Chapitre 32: The Regret
It was almost midnight already and Ajie had not come back yet. Allie's mind was already in a mess. What took him so long? Why did Dr. Jane want to talk to him? She recalled their earlier scene as they conversed. It seemed that they instantly got comfortable with each other. Perhaps because brilliant minds always find themselves on the same ground of interests.
Her phone sounded as a notification popped up. It was from Andrew.
"Lyz, is Adrian around already? "
"Not yet. "
"What took him so long, Lyz? "
"I don't know. "
"You better tell him to be careful with Dr. Jane. She seemed to be so close with many men. And now she's into him. "
"Andrew, what do you mean? "
" Perhaps, I am just being so paranoid, Lyz. Forget it. "
"Please..."
"It's nothing, Lyz. But all I can say is that you better not give all your trust to Adrian. Be vigilant. He's not.. "
Something in his statement struck her ear. It seemed that he mentioned his name casually, as if they were old friends.
"Andrew, have you known Ajie beforehand? "
"No, I'm referring to all boyfriends as a whole."
"I see. Goodnight, Andrew..." She smiled as she said it but when she lifted up her head, her eyes caught Ajie standing by the doorway.
She placed down her phone nonchalantly and stood up to change Chloe's dressings.
"Let me do it. Just go to sleep. " He said it though his eyelids were already drooping down and his face looked tired.
Allie stared at him, waiting for him to flare up. He caught her talking to Andrew and she saw the hurt in his eyes when she bid him goodnight.But he didn't. Instead, he told her to go to sleep. Was this his way of making up for those whole year of not showing up?
She lied down on the bed pretending to go to sleep. She watched him leaning his back on the chair with his head on the wall as he closed his eyes. But every five minutes he would stand up to change the dressing. And before her alarm sounded every three hours for feeding, he stood up ahead of her and fed his daughter.
In the morning after she did her morning routines, she caught him looking at her. She paused from what she was doing and returned his gaze.
"Allie, may I catch some sleep , even just for two hours?"
"You may sleep all you want. "
Ajie gave a pursed smile, kissed the baby and left. Allie wondered where he was staying but she couldn't dare to ask. He came back after lunch and resumed to his dressing routines until three in the afternoon. At about 1 am, he returned.
This routine went on for the whole week and Allie speculated that he was meeting Dr.Jane every 4pm to 12 am. Perhaps, he was just here for the child. Perhaps, he was already giving up on the hope that they could still be reconciled. And perhaps, he was already starting to like her.
___
When Saturday morning came, Andrew called her up.
"Allie, I will be performing again tonight. You may not go there, no matter how I wished you would, because Anne wouldn't be available that long. And because as you said, Adrian would disappear every afternoon until midnight. "
"But Allie, can you please give me an inspiration before I play? Can we have dinner together?"
Allie wanted to refuse but because he would be doing it for Chloe, she couldn't dare to make Andrew feel bad.
At six in the evening, Allie was already with Andrew in a restaurant. While chatting about anything happily with him, a waiter came up to serve the food Andrew ordered ahead. To her surprise when she looked up, it was Ajie.
He looked down at her and gave her a pursed smile though that same hurt feelings still showed in his eyes.
He looked so tired and she knew why. Ajie only took short naps the whole week while she drifted into her dreamland for long hours. Only to know that those times she thought she was spending with Dr. Jane was actually spent in working in this restaurant. And he was getting this summer job because he was already running out of school budget.
Allie got so bothered and guilty. She already wanted to apologize. He had already shown his willingness to pay the price of neglecting her. But she was too stubborn. She even went out to dine with Andrew. And no matter how angry she was, she knew she still loved him.
When her clock sounded at 1 am, she stood up. She would open the door for him. But an hour had passed and then another and another until the morning came but Ajie did not come. She unblocked him and tried to call him up but her calls were not picked up.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone