“Just go!” Yulia interjected as she brought over a plate of washed fruits.
Natalie frowned. “Mom, how could I leave right now with Connor in this condition…”
“I’ll be around. When your brother found out about Connor’s accident, he specifically requested that I stay here with you for a while longer. As you’ve been under a lot of stress over Connor lately, it would be nice for you to take a break alongside Stanley and relax.”
Stanley offered his thanks upon receiving his share of the fruit and seconded the points she made. “Yulia is right, Nat. Just think of it as a vacation. You’ll be back sooner than you know it.”
Natalie looked at the both of them and smiled in resignation as she shook her head. “Since you already put it that way, how could I refuse?”
Stanley’s face perked up in delight. “So you have agreed to it then, Nat?”
She replied in the affirmative.
“That’s wonderful. I’ll come to pick you up when the time comes.” He placed down the apple in his hand and got to his feet.
Natalie nodded. “Alright.”
After he left, Yulia put the apple Stanley left behind back onto the plate. “What a thoughtful lad. He doesn’t forget to ask you along even to attend a wedding.”
Natalie took a bite of the apple. “Actually, I’m not that keen on attending other people’s wedding. I’d rather he took Joyce instead.”
Her mother twitched the corner of her lips. “I don’t know if you are really oblivious, or pretending to be. You picked it up right away with Shane, so I wonder how is it that you could be this dense when it came to Stanley.”
“Huh?” Natalie blinked in bewilderment. “What are you going on about, Mom? I don’t get anything that you are saying.”
The older woman rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing. It’s fine if you don’t understand, but if you do, I fear that you may not be able to continue as friends with Stanley.”
With that, she poked at Natalie’s forehead once or twice before she went into the restroom.
Natalie rubbed her forehead, all the while still feeling quite uncertain.
Regardless, she put it all at the back of her mind. She lifted the apple to her lips to finish it up before she placed the drawing board and started work on her designs.
The next day.
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