She had a boyfriend before, but they broke up. Now she was single.
As for himself, he had a fiancee… After he realized he liked Angela, he made a decision. Like Teresa once said, "It's all about good timing."
The time was set. Before the end of the year.
If Rosa couldn't be found by that time, then he would disunite his past with Rosa and go after Angela. What good did endless hoping do?
He knew that it might've been unfair on Angela, but he couldn't help thinking about her.
Lately, he had been madly missing Angela when he was busy at work. Missing the sound of her voice, saying her name, and her lovely small face...
After a while, he finally opened his eyes and glanced at the dinning table nearby. He saw a pair of chopsticks and the bowl.
He marched toward the table to regard the food. After he saw through its bubbles of condensed water clearly, he smiled.
Immediately, he ran out of his apartment without tasting a bite of the food, got in his car and drove toward Xinhe Garden.
When he finally arrived at Xinhe Garden, it was Nancy who answered the door. She looked at Arvin in such surprise, "Dr. Gu? What are you doing here?"
Arvin couldn't explain why. He just asked, "Where is she?"
She...? Nancy balked, but eventually she got who Arvin meant.
"I called her a while ago. Isn't she at your birthday party?"
Arvin furrowed his brow. This was the last thing he expected. Arvin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She told you so?"
"No, I just saw my big brother's Moments on my phone. I wondered why she was not in his group photo, so I called her. I assumed she went after that." Arvin screwed up his eyes, but he could tell Nancy wasn't lying. She wasn't the type who knew how to lie with efficacy.
However, it seemed like something was wrong from the way Arvin's kept his head dropped in thought.
Arvin looked up with a frown. "Could you call her to ask where she is now?"
He tried to call Angela, but she didn't answer.
Nancy was confused why Angela didn't pick up Arvin's call, but she let him know that. She couldn't express it then, but she didn't have much trust for the doctor. That didn't mean she wouldn't help him find Angela. She got to her room to get her cell phone. Then she dialed Angela's number in front of Arvin. Angela answered Nancy's call immediately. "Hi, Nancy."
Angela's voice sounded less mellifluous than it usually did. It felt like she was quite… Depressed.
Worry strained Nancy's face. She asked, "Where have you been, Angela? Didn't you go to Arvin's birthday party?"
'Why did she sound so unhappy?' Nancy kept this to herself.
"I'm already downstairs. I'll be up soon."
Nancy took a long breath. Her worrying heart relaxed, "Okay, I'll be waiting for you at home."
"Okay."
...
Downstairs, Angela pressed the elevator button, something half-hidden in her fist.
It was not long before the elevator door opened with a bing. Arvin was obstructing the way to Nancy's apartment. He obviously had been waiting for her a long time, because he looked like a skeleton, pale, worn, and bored.
'Arvin...' thought Angela in sheer horror. 'How come Arvin is here?'
She knew she should have smiled at him and said 'happy birthday'. Howere, nothing could compel her to smile in that moment, so victimized she felt.
'If you can't smile, just don't smile,' thought Angela, trying to instill some sense of control. It made sense, then, to avoid Arvin's eye. She tried to carry on walking without saying a word.
Arvin would not allow this. He grabbed her hand and dragged her away from Nancy's apartment, back into the elevator. Arvin had such a strong grip. She couldn't get loose.
She fought and fought but could see it was useless. Angela didn't try to struggle any more. Nancy was nowhere in sight and couldn't be much help anyway. Arvin carted her out of the apartment building, and around the corner toward his car.
He wrangled her belongings out of her grip, and put them into his trunk and fastened the safety belt over Angela.
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