She had captioned the photos: Treasure the blissful moments in life. Love me truly, madly, deeply!
I frowned and looked at her. “Don’t you think this is too much?”
Nora simply shrugged and replied, “Not at all! I think it perfectly described the essence of these pictures!”
I held my forehand and was speechless. However, I had to admit that it was actually quite appropriate.
My phone vibrated when I was about to put it down and continue enjoying my meal.
I could easily guess who it was without looking at the screen. Nora pouted and said, “Are you going to that shit in front of me again?”
I smiled as I picked up, “Ashton, have you had dinner?”
Ashton’s gentle voice sounded over the phone as he replied, “I’ve already eaten. Are you back at the hotel?”
“Yup,” I answered before taking a bite of salad and continued, “I got back not long ago and was just about to have dinner!”
He was probably still at the office as I could hear him typing. “Seems like you were pretty busy today!” he said.
I nodded and replied, “I learned a lot from Ms. Zimmer today. Level one of the bases is already settled so we spent the whole of today discussing the plan for the second floor. If everything goes well, we should be done by tomorrow.”
He might have heard me munching on my food and said, “Let’s talk later. You should finish your meal properly first!”
After taking a pause, he added, “Finish all your food!”
I pursed my lips upon hearing that. Well, I was still hungry anyway. I hung up after saying just a few more words and continued eating my steak.
Nora looked at me begrudgingly and commented, “How can the both of you be so clingy all the time? Don’t you get sick of it?”
I shrugged, “Is that considered clingy?”
She nodded and replied, “Very. I haven’t seen Armond for a few days already even though he just stays next door. He’s always not around whenever I go over to look for him. He doesn’t pick up my calls as well. He didn’t even call to ask me how I am! I’m starting to feel like I’m in a one-sided relationship.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that…
Forget it. I decided to ignore her and continue eating my steak.
After eating a few more mouthfuls, I suddenly realized that something was amiss. Looking up at her, I asked, “Did you just say you haven’t seen Armond these few days and haven’t been able to get through his phone?”
She nodded and rested her chin on her hand. Feeling frustrated, she replied, “I’m even suspecting that he has forgotten my existence!”
Hmm, what’s Armond busy with these days? Linda and I had been the ones overseeing the Lavelian Village project. By right, he shouldn’t be that occupied. It was indeed baffling that he had not been back to the hotel to rest.
Besides, when I saw Linda in the morning, she looked like she had not slept at all. Could she be busy with other project matters in Lavelian Village?
“Hey, what are you thinking about? It’s not your man who’s missing. Shouldn’t I be the one lost in thought instead?” I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Nora’s voice. I stopped eating after taking a few more bites of my steak as my appetite were gone for some reason.
Perhaps, I wasn’t too hungry in the first place. I paused for a second before looking at her and replied, “Oh, nothing much!”
Nora also stopped eating and lay on her bed as she continued playing with her phone. As such, I called for the waiter to clear up our mess.
A moment later, the woman suddenly exclaimed, “Ahhh! You guys are too much!”
I was startled for a moment before turning towards her, baffled.
She pouted and said, “Look at your Instagram!”
I opened Instagram on my phone and saw that many of my friends had liked the photo Nora just posted on my behalf and some even left comments.
Among them were people from K City. Even Cameron had responded to that photo with a smiley face.
John posted a comment, expressing his disgust, “It’s your first post after what seems like forever. Are you intending to post one picture each day from now on? I can’t believe you two can even show off your love even though you are physically so far apart!” He ended that post with an eye roll emoji.
I rubbed my nose and did not reply to those comments.
Ashton’s reply was simply too attention-seeking. I will always love you truly, madly and deeply! That was his response, completed with a heart-eyes emoji.
I didn’t think much of the comments and looked at Nora, feeling confused. “What’s wrong?”
Sprawling on the bed, she replied dejectedly, “What else? I’m just full of envy! It’s so boring to date Armond. He doesn’t sweet talk, isn’t romantic at all, and has never bought me any gifts. Other men will buy their girlfriends flowers or jewelry. Guess what? The only thing he has given me was sweet nothing! He’s so rich yet he’s so stingy. Why is he like that?”
I smiled faintly and replied, “Maybe he isn’t stingy but it’s just that he doesn’t know what’s expected of him in a relationship. Why don’t you tell him directly what you want?”
Nora pouted and said, “Don’t you know? It’s no longer meaningful if a girl has to ask for it.”
I shrugged, not knowing how to answer. Ashton and I had not exactly dated and neither had we bought any gifts for each other. Our relationship just seemed so ordinary and plain. I did not expect to be the target of envy just because he left a comment on my post.
After giving it some thought, I said, “Nora, I think every relationship is different as the people involved are different. Everyone expresses love differently, so we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. I didn’t expect that you would envy something that seems so ordinary to me. Similarly, even though you feel like dating Armond is boring, I might envy the dynamics between you two as well. Actually, I feel that it’s more important to cherish what we have presently. Don’t you agree?”
