Had Mark been waiting outside the bathroom door, all this time?
She couldn’t be bothered with shyness. She grabbed her clothes, shut the door, and quickly put on her clothes. Then, she walked out, acting as if nothing had happened. Mark didn’t seem to have any plans to do anything to her, and his temper seemed particularly gentle today, “You have a good rest. I have some work to complete. Good night.”
She could tell that he was using gentleness to trap her. It was just too strange. She got goosebumps after hearing him wish her good night for the first time ever. She was no stranger to cold-blooded and vicious words from him. The words “good night” filled her with panic. Her heart would skip a beat every time she heard him say it.
Tanya plunged into a severe anxiety, late at night. She couldn’t sleep. Her grandfather’s death had hit her — hard. She couldn’t accept it. The silent night was like a lingering death for her. She was going mad and needed comfort. In her helplessness and anxiety, she tapped on Eric’s social media account. She typed into the messenger app: Ricky, my grandfather is gone. My only relative is gone. I can’t do this…
She pressed the “send” button, shut her eyes, and sobbed softly.
Her ringtone pierced through the silent night. She wiped the tears from her eyes and answered the call, “I’m sorry… Ricky, for disturbing you at this hour.”
Eric was a resolutely masculine man and had no clue of how to console anyone. He paused for a long time before answering, “It’s fine. Just talk to me. I’ll listen.”
Tanya didn’t say a word and sobbed instead. So Eric listened to her weeping for more than half an hour. Just as she thought that he had ended the call, she looked at her phone and realized that it was still ongoing. Then, she spoke, “Thank you for taking my grandpa to the sea. He’s done everything he’s ever wanted in this lifetime. That’s why it happened so suddenly.”
Eric blamed himself. The man was in his old age. He shouldn’t have gone to the beach in this weather. He never considered this before they went, “Don’t cry, I don’t know what to say… Would you like to go out for a drink? Jackson, Mark, and I used to go out for drinks when we were in a bad mood. Our spirits were lifted after that.”
A drink? Tanya had never touched alcohol. This time, she was willing to give it a shot, “I… I don’t want to go out. Can you come over to the hotel? Bring the alcohol.”
Eric found this inappropriate. He was a man, going to a hotel to drink with a girl. It seemed inappropriate, no matter how he looked at it. However, he couldn’t bear to object to the naive Tanya’s request. He certainly wouldn’t dare have any shady thoughts, “Sure, I’ll come over now.”
As he walked into the hotel with the alcohol, Eric felt guilty, like a thief in the night. He was afraid of being spotted and let out a sigh of relief after entering the room. He pulled out the wine, “Here, I’ll drink with you.”
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