am kind of intimidated by him, so I’ll pass.”
I smiled and didn’t insist.
After I hung up, I went straight into the study. Perhaps because this house was recently set up, there weren’t many books in the study. There were mostly some documents and magazines.
While scanning the bookshelf, a book title caught my eye. Three Makes a Family. I reached for it and started flipping through the pages.
I didn’t expect that Ashton would have such a wholesome book on his bookshelf. Since the book was to my liking, I sat down and started reading.
Ashton noticed me reading and smiling to myself when he came in. He sat down beside me and asked, “What are you reading? You are smiling so blissfully.”
I instinctively raised a hand to touch my face. “Do I look blissful?”
It was a rhetorical question, but he seemed to have understood it differently. He grinned from ear to ear and announced, “You are blissful when you are with me!”
I was stunned. Maybe it was because of the book that I felt immense sweetness at what he said. “A good love story makes the readers feel blissful as well. The characters have such a lovely little family,” I said.
He smiled and asked, “So when are you coming back to K City with me? We have a family of three too.”
He was coaxing me to go back to K City again. I lowered my head a bit and thought about it. “We’ll think about it after completing the Lavelian Village project.”
As we spoke about it, I became lost in my own thoughts. People change like the seasons. A few days ago, I was planning to get divorced from him. A few days later, we were joined at the hip. Nobody saw this coming at all.
“What are you thinking?” He pulled me into his arms and sniffed my hair. “You smell so nice!”
I leaned into him and replied cheekily, “I am thinking of what to eat for lunch!”
He chuckled right next to my ear. “Glutton!” he commented. “I may need to go out for a while. I will ask Joseph to send over some food to you later.”
I processed what he said and nodded. My mind flashed back to the number that I saw on his phone screen just now. That combination of numbers was familiar to me. Even after so many years, Rebecca did not intend to change her number.
Does this mean Rebecca is in A City now?
I did not ask Ashton about it. A few calls came in, and it seemed to be very urgent. I looked on nonchalantly and did not comment.
He grabbed his phone and said to me, “Remember to eat your lunch. Wait for me to come back in the evening. We will have dinner together.”
I nodded and waved my hand, indicating for him to go ahead.
I certainly wasn’t expecting to get a call from Rachel. She cut straight to the chase and asked, “Can we meet?”
I hesitated, and then asked, “You need to see me?”
“Yeah.”
After looking at the time, I replied, “You only have two hours.”
“Okay,” she responded without missing a beat, “I will see you at Nenya.”
A café?
The only reason she would want to see me would be to talk about Ashton.
I set out after tidying up a little. Nora was still hungover, she would need to sleep for some time. The time would be just right when I come back after this meet-up.
At Nenya Café.
Rachel was seated beside a window, and the view outside was quite picturesque.
Even when she noticed my arrival, she kept her head turned to the side. She knew I was there but did not bother to turn to look at me. She lifted her teacup, with her other hand holding on to the saucer below it. Her posture was faultlessly elegant.
“Ms. Zimmer, you didn’t just call me over to admire your elegance, did you?” I mocked while sitting down opposite her.
She only turned to face me when she heard me speak. Her eyes skimmed over my outfit judgmentally.
I frowned a little and explained with a smile, “I came out in a hurry, so I just wore what I was comfortable in. You’re really an exquisite woman, Ms. Zimmer. Every time I see you, you look different.”
She turned her gaze away and put down her cup. “Men always seem to hold on to their first love,” she said slowly.
