After arriving at the house in London, Heather prepared a table of sumptuous meals to await Yanny’s return.
Once the doors opened, she noticed that Yanny was not the only one standing outside. There’s also a happy faced Shayne that would obediently call her Grandma next to her.
Heather was not surprised. Those days, Yanny had more or less told her what happened between them in Switzerland. Shayne tagging along was a surprise, but also within expectations.
Heather welcomed them in with a smile. “Little Shayne is here as well. Come in quickly. It’s cold outside. I just finished preparing some warm food.”
After entering the house, Shayne showed no restraint. He kept praising Heather for her delicious dishes, successfully wooing her to the point that the smile was stuck to her face.
After their meal, Yanny got up to help Heather clean up the dishes. Shayne immediately took over the dishes from her hands and said, “You go watch some T.V. I’ll help Grandma.”
“I don’t watch T.V.”
“Didn’t you like to read? Go on then. Don’t stay here and mess things up.” Shayne pushed her toward the sofa.
While Shayne was clearing the dishes, he broke two bowls.
Who was the one that was causing a mess?
Shayne steeled his face and said, “What’s so funny? You just need to repeat these simple tasks a few more times to be proficient at it.”
Yanny held a book and flipped through it, smiling in silence.
When Shayne was cleaning up the broken dishes, he clumsily cut his finger, causing him to bleed.
Yanny brought the first aid box over and helped him wrap up his wound by the sofa, mocking him, “You’re more trouble than help... cutting your finger even when putting away dishes.”
“Yet you’re still laughing. Can’t you see your man is bleeding already?”
After Yanny applied the medicine, she wrapped some white gauze on his fingertip, applying slightly more strength. Shayne immediately frowned and exclaimed, “Ouch.”
He was so badly injured during the avalanche and did not even complain about pain, yet he was yelling about the pain with just a cut on his fingertip.
“Shayne, why don’t you make the act even more obvious?”
Shayne was speechless.
…
The next morning, a thin layer of snow was piled outside, collecting on the eaves and covering the lawn.
The sofa in the living room only had a blanket over it.
Shayne was nowhere to be seen.
Last night, Shayne slept on the sofa because the house only had four rooms. Heather, Hajar, and Yanny had a room each. The remaining room was the study Yanny used to do work in.
Yanny was already divorced with Shayne, so it was not possible for them to share the same bed.
Shayne was quite obedient, spending the entire night on the sofa after being told the arrangement.
Heather was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Yanny asked, “Grandma, where did Shayne go?”
“Little Shayne got up very early in the morning. He said that he was going out for a stroll nearby to check out the trails of your life in the past three years.”
Yanny was slightly stunned. If not for Heather’s reminder, she almost forgot that it was her third year in England.
After almost two years separating from Shayne, then returning from China, at that point, it was almost Lunar New Year again.
That year will be her 10th with Shayne and it was about to go by.
A full decade. If there were no comparison, just the mention of 10 years would make someone feel that it was an extremely long time.
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