Chapter 4

4: 4

I stayed at the hotel for two nights and finished all the paperwork.

For a full forty-eight hours, Tim didn't call me once.

He probably figured I was sulking, and that once I cooled off I'd come home on my own.

After all, every time we fought before, I was the one who backed down first.

The day before I left the country, I went back to the complex to pick up the books I'd left at the parcel station.

I'd just reached the door of the building when I ran into Tim.

He was carrying a dessert box, from that shop with the cheesecake I used to love most.

When he saw me, he froze for a second, his expression a little awkward.

“Where have you been? You haven't come home in days.”

I answered flatly, not wanting to say much to him.

“I had things to do.”

“That day... I said some things I shouldn't have.”

He scratched his head and held the dessert box out to me.

“I bought this for you, call it an apology. Don't take Renata's thing to heart, she's sick after all. Once she's a little better, we'll start planning the wedding...”

Halfway through, his phone suddenly rang.

The moment he picked up, his voice went soft.

“What is it, Renata? Okay, I'll come right back.”

He hung up and shot me a hurried glance.

“Renata says she's scared, I have to go back. Keep the cake. Whatever it is, we'll talk once I'm free.”

With that, he turned and ran, his steps urgent.

I watched him go, then tossed the dessert box into the trash bin beside me.

The next day, I boarded the plane bound overseas.

Watching the city shrink smaller and smaller outside the window, I murmured,

“Goodbye, my five years of youth.”

“Goodbye, the Tim I used to know.”

Meanwhile, Tim spent the whole day at home watching movies with Renata.

Late that night, when everything was quiet, he thought of Nora, and something in his chest felt heavy.

He really had said too much that day.

A girl on her own, staying somewhere else for days now, and he had no idea whether she was doing all right.

He picked up his phone, wanting to call Nora and ask when she was coming back.

But the call wouldn't go through, her phone was off.

He frowned, thinking she was still angry.

The next day, he got up early on purpose.

He went and bought the hash browns from her favorite place, then stopped by the jewelry store to pick up the diamond ring he'd ordered long ago.

He drove to Nora's company, planning to surprise her.

The receptionist looked up with a smile.

“Good morning, sir. Who are you here to see?”

“I'm looking for Nora Fox, in the design department.”

The receptionist paused, then flipped through her records.

“I'm sorry, sir, Ms. Fox is no longer with the company.”

“She applied for a training placement at the overseas headquarters. Her flight was yesterday afternoon. She's already gone.”