The girl had cried when she was disqualified from the show, but the competition got the better of the rest of the contestants. They must have been happy to see her go since none of them went up to comfort her. In fact, most of them elected to stand by and watch her shed tears.
Ian hadn't been the most sympathetic either, but everyone else's apathy was so obvious that he found himself handing the girl a piece of tissue, and the exchange constituted their first official meeting.
Cindy paused in thought before she said, "It must have been hard for her, but if your agency has signed her on, it must mean that she has talent."
The couple walked out of the company building and hailed a passing taxi. It was only after Ian had gotten into the car that he replied, "Yeah, I guess she has some talent."
They stopped talking about the girl and Cindy fished out her phone.
She wanted to see if Valerie had responded to the rumors online, but when she searched through the internet, she came up with nothing. She supposed silence was a form of response as well.
After that, she kept her phone and looped her arm through Ian's before leaning her head against his shoulder.
He would be filming on set the next day, and she would return to the company for her day job. Hence, it left them a day's worth of time to laze around at home together.
They returned to the neighborhood where they stayed, but instead of going home right away, they headed toward the supermarket next to the compound.
The refrigerator was running empty and they needed to stock up on groceries. Upon entering the supermarket, Ian walked over to the homeware section and browsed through the aisles. Since he and Cindy had recently gotten married, he felt that the sheets at home needed changing.
While they had put off the idea of holding an actual ceremony, he didn't think it meant they had to omit home decorations to indicate their newly-wed status.
As such, Ian picked out red bedsheets and his-and-hers pillowcases before placing them into the shopping cart. He chuckled and said a little self-deprecatingly, "You don't even care for these things, do you? Maybe I'm just overly sentimental about stuff like this."
Cindy laughed. "I used to be quite the romantic as well, but after going steady with you, I view these as mere formalities that don't allude much to the sentiments we have."
Perhaps things had been so smooth-sailing between them for a while that run-of-the-mill romantic ideals no longer applied to them, and she did not care much for the otherwise-insignificant details that played no role in solidifying their relationship.
Ian gently tipped her chin up and kissed her through his mask. They exchanged a brief glance and burst into lighthearted laughter.
Following that, they went over to the produce, poultry, and seafood sections. By the time they came out of the supermarket, they had amassed quite the impressive haul. At this point, Cindy was truly falling in love with how ordinary their lives seemed.
They had only just reached home when Ian's phone started ringing.
Cindy changed into slippers and glanced over at the caller ID flashing on Ian's phone screen, only to see that it was Logan calling.
She looked away and brought the groceries into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Ian stood at the threshold and slowly slipped out of his shoes as he picked up the phone.
Cindy was putting things into the refrigerator, and she could pick up bits and pieces of what Ian was saying. She heard him say, "That's fast."
She wasn't sure what the conversation was about, but he sputtered contemptuously at one point and said, "Well, whose fault is that? She deserves the consequences of her own actions."
He didn't sound too happy when he said this. In the meantime, Cindy finished rearranging the things in the fridge and went into their bedroom with the new bedsheets in hand.
Indeed, the red covers brightened up the room. As she stood at the foot of the bed, she had to admit that she and Ian were so nonchalant about their marriage that they had simply disregarded the usual celebration of such an event. She didn't mind it, but that didn't mean Ian shared the same opinion. She realized that he was still a romantic at the end of the day, and such ideals weren't just limited to women.
Cindy pursed her lips and changed the bedsheets mutely. Ian walked in just as she was tugging on the last corner of the bedsheet, and he appeared to have hung up the call.
She turned to look at him curiously and asked, "What's wrong? What was the call about?"
He reached out to brush a hand over the covers before saying, "It was about Leah. She ran out of the hospital without anyone noticing before she fully recovered." He shook his head and added, "You know what? She'll reap what she shows. I don't blame anyone for letting her escape, though; if she doesn't care enough about her own health, it just goes to show that there's nothing much going up in her brain either."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Returning EX (John and Sophia)
So what happens to Ian and Cindy. Is she/ or does she get pregnant? Do they go back to the city and Ian works with Logan? Does Aurora stay in the entertainment industry or return with Ian? Terrible ending, who cares if Aurora was drinking/drunk with colleagues. What happened with Ian and Cindy?!...
Get rid of Gary. Apparently Cindy is too dumb to figure out his motives 😡...
Why are you trying to break them up when they just got together and are a loving couple. Let them stay close and move back to their true friends, Logan, Lola, John and Sophia!...
Sure hope Ian pulls his head out of his behind and works this out with Cindy. His brother needs him at the company and neither one of them truly like the celebrity life. Sophia and Lola will love her …....
I can’t wait for John to take down the Bailey’s including Isabelle so he, Sophia, William and Matilda can live in peace. Introduce Yolanda to Richard so they are out of the picture....
Ugh, don’t break up Sophia and John… they belong together and Sophia is just stubborn for no reason...
Sophia lives John, he just needs to tell her he loves her and get on with their life and family. Too much interference from others....
Sophia is so stupid....
John needs to man up, tell his mother and Isabelle to take a flying leap and confess to Sophia that he made a horrible mistake in divorcing her. This story is taking too long and once again, the bitches are looking like they are on the right side. Awful...