I had almost forgotten about the Magpie Festival and sighed. “I’m too old to even celebrate the Magpie Festival anymore. There’s no meaning to it now.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “What do you mean you’re ‘too old’? Do you think people just start to wither and dry up after a certain age? That’s so boring of you.”
I chuckled and suddenly remembered Nora’s request to ask Linda out for dinner that night.
I was about to ask when I suddenly remembered what happened. After today’s incident, I didn’t know if Nora would still want to have dinner.
“Linda, do you have any good friends? Maybe someone you really love?”
Linda nodded. Her heels seemed to be hurting her, so she sat down next to me. “Of course I do. I have a close friend who I’ve known for about fifteen years. As for someone I really love, I have my kid and my parents.”
I hesitated before asking, “What about your husband?”
She paused in slight surprise before replying, “We got a divorce.”
I was taken aback for a second and apologized hastily. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”
“It’s okay. It’s normal after all. At my age, everyone’s bound to come across an obstacle or two. Sienna, you don’t have to follow any particular recipe for life. Just do what you like,” she said mildly as if she was simply asking about the weather. I nodded with a smile.
She smiled back. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Since we had already started talking about this, I didn’t feel the need to hide anything. With a nod, I said, “I don’t really know how to treat those people who care about me. It seems like I’m always unknowingly pushing them away.”
She looked at me with her hands folded under her chin. “Your friends and loved one, perhaps?”
I nodded again. “Yeah. It’s not like we learn how to love other people in school. I think I might have missed a lesson or two.”
She looked at me in surprise. “You have a child, don’t you? Don’t you love her? I don’t know how other people would explain it, but to me, love simply means wishing the best for the other person from the very bottom of your heart. Just think about how you treat your daughter. You know what’s best for her, so you always try to provide her with the best.”
“What about friends?”
“It’s the same idea but in moderation. After all, if you go overboard, you might achieve the opposite result.”
I felt like giving up. “That’s so complicated. I still don’t think I understand how to solve my problems.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What happened? Just tell me. I’m older than you after all, so hopefully, I can be of some help.”
“What should I do if I argued with a friend?”
She looked surprised. “Have you never argued with a friend before?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly.” Before this, when Macy and I argued, I usually stayed silent and didn’t retaliate. She always came back to find me after she got over it anyway.
This time, my attitude toward both Nora and Anthony seemed to make this a much harder situation than before.
After some thought, I decided to just come out and ask, “Are you busy tonight? Let’s have dinner.”
She smiled in surprise. “What a coincidence. My parents offered to watch my kid for me today, and I was planning on having a nice night off. I’m glad to have a partner now.”
After tidying up our things, we headed out of the office.
Linda and I walked around the mall for a while and had a light meal. Since she rarely got the chance to have a night out, we decided to go to a bar.
“You know, I haven’t stepped foot in a bar since giving birth. I was starting to feel much older than I actually am! Looks like everyone really does need a night out once in a while to keep spry and energized,” Linda quipped. She was in a pretty good mood and ordered another round of drinks, sipping from her glass as she chatted with me.
She drank rather quickly and suddenly approached me with slightly narrowed eyes. “Being young sure is nice. Just sitting down here already got you some stares.”
I glanced around us and realized we were getting stares from other people. I did my best to ignore them as I turned to Linda, who was drinking like a fish. “You shouldn’t drink so much. It’s bad for your health.”
“Don’t worry. I can hold my liquor well!” she said with a faint smile.
I sipped from my glass of juice and found myself gradually zoning out. Even in my daze, I was still checking my phone periodically.
My actions bothered Linda so much that she decided to set me straight. “Sienna, do you know what’s the scariest thing in the world?”
I shook my head. Linda clinked glasses with me before replying, “It’s indecisiveness. The longer you procrastinate, the easier it is to lose the most important things in your life.”
The next thing I knew, she had taken my phone to make the call I had been so reluctant to make.
I was about to grab my phone back when a voice rang out from behind us. “Ms. Stanhope?”
I was taken aback by the sudden intrusion and couldn’t help but frown when I turned to look. A familiar face came into sight, and only then did my frown turn into a smile. “Hi, Mr. Watson!”
“Ms. Stanhope, this is the third time we’ve run into each other this month. I guess this is what they call fate, wouldn’t you agree?”
I smiled back politely as I got up from my seat. “I’m sure you have work to attend to, Mr. Watson. I shall leave you to it.”
Just as I was leaving with Linda in tow, Derek and his subordinates circled us and stopped us dead in our tracks.
I furrowed my brows as I turned to Derek. “Mr. Watson, what’s the meaning of this?”
Derek was still smiling, though he now had a lecherous look to him. “How are you still so full of yourself, Ms. Stanhope? Do you not know the situation you’re in?”
“What do you mean by that, Mr. Watson? I’m sure I haven’t offended you in any way, so there’s no reason for you to threaten us like this,” I replied as calmly I could.
He chuckled before shifting his gaze to Linda. “You look like you’ve been doing well. You’re still as beautiful as ever.”
I was stunned, but before I could react, Linda had jumped in. “If you’re here for me, leave Sienna out of it.”
“Then you’d be glad to hear that I’m here for the both of you!” Derek exclaimed.
He then looked back at me, lips curled in a sinister smile. “Sienna, even after everything you’ve done for Anthony, he still dumped you? I can see why, though. I saw the lady he was with today, and she was stunning! If I had to choose between you and her, I’d pick her too. That said, I’m still rather fond of you, so what do you think about getting together with me?
“Derek, you disgusting pig!” Linda yelled, shielding me from him. “You know why you had to escape to A City, or do you want to be back in Dellmoor?”
Linda must have pushed all the right buttons because that immediately riled Derek up. “Is that a f*cking threat?”
Linda remained composed as she continued, “You know very well if it’s a threat. Don’t forget how you ended up in A City. If I can destroy you once, I can do it again.”
A slap came down fast and hard on Linda. It was so sudden that no one saw it coming.
Linda held her face in shock as blood trickled down the side. “I have been f*cking nice to you, haven’t I?” Derek growled. “You have done me dirty once, but I won’t let it happen again. Don’t assume I can’t do anything to you just because you have the Murphys to protect you.”
Derek looked around him and gestured to his subordinates. “Take these two women to the room upstairs.”
“Go to h*ll!”
Linda had only just gotten her words out when she got another tight slap.
“Shut the f*ck up! If the Murphys are really that capable, I invite them to bring it on!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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