However, there was nothing I could do about the fact that I felt annoyed by their closeness anyway.
Suddenly, I heard a deep voice in my ear. “What are you thinking about?” It was Anthony. As he spoke, he took the cup of milk tea from me and took a sip from the same straw I just drank from.
Truthfully, this was normal behavior between a couple, and it was nothing worth making a fuss about. However, we were in public right now, and Rylee was sitting right next to Anthony. To everyone else, his actions probably seemed rather calculated.
“Gosh, the two of you need to stop it with the public displays of affection. It’s making me sick! Can you be more considerate of everyone else’s feelings?” Nora joked, her eyes disappearing from laughter.
Linda glanced at her wryly and asked, “Is this the first time you’ve seen them behaving like this?”
The two of them exchanged another glance and burst into laughter.
However, the smile on Rylee’s face faded away quickly. As her fingers tightened around the cup of milk tea, I held back my laughter and tore my gaze away from her.
The one who got away would always be a source of regret for one. For Rylee, perhaps, Anthony was destined to be the biggest regret in her life.
Anthony put down in the cup of milk tea in his hand. Turning to me, he commented, “This tastes pretty good, but it’s too sweet for my liking. It’s bad for your teeth. Don’t drink it too often!”
I pouted. “I don’t drink it that often! I just happened to have it once today, and you managed to steal half of it from me anyway!”
Anthony burst into laughter. “Are you mad at me over one sip of milk tea? Is our relationship so weak that it can’t withstand that?”
His voice was very low, for he had said it with his lips practically pressed to my ear. To everyone else, it looked as though we were having a private quarrel.
For the sake of having a good dinner, I changed seats with Armond and sat down next to Nora.
Nora shot a puzzled glance at me and frowned. “Why did you change your seat? That’s your man, you know. Are you trying to avoid him?”
“I wasn’t trying to avoid him. Armond asked us out for dinner because he had something to talk about with Anthony. I might as well take the initiative and move out of their way. Do you want your boyfriend’s efforts in initiating this dinner to go to waste?”
Nora froze for a second before chuckling. She looked at me and said, “Babe, you really think of everything, don’t you? Thanks for the heads up!”
I was pretty hungry, to begin with. For the rest of dinner, I kept my head down and stuffed myself to the brim.
After a while, I finally felt somewhat full. Armond and Anthony were chatting with each other, and I was left to my own devices. Feeling rather bored, I swiveled around in my seat to observe both of them. More accurately, however, I had my eyes fixed on Anthony. It had been a few days since we last saw each other, but he hadn’t changed at all. Perhaps it was because he was too busy with work, but he looked a little tired. Still, anyone could tell that he was a very handsome man.
He must’ve felt my stare burning through the back of his head. Anthony looked up and glanced in my direction, his black eyes flashing dangerously.
I could sense that he wasn’t very happy, and I felt a little confused. Have I done something wrong? I looked down at myself and realized the problem immediately. Because it was rather hot in the restaurant, I had removed my coat when I stepped into the room. I was wearing a dress inside, and its neckline hung dangerously low on my chest. I hugged myself and lay my head on the desk, praying that my cleavage couldn’t be seen anymore.
Anthony drummed his fingers on the table, and he gave a slight cough, warning me to sit up properly.
I blinked rather foolishly and sat up, rearranging my clothes hastily so they looked appropriate for the occasion.
Nora placed a slice of meat onto my plate. Leaning closer to me, she grinned and whispered, “The two of you sure understand each other very well!”
I snorted a little and took a bite of the meat. If we understood each other as perfectly as she thought, Anthony would never have brought Rylee along in the first place.
My silence made Nora feel rather perturbed. Feeling rather chatty, she turned to Rylee and said, “Ms. Lorraine, you’re really quiet! You’re so pretty, so I’m sure lots of men are queuing up to marry you. Do you have a boyfriend yet?”
Rylee looked rather stunned by the sudden compliment. She replied haltingly, “Ms. Oberick, you’re too kind. I’m no beauty at all. You’re kind and generous, and an excellent match for Mr. Murphy. In fact, the both of you look like a match made in heaven.”
“Haha!” Linda snorted suddenly.
Nora touched her nose and smiled blandly. Since Rylee had offered her a compliment, she couldn’t exactly scowl back at her. Instead, she plastered a grin on her face and continued to press, “So, Ms. Lorraine, do you have a boyfriend?”
Rylee looked a little embarrassed. Shaking her head, she replied very honestly, “No, not yet!”
Nora looked very startled. “You’re so beautiful, and you don’t have a boyfriend? What’s wrong with men these days—are they all blind or something?”
I bit into another slice of meat and muttered quietly, “She has a huge crush on Anthony. He’s the one who’s blind, I suppose!”
Nora started coughing immediately. She looked up and smiled awkwardly, her cheeks bright red in color.
Gesturing at the plates of meat on the table, she spluttered, “Come on, eat up!”
…
After dinner, everyone mulled silently over their own private thoughts.
It was rather late at night by the time the meal ended. Nora and Armond were probably going to spend some quality time by themselves—they bid us farewell and left.
Linda hadn’t had enough rest for the past few days. She decided to retire early to her room, too.
That left the three of us. Anthony turned to me and asked, “What else do you want to do now?” We had slept through the afternoon, and if we returned to the hotel room now, we wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyway.
I shook my head and shrugged. Truth be told, I was a rather boring person who didn’t have many hobbies—an extraordinarily boring person.
On the contrary, Rylee’s eyes lit up. “Anth, didn’t you tell me that Lavelian Village has a beautiful night view? Can I come along with both of you?”
Anthony didn’t think much of it. He nodded and asked me, “What about you? Do you want to come along?”
Frankly speaking, I had seen all the night views in this city along with Nora, and I wasn’t in the mood to go sight-seeing either. Besides, with Rylee around, some unnecessary tensions were bound to arise.
But I couldn’t let her go by herself, could I? The idea of her walking around the streets with Anthony made me even more displeased.
I nodded nonchalantly and said, “Alright, then. Let’s go.”
It took slightly more than ten minutes to get to the night market from the restaurant—it wasn’t very far away. I was never particularly chatty at night, and with Rylee around, I felt even less inclined to strike up conversation.
Rylee seemed much more talkative than she had been at dinner. She seemed to have an endless supply of conversation topics with Anthony around.
We started out walking side-by-side, but the road was bound by a green belt on one side and the traffic on the other. It became more difficult to continue walking like this.
Eventually, I decided to trail behind them, my head bowed in annoyance as I listened to Rylee’s conversation with Anthony. They were chatting about interesting things that had happened in K City recently. Since I hadn’t been around in K City, I had no idea what they were talking about.
Without anything to add to the conversation, I kept silent throughout the entire journey.
When we finally arrived at the night market, it was noisy with the sound of cheerful crowds. It seemed that most girls enjoyed this sort of environment, too—Rylee looked excitedly at the various items on sale, looking as though she wanted to buy everything in sight.
Every time she saw something she liked; she would look pitifully towards Anthony. He would freeze for a moment before silently and naturally footing the bill for her.
At that moment, she saw something she wanted again. Shoving the bags of items into Anthony’s hands, she exclaimed excitedly, “Anthony, wait for me! I’ll be back in a minute!”
She then took off blithely like a girl in a romantic novel. I rarely saw such a bright, cheerful side of her, but I knew enough about Anthony’s generosity. It didn’t seem very surprising to me at all.
Here, I couldn’t help but feel a little upset.
Anthony turned to look at me. Frowning, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head crossly. Gazing at the bags of items in his arms, I asked sharply, “Aren’t those very heavy?”
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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