Chapter 199 No More Disappearances
"Norah, it's me."
Hearing the familiar voice from the other end of the phone, Norah cried out in relief.
Days of worry and longing finally dissipated at that moment.
"Shawn..." She tried to call out his name but choked on her words.
The phone was filled with the sound of Norah's broken sobs.
Shawn listened, his heart breaking. He could only offer soft words of comfort. "Don't cry, Norah. I'm sorry for making you worry.
"I'm fine. Everything is okay here."
"Then why didn't you answer my calls? Do you know how many times I called you?" Norah finally released the worry and frustration that had been building up inside her.
"Do you know how scared I was?
"I was afraid something had happened to you. I was afraid I would never see you again."
After venting her feelings, Norah felt a weight lifted from her heart.
She had been almost depressed.
On the other end of the line, Shawn grew more heartbroken with each word.
Norah wiped away her tears and spoke softly. "Turn on the camera. I want to see if you're lying to me. Is everything really okay?"
"Sure."
After the camera was turned on, she saw Shawn wearing a shirt and looking good. Only then did she put her mind at ease.
But now it was Shawn's turn to be worried. "Have you not been eating properly these past few days? You've lost so much weight."
Norah had indeed been too worried about him to eat.
But she didn't want him to worry.
So, she curled her lips and comforted him. "No, it's probably just the beauty effect on the video."
"True or not. You need to take good care of yourself. Gain weight and stay healthy. It will feel better to hold you in my arms when I come back," Shawn said.
Norah laughed. "I want to be a fat lady. It's ugly."
"No, you're the most beautiful to me. And I like you with a little more flesh on your bones. It's more comfortable to hug you that way."
"You're just sweet-talking me."
Next to him, Lilian was sitting in her wheelchair.
She wished she was not there to hear it.
She hated it.
She hated it so much.
What did it feel like to watch the man one once loved flirt with another woman?
It was like a million arrows piercing her heart.
She had finally experienced it.
Before hanging up the phone, Norah warned him seriously once again.
"No more disappearances and no more rejecting my calls. I hope you'll keep it in mind. If you do that, I will never talk to you again."
"Yes, ma'am."
After hanging up the phone, Shawn saw the tears on Lilian's face.
When she saw him looking at her, she reflexively turned away. While wiping her tears, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself.
"It's just that listening to you two talk on the phone reminds me of the days when we were together."
Once the words were out of her mouth, she realized her mistake and corrected herself. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought up the past. Norah is your girlfriend now."
"Lilian..."
Shawn sighed and walked toward her. "There are some things I think we should still talk about..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Lilian's body suddenly lurched to the side.
It was too late for him to catch her. Lilian had fallen to the ground in her wheelchair.
"Lilian..."
Shawn picked her up and shouted for a doctor.
With each passing morning, she felt closer to the day of his return.
But she never expected to encounter a nightmare just after leaving her house.
Kelvin was squatting in front of the apartment building. When he saw Norah, he took a big bite of his bread, drank some water, and then ran over to her frantically.
It was Norah's instinctive move to stay away from him.
But Kelvin ran up like a madman and blocked her path.
"What are you doing here?"
Norah stopped in her tracks and looked at him sullenly.
She had grown used to this over the years.
Every time Kelvin came to her, he either wanted something or sought her help.
Most of the time, he was asking for money.
He had never once sought her out to do something fatherly.
But this time, when Norah asked him what he wanted, Kelvin just shook his head.
He pulled out a tightly wrapped bag from his coat and opened it. Smiling, he handed the contents to Norah. "I remember you loving this kind of bread when you were young. I waited in a long line to buy them for you.
"I kept them in my arms, and they're still warm. Try one."
Norah stared at him blankly, dazed.
Kelvin had brought her food?
And it was her favorite bread?
How could it be?
It felt like a dream.
In a daze, Norah didn't take the bread.
Kelvin smiled. "What are you waiting for, kid? It's cold in the morning. If you don't eat it now, it'll get cold."
With that, he stuffed the bread into her hand.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Fated to Love You Again (Shawn and Norah)