“My hand is numb…”
Larry moved his body and allowed Joan to pull her hand out. “You’re awake.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“How long have you not had regular meals? Are you trying to kill yourself by pulling late nights constantly? Do you think you’re a phone that can always be on standby twenty-four hours a day?” Larry began to lecture her in rapid-fire.
Joan pouted helplessly. “Why are you admonishing me now?”
“I’m not reprimanding you, Joan. I’m reprimanding the mother of my son,” Larry replied.
“Alright, alright, I thought my dizziness was caused by not having enough sleep. I didn’t expect for it to be so serious that it would cause me to faint…” Despite her feeble voice, Joan tried to vehemently defend herself.
Larry thought that she still hadn’t realized her mistake. “What? Why are you still making excuses? Despite being an adult, you don’t even know how to take care of yourself. So who gave you the courage to steal Larry away from my parent’s house?”
Despite his lectures, Joan knew that he was obviously worried about her, causing her to burst into laughter.
Larry’s anger turned into a smile. And just like that both of them gazed into each other eyes and laughed heartily without care.
At that moment, Larry was shocked as he didn’t know why he was suddenly laughing aloud.
“Let’s not talk about that anymore. Joan… you… do you really not want to explain… about what happened with Dustin?” Larry smiled faintly. He had wanted to ask her about the matter calmly but ended up stuttering instead.
Meanwhile, the cicadas outside continue to chirp incessantly, singing their song without a care of what was going on inside.
Joan shook her head but still managed to gather her courage to explain. “I… Dustin and I, actually…”
Ring… Ring… The jarring sound of the phone interrupted them. Larry apologized to Joan, “I’m sorry. I’ll need to take this call outside.”
Joan’s heart suddenly sank as her heart was filled with mixed emotions. It felt as if she had channeled all her energy into a punch but she had thrown it at empty space instead.
In less than a minute, Larry ended the call as he came back in. He looked like he was visiting an old friend instead of taking care of his lover.
As he approached Joan, he helped tucked her in properly, as if he wasn’t going to bring up what they were just talking about. “Joan, I need to return to the office for an urgent meeting. Don’t worry, once I have dealt with work. I’ll come back to accompany you.”
“Go ahead…” She was never one to quibble. Despite how reluctant she was to see him go, she would never allow herself to express it.
Larry leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead. With his body right next to her, a refreshing fragrance enveloped her senses while his warm breath suddenly gave her the impulse to burst into tears.
“In that case, I’m leaving now,” Larry remarked.
‘Mmm-hmm.” She nodded slightly.
The moment he turned away, she had the urge to grabbed onto his sleeve and say, “Larry, don’t go. Stay with me.” As her hand reached forward, all she could grasp was air.
When her right hand fell helplessly back onto the bed, her heart seemed to have sunk along with it. Tears followed the very next moment. Despite how they seemed to have made up, Joan still felt that something was missing; she was unsettled.
She could feel that something had changed and it was no longer the same as it used to be. Suddenly she could feel a sense of disappointment well up within her.
As she tried her best to stop her imagination from running wild, the feeling had taken root in her. She had no way of untangling herself from it other than helplessly casting it aside and ignoring it.
