Chapter 6: The Growing Distance Between Them
The apartment was just fifteen minutes walking distance from MoodSpresso. The middle school where Daphne was teaching was also nearby. It was one of the reasons why they chose to rent the apartment last year.
The time was half-past six in the evening. Streetlights started to illuminate the neighborhood. The sun had long gone down in the winter evening.
Lucas walked home with a paper bag in his right hand. He brought back a slice of chocolate cake and a hot caramel latte for Daphne.
Both of them were her favorites. He hoped her mood would cheer up with these desserts.
"...she's not mad anymore, right?"
Lucas murmured under his breath. He thought back to what happened last night.
Because Lucas had a part-time job at the morning market, he went out early before Daphne. Then, his shift at MoodSpresso began. Lucas didn't have much time to rest after his work ended since he had a night class.
Both of them didn't see each other until Lucas returned home that night. Daphne was irked by something, nagging at him for forgetting to throw out the trash and not cleaning the apartment.
"I was in a rush this morning. Sorry, honey."
Daphne scoffed at him before leaving for the bedroom. The exhausted Lucas could only accept her anger. He dragged himself to tidy the apartment which was not as messy as how his girlfriend had pointed out.
In the bedroom, Daphne lay on the far end of the bed. Lucas had to dispiritedly accept that he couldn't sleep hugging his lover. The air felt really stifling.
Shaking his head, Lucas tried to forget the event. He had made sure to keep everything tidy before he went to work today, hoping that Daphne would forget his blunder yesterday.
"I'm home."
Lucas opened the door, finding the shoes that Daphne often wore to work sitting on top of the shoe cabinet.
With a smile, Lucas rushed inside. He found Daphne in the living room, sitting on a secondhand couch they bought the last four months.
Daphne was watching her favorite drama on her tablet, already wearing her comfy sweater and long pants. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied into a high ponytail.
"Honey, I brought your favorite cake and caramel latte," Lucas put the paper bag on the coffee table, "Do you want them now or after dinner?"
Daphne shot him a look. Her neatly-trimmed brows were furrowing under her bangs, "Do you want me to get fat? Why do you always buy me these?"
It was a really dissatisfied look. Not the coy one Daphne had when she was pretending to be angry with him. Her dark brown eyes fell to the paper bag before her gaze returned to his face.
Dumfounded, Lucas replied hesitantly, "...because they are your favorites. You seem to be stressed these days, so..."
"So you know that I'm stressed! But, do you know why?!" yelled Daphne out of nowhere. She slammed the tablet on the couch.
Lucas was stunned. He puzzledly stared back at his girlfriend.
This was really not the reaction he was hoping for.
Taking a breath, Lucas tried not to be too upset by Daphne suddenly lashing out at him. If he shouted back at her, they might end up fighting for real.
Daphne ignored her boyfriend sitting dejectedly next to her. She resumed watching the drama but, the look on her young face still harbored anger.
Not wanting to ignore the situation, Lucas asked cautiously, "Daphne, did I do something wrong? If there was, please tell me. Or, something's bothering you at school?"
Lucas turned his eyes blind in the face of Daphne's frequent outbursts that happened recently. He simply assumed that she was stressed with work but, Lucas also wanted to know if he was the reason behind her fury.
Daphne didn't even look at Lucas when she remarked, "You should know it yourself."
Then, she completely ignored him, putting Lucas' efforts to straighten the situation to waste.
Lucas held back his disappointment. He took the paper bag and brought them to the kitchen. His ears barely caught the whisper coming from Daphne.
"...why can't he be like everyone else? Useless."
Lucas pursed his lips into a straight line. A claw pricked into his heart with the words muttered by Daphne.
If he insisted to talk with her right now, he knew the situation might get worsened. Still, he was discouraged because his girlfriend didn't give him any cooperation.
What was happening?
Were they really... started to have a distance between them?
Lucas disappeared inside the bedroom, hiding how disappointed he was right now. Daphne remained in the living room, seemingly unbothered by the cold atmosphere inside the apartment.
After changing into a thick sweater, Lucas checked his phone. He scrunched his brows once he saw a few unread messages coming from his mother.
Tapping on the screen, several dialogue boxes appeared on the messaging app.
[Mother: Can't you ask your boss to give it to you one day early?]
[Mother: Your dad can't give more allowance to Kevin this month. Poor him can't eat properly at college]
[Mother: Come home tomorrow, okay? Mom will cook your favorite dishes]
[Mother: Kevin said he'd bring his girlfriend home for dinner]
Throwing his head back, Lucas groaned. His eyes wandered to the ceiling, finding a new spider web dangled in one corner of the ceiling.
"...yeah, better if I work overtime tomorrow."
Succumbing to his tired body and mind, Lucas slid under the thick duvet.
He wasn't comfortable with the state between him and Daphne. He also disliked how unwelcoming his family home was.
But...
What could he do?
Lucas's half-closed eyes darted to the windows showing the dark winter sky outside.
Flurries of snowflakes descended from the sky. He already imagined another pile of snow would blanket the entire area tomorrow.
This was so... frustrating.
Was this what the lady felt earlier? When her husband accused her of committing adultery?
Lucas forced himself not to think of other people's situations. He already had enough on his plate.
No high-tier education.
Working jobs that drained him physically and mentally.
An almost non-existing balance in his bank account.
He was really useless. Someone that couldn't make anyone proud of him.
Closing his eyes, Lucas drifted off to his dreamland.
A place where he could have a short escape before he needed to face the harsh realities of life again.
At the same time, Liliana had been treated by the doctor. She slept throughout the treatment, only stirring awake right now. Slowly opening her eyes, she stared dazedly at the ceiling.
"You're awake."
The familiar frosty voice jolted Liliana to be fully awake. Abruptly turning her head to her right side, she found Asher sitting on the chair. A laptop was placed on his lap.
"...Asher?"
What was he doing here?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone