The darkness was enough to hide the embarrassment on John's face.
He did not expect that James would come in through the window. When he ran into him just now, he almost scampered away and hid.
He was his elder, and he could not lose face in front of him.
However, James did not read much into John's presence. He very much knew his character.
He had guessed that he would do this, but he did not expect to run into him. It did not matter anyway. They both reserved the right to take their wives back to their own respective rooms.
"I'm opening the door," James said in a low voice. He was about to use the thin iron wire in his hand.
John stretched out his hand in front of James and opened his palm. The room's spare key was in his hand.
"I've got the key. Go on, open it." With a happy look, James threw away the iron wire and took the key. As it turned out, he did not have to pick the lock after all.
They thought that Nina and Emma had already fallen asleep, but they were still wide awake and chatting away happily. They had a lot to catch up on and talk about, and they were especially excited to exchange stories about their married lives.
James carefully inserted the key into the lock and opened the door as quietly as he could. The night was so still that one could hear a pin drop.
Fortunately, Nina and Emma were engrossed in their conversation and did not hear the door budge.
James opened the door slightly, allowing the dark yellow light from the inside shine through the crack. Nina whipped her head toward the door and knitted her brows.
"Did you hear that, Emma?"
Seeing Nina stop, John held James back as well as his breath.
James halted immediately, raised his hand, and covered his mouth.
"Hear what? I didn't hear anything. Haven't you adjusted back to the environment here?" Emma answered, pulling Nina's attention back to her.
"Maybe." Nina stared at the door and found nothing unusual, so she dispelled her doubts.
The two at the door breathed a sigh of relief. James thought, 'Why are they still awake at this time and talking? It's late.
How could women talk so much?'
John stood quietly beside James and waited patiently for the light inside the room to go out. They could only go in and take their wives after they fell asleep.
He listened to the conversation in the room.
"Where were we?" Emma asked, her mind going blank.
Nina replied, "Can we stop talking about the two of them? Let's change the subject. I want to talk about Mimi now. How's she been doing? Do you know?"
Outside the door, James was shocked.
'Change the subject? How many subjects had they gone through before we got here? And how could they still talk?
What could they possibly be talking about for so long? Why does Nina want to talk about Mimi?
Two women talking about another woman?
Do they have that much free time? Aren't they sleepy or tired at least? Why don't they just sleep? Damn! Emma, just come to me. I'll find you something to do tonight.'
When Nina said "the two of them," John turned his head toward her direction. 'Was she referring to me and James?
Were they talking about us?
Two good friends talking about their husbands. I wonder what that conversation was like.'
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