At his answer, she raised an eyebrow skeptically. Tobias was evidently uninterested in the entire affair.
They remained in their seats until the janitor looked at them meaningfully, prompting them to leave. Skylar hurriedly followed Tobias out of the cinema.
She held out her hand, but the man adamantly refused to take it. Inwardly, she marveled at Tobias’ audacity. Throughout the film, he’d copped multiple feels in the darkness of the cinema. However, he’d returned to his callous self right after the lights came on.
Can’t he even hold my hand? Skylar agonized.
At the exit, they ran into the pair that had been blissfully announcing their plans to the entire cinema. The girl was now squatting in a corner earnestly convincing her mother, saying, “Mom, I’m going to stay over at my classmate’s house for the next two days. I won’t be coming home.”
Skylar felt a grudging sense of admiration for this young girl’s dedication to her relationship. Not only did they have to last the night at a cybercafe, but they would also have to drag their wearied bodies, stained with the smell of beer and cigarettes, to a cheap hotel at the crack of dawn. The thought of the journey they would have to undertake was fatiguing enough.
Ruefully, she supposed that the happiness the young couple got out of being together would be worth all that toil.
Seeing Skylar thus distracted, Tobias challenged her rudely, “Why are you always staring at other people? Are you envious of them? She’s got a boy toy to spend the weekend with. Is that what you’re lusting after?”
Undeterred, Skylar replied with a toss of her head, “Well, is mine willing to spend the weekend with me?”
At her words, Tobias froze, wrinkling his handsome brow.
He was not troubled by the fact that Skylar had referred to him so dismissively, but rather that he was indeed unable to dedicate the entire weekend to her.
They descended by elevator in silence. When the two of them stepped out into the chilly night air, a gust of cold wind blew past them. Tobias instinctively drew Skylar into his warm arms, murmuring in a tender tone, “I know I don’t spend much time with you. I promise it’ll get better once this year is over.”
Skylar smiled but did not allow herself to be taken in that easily. After all, the year had only just begun. Who knows if I’ll still be with Tobias next year?
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