"Who said I'm not jealous? Of course I'm jealous." Toby took a seat and glanced at Sonia before responding plainly.
With that tone of yours, yeah, you're jealous alright.
Sonia nodded thoughtfully. "But I couldn't tell that you were jealous at all."
"I can't always make it obvious that I'm jealous." Toby pulled her hand over and started toying with it in his lap. Her fair hand was so much smaller than him, and it was so soft to the touch that he could not resist from holding it all the time.
Whenever he got the chance, he would always start playing with her hands.
"It's true that we shouldn't wear our hearts on our sleeves, but you're not like that though." Sonia cocked her head to the side and stared at Toby teasingly. "When you’re jealous, it's spelled out in big bold letters right across your face for all to see. That's why I'm surprised to know that you were jealous earlier, since I hadn't seen any sign of it in your expression.” "I am jealous." Toby fixed his eyes on Sonia. "But I also know that you won't be attracted to Oscar Woolley, so there's no reason for me to get all worked up over him."
Oscar Woolley was the attorney's full name.
Sonia raised her eyebrows. "Really? And you're certain that I won't be attracted to him?"
"He's not as handsome or as fit as I am." Toby puffed out his chest and declared arrogantly, "You won't have such poor taste in men!"
Sonia snorted. This was what she had said earlier to coax him when he was jealous of Oscar. She had not expected him to memorize it.
Though he was right, of course—she did not have such poor taste. Even setting aside the fact that Oscar was not a very principled man, he was still not quite a feast for the eyes, and she did have an eye for pretty things. All in all, she would not be interested in Oscar.
"Since you know that I won't be interested in Mr. Woolley, then why do you still get jealous of other people around me, like Charles? You can't possibly think that I'd be interested in them, right?" Sonia wrapped her hands around his arm and probed him further.
Toby pursed his lips. "That's not the same. Charles and those other guys might not be as handsome or as fit as me, but they're still a lot better than the average man. Most importantly, Charles has feelings for you."
He sensed danger, so naturally, he would react with even more jealousy toward them.
Sonia chuckled at how Toby sneakily praised himself while putting them down. "Fine, but no matter what happens, I’m yours, and no one can steal me away. I don't know if we might go our separate ways one day, but as long as we're together, you don't have to feel insecure about us." However, as soon as she said that, Toby covered her mouth with his hand.
"What's the matter?" Sonia blinked, and her words were slightly muffled.
Toby stared at her with a serious expression. "We're not going to separate. Were going to spend our lives together and no one can tear us apart, not even us. And we're even going to be buried in the same grave."
Sonia laughed and pulled his hand away. "And here thought you were going to say something more serious. Look at how solemn you've gotten." "I am serious." "I know you're serious." Sonia rested her head on his shoulder. "But sometimes, we shouldn't make promises like that. A lifetime is a very long time, so who knows what will happen in the future?"
Toby pulled her closer. "It'll be the same in the future. Nothing will change."
Sonia could only sigh as Toby continued to insist that everything would be the same in the future. He was too stubborn, and he did not want to think that the future would change. She did not want to continue talking about it either, since it would probably stir him up into a frenzy. Maybe it was because he had lost her once before, so he was now very sensitive about the possibility of them separating or breaking up. He did not want to hear about such a possibility, and he refused to believe that it would happen to them.
She had no idea how he was able to be this confident that their relationship would stay the way it was now, and that their feelings would never fade or diminish. Despite that, she had to admit that his conviction had also chipped away a lot of the insecurities and uncertainty that she felt about their future together. Oh well, they had a long future ahead of them, and no one knew what was in store for them.
Perhaps sometimes, it was best to not dwell on the future, but instead, to simply focus on the present.
Regardless of whether they stayed together for the rest of their lives or not, she was content with the love that they had for each other now.
Once Sonia sorted through her thoughts, she smiled and hugged his arm tighter. "Yeah, nothing will change. As long as our feelings stay the way they are right now, then I think nothing will change in our future, right?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Madam Escaped Again Sir