Early in the morning, as soon as Leon came out of the bathroom after cleaning himself up, he heard a knock on the door.
A well-dressed woman appeared in front of him, who had a joyful smile in her eyes as soon as he opened the door.
Finally, someone was at home this time.
"Mr. Lu, right? Good morning! I came here to bring you breakfast."
"I didn't order breakfast." But after he finished his words, he suddenly remembered something, so he asked, "Did Michelle order it?"
"Yes. She has ordered breakfast in our restaurant for a month."
A month's breakfast?
Didn't Lydia tell him that Michelle had already paid a month in advance for his breakfast in the rice noodles restaurant last night? Why was this woman here now to bring him breakfast?
Realizing that Lydia must've lied to him, Leon smiled at the woman and took the food in her hands.
He thanked the woman and went back inside. Then he checked his breakfast, only to be disappointed when he saw two fried eggs that looked worse than what Michelle cooked. He took a bite and immediately thought it was not delicious, so he stopped eating the fried eggs.
After breakfast, Leon went straight to the rice noodles restaurant that Lydia mentioned. It was already past breakfast time when he arrived, so there was only a few customers left, and it was quiet.
From where Leon was standing, he could see the shop assistant making rice noodles by pushing the stone grinder and crushing the white rice.
The customers could see the kitchen from their tables, giving them assurance that the food being served to them was clean and meticulously prepared.
The price list showed that the cheapest bowl of rice noodles cost fifteen dollars, while the most expensive one cost thirty-five dollars. Leon thought that the prices were just reasonable as the bowls were large and full of rice noodles.
Since he already had breakfast, he only ordered a cup of soybean milk. The cashier asked him if he had a membership, so Leon mentioned Michelle's number and asked how much money was left.
The waiter checked Michelle's account and told him there was only forty-two dollars left, which meant he couldn't even afford three bowls of the cheapest rice noodles. This was totally against what Lydia said last night.
Now, he confirmed that Lydia lied to him.
But why did she do that?
As much as he wanted to know, he didn't bother to ask Lydia for an explanation. He lived in the hotel since Michelle wasn't in the apartment.
Time passed by quickly, and it had already been a month without Michelle. It was also the hottest time in summer, when it was hard to open your eyes because of the sunshine. Even when the wind blew, you could still feel the heat.
Leon barely went out. He went to bed early, got up early, exercised, practiced calligraphy and worked regularly. The investment project had already begun, and Bryant was busy with the it. Wynn was looking for Valerie under the scorching sun in another province. Leon was the only one who had nothing to do.
It was already mid-August, but he still hadn't got any message from Michelle. He tried calling her, but her phone was still off.
It had been his routine to send Michelle a message before going to bed even though he wasn't getting any reply. "Good night. Wish you a good dream." And in the morning when he woke up, he would call her.
This was the thirty-second call he had made, which meant they hadn't contacted each other for thirty-two days.
Michelle was lazy for so many things, and she was a little childish; but she seemed to be determined with this one. This thought made Leon sigh.
"Good morning." While Bryan was fixing his tie in front of the mirror, he saw Leon's reflection as he shook his head and sighed. "You seemed to be a little depressed recently. What happened?"
"Depressed?" Leon didn't think so. He lived a comfortable life every day. There was definitely no sign of depression on his face.
"Lookers-on see more than players." After making sure that he was dressed neatly, Bryant walked to the table and sat down, followed by Leon who sat opposite to him. They began to eat breakfast.
"You look fine, but I can feel that you are not. It has been a month. If you're going through something that you can't tell me, you can go out for a walk. Don't stay in the hotel all day long. It's not like you." While speaking, Bryant noticed that the fried eggs in front of Leon remained untouched. "Didn't Wynn say that you ate fried eggs every morning? Why don't you eat some?"
With a bored look, Leon answered, "They don't taste good at all."
"Fried eggs taste the same, don't they?" Frowning, Bryant looked at him. He didn't know what other flavors fried eggs could make.
Among the group of trainees, Joanna was the most hardworking one. She practiced until eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening every day. Michelle even thought that she would practice a little longer if it wasn't for the curfew.
This was the reason why Joanna was top of the training students. If nothing went wrong, she would soon join the second team as well, which was Michelle's current team.
In the club, they were best friends.
Although Joanna was young, she looked more mature than Michelle. It was not because her face looked old, but because she was not as cute as a little girl. She was cool and irritable.
For example, now that Joanna was woken up too early in the morning, she already lost her temper. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Michelle greeting her with a smile.
Joanna didn't lose her temper. However, she still asked impatiently, "What's the matter? Say it quickly, so I can go back to sleep."
"Well, I just want you to help me with my makeup. I don't have any cosmetics." Michelle pursed her lips and smiled shyly.
"You don't like makeup, do you?" Surprise was written all over Joanna's face. As soon as she sobered up, she turned around and said, "Come in first."
"Thank you, Joanna." Michelle hugged her happily. Then she trotted to Joanna's dressing mirror and sat down, waiting like an obedient kid. "I've already washed my face, and I've also applied lotion on it."
After looking her up and down, Joanna suddenly laughed. "Are you going to meet your boyfriend?"
"No, no." Although she was blushing, Michelle managed to say, "It's just that I like him."
"I know what kind of like it is." Joanna walked over after washing her hands. She clipped her bangs and began to put makeup on Michelle's face. "We just need to put on light makeup."
"I know little about makeup. Do as you see suitable. I believe in your skills." Michelle's eyes were as bright as the starry sky.
With a sneer, Joanna replied, "Thank you for your trust. Is he the one you wrote in your diary?"
"Gee!" Surprised by her sudden question, Michelle's lips parted.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You Are The Apple of My Eyes