Chapter 199
When I heard that Felix had intercepted Matthew’s love letters for me, I was so mad that I went to his house to argue with him. I gave Felix an earful and refused to talk to him for a very long time.
Now I knew I had gotten angry for the wrong reason. He was just trying to protect me.
But he could have warned me. If I had known Brenda was this unreasonable, I would have
stayed away from Matthew. The whole debacle wouldn’t have transpired.
“I know what you’re thinking. But back then, you glared at me as if I was your arch–nemesis. I was sure you wouldn’t believe me. You might even think that I was plotting something and
resent me further.”
Felix was right. I knew I might not have believed him even if he had told me. Still, this wasn’t a valid excuse to keep everything from me.
I knew he wouldn’t believe me if I told him about what Lilac had done. But I did it
nonetheless. Several times too. Couldn’t he do what I did?
Regardless, I decided to forgive him since he intercepted the letters to protect me. I was ready to move on.
To make it up to Felix, I ordered meatballs for him. He ate them while complaining about how stingy I was. He said I had a lot of money but I wasn’t willing to buy him anything fancy. Furious, I tried to snatch the plate of meatballs from him. In the end, he swallowed
his words and the meatballs.
The next time I saw Matthew, a month had passed.
It could get below zero degrees in Jinovy in November. I put on the small jacket Colin had given last year on top of my cardigan. To top it off, I also put on a mini–skirt and a pair of thigh–high boots. It was a simple yet cozy look.
Since I left early, I took a stroll on the rubbery running track to kill time. To my annoyance,
a small pebble got into my boot. It stabbed against my heel from time to time.
I walked toward the platform, sat on it, and removed my boot to shake off the pesky
intruder.
At my most unflattering moment, a pair of polished, leathery shoes appeared before me. As
1/2
+15 BONUS
my eyes traveled upward, I first saw the black slacks and then Matthew, who was looking at me with a simper.
I hadn’t seen him in a month! He was still as handsome as I remembered. He had lost some weight, but he looked much more spirited. His eyes sparkled under the light.
Embarrassed, I put on my boot and cursed at myself for handling this at the most inopportune moment. To have let Matthew catch me in this state was mortifying.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“I’m good. What about you? How are your injuries?”
He turned around, and we walked together toward the teaching faculty.
“They healed long ago. I heard that Professor King picked you for the competition. How’s the preparation coming along?”
“I have a rough idea. All I need to do is pick a direction and produce a small sample.”
“All the best and break a leg.”
“Thank you.”
He walked me to the teaching faculty and stared at me as I entered the building.
I walked toward the staircase. When I turned around, he was still there. His eyes continued to linger on me.
Noticing that I had turned back, his bony face flashed me a smile. His right hand waved at me, and I saw light in his almond–shaped eyes.
I ran to the classroom, sat in the corner, and rested my head on the desk for a very long time.
At around 10:00 pm, I put down my pen and splashed my face with some water. Right when I decided to read some e–books before sleeping, I received a text message.
I checked my phone and saw Matthew’s moving profile picture. There were only a few words in the message. “Lulu, can we never get back together?”
I felt something heavy in my chest again. It sucked out the air in me.
I stared at those words until my eyes were wet and glossy. Tears rolled down the corners of my eyes and disappeared into my hair.