Me After Meeting You

“Right, Ian Axton, Amber’s boyfriend. Calvin, if you’re here so early, then you must not have eaten yet, right? I’ll go and make something for you to eat.” After saying this, Amber’s mother ran to the door to do exactly that.

The rumors that the neighbors were spreading outside left her incapable of staying in the shop, so after Amber’s mother had finished all her errands in the morning, she used the excuse that she needed to bring her daughter breakfast to go back home and see what Ian and her daughter were up to. But right as she entered, she had been so shocked by what she heard and saw that she had completely forgotten about bringing them food.

Before she could enter the kitchen, Amber’s mother even called her over. “Come help me, quickly. Old Li’s helping too, but I’m afraid that your dad won’t be able to handle the diner on his own.”

Amber looked at Calvin with a somewhat helpless expression, but she still followed her mother into the kitchen.

As the two of them worked, her mother initially didn’t say anything. But when breakfast was almost ready, she softly said to Amber, “There’s nothing going on between you and Calvin, is there?”

Amber didn’t respond. The situation outside was way too complex to explain right now, and while her mother was trying to help, she was only making matters worse.

Her mother clearly misunderstood her and sighed-not to scold her, but to express her sentiments. “I don’t care what you’re planning, but since you’ve already got someone and aren’t planning on ending the relationship, you should wrap up all your other intentions. Do you hear me?”

As a closing remark, her mother even earnestly said, “In life, what’s most important is knowing when you have enough!”

Amber looked at her mother, her feelings complicated. After the lecture, all she could say in response was, “… Oh.”

***Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Breakfast was particularly quiet. Ian ate from the sofa, Amber and Calvin ate at the dining table, and as for Amber’s mother, once breakfast was prepared and her husband called for her, she had left hurriedly.

Once Amber’s mother left, Ian put down his bowl of soup and used his spoon to pick up a little steamed bun. He ate it slowly as he watched Calvin and Amber.

Amber was trying her hardest to pretend that he didn’t exist. After a few bites, she felt that the atmosphere in the room was too strange, and she talked to Calvin in an attempt to disperse it. “Didn’t you say that you were going to go on a business trip for a few days? Why did you end up returning so quickly?”

“After arriving, I realized that they didn’t need me. So, I took the overnight flight back.”

As he explained, his expression was somewhat strange. Amber noticed it and thought that he was still offended by Ian’s presence. To assuage him, she quickly reached out and grabbed his hand. “Calvin, do you trust me?”

Calvin looked at her in a daze.

“Ian and I really aren’t what you think you’re seeing, I’ll explain it to you later, but for now, will you believe me?”

As she said this, even Amber herself felt pale and feeble. Calvin strove to smile, but was unsuccessful. He put down his bowl and spoon, rubbed his face, and said, “I’m sorry. I just got off the plane and am still a bit tired. If it’s fine with you, I’m going to leave first. Is that okay?”

Amber stared at him for an indeterminate length of time before finally quietly saying, “Alright.”

Calvin got up very quickly. Amber sent him to the door, and he didn’t even turn around as he left.

When she returned to the living room, Ian was still nibbling at his little steamed bun. With a casual glance at Amber, he said, “He’s mad.”

“All thanks to you.” Thinking about it some more, she sat in front of him and seriously asked, “Mr. Axton, what exactly are you trying to do?”

“I told you already. I want to have sex with you.”

“And besides that?”

“I want to marry you.”

“….”

“As for whether I should marry you first and then have sex with you, or have sex with you first and then marry you, I’m still considering.”

“….”

She took a pillow by the sofa and threw it savagely at him. “What do you mean you’re considering?! Have you ever stopped to consider how I feel? I don’t like you, so I’ve never even considered marrying you! Can you stop thinking about yourself? And it must have been a while since you last had any sexual activity, right?

As a fully grown adult, if your body is normal, abstinence is harmful to your body. In serious cases, both males and females might experience symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite, reclusive and eccentric behavior, violent tendencies, and so on.

You should consider releasing your pent up desires appropriately and not just fixate on a single person or a thing, okay?!”

Ian stared at her, his gaze profound.

She returned the stare fiercely. “What’s the matter? Do you not understand?”

Ian asked, “Are you like that?”

“What?”

“Do you experience insomnia, loss of appetite, reclusive and eccentric behavior, or any violent tendencies?”

Originally, out of concern for his feelings, she had tried to be tactful, but he had used those exact words to mock her.

Amber glared at him, a feeling of helplessness washing over her yet again. She shrugged her hands, too lazy to say any more, and got up to wash the dishes.

She only had one notion in her mind now: to hurry up and tell Nancy that she was of humble talent and shallow learning; that surely she couldn’t treat this fellow.

Behind her, Ian was still looking at her back, and he was unable to stop himself from clutching at his chest. When he heard her say that she didn’t like him and that she wasn’t planning on marrying him, he had felt his chest suddenly start throbbing.

It was an indescribable and strange feeling, as if the blood coursing through his heart was overheating, or as if someone was gently, subtly, and incessantly poking him with a needle.

It hurt so much that he couldn’t calm down.