My phone rang. It was Gideon.
"Are you out yet?"
I looked around and said, "I came out a long time ago. I didn't see you."
He sighed.
I could imagine him frowning and pursing his lips at this moment, which was a sign of his displeasure.
Every time he made this expression, I became very cautious, for fear of making him unhappy.
He probably thought I was angry, so he softened his tone and said, "I parked at the usual place, in front of the coffee shop."
I was silent for a moment.
"I'm not there."
He was utterly impatient. "What? I especially ended the experiment early so I could go home with you. Where were you going? Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"
He hung up the phone out of anger.
I scrolled through the chat history with him.
Before I returned to Aramore, I sent him the address and told him that I had come back just to attend this meeting.
It had only been two days. Had he forgotten? He might just not care about me at all.
I took a taxi back home.
He arrived before me.
This was rare. Usually, I went home first, prepared dinner, and waited for him to come back.
But the food often got cold before he even got there.
At that time, when he came back, I would go up to him and hug him, complaining coquettishly, "Why didn't you tell me in advance? I waited for a long time."
He pushed me away coldly. "Don't hug me. You can eat by yourself."
"But I want to wait for you..."
"Just eat by yourself. Don't fight with me over such a small matter."
I kept quiet because I didn't want to annoy him, but from then on, I would save food for him in the incubator.
Then I finished my meal, sat on the sofa, and waited for him, keeping a light on for him.
Seeing me come back, he rarely came forward and took my bag.
He had a rare look of guilt.
"Ethel, I was so busy these past two days that I didn't notice you were at an academic conference today. I went to the wrong place."
He realized it was his mistake.
"Never mind."
I removed my makeup first and then found some medicine.
He stood aside and observed my expression.
Then she said, "I'm sorry not to pick you up yesterday. It was raining too hard, and Mary's home was too far away... The light in her house was broken. She was scared, so I helped fix it. Then my phone ran out of battery. And I thought you were home, so I came back first."
I thought he was impatient and left first, but it turned out that he didn't even come to pick me up.